* Here we go, campers. Session restarts next week. Seven weeks of craziness are heading our way. Get some rest. You’re gonna need it.
* Jamey Johnson is right out of the old school “outlaw” country genre and he’s become a new favorite of mine thanks to a particularly cool friend. I absolutely love this song, man…
A day after he defied his security detail and ran into a burning house to save a woman’s life, Newark Mayor Cory Booker says he’s a good neighbor, not a superhero.
The mayor of New Jersey’s largest city was treated and released from the hospital after suffering smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on his hands Thursday night.
With a bandage around the thumb and first finger of his right hand, Booker said he felt terror, not bravery as he dashed through the flames with the woman over his shoulder. Though many are hailing him as a hero, he said he did what anyone would have done.
“There are people who do this every day. There are firefighters who do this every day. I am a neighbor and I did what any neighbor would do,” Booker said at a news briefing Friday.
The woman Booker helped save is in stable condition at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston with burns to her back and neck. The mayor described her as a close friend who has been his neighbor for six years.
* The Question: With snark heavily encouraged, what do you think our state’s most prominent leaders would do if their neighbor’s house was on fire?
Concerns about the shaky state budget, a new union labor contract and threats to alter state retirement plans have triggered a major exodus of state employees.
The State Employees Retirement System, which administers pension benefits to state government workers ranging from prison guards to child welfare workers, is projecting a more than 40 percent spike in the number of people retiring during the fiscal year ending June 30.
The system’s executive secretary, Tim Blair, said the state is on track to see more than 4,000 workers join the ranks of retirees this year, compared with about 2,750 last year. […]
The Department of Corrections has already seen more than 680 workers retire this fiscal year. The Department of Human Services has the next highest number of retirees at 585.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s spending proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 allocates money for about 51,500 workers, down from about 54,500 when he took office in 2009. It remains unclear whether the spike in retirements will drive that number even lower.
I’ve talked to several state employees over the past few months who’ve said they were getting out while the getting was good. That’s probably a decent plan, considering all the state’s problems.
A new survey of Chicago area mid-size businesses found 30 percent considered moving to another state in the past 12 months.
The firms weighing exits mainly were manufacturers with $10 million to $25 million in sales, according to Cole Taylor Bank’s first Business Owners Confidence Index survey.
The survey did not ask companies to give reasons for considering relocation, though it did ask them to identify local challenges. Those included taxes, competition, cost of materials, red tape and government interference and local budget crises.
Nearly 80 percent rated Illinois economic policy as poor, while 52 percent gave that assessment of national policy. The survey did not ask for views on specific policies.
Um, not quite. I checked with Cole Taylor Bank and got the exact wording of the poll question…
In the last 12 months, has your business considered relocating outside of the Chicago area? [Emphasis added.]
“Outside of the Chicago area” could mean Downstate.
Also, since those businesses are still located in the Chicago area I’m not sure this is much of a story. Yes, they considered leaving, but they stuck around or they wouldn’t have been polled.
Also, this is an Internet poll, which isn’t mentioned in the article. However, company execs were contacted via e-mail, so it is not a self-selected universe.
* That’s not to say there aren’t problems here. There are. Many of them. This poll result is telling…
What is the most challenging aspect of conducting business in the Chicago area?
Taxes 26%
Competition 12%
Expenses, materials 10%
Red tape, government interference 8%
Government uncertainty, budget crisis 7%
More than two-thirds (67 percent) of Illinois business owners plan to grow their businesses over the next six months — up from last fall’s reading of 61 percent.
And more than half of Illinois entrepreneurs — 52 percent — have a positive outlook on the economy, but they’re slightly less enthusiastic than their national counterparts, 56 percent of whom on average are optimistic about the nation’s economic prospects.
These are just a few of the findings in the latest American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, a survey of the nation’s small-business owners released each spring and fall since 2002. […]
More than 4 in 10 Illinois business owners (41 percent) are planning to hire within the next six months, up from last fall (34 percent). More than 1 in 10 (11 percent) are currently recruiting for an open position. As for the economy, more than one-third of Illinois business owners (38 percent) would say we are still in recession, nearly one-third (32 percent) would say we are recovering and 25 percent say the economy is stagnant. Nearly 8 in 10 (76 percent) Illinois business owners say the economy stresses them out, down from last fall (83 percent). Sixty-three percent of Illinois business owners report having cash flow issues, down from last fall (70 percent).
* Caterpillar CEO’s pay package grows 42 percent in 2011: The CEO of heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. saw the value of his compensation jump 42 percent to $14.8 million last year as the company’s global sales grew nearly as much. An Associated Press analysis of a document the company filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment gave Doug Oberhelman $1.4 million in salary plus stock options worth $8.3 million and incentive pay of $4.9 million.
* Industry lobbying for Illinois to extend life of enterprise zones: Illinois’ system of enterprise zones, a set of incentives extended to businesses aimed at stimulating economic growth, are set to expire within the next couple of years, but lawmakers and industry groups want an extension. Groups such as the Illinois Manufacturer’s Association are pushing for passage of Senate Bill 3688, which would increase the lifespan and number of enterprise zones. Mark Denzler, IMA vice president and chief operating officer, said that without action by the governor and the General Assembly, eight of the zones will expire next year. The enterprise zone in Springfield expires Dec. 31, 2014.
* Taxed by the boss: Across the country more than 2,700 companies are collecting state income taxes from hundreds of thousands of workers - and are keeping the money with the states’ approval, says an eye-opening report published on Thursday.
* Report: Few states effectively track tax breaks: Most states are doing a poor job tracking whether their tax breaks for businesses are actually spurring job growth, including some that have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into corporate incentive programs even while grappling with record deficits, according to a new report. The report released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States found that no state regularly takes a hard look at the effectiveness of all of its tax breaks. Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C., do little if any evaluation, including Illinois, which is among the states facing major budget struggles.
* Cook County wages silent battle against IL cottage food: But the Cook County Department of Public Health isn’t taking registrations, citing an ambiguity in the Illinois Local Food Entrepreneur and Cottage Food Operation Act, which requires “a unit of local government” to take registrations, not necessarily the local health department. “It’s not our responsibility to take on additional work unnecessarily,” said Sean McDermott, spokesman for the health department and a county alderman.
* The Speaker introduced a similar proposal last year, but local governments opposed it, so Madigan revamped the idea…
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Wednesday proposed making it tougher to approve increases in pension benefits for public workers throughout Illinois, an idea immediately opposed by the state’s largest employee union.
The Democratic leader from Chicago introduced a state constitutional amendment that would ask voters this fall to require the Legislature to approve pension benefit increases by a three-fifths vote instead of a simple majority.
The stricter voting requirement also would apply to city halls, school districts and their retirement boards.
The measure would need to pass the House and Senate by early May for it to go before voters in November.
The latest proposal is aimed at dozens of bills introduced over the years to sweeten government workers’ pensions. The piecemeal changes add up. The rub is that most of those proposals get nearly unanimous support, anyway.
In the Teachers Retirement System alone, legislative changes have added more than $2 billion to the state’s unfunded liability since 1996, or 6 percent of the total growth in the state debt to the system, according to TRS figures.
The largest state-employees’ union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, opposes Madigan’s plan, while the Illinois Municipal League views it “very favorably.”
House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said he supported the measure but echoed AFSCME’s repeated concerns about the $80 billion debt.
“Our real focus needs to be on how to reduce the unfunded liability,” Cross said.
The TRS told me and Northwest Herald readers – many of whom are teachers – there was nothing to worry about. TRS denied the crisis before running the numbers themselves, and attacked the credibility of people who suggested that the pension funds could belly up.
But when their actuaries finally looked at the numbers, they found that the retirement fund that so many in Illinois are counting on could run dry in less than 20 years.
Maybe in political terms, 2029 is far away. Maybe it’s another doomsday date that few legislators still will be around to see, so they don’t understand the urgency for reform.
But to a 45-year-old teacher, 2029 is right around the corner. Last week’s news that the TRS could be insolvent means her pension fund might run out of cash precisely at the time she hopes to retire.
* The TRS FY 2012 contribution grows by 3% each year for 37 years
o TRS is insolvent in 2049 ($2.9 billion deficit)
* The TRS FY 2012 contribution of $2.4 billion is frozen at that level for 37 years
o TRS is insolvent in 2038 ($8.4 billion deficit)
* The FY 2012 contribution is cut to 60% of the original level and stays frozen at $1.4 billion for 37 years
o TRS is insolvent in 2030 ($434 million deficit)
Nobody is talking about doing any of those things. Period. This is a total non-story.
* The National Rifle Association’s annual convention is this weekend in St. Louis. I’ve been thinking about heading down there and checking out the scene. The NRA’s website has a list of new products that will be showcased, including…
According to the NRA, that’s the Heizer DoubleTap tactical pocket pistol, “the smallest and lightest .45 ACP concealed carry on the market.”
* The Question: What, if any, restrictions should be put in place if Illinois makes it legal to carry a concealed handgun? Explain, please. Thanks.
* It’s easy to just say “Cut people off All Kids coverage if they make too much money.” But, as always, there is a very strong human dimension to any budget cut. WBEZ has an article about one of the 4,000 children who will lose All Kids coverage on July 1st, because her family makes more than $60,000 a year…
The Wright household is wrapping up dinner this weekday night. Vinita Wright cooked fried rice and husband Jim rinses bowls as he loads the dishwasher.
The couple has guardianship over Sara Opsenica, the daughter of a family friend. Sara’s a high school freshman diagnosed with cancer, specifically, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Vinita shows me a bag of liquid Sara gets hooked up to overnight.
VINITA WRIGHT: This is nutrition. We call it TPN. I don’t know what that means. But it’s basically nutrition. There are lipids in it, that’s why it’s white. it’s a fatty substance.
Sara’s prescriptions, hospital visits, chemotherapy have all been paid for underAll Kids. Sara was diagnosed last fall but had been on All Kids for several years. Sara’s father had been unemployed but he’s now a shuttle bus airport driver, and his health insurance coverage is haphazard; he’ll be off it a while, then he’ll have coverage, only to be off again. The family says All Kids has been a relief.
SARA OPSENICA: My dad doesn’t make a lot of money. We just have Social Security because my mom passed away. The All Kids have paid for everything. I don’t think - we have a small co-pay of my prescriptions but I don’t think my dad has gotten any hospital bills. […]
Back in Chicago’s West Chesterfield neighborhood, Vinita Wright is considering what will happen to Sara Opsenica, the girl in her care. Vinita says Sara’s chemo treatment should last another 16 months, but All Kids runs out in less than three.
VINITA WRIGHT: There’s so much stress connected to this cancer business…to not have to deal with a whole other several layers of stress having to do with which bill do we attempt to pay first.
Cutting Medicaid will be without a doubt the toughest vote some legislators will ever take in their careers.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune recently looked at the Medicaid numbers…
• Stop services for people who simply don’t qualify. Some recipients don’t even live in the state. Some make too much money to get health care designated for the poor. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 people can be removed, saving $100 million to $700 million a year. Julie Hamos, director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, is moving to scrub the rolls.
• Speed the switch to managed care to save money and improve quality of care. Managed care generally means patients are assigned a “medical home” — a doctor (it could be an HMO-style clinic) who oversees their care. Doctor and hospital fees are geared to delivering better health care, not just more of it. So far, only a fraction of those patients have been switched to managed care. The state now says it can dramatically pick up the pace, moving some 85 percent of Medicaid recipients into managed care by the end of fiscal 2013.. Savings: $200 million to $500 million a year. We’ve heard these promises before, though. Time to deliver. […]
Prescription drug coverage costs Medicaid $814 million a year. Eliminating that wouldn’t be wise because many drugs help control chronic conditions and prevent expensive hospital stays. But drug coverage can be prudently trimmed. If Medicaid recipients were limited to five prescriptions a month (there are virtually no limits now), the program would save a whopping $136 million. Several states have done this. The hope is that a limit would force doctors to better coordinate recipients’ prescription drug care. Possibly on the block: Illinois Cares Rx, a supplemental drug program for seniors that doesn’t draw federal reimbursement. It costs $72 million a year.
There’s lots more on the table, such as hospice care (about $89 million); adult dental care ($51 million); durable medical services and supplies such as wheelchairs and ventilators ($150 million); adult speech, hearing and language therapy ($411,000); podiatric services ($5.8 million); bariatric surgery ($8.4 million); group psychotherapy for nursing home residents ($14 million); even therapy for refugees who were torture victims in their native countries ($133,000).
All of that still doesn’t come close to $2.7 billion. That’s why there’s a 6 percent cut for hospitals and nursing homes in play. Savings: $550 million. Hospitals argue that the state should exhaust other options before trimming providers, who are already reimbursed at low rates. But providers likely will feel some pain. “Everybody,” the governor says, “will take a haircut.”
* And Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute has a couple of smallish proposals…
Recent research suggests that instead of arbitrarily reducing access to prescriptions, policies focused on improving adherence — that is, ensuring that patients take their prescriptions as prescribed without missing doses — hold more promise for cost savings. A study conducted by economist William Encinosa and colleagues has demonstrated how increasing adherence among diabetes patients can reduce hospitalization rates and save on health-care costs. Another study, by Dr. Michael Sokol and colleagues, examined adherence among high cholesterol and hypertension patients, in addition to those with diabetes and found similar results. New techniques and technologies have been shown to effectively improve prescription drug adherence. Private insurers have particularly strong incentives to coordinate care in this way, as is the case for Medicaid managed care organizations that include pharmacy services.
In addition to saving money by reducing hospitalizations, another option the state could consider is ensuring that Medicaid patients receive the lowest-cost version of a given prescription drug. Research I have conducted on wasteful spending in the Medicaid drug program found that all too often states reimburse for a version of a drug that is more costly than another product with the exact same active ingredient, dose, form and bottle size. I estimate that the Medicaid drug program wasted $329 million nationwide in 2009. In Illinois, taxpayers could have saved about $11 million if the cheapest version of a given pharmaceutical had been consistently dispensed.
The lawyer for indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith says the Chicago Democrat plans to return to work in Springfield despite numerous calls from him to step down.
Victor Henderson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Smith “takes his responsibility as a state representative very seriously” and that Smith told him he’ll return to the General Assembly shortly.
I seriously doubt that anybody is gonna talk to that guy when he gets to town. He’s been indicted for federal bribery charges, for crying out loud. Everybody will figure he’s out to cut a deal with the feds, so they’d better keep their distance.
And then there’s the problem of allowing somebody to vote on legislation after he was caught on tape allegedly (and blatantly) accepting a bribe. Yes, he’s innocent until proven guilty, but, I mean, really. C’mon, man. His triumphant return could speed up the process of his own expulsion.
* In an impassioned column arguing against the closure of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center, Phil Kadner takes Gov. Pat Quinn to task…
I have tried to tell myself that Gov. Quinn has to be a realist, while Citizen Quinn could afford to be an idealist. But then I remember that a governor’s job is to lead and that Quinn claimed he could be a great leader.
Quinn, you may recall, vetoed a bill that would have expanded casino gambling in Illinois. He felt it was immoral to hand slot machines to racetrack owners.
Those slots could have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue for the state. But it was dirty money.
Hurray for Quinn! He took a moral stand.
But where’s the morality in cutting funding for mental health? How good can it feel to know that many people who are ill will end up in jails and prisons instead of medical facilities?
I hate to connect gambling to health care, but it’s just one example of something the governor could’ve done to avoid these cuts. Citizen Quinn, I’m sure, could have come up with something better.
Yes, the governor is faced with tough choices. But the victims of his choices too often seem to be the politically powerless who cannot defend themselves.
Citizen Quinn would have recognized that and become their public champion.
