Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* How would you rate the pension reform proponents’ legislative performance so far this year? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.

Online Surveys & Market Research

52 Comments

Judges may sue over health insurance bill

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Tribune editorial page has a scoop today…

Government employees unions have vowed to sue if legislators and Quinn reduce their pension benefits. The Illinois Judges Association, which represents 1,250 active and retired judges, indicates it may file a lawsuit too.

Association President Carol Pope, a 4th District Appellate Court judge based in Springfield, wrote in a recent newsletter that her organization would explore “what contractual and constitutional challenges are viable along with the estimated cost of litigation.” She cited Senate Bill 1313, now on Quinn’s desk, which ends the virtually free health care enjoyed by state and university retirees, General Assembly members and … judges.

The judges aren’t happy. They face the possibility of actually having to pay for all or part of their health care premiums. So they’re considering their legal options.

Take a moment to digest that: If the judges sue the state, they get to rule on their own suit.

Wonder which way they’ll rule? Wonder whether their sympathies lie with taxpayers or with themselves? We’ll see, won’t we.

Jorgensen v. Blagojevich may provide a glimpse. The judges sued former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the Legislature in 2003 after he stripped their automatic 3 percent cost-of-living pay increases from the budget, saying Illinois taxpayers couldn’t afford them.

So the judges went to court, and some of the judges got to rule:

A circuit court ruled in favor of the judges.

And the Illinois Supreme Court, which heard the case on an expedited schedule (of course it did!), ruled in favor of the judges.

Fast-forward to 2012: Illinois judges remain among the top-paid in the nation. They earn generous pension benefits and, thanks to the Jorgensen case, get their guaranteed 3 percent cost-of-living increases every year.

If the judges file suit to preserve free retiree health care for themselves, will they again rule in their own favor?

Only on constitutional grounds, of course.

* In other pension-related news, Gov. Pat Quinn has launched a new website. From a press release…

Governor Pat Quinn today announced SaveOurState.Illinois.gov, a new resource to empower the people of Illinois to help restore fiscal stability to our state. This new online tool provides helpful background on the state’s Medicaid and pension challenges, details about the governor’s proposed solutions, and the latest media reports on these issues. In addition, SaveOurState.Illinois.gov helps citizens take action by directing them to contact information for their local legislators.

* The site is incredibly self-serving…

Governor Quinn has laid out a bold plan to rescue our public pension and Medicaid systems. The Governor’s plan will stabilize these two programs, restore fiscal stability to Illinois and strengthen our economic growth. We must be able to provide funding for core government services – things like educating our children, ensuring public safety and access to basic human services. Every dollar we spend on pensions and Medicaid is a dollar we don’t spend on grants, community programs and initiatives that many of us depend upon.

We need you to tell your State Representatives and Senators that we must take immediate action to stabilize and restructure these two systems.

Yeah, that’ll work.

* And speaking of Medicaid, the Senate Democrats have a nifty little online tool to help you see how difficult it is to make cuts in the program. Go check it out and report back.

* Meanwhile, the We Are One union coalition has a new TV ad. I moved it from another post to here because it fit better. Rate it…

* TV ad coverage and more info…

* Press Release: Union coalition launches campaign for fair solution on pensions

* Unions gear up to oppose pension changes

* Unions plan protests over pensions

* More pension and budget stuff…

* Mautino: State working on pension, budget, sustainability of DNR: Mautino late Monday said he was not ready to discuss exact details of the plan but indicated, if approved, proposed measures should help to keep the state park system “limping along” through 2013 and to avoid annual park-closure discussions. He said after fiscal year 2013, funding mechanisms proposed in committee should kick in and help stabilize the DNR. One proposal he did reveal was a way to support state parks through license plate fees instead of the state incurring the expense of constructing toll booths and hiring park sticker sellers. Though he did not reveal all details, a goal, he said, would be to allow people withIllinoisplates into the parks without restriction and to request that people with out-of-state plates report to park offices for permission or registration. It would be impossible to station fee-takers at parks with dozens of entry points, such asHennepin Canal State Parkway.

* Roll-your-own smokes may face tax hikes: Politicians in at least 12 other states have taken up the roll-your-own tax issue, and a handful have put new laws on the books reflecting Illinois’ concerns.

* Press Release: AFP-IL converges on Springfield to demand pension reform: On Wednesday, the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity, America’s largest organization advocating for economic freedom, will join Illinois taxpayers in delivering “leftovers” to Illinois’ legislative leaders to make the point they are tired of receiving the funding leftovers from the General Assembly and to demand pension reform.

* More potholes in Illinois’ future?: Money meant for maintaining state highways could be paying for some of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s day-to-day expenses. Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget diverts almost $250 million from the state’s road fund, fueled by the state’s motor fuel tax and vehicle license fees, to pay IDOT’s health-care, workers’ compensation, and building rent and maintenance costs, according to Transportation for Illinois Coalition, which pushes for an up-to-date transportation infrastructure in Illinois.

* Senate leader wants to legalize online poker

* IL Senate president proposes iGaming plan for the state

* Senate president champions online gambling

* Top Democrat Pushes Online Gambling

60 Comments

Media finally catches on

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Subscribers were told about this proposal back on Monday…

A House panel is scheduled to discuss a plan today that could divert more than a billion dollars from local governments to help plug a hole in the state’s underfunded teacher retirement system.

The legislation, introduced by House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, is just one piece of an emerging proposal designed to fully fund the state’s pensions within 30 years. Other elements that remain under negotiation include raising the retirement age to 67 and requiring state workers, university employees and school district personnel to pay more toward their pensions.

Madigan’s plan calls for tapping into a 2.5 percent tax on corporations, called the personal property replacement tax. The tax is collected by the state and the distributed to local governments.

Under one of Madigan’s options, $1.4 billion that currently is earmarked for all forms of local governments, from tiny library districts to cities, would instead be diverted to teacher pensions.

The Illinois Municipal League, which lobbies on behalf of local governments, is calling the idea “Armageddon.”

“This is absolutely financially disastrous,” said Joe McCoy, municipal league legislative director.

* More…

If the measure passes, it would blow multimillion-dollar holes in the budgets of the city of Springfield and the Springfield School District and hit other local government budgets in varying degrees.

Madigan is suggesting the state use corporate personal property replacement taxes to bolster pension funding. Receipts from the tax currently support schools and other local government bodies.

Madigan has introduced three amendments to House Bill 3637. One would divert about $536 million, another would divert $982 million, and the third would divert $1.4 billion. The tax brings in $1.4 billion for local governments.

* What’s going on…

The measure appears to be intended to make a point. Madigan maintains that the state’s obligation to teacher pensions isn’t sustainable, and that other ways need to be found to fund them. Implicitly threatening to cut off such a huge revenue stream to local governments could ultimately press legislators to start talking about other solutions.

“It’s one approach you could take,” said Madigan spokesman Steve Brown. “It’s an argument that might draw others into the discussion.

“We’re open to compromise,” he added. “We just can’t afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Real or not, the proposal has got local government advocates forming ranks. The proposal “would be crippling to local governments!” declares a statement on the Illinois Municipal League website.

Discuss.

* Related…

* Villages to pay for teacher pensions?

* Joliet objects to state plan to divert money to pensions

36 Comments

Here they come

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Chicago Teachers Union reportedly has a “bus convoy” on its way to Springfield. Today is apparently the union’s lobby day.

They might want to head to the Senate Pensions and Investments Committee this afternoon at 2 o’clock and keep an eye on this bill.

Just sayin’…

* Speaking of the CTU, the latest Tribune poll has some interesting results…

The poll found 62 percent approve of Emanuel’s effort to keep students in school longer each day, compared to 32 percent who oppose it. Support was even greater among parents of Chicago Public Schools students, at 66 percent. […]

Perhaps somewhat surprising was the support the teachers union garnered over Emanuel. On the question of who voters sided with in the more comprehensive debate over improving the city’s public school system, the union scored a better than 2-1 ratio over the mayor, who has had a testy relationship with the union’s leadership.

Among all respondents, 40 percent sided with the union, compared to 17 percent who backed Emanuel. Thirty-six percent said they supported neither. Among public school parents, 48 percent sided with the teachers union and 18 percent sided with the mayor. Thirty percent said they sided with neither.

The support for the union may reflect concerns that Emanuel has moved too aggressively against teachers in his first year in office, overtly attempting to portray the teachers union as the obstacle to comprehensive school reform. It could mean that parents worry about how a strike might disrupt their daily routines, or it could underscore the city’s long tradition of support for organized labor.

The poll also found that 86 percent of Chicagoans and 92 percent of CPS parents believed that teachers should be paid more for working longer school days.

* Meanwhile, Illinois Action for Children has a big Statehouse rally of at least a thousand people planned for today at 11 o’clock. They’ll be protesting a threat to delay state payments to child care providers. SEIU protested against the threat yesterday.

Illinois Issues has a story about a solution to the problem…

According to Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, a Democrat from Chicago, Senate Bill 2450 would restore $73.6 million to pay providers to the end of the Fiscal Year 2012. The subsidies are used to cover child care for low-income families. The bill also calls for $151 million to pay down FY12 Medicaid bills. The money would come from unspent federal funds. “These are jobs, these are mostly single parents who really need to get to get to the workplace, and they need consistent, stable child care, and its our obligation to provide it to them. We under-appropriated last year to them, so this is an emergency supplemental, and we need to push it through so women can get to work and their children [can] have child care services,” said Feigenholtz, who expects the bill to pass Wednesday in the House. A delay in payments would affect up to 40,000 child-care providers and 85,000 low-income families. Feigenholtz said she and other lawmakers have been flooded with calls from providers and parents.

* The 4-H kids heading to town are about to get a real education.

9 Comments

Spoiled rotten brats

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We got a lot of hostile comments yesterday about our poll asking readers to rate AFSCME’s legislative performance to date. Here’s just one…

You ought to be ashamed of yourself for posting such a ridiculous question. Blaming the employees of the state for something the legislature and Governor has done is irresponsible

* For whatever reason, many of you believed my question was somehow an attack on AFSCME. That’s just really stupid. It was a neutrally worded question, for crying out loud. We rate politicians all the time. AFSCME is a major Statehouse player, to say the least. They’re fair game. Plus, they’re big boys and girls. They can handle it. I received not one complaint from the union yesterday, off the record or on.

* Frankly, I was surprised at the poll’s results. Almost 39 percent of you gave AFSCME an “F.” I gave the union a “B.” How state workers would so completely turn on their own union which got them almost all the benefits they’re now whining about potentially losing is just beyond me. I’ve come to the conclusion that some of y’all are spoiled rotten brats.

* But I found the comment I posted above particularly interesting. It concludes…

Im sure your buddy Richey boy will ban me like the chicken thing he is
I will have to teach you about DOS attacks someday…somethung every big tough internet tough guy needs to know

A Denial of service attack, eh?

Bite me, moron. And learn how to spell while you’re at it.

Oh, and speaking of “chickens,” the idiot tried to mask his IP address. Real brave guy, that one.

I will track you down, dude. And when I do, I’ll unleash the hounds.

[I moved the We Are One ad to another post in order to keep the discussion on this post more focused.]

50 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and a big Statehouse roundup

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

*** LIVE SESSION UPDATES ***

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* BlackBerry users click here…

1 Comment

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

« NEWER POSTS