Interest is very high among Illinois residents who are considering obtaining civil unions after the new state law goes into effect on June 1. From Carbondale to Chicago, from Rockford to Rock Island, more than 1,000 people throughout Illinois have attended recent forums to learn how to take advantage of the new right for same-sex and different-sex couples.
“We have been fighting for this on the political front for years. Now that civil unions are almost a reality, this level of enthusiasm demonstrates this was not a symbolic battle but something that deeply impacted couples who are sharing their lives together yet lack legal protections that civil unions will provide,” said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois.
* The Question: Do you know of anyone who is planning to have a civil union ceremony?
* There was much drama and wringing of hands over Rod Blagojevich’s reported decision to call some high profile witnesses to the stand in his own defense. The AP, for instance, ran a story entitled “Blago witnesses may be too risky“…
In deciding whether to call Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel or other big names to testify, attorneys for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich have treaded carefully because they know that such high-profile witnesses can backfire. […]
Among the names tossed around as possible defense witnesses is also U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Both he and Emanuel have been under subpoena in the case since before Blagojevich’s first trial last year.
“All these witnesses can end up hurting you far more than they can help,” said Phil Turner, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago. “They’re land mines. You’ve got to be really, really careful.”
After weeks of crowds far smaller than during Blagojevich’s first trial last year, there was a crush of people trying to get into the downtown Chicago courthouse Wednesday morning.
Long lines with dozens of people waiting to get in snaked through the lobby. Many people asked reporters if anyone had seen Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who’s expected to be called to testify.
* But spectators may have been disappointed. Congressman Jackson was on the stand for about 20 minutes today…
Under oath, Jackson says “No I did not” direct or order anyone to offer Rod Blagojevich fund-raising in exchange for appointing him senator.
“I never directed anyone to raise money for another politician in my life, other than myself, in 16 years,” Jackson testified.
Jackson sported an angry, vengeful look when he repeatedly snapped his fingers, mocking Rod Blagojevich’s Elvis routine.
Blagojevich flushed, shaking his head, looking amazed. He smiled slightly, shaking his head. He looks uncomfortable, shifting in his chair, mouth agape.
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. says his wife didn’t get a promised appointment to head the Illinois lottery after Jackson refused to give former Gov. Rod Blagojevich a $25,000 campaign donation.
Prosecutors have used Jackson’s testimony at Blagojevich’s retrial on corruption charges to demonstrate that the former governor was not above exchanging jobs for campaign cash.
Jackson said under cross-examination Wednesday that he met with Blagojevich in 2003 after someone else was appointed to the lottery job. Jackson says Blagojevich snapped his fingers and said, “You should have given me that $25,000.”
Jackson says Blagojevich made the comment while mimicking his idol Elvis’ voice. And Jackson himself put on a low, Elvis-like voice as he explained the conversation with Blagojevich.
* Mayor Emanuel’s testimony wasn’t all that enlightening, either, and even more brief…
After testifying that no one ever asked him for anything in exchange for his request to get Valerie Jarrett appointed senator, Emanuel was dismissed as a witness. Prosecutors asked no questions.
“The government has established through its case-in-chief that the purported conversations to which its witnesses testified amount to nothing more than ‘hot air,’” defense lawyers state in the motion.
The filing adds that the “parade of government witnesses” didn’t prove any crime and that “ideas bounced around” in wiretaps were just that — ideas..
“…The very most that could be found is that the government may have put in evidence of an attempt to attempt,” the filing stated. “That is not a crime.”
And Springfield will borrow. And the warning bells are ringing off the wall.
“This is historic, it is epic,” said Laurence Msall, president of the non-partisan Civic Federation research group. “It is impossible to overstate the level of peril.”
“I don’t doubt that when the Republicans have the majority, we’ll be screaming that they’re not being transparent enough and not involving people enough,” she said. “That’s the way it always works.”
The proposed redistricting map is especially brutal to Sen. Kyle McCarter, who has been a thorn in the side of the Democrats since he was appointed to replace Sen. Frank Watson and won election on his own in November.
The Democrats knocked McCarter completely out of the 51st District in the proposed map. The new map means he will no longer live in the district.
That leaves the 51st District open for a new senator and, as indicated a few paragraphs ago Rep. Chapin Rose has already an-nounced he’s going to make a run for it
McCarter was drawn into the same district as Sen. Dave Luechtefeld. His options appear limited.
* Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline) dismisses concerns about rate hikes to fund ComEd’s plan to modernize its grid and tells the attorney general, who opposes the plan, to mind her own business…
“If consumers want something to work they’ve gotta pay for it… There’s nothing for free. My cable billl went up $10 a month last month. Nobody asked me if they could raise it. But, here, the attorney general, who doesn’t even have a vote in this body, is determing how I could vote or what I should do. No! If you want to have a vote in this General Assembly run for the office.”
* Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook), correctly explains why new power plants are needed in Illinois…
“In the next several years, some of the coal-fired power plants will be coming off line because of some new federal regulations,” Nekritz said. “In Illinois, we are going to need some new baseload power. One of the ways we can do that is through clean coal.”
* Health and Family Services director Julie Hamos on government employee and retiree worries about what will happen after the state switches health insurance providers…
“This is what’s happening every day in the private marketplace,” Hamos said.
*** UPDATE *** The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability adopted a resolution this afternoon knocking down the Quinn administration’s attempt to switch insurance carriers. But Health and Family Services points to a recent attorney general decision to claim that the vote meant nothing…
“HFS will continue the process of contracting with the winning bidders… Solano said.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
…New name, but the same game.
ComEd has developed a new tactic to urge passage of their automatic rate hikes legislation – just give it a different name. ComEd claims that Senate Bill 1652 is better and addresses many of the concerns raised about House Bill 14. But the new bill is still bad news for Illinois consumers and businesses.
Senate Bill 1652 ensures higher utility company profits – at the expense of consumers - by guaranteeing a return on equity of over 10%. The formula rate proposed in the bill still mean that customers will face nearly automatic rate increases for six years. ComEd claims the new bill includes higher performance standards related to reliability, customer service and job creation. ComEd setting their own performance standards is much like the wolf guarding the hen house.
The bottom line is that ComEd is still attempting to use Illinois law to subsidize their corporate profit margins. AARP is opposed to Senate Bill 1652 and urges lawmakers to reject the bill.
Don’t be fooled by the new name, Senate Bill 1652 is still a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
* Counting today, there are seven more days in the scheduled spring session. That milestone always makes me think of Ronnie Wood’s cover of a fine Dylan tune…
All I gotta do is survive
Besides the obvious (budget, remap, workers’ comp, etc.), what would you like to see accomplished before next Tuesday’s scheduled adjournment?
* Rep. Lou Lang is quite good at putting together solid, complicated, controversial bills. He’s not quite as good at actually passing them…
Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, formally began his yearly push for a major gambling expansion but acknowledged he’s not sure he has the votes to pass it.
The latest version, which could be heard this week, would put casinos in Chicago, Danville, Rockford, northern Lake County and a yet-to-be-determined location in the south suburbs. Existing casinos would be allowed to expand gambling positions and horse racing tracks would be allowed to operate slot machines. Slots also would be installed at O’Hare International and Midway airports, and a new “racino” would be built at the state fairgrounds in Springfield.
“I can’t tell you today whether I have 60 votes to pass this bill,” said Lang. “But I can tell you it’s the right thing to do.”
Mayor Mike Houston said he supports having horse racing and slot machines in Springfield.
“Anything that would promote the use of the fairgrounds and generate revenue and excitement is certainly something that would be good for the city of Springfield,” Houston said. […]
“The money would go to the fairgrounds, help 4H, FFA, go to funding infrastructure for the fairgrounds,” Poe said last week. Fairgrounds maintenance funding has been cut in budget proposals passed by both the House and Senate this year. […]
“It would help save the horse industry in Illinois (if gambling expansion passes),” Poe said. “Right now, they’re all moving out, for the fact that the purses (money paid to owners and winners) have all gone away.”
It’s not a new proposal, but year-round gaming would most certainly change the character of the fairgrounds.
Opponents have argued that both the casino and horse racing industries in Illinois have seen clear declines in recent years, so adding more gambling competition could only hurt existing casinos.
And while some lawmakers could be convinced to support parts of a gambling package — slots at Arlington Park for example — a proposal that includes so many new wagering options often draws opposition.
Rep. Tom Morrison, a Palatine Republican whose district includes Arlington Park, said he isn’t sure he’d support slots at racetracks but said he’s sure he wouldn’t support a proposal as big as Lang’s.
“I do not support a massive increase of gambling in Illinois,” he said.
Former state Rep. Bob Molaro, who represents the horse-racing industry, said Lang’s bill has a 50-50 chance of passing, because “the time is now,” and Illinois needs that extra influx of revenue.
“You’re talking about an extra $400 (million) to $500 million just from (a) Chicago (casino) going to the state treasury, education or debt relief — and that’s something that we can’t pass up,” Molaro said.
With the current legislative session six days from its scheduled conclusion and the various sides in this issue — business, trial lawyers, organized labor and the medical community — deadlocked, it’s looking more and more like lawmakers could vote to abolish the entire workers’ compensation system rather than crafting reforms.
Abolishing the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and forcing all workplace injury claims into the already crowded Illinois court system sounds like a terrible idea to us. But not any more terrible than a system that freely pays out millions of taxpayer dollars to prison guards who claim injury from operating prison locks. If the parties most affected by the workers’ comp system aren’t willing to compromise, as appears to be the case, the so-called “nuclear option” might be the only alternative.
As shown by the Department of Corrections case, the state itself may have been the system’s greatest victim.
In April, Gov. Pat Quinn presented a package of reforms to restrict or eliminate monetary awards in some circumstances, reduce the medical fee schedule for injuries by 30 percent (it still would be the highest in the country) and create strict new rules for hiring and reviewing workers’ comp arbitrators. With a Republican-sponsored bill in the Senate containing similar provisions, a compromise appeared within reach. It still should be.
If not, though, we side with Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, who is leading negotiations in the Senate: “If we can’t do it by agreement by all parties, then we’ll do it by the repeal of the act. Maybe people at that point will be inspired to discuss a workers’ compensation act.”
When we heard that House Speaker Michael Madigan is threatening to blow up the Illinois workers’ compensation system we thought, hmmmm, he’s probably not serious but that’s a nifty little attention-grabber.
The more we hear about the stonewalling of work comp reform efforts in Springfield, the more Madigan’s idea is grabbing our attention. We hope he is serious. […]
Meanwhile, the special interests who feed well off of the work comp system are busy trying to run out the clock on the spring legislative session so they can avoid a serious reform effort. Hence Michael Madigan’s threat that, absent reform, he’d move to eliminate the system and throw the comp cases into the courts.
Illinois tried fixing work comp in 2005. The Legislature passed a sham of a bill that failed to relieve the state of its uncompetitive costs: Goodbye, jobs. Hello, fraud. Illinois has some of the highest work comp costs in the nation, far, far above national averages. That’s a huge disincentive for employers who might think about locating in Illinois.
If no agreement is reached, alternative bills would dismantle the century-old workers comp system and send injured workers back to circuit courts. Legislators report some support among their ranks for this approach, but it has real downsides. Workers would have a harder time proving their injuries were work-related and would have to wait years for redress. Employers would face virtually unlimited jury verdicts.
Ending the workers compensation system would uproot a century of reforms. Fixing workers comp once and for all is one deal that needs to get done.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The enhanced legislation…
• Removes the provision that some characterized as an “automatic rate increase.” SB 1652 now calls for the ICC to set rates after an eight-month proceeding where utilities must persuade the ICC and intervening parties that investments are prudent and reasonable.
• Includes stronger performance standards for utilities with penalties if targets are not reached. The more stringent standards include reliability, customer service and job creation goals that hold utilities accountable.
• Lowers utility profit levels to lower than ICC’s latest case and adds ceiling above which profits must be given back to customers.
• Mandates that if the average residential rate increase exceeds 2.5% annually by 2014, the program terminates.
• Sunsets the entire law in 2017 requiring the utilities to reapply to the General Assembly to continue the program.
• Reduces rate spikes by requiring a utility to spread large expenses over five years.
The new bill addresses stakeholder concerns. Other states are on the move, and we need to get moving building the energy infrastructure the 21st century is demanding. The time to act is now.
* Most of you probably don’t know that my maternal grandparents were born and raised in southern Illinois. Grandma was from a farm near Carmi, and Granddad was from a farm near Enfield. Granddad moved his family to Pontiac, but when they were flooded out he started all over on a farm in Milks Grove Township in Iroquois County. Both of my grandparents kept in touch with friends and family back home, so I learned quite a bit about southern Illinois through them.
Anyway, my family’s heritage combined with the fact that my mom was literally swept away by a violent flood in Pontiac when she was a kid (she and her sister were sitting in an old bathtub, but were thankfully rescued) brought back a lot of old memories during the recent flood down ‘yonder. Here’s a short video of what happened to Carmi…
* When I heard about a planned June 4th benefit for flood victims, I immediately volunteered to help. The ad on this page is donated and I’ve contributed to the silent auction. But I’ll also be contributing cash to the cause.
* And that brings me to you. Most of us watched in horror as events overtook Cario and surrounding areas last month. Here’s your opportunity to do something about it.
The “Southern Illinois Together” fundraiser is Saturday, June 4th at the Black Diamond Warehouse in Marion (2400 Black Diamond Drive). Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. They’ll have free food and wine samples, and both a silent and a live auction.
You don’t have to attend to contribute, however. The Poshard Foundation has agreed to accept checks on the benefit’s behalf. If you’re able, please send the most generous donation you can muster to…
Poshard Foundation
700 Logan College Dr.
Carterville, IL 62918
Check memo: Flood Victims
All money raised will go to local organizations which continue to help flood victims. I’m told the Shawnee Development Council, among others, will assist with the determination about who gets what.
* In his Sunday column, Bernie Schoenburg ran a list of about a dozen high-level staffers for Gov. Pat Quinn who live in Chicago or the suburbs including…
* JACK LAVIN, 49, Chicago, chief of staff…
* CRISTAL THOMAS, 35, Chicago, deputy governor…
* DAVID VAUGHT, 63, of Naperville…
He also had a list of seven top staffers who live in the Springfield area.
* The Question: Does it bother you that several members of Gov. Quinn’s stop staff live in Chicago and the suburbs? Take the poll and then fully explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
*** UPDATE - 1:48 pm *** I thought you might want to see how the voting is going so far. Green is “Yes” and Red is “No,” with 342 votes cast as I write this…
As you can see, this story bothers everybody who’s voted in the Springfield area.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Modernizing Illinois’ electric grid will require thousands of workers. That’s why HB 14 directs ComEd to invest $10 million in skills training centers.
The centers will be a key part of a three-year program for overhead linemen, underground workers and substation mechanics that will include classroom work, pole-climbing and setting, wire stringing, cable splicing and high voltage transformer installation training. By the end of 2010, ComEd expects to build a LEED-certified facility in Chicago and a smaller facility in Rockford to train new and current employees.
In addition to preparing ComEd’s work force for the future, the training program will create jobs at time when they are needed most. With a new Mobile Qualification Center that travels to different locations, ComEd would offer opportunities for members of the community to apply and train for well-paying jobs. An open enrollment would be held and candidates would undertake a seven-day period of preparation and qualification testing.
Building a 21st century grid for Illinois is important work. The training program outlined in HB 14 is part of ComEd’s commitment to get the job done right.
* In addition to the really big stuff, several “smaller” bills are moving through the legislative process, including this one…
House Bill 180 would require anyone picketing a funeral to be at least 300 feet away from the funeral site, instead of 200 feet.
“We need to protect those folks who are spending their last few minutes with a loved one,” said the House sponsor, Rep. Kay Hatcher, R-Yorkville.
Hatcher’s measure was suggested to her by a sociology class at Northern Illinois University.
“Illinois has the lowest yards and time restrictions for protesting,” said Gayle Deja-Schultz, 41, of Sugar Grove, who talked to Hatcher on behalf of the class.
The Illinois House on Monday approved a measure that would allow vendors to prepare foods in their home kitchens on a 97-18 vote and heads to Gov. Pat Quinn for his consideration. It previously cleared the Senate earlier this month on a 42-6 vote.
Supporters say the proposal will reduce food prices at farmers markets, encourage entrepreneurship and increase the markets’ popularity.
“We want to keep farmers markets available for the smaller growers and farmers and for those folks involved in a more unique style of agriculture,” said Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria), the bill’s sponsor. “This is an emerging area within the state, and we should do everything we can to encourage it.” […]
Opponents, including the Illinois Municipal League, meanwhile worry the plan, if signed into law, could lead to an outbreak of food-borne illnesses. They also say it strips municipalities of their authority.
Illinois lawmakers have approved two bills designed to keep closer tabs on potentially dangerous criminals in the state.
One bill, which has passed the Illinois House, would require people convicted of first-degree murder to register with the state. […]
The State Senate also approved the bill, but, because of a clerical error, senators will have to vote on it again before sending it to Governor Pat Quinn for approval.
Another bill, which has been approved by both houses, would expand the state’s DNA database by requiring police to take DNA samples from people arrested for some violent crimes and sex crimes, even if those people have not been convicted.
After the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board denied Illinois’ Cook County from transforming its Oak Forest (Ill.) Hospital into an outpatient clinic, officials are now trying to make the hospital exempt from the board’s further review, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
Illinois’ Cook County officials are trying to exempt Oak Forest Hospital from review by the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board, according to the report. […]
County officials had hoped to close Oak Forest on June 1, and began reducing operations and giving notice to staff. After the board’s denial, which stunned county officials, the hospital suspended surgeries due to the retirement of its single anesthesiologist.
The proposed legislation is sponsored by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago. Cook is the only county in the state where it would apply.
* But they all need to keep their eyes on the most important ball: Jobs…
After 60 years building dry fertilizer handling equipment in Quincy - Doyle Manufacturing is moving across the river [to Missouri].
Doyle is building a 210 thousand square foot facility just north of Palmyra on Highway 61 making a total capitol investment of 9 million dollars.
In announcing the move at ground breaking ceremonies Friday afternoon - Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said the effort to bring Doyle to the Show Me State has been going on for a while. […]
[Missouri] also authorized a $1.5 million incentive package and contributed to infrastructure improvements at the site.
* Obviously, this rate hike info is not a positive news story for ComEd as it attempts to pass a bill which critics contend would also raise consumer rates…
The Illinois Commerce Commission is set to rule Tuesday on a request by Commonwealth Edison Co. to hike electricity rates by as much as 6%.
An administrative law judge for the ICC is recommending granting ComEd a $166-million increase in the rates it charges to deliver electricity to Northern Illinois homes and businesses, or roughly 3%. That’s about half ComEd’s revised request of $326 million but substantially above the $103 million recommended by the ICC staff.
The commission must rule on ComEd’s request by May 24.
ComEd initially asked for a $396-million rate hike when it filed its proposal with the ICC last June. That would have increased the average household electric bill 7%, the utility said then.
The Illinois Commerce Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a rate hike for Commonwealth Edison Co. with some last-minute amendments that will somewhat reduce the $166 million increase proposed by an administrative law judge last month.
The administrative judge allowed ComEd a roughly 3% increase in the rates the utility charges to deliver electricity to Northern Illinois homes and businesses. That was about half ComEd’s revised request of $326 million but substantially above the $103 million recommended by the ICC staff.
The plan is gaining traction after months of contentious negotiations and a big-dollar advertising campaign, and it’s expected to be fought over this week in the Capitol.
Mostly gone would be meter readers, eventually replaced by electronic devices that upload information directly to ComEd and let customers see how much power they’re using. People then would have a choice: Stay on a flat rate and look for ways to use less power, or switch to real-time pricing and decide to run the dishwasher when the cost of electricity is lowest to save money.
Such progress, however, carries a price tag, and consumers would see a series of increases on their bills to help pay for it. ComEd says a customer who’s now paying $82 a month for electricity would have to cough up $3 per month more for 10 years to pay for the smart-grid conversion. […]
House Speaker Michael Madigan, the attorney general’s father, has expressed concerns about the Illinois Commerce Commission’s treatment of ComEd, given that he believes the company can “make a decent case for what they have proposed,” a spokesman said Monday.
That last sentence, of course, is the most important. The Speaker and the AG are on the opposite side of an issue. That’s not completely unheard of, but it’s rare enough to point out.
* In other “big stuff” news, the SJ-R reports that workers’ comp negotiations have hit yet another snag…
Workers’ compensation reform negotiations were on the rocks again Monday in the Illinois General Assembly, and a key senator said lawmakers will move Wednesday to abolish the system if the talks are not resurrected.
“I think it’s true to say that the effort has derailed again,” Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Doug Whitley said. “I don’t think it’s over.”
Whitley said he sees three possibilities with only eight days left in the spring legislative session: the legislature does nothing; the parties involved resume talks; or House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, calls for a vote a bill that would do away with Illinois’ current system of compensating people for on-the-job injuries.
But Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, the Senate’s lead negotiator on workers’ compensation reform, said there are only two options: A bill agreed to by all the various interest groups, or abolition of the system.
A state agency has hired a prestigious Chicago law firm at taxpayers’ expense to assist in its appeal of an attorney general’s order to release information related to millions of dollars in settlements paid to Menard prison guards for injuries they say were caused by operating heavy cell locking mechanisms.
The state Central Management Services, which processes Illinois’ Workers’ Compensation claims, filed suit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court seeking to deny a request for the records from the Belleville News-Democrat, contending the agency is an insurance pool and therefore allowed to withhold the information as proprietary.
Also on Monday, state Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon, introduced House Resolution 405 in an effort to get the legislature to order CMS to turn over the records.
“CMS is not authorized to play by its own rules and make their own laws as they so choose,” Kay said. “This is all monkey business. This is simply foot-dragging and they are trying to say it is OK.”
The much-anticipated legislation that could cut pension benefits for public employees, including participants in the TRS and SURS systems, has been delayed once again.
Senate Bill 512 is the vehicle bill that is expected to contain proposals to reduce pension benefits for public employees covered by the five state-funded retirement systems.
Before the bill can be voted on in the Illinois House, it must be amended, with the pension language inserted, and then must be approved by the House Personnel and Pensions Committee.
Under the House rules, the committee vote can’t occur until 24 hours have passed since a bill was amended. Since SB 512 was not amended today, the bill cannot come before the Committee until at least Wednesday, and then, only if it is amended on Tuesday.
The unveiling of the pension bill has been considered imminent for more than a week. The repeated delays in the amending of the bill speak volumes about the lack of enthusiasm many House members have for cutting pension benefits for current public employees.
The Illinois House [yesterday] sent to the governor’s desk a bill designed to protect small craft brewers’ ability to enter the market.
The measure, approved 112-0, would allow certain small Illinois brewers to distribute half of their own beer.
In most states, the alcohol business is composed of three “tiers”: a manufacturer, a retailer, and a distributor. The system, put in place at the end of Prohibition, was designed to ensure a properly regulated market.
Small craft brewers have argued that it’s difficult to attract distributors with an unknown product and, therefore, it’s necessary to peddle them to bars and liquor stores directly and gradually establish a following. Anheuser-Busch, however, has argued that it’s discriminatory to allow in-state brewers to self-distribute when out-of-state brewers are not granted the same privilege
*** UPDATE 1 *** Oops. Forgot to post this one. Yesterday during a committee testimony, it was revealed that Health Alliance and Humana were instructed to remove contact information from their websites. The pages urged customers to contact Gov. Quinn and state legislators about the governor’s decision to change insurers for government employees and retirees. Republican Sen. Dale Righter had this to say…
“I am stunned and deeply disappointed that the Governor’s office would urge anyone to pull information off of a Web site containing the contact information for public officials on an issue as critical as this,” said Righter. “For an administration that touts transparency and openness, the message they sent through these actions is unbelievable.”
Earlier this year, Governor Quinn and Julie Hamos, Director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, HFS, announced that state employees and retirees would no longer have access to Health Alliance or Humana as health insurance providers. Neither the Governor nor the Director, nor any of their representatives chose to appear for the May 23 hearing.
“The fact that it was during the hearing that we first learned of this maneuver to keep information from the public makes it easier to understand why no representatives from Governor Quinn’s office nor the Department of Healthcare and Family Services thought it necessary to attend Monday’s hearing,” explained Righter.
Sen. Righter and Sen. Bill Brady then led an impromptu “march” to the governor’s office to protest the order.
DHFS spokeswoman Stacey Solano said the department did ask for some information to be removed. People who click on the benefits choice website can link to various insurance vendors and their state of Illinois plans. By contract, she said, the state must approve information that appears there.
“That site was built for the state and is what we have control over,” Solano said.
When people attempted to get to the Illinois information, she said, material was instead posted about the insurance dispute.
“Members had to filter through all of that before gaining access to their plan,” Solano said. “According to contracts with our vendors, the state must approve all communications to our members. The state did request vendors to remove references to the award and or protest linked to the state website, as it wasn’t approved and prevented members from being able to directly access their health plans.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor’s office just called to say that Blue Cross was also asked to take down its pop-up window that introduced itself to its new customers.
* Sears CFO Collins quits: Michael Collins, Sears Holdings Corp.’s chief financial officer, has left the company “to pursue another opportunity,” according to a regulatory filing filed today… Mr. Collins’ resignation came one day after Sears reported a wider quarterly loss than expected.
State Treasurer Dan Rutherford threatened Monday to short circuit attempts by Illinois lawmakers to borrow money to pay down a massive backlog of bills.
Rutherford, a Republican in his first term, said he doesn’t have the constitutional power to stop a long-term borrowing plan favored by Gov. Pat Quinn and some Democrats in the House and Senate, but he said he’d call bond houses and financial rating firms to outline how deep the state is in debt in an attempt to derail them from lending the state money.
“If I need to send letters to the rating companies to tell them the treasurer of Illinois is opposed to more borrowing, I’m going to do that,” Rutherford said. “We need to cut our spending and break our unsustainable borrowing cycle before we realize a further financial disaster.”
* His statements were actually even harsher than that. Watch the video…
* Quotes…
“My position is you can’t borrow any more money… And if it means I have to get ahold of the bond houses and let them know that I agree with you, that we are a major risk, and I’m the finance officer of this state, I intend to do those kind things if that’s what it’s going to take to keep Illinois from going into further debt.”
* Rutherford’s press conference came after I told subscribers yesterday that the Senate was preparing to vote on four different bills to borrow more than $6 billion over seven years. Democratic Sen. John Sullivan is the sponsor of those bills…
(L)awmakers are maneuvering to pass a measure through the General Assembly that would bypass any authority Rutherford has.
“I don’t have a vote on (the Senate plan),” said Rutherford. “If it’s long term, I can’t stop it.”
State Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, said Republican and Democratic lawmakers must approve any borrowing, and Rutherford’s approach to handling Illinois’ massive pile of unpaid bills bothers him.
“Right now we’re using school districts, universities, private companies and health-care providers — we’re using them as our credit card,” said Sullivan. “They’re carrying that debt for us.”
Sullivan said he agrees with the treasurer that Illinois does not need to take on any new debt, but paying off old bills is taking care of old debt.
“To say that this backlog of these unpaid bills the state has should not be included in [Rutherford’s] statement, that seems to not make any sense whatsover… To make the statement that he is going to call the bonding companies and discourage them from doing business with the state of Illinois to drive up the cost of borrowing just seems very counterproductive… He’s making the point that it costs more to [borrow] and on the same hand he’s taking steps… he’s going to drive up that interest cost even more. Instead of working with us, it’s like he’s working against us.”
* Neil Steinberg asks a good question in his column today: What if fixing teachers is the easy part? He references the recent education reform legislation which passed both chambers of the General Assembly and reprints an e-mail he received from a teacher…
I thought you’d enjoy this (or sigh). I’m a high school teacher in the south suburbs, and was making several calls home last week. The semester is ending, and one student in particular is far from passing. I’d called home before and sent grade sheets both with the student and by mail, all with no response from Mom. In fact, this student had my class before and failed it.
As I reviewed all of that, Mom asked what could he do now to make it up. I told her I would put a packet of missing work together he could do for a late grade. The only requirement, I told her, was that it had to be in Friday.
“No, he won’t be able to have it then,” she said. When I asked why, she told me he’d be “out for a week.”
Extended absences like this usually mean a suspension, and I asked if that was the case. It would not have been his first.
“No, no — we’re going to a family reunion. And he’s going! I already paid for the shirt.”
Pretty soon the sun will be blasting and the humidity will jump on us like a wildcat. Combine that with school letting out, a record high 27.5 percent teen unemployment rate and crippling budget cuts to programs that help keep kids off streets, and it won’t take too long for our children to grow restless and violent.
That’s not an exaggeration. Violence is known to flare up during summer, and children are about to be caught in the crossfire of Chicago’s seemingly unstoppable gun violence and shrinking youth resources.
“I strongly believe this is going to be one of the worst summers ever,” said Hector Escalera, a Cook County juvenile probation officer who covers a police district that includes Little Village. He is worried because grants have dried up for programs that keep kids engaged and safe during the long summer months.
“It’s not even summer yet,” he told me, and Little Village already has seen several murders and “recently a kid got stabbed. We have a lot of issues in the community, and if we don’t provide youth with mental health, education and work opportunities, we are going to lose the battle.”
Advocates for early education are rallying against a proposed 5 percent cut to the Early Childhood Block Grant in the FY 2012 budget with a comprehensive 23-year study (PDF) that shows preschool proactively saves the state of Illinois $530 million a year.
The research touts savings from things like special education and criminal justice costs, while also strengthening the tax base with a better-educated workforce. In FY 2010, a 10 percent funding cut to the same grant meant 8,000 fewer children in Illinois were enrolled in state-run preschool programs. If the proposed 5 percent cut is passed in this General Assembly for the upcoming fiscal year, the option of attending a state-funded preschool would be eliminated for another estimated 4,300 young children, the study said.
The cost-savings analysis was commissioned by the Ounce of Prevention Fund, Illinois Action for Children and Voices for Illinois Children. The data dates back to the late 1980s, when Illinois began to funnel money to preschool programs that were meant to prepare young children between the ages of 3 and 5 years-old for success in K-12 education, something the study calls “an investment.”
That investment, according to the study, has resulted in tremendous savings for schools and taxpayers alike. In K-12 savings, it’s estimated $21.9 million to $32.9 million are saved in school spending for special education because preschool can often prevent or remedy potential issues through early intervention for things like speech or language problems. Another $2.5 million to $3.7 million is saved in grade repetition — attributed to school readiness through preschool — alone. Between $172 million to $259 million is also reduced in government spending — some $146.8 million of that is attributed to having fewer youths in the juvenile criminal system.
Monday, May 23, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Gaming expansion cannot be smoking expansion!
A survey of Illinois’ casino gamblers by the Center for Policy Analysis (CFPA) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth finds that a large majority of this state’s casino gamblers either prefer casinos where smoking is prohibited on the gaming floor or it does not matter to them.
According to the random sample poll, conducted from April 27 to May 9, 2011, 45% of respondents who had visited a casino in the last twelve months say they are more likely to visit a casino where smoking is prohibited on the gaming floor. 31% say it doesn’t matter. Only 24% say they are less likely to visit a casino where smoking is prohibited.
Like the rest of us, gamblers are cutting back mainly for economic reasons: 40% cite the increased cost of gasoline and 35% cite the increased cost of living, while others blame loss of income (16%), falling behind on bills (15%), job loss (12%), and declining home values(11%).
Will allowing smoking in casinos increase state revenues? Not really! In fact, bringing back smoking could set Illinois’ casinos further behind: 36% of casino gamblers who smoke report that they too either prefer a smoking prohibition on the gaming floor or say it doesn’t matter. Think smoking and gambling go together? Actually, smokers do not constitute a disproportionate percentage of casino gamblers in comparison to the state’s general adult population.
Want a real, politically viable revenue option? Raise the cigarette tax!
School sales taxes approved by voters would no longer have to be endorsed by county boards as well under a bill passed by the Illinois Senate on Thursday.
“We let the taxpayers decide … and if they vote in favor of it, then obviously they want it,” bill sponsor Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville, said.
Sen. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga, himself a former Iroquois County Board chairman, said it is important to keep the county board involved, as a school sales tax would affect an entire county.
However, proponents said voters know better what they want than their representatives at the county level.
The proposal limits the tax increases to a quarter of a point.
* The Question: Should voters be allowed to approve quarter-point school sales tax increases without their county board’s approval? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
* A couple of editorials have been published recently about the benefits of closing state institutions and transferring residents to group homes. From the SJ-R…
Among those institutions that Quinn rendered closure-proof are eight state facilities — in Dwight, Anna, Centralia, Dixon, Jacksonville, Kankakee, Park Forest and Waukegan — that house people with developmental disabilities. For years, advocates for the developmentally disabled have tried, with very limited success, to persuade the state to move away from reliance on institutions and toward greater use of residential group homes and community programs for those with developmental disabilities.
At the same time, programs that serve the developmentally disabled and their families have suffered through years of steady cuts to their budgets and long delays in payment from the state. These are organizations like Sparc in Springfield, which operates small group homes, runs programs that provide employment for the developmentally disabled and provides important services to families of children with disabilities.
Quinn’s budget proposal for fiscal 2012 proposes to cut $76.3 million from these types of programs while increasing the budgets for state institutions by $30 million. It’s time for the state to realize that both financially and therapeutically, that formula is backward.
Housing an individual in an institution costs about $190,000 a year, or roughly four times the cost of living in a community setting, says Tony Paulauski, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, a consortium of roughly 60 agencies that serve the developmentally disabled and their families. Paulauski points to studies that show Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in the number of people housed in institutions and is 47th in the amount it spends on community services that keep people out of institutions and allow them to lead more productive lives.
Unfortunately, Gov. Pat Quinn has targeted some of Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens for his least sensible cuts.
Experts in the field calculate that in his proposed budget for 2012, Quinn whacks $76.3 million from community services for the developmentally disabled: That includes people with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other challenges. At the same time, Quinn directs $30 million in additional spending to state institutions that serve far fewer residents at much higher costs. His budget similarly favors institutional care for mental health over a community-based approach. Along the way, he would forgo tens of millions in federal matching dollars.
How wrongheaded can you get? For decades now, other states have moved away from institutionalizing the developmentally disabled and mentally ill in government-run facilities — with great success. Care is better, and costs far lower. Indiana recently went in that direction, and the results have been positive.
Across Illinois last year, more than 130 cases of abuse and neglect were investigated and confirmed in group homes for adults, a 33 percent increase compared to 2006, according to government documents obtained by The Associated Press. The reports of mistreatment and outright cruelty at the hands of low-wage workers with scant supervision, illustrate a mostly overlooked problem in Illinois.
The numbers reinforce concerns about the treatment of group home residents as the alleged beating death of a disabled man at a home in eastern Illinois has led to proposed legislation that would tighten state oversight and allow the public to more easily see abuse and neglect reports. The bill has passed the Illinois House and is expected to be considered next week in the Senate.
State funded and privately operated, group homes rely heavily on low-paid workers — some moonlighting a second job — to care for an increasing number of adults with autism, mental retardation and other disabling problems. […]
“The minimal wage makes it difficult to screen out some people who are less-than-savory characters,” said Jim Lopresto, executive director of Southern Illinois Community Support Services, an agency that runs group homes. “We kiss a lot of frogs. At the rate of pay we’re offering, that’s what you run into.”
After the horrific alleged murders committed by staff at a Downstate group home, it would be prudent for this state to look before it leaps.
Smaller can usually be better, but these homes have to raise their standards. The state spends $340 million a year on group home care for less than 10,000 residents. That’s still cheaper than institutionalizing them, and the AP story provides no data on abuse at state-run facilities.
Also, those 130 reports of abuse and neglect equal just over 1 percent of all residents in group homes. That’s quite small overall, but the problems at Graywood need to be examined much more closely to make sure this never happens again anywhere else.
* As I’ve been telling subscribers for a while now, there’s big trouble with the pension reform bill, and it’s coming from what some might expect is an unlikely corner: The House Republicans. HGOP Leader Tom Cross, of course, has been pushing the pension reform bill for months on end, but some of his members are starting to balk…
Sara Wojcicki, a spokeswoman for Cross, the House Republican leader, declined Friday to answer questions about what kind of trouble the bill faced in Cross’ caucus, what changes members are suggesting and how much more current employees will be expected to pay for their benefits.
“This is a very complicated issue and we are working to finalize the bill,” Wojcicki said. “There are many issues still to be resolved in the next couple of weeks.”
But Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, an opponent of charging more for benefits, said the bill faces serious problems among Republican members.
“I think Representative (Raymond) Poe had the best comment on that. He says, ‘If you don’t have any teachers in your district, then go ahead and vote for change,’” Brauer said. “To change somebody’s pension after they’re hired is wrong.”
Maybe things will turn topsy-turvy next week, but right now it doesn’t feel like there are only 10 scheduled days left in the General Assembly’s spring session. There just doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency around the place.
There’s plenty of stuff lawmakers could still do, from the budget and remaps to gambling expansion, workers’ comp, pension reform, utility rates and on and on. But it’s not hard to find lawmakers who think most of that stuff will be put off until the fall.
Either the next week will be one of the busiest ever for lawmakers, or the whole session will end with a whimper instead of a bang.
He’s right that a whole lot of issues are on the bubble at the moment. But there is lots of urgency behind the scenes as the clock ticks down to May 31st. For instance, gaming expansion…
Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka on Sunday threw her support behind a city casino.
She is urging the general assembly to authorize one before the end of the legislative session on May 31st.
“World-class cities have casinos,” said Topinka. “Having a casino here would help with tourism, with jobs - it would certainly put some money back in the till both for the city as well as the state, but I think you have to be responsible as well.”
Illinois Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association Executive Director Lanny Brooks has spent days lobbying in Springfield during the spring session on behalf of horse owners, and said an amendment will be added to a bill that could bring on-site gaming to the state’s horse tracks.
“I feel better than I did ever before,” Brooks said.
Brooks said he has spoken with the bill’s sponsor, Gaming Committee Chairman Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, and was told an amendment will be added to the gambling expansion bill, which includes on-track gaming as well as a new casino in downtown Chicago and two new riverboat casinos in the state. The amendment is expected to be formally introduced at 9 a.m. Wednesday before the House Executive Committee.
If the sudden agreement not to talk about workers compensation reform is any indication, negotiators in Springfield might be getting close to a deal.
It’s a deal that Illinois needs to boost its image as an employer-friendly state. But any deal must also be fair to everyone with a stake in the system.
* I’ve kinda lost track of where the school reform trailer bill is going, but the Tribune editorial board glosses over the real issue at stake…
Chicago Teachers Union officials are pleading with lawmakers to change the provisions in the bill that set a high bar for a teachers strike. The bill says that a strike can be called only if 75 percent of the union members vote to approve it. We won’t get into the arcane details, but the debate now focuses on who would get to vote on a strike authorization. The CTU demands changes in separate legislation that would make it easier to hit the 75 percent threshold and send teachers to the picket lines.
There’s good reason to oppose this effort to dilute the reform bill. Chicago has aggressive new leadership coming to the school system. Those leaders will have significant new tools to improve education, thanks to the reform bill on the governor’s desk. But Chicago schools also face a large deficit, and spending cuts are likely. This is a critical time for Chicago’s children. As the schools navigate through the reforms and the budget, parents need to know that Chicago teachers will be in the classroom to teach their children.
They don’t get into the “arcane details” because that would mean explaining that the CTU wants the 75 percent threshold to apply to members who are eligible to vote. That really doesn’t seem all that unreasonable. Debatable, perhaps, but not unreasonable.
* Sunday’s extensive remap coverage is here. You’ll also notice that just above the news feeds on the far right side of the page is a new pull-down index of handy remap links. Check ‘em out and provide us more links in comments if you can find them.
* Last night, the Senate Democrats passed three shell bills over to the House which will likely be used as vehicles for the new maps. The Senate Republicans cried foul. From a press release…
Senate Democrats apparently short-circuited the ability of individual senators to offer changes to the once-a-decade redrawing of state and congressional district boundaries on Sunday.
By passing three “shell” bills to the House which contained no content, the Senate likely surrendered the opportunity for members to offer up amendments or changes to the measures.
As the measures were being pushed through during a late Sunday afternoon session, Deputy Senate Republican Leader Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) said the “shells” were being rushed through to make it easier for Democrats to adopt a final map “before anyone has got a chance to catch their breath, and look at the lines and figure out what’s going on.” […]
The three bills passed on party-line votes in the Senate (SB 1177, SB 1178 and SB 1179) contain nothing more than titles. The maneuver allows the House to add all the detail to the legislation and then send it back to the Senate for a single up or down vote with no opportunity for Senators to offer individual amendments.
Senate Republicans will now have to hope that their House counterparts can introduce amendments for them, if that’s even allowed.
Shortly before the hearing, House Democrats released racial and ethnic data behind the new districts they drew. The map shows 16 districts with a population of voting-age African-Americans ranging from 50.08 percent to 62 percent. It also showed 11 districts in which voting-age Latinos make up 50.4 percent to 78.3 percent of the population.
Combined with Senate districts devoted to minorities in the map, 39 of the General Assembly’s 177 seats would come from boundaries in which a majority of voters were from racial or ethnic groups.
But the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations said at the hearing that lawmakers could have crafted 57 such “minority-majority” districts. The group noted that under the current boundaries, there were six House districts with 65 percent or more of voting-age Latinos — a figure that would drop to three in the new map.
The rare Sunday hearing highlighted a fissure among groups advocating for greater Latino representation that developed a day earlier during testimony by a state Senate remap panel. Democrats had hoped in the mapmaking process to placate two key constituencies even though Latino population increased in the state while black population dropped significantly, primarily in Chicago.
Statehouse paranoia and angst always are at an all-time high every 10 years in Springfield.
Why? The new state legislative district maps are drawn, and that highly political process always involves generous amounts of partisan mischief-making and revenge.
This year is no different. The Democrats control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, so they can pretty much draw any map they want as long as they follow federal and state voting rights laws which protect minorities and other “communities of interest.”
The Republicans, locked out of power and influence, just knew they were in for a beating, and they got one. In many respects it probably wasn’t as bad as it was 10 years ago, when the Democrats drew a map so solidly partisan that the House and Senate Democratic majorities easily survived one of the biggest Republican landslides in history.
Partisanship aside, though, imagine being told that the only way to keep your job was to sell your house and move your family a few miles, or even a few blocks. That’s what some legislators have to go through every 10 years during remap season, and it’s what quite a few Republicans are facing — again — this time around. Several have been mapped into districts with fellow Republicans. One of those legislators in each of those districts will have to retire, move or suck it up and run in a primary against a fellow GOP legislator.
So, when Republicans like state Sens. Kyle McCarter and Dave Luechtefeld are put in the same district, reporters heard some very angry complaints. Luechtefeld’s house has essentially been pulled out of his old, deep southern Illinois district and put into a new district farther north that is (for the most part) currently represented by Republican Sen. John O. Jones. Jones’ house has been put in what is now Luechtefeld’s district. A big chunk of McCarter’s current district has been shoved at fellow Republican Sen. Sam McCann.
Confused? That’s the whole idea, man.
A new map usually means representing new territory, and that means legislators must get to know thousands, even tens of thousands of voters who have no idea who they are. That can be a dangerous thing in these politically volatile times. But in the case of Luechtefeld and Jones, they have to either familiarize themselves with almost 200,000 new faces or move, or retire.
The Republican pairings are quite numerous. Sens. Tim Bivins and Christine Johnson are in the same district. The Democrats even paired Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno with Sen. Ron Sandack. Sandack likely will run for a House seat.
Over in the House, southern Illinois Republican state Reps. Ron Stephens and John Cavaletto are in the same district, as are central Illinois Reps. Dan Brady and Keith Sommer. Eastern Illinois Reps. Chapin Rose and Bill Mitchell have been put together.
The mischief goes beyond pitting two Republicans against each other. Northwest suburban Republican Rep. Sid Mathias has been placed in the same district as Democratic Rep. Carol Sente. The district clearly favors Sente, so Mathias will either have to move or take a big risk.
Clearly, some of these folks had better hope the housing market improves soon.
And it’s not just the pairings which grate on the minority party’s nerves every ten years. Much of Sen. Dave Syverson’s Rockford-area district was taken from him so the Democrats could create a very favorable district for Marla Wilson, whom the Dems backed against Syverson last year.
I could go on, but I’m pretty sure you get the idea. Keep something in mind here if this all makes you angry. Two constitutional amendment were proposed awhile back to change the way districts were drawn. Backers of both proposals fell far short of the required petition signatures. Some of the same Republicans who are griping now about the way the maps are drawn probably should’ve put a whole lot more effort into one or both of those amendment petition drives.
Many of those Republicans might not have worked on those constitutional amendments because they figured they’d win the governor’s race and that would be enough to block the Democrats from drawing the map without a fight. After all, how could they possibly lose after Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment and during an inept Pat Quinn administration? Oops.
A Hoffman Estates man who finished a close second in the Democratic primary race for Illinois comptroller in 2010 said Saturday he is eying a run for Congress in 2012.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, 37, said he is forming an exploratory committee Monday to seek the 8th Congressional District seat currently held by Republican and tea party favorite Joe Walsh, who defeated three-term Democrat Melissa Bean of Barrington by 291 votes last November. […]
Krishnamoorthi says he would expect to challenge Walsh in an 8th District that includes the Northwest suburbs. Bean has said she will not seek her old seat, and Krishnamoorthi is the first Democrat to launch an exploratory committee in a congressional race that should draw national interest in 2012.
* Remap roundup…
* Dems on redistricting defensive: Republicans and groups like the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and Change Illinois said the Democrats are rushing to approve a map and are not being open enough to the public. State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, criticized a legislative maneuver referred as a shell bill, which is essentially a placeholder for latebreaking proposals. The map could be placed in a shell bill and fast-tracked to a vote
* State legislative maps released, but may change: “Ten years ago the Democrats put out one map, waited a few days and then they put out another map that had substantial changes to it, including in downstate districts. So everyone, whether they’re involved in the political process or not, needs to take a deep breath and recognize that this thing is very much drawn in pencil now.”
* New legislative map could split Mendota: Mautino’s district — the 76th — would change slightly. The northern border in Mendota is U.S. 34, which leaves part of the city in the 90th district, represented by Jerry Mitchell (R-Sterling). Mautino’s district also would expand east to include Ottawa and Marseilles; currently, the 76th district includes only part of Ottawa. The 75th district, represented by Pam Roth (R-Morris) would lose part of Kankakee and Iroquois counties, extending north instead into Kendall County.
