* I’ve been telling subscribers about this over the past several days. I didn’t want to point it out when I posted the Speaker Madigan video because of that. The SJ-R watched the video and filed this report based at least partly on that…
[E]mployees will be offered a stark choice: Take a lesser COLA or you will not receive access to the state’s health care plan for retirees and your pay raises will not count toward your pension.
That’s different than Gov. Pat Quinn’s original plan, which would’ve simply cut off government subsidies for retiree health insurance if an employee didn’t move to the newly created, lower-tiered pension plan. This plan would mean employees would not be allowed to purchase state health insurance when they retire if they stay in the current retirement plan.
For employees that began work before Jan. 1, 2011 who are in the tier 1 set of retirement benefits, they receive an annual, 3 percent compounded COLA.
Madigan said the new COLA would be the same as it is for those employees who began work after Jan. 1, 2011 and receive tier 2 retirement benefits. They get the lesser of 3 percent or one-half the urban consumer price index and their COLA is not compounded.
That means if a retiree has a $50,000 pension and the consumer price index is 2 percent, they would receive a COLA adjustment of 1 percent, so their pension would be $50,500 the next year. If during the next year, the consumer price index was 4 percent, they would receive $51,000 the year after that.
The plan will also phase-in a shift of the pension costs to local school districts, universities and community colleges, an idea staunchly opposed by legislative Republicans.
* The Senate has adjourned until Monday at 2 o’clock. The House is, as I write this, planning to return tomorrow morning. But nobody wants to say yet whether they’ll be in Sunday. Check the live blog for updates.
* Meanwhile, I’ve been working out of my home all day today because I look like I got punched in the eye. It’s really just a harmless little eye stye, but it looks ugly and the hot rag trick ain’t working yet. And before you say anything, yes, it looks uglier than usual. Whatever. The roast was two months ago.
* Anyway, I haven’t decided yet what to do about comments. I’ll probably close them, though. While I decide, here’s some music that I’m sure you’ll like.
John Fullbright is one of the very best singer-songwriters to come along in years. He is burning up the Red Dirt scene and amazing critics far and wide.
The kid has literally blown my mind. You can hear some of his great new album here, but you must watch this…
Well the sky is raining fire
But I think I’ll go to bed
‘Cuz there ain’t much you can do
When it rains down on your head
Except pray and beg for mercy
From this hell you created
On the corner of Satan and St. Paul
Springfield, Illinois —State Senator Tony Munoz (D-Chicago) is sponsoring legislation that was brought to him by the Cook County State’s Attorney that will help in the prosecution of criminal gang activity.
“By passing this legislation, we are giving the State’s Attorney’s Office the ability to go after people who are using others to carry out illegal activities,” said Senator Munoz, a member of the Senate Executive Committee. “This measure closes a loophole in the law that currently does not allow for the prosecution of a person who dictates violence.”
House Bill 1907 creates the Illinois Street Gang and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Law, an Illinois-focused version of the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act.
This amendment gives prosecutors a tool to target criminal enterprises and specifically target the organizers and leaders by proving that these individuals have engaged in a pattern of criminal activity.
“From my years on the force, I can tell you first hand that is how common it is for gang leaders to shield themselves by seeking out younger recruits to carry out their illegal schemes. The expectation is that these at-risk youth will avoid harsher penalties that are applicable to adults, especially those with criminal records,” stated Alfonza Wysinger, a First Deputy Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.
This measure has passed the Senate and now goes to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
* Mayor Emanuel has weighed in as well…
I commend the Illinois State Senate on the passage of House Bill 1907 - a critical tool that will give local law enforcement the power to prosecute gang leaders for crimes that they ordered others to commit. I’d like to thank State Senator Tony Munoz, State Representative Mike Zalewski and State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez for their leadership on this important legislation that will close loopholes that have allowed violent gang leaders to escape punishment for their crimes. If someone wants to be part of a gang, we will hold them responsible for the actions of the entire gang. This law sends a clear message: the streets of Chicago belong to the law-abiding residents of Chicago. I urge the House to act swiftly in concurring with the Senate.
* I’m just wondering how long it’ll be before a new RICO law is expanded to include other stuff. This sounds good on paper, but criminal laws are always toughened and expanded every year. Plus, there are 102 state’s attorneys in Illinois of varying degrees of competence and partisanship.
Breaking up street gangs is a great thing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for it. But will this stay so narrow in the future?
* The Illinois Channel scored an exclusive interview with House Speaker Michael Madigan. The Speaker talked mostly about Medicaid and pension reform. I highly recommend that you watch the whole thing.
* For those of you who can’t watch videos at work, Madigan is asked: “Speaker, as you just mentioned, 42 years [of public service]. Do you think you have another decade in you?”
“That’s just the beginning,” Madigan joked.
* The Question: How would you rate Speaker Madigan’s job performance so far this session? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Famed Statehouse lobbyist, primo White Sox fan and top notch election law attorney Andy Raucci’s birthday is today. Let’s all wish him a happy birthday with a caption contest, shall we? Get a load of that shirt, man…
* If you were watching yesterday’s live session coverage, you already know that large blocs of the Medicaid restructuring package were either passed or advanced yesterday. By far, the best story about yesterday’s action in any newspaper was written by Doug Finke. Some excerpts…
The House voted 94-22 and the Senate voted 44-13 to adopt the cuts in Senate Bill 2840, which range from outright elimination of some programs – like Illinois Cares Rx, a prescription drug assistance program for seniors – to taking extra steps to ensure that those receiving aid are entitled to it. The bill now heads to Quinn’s desk. […]
Also as part of the package, the House and Senate sent Quinn a bill that would allow Cook County to enroll more people in the Medicaid program using local and federal funds, but not state funds. The vote in the House on House Bill 5007 was 62-55 and 35-22 in the Senate. […]
In an attempt to appease Republicans, who came under fire from right-wing groups for considering something that helps implement Obamacare, Democrats offered another bill, Senate Bill 3397, that would restrict the number of unpaid Medicaid bills that the state can carry over from year to year. The state would be be allowed to carry over only $700 million to fiscal year 2013 and $100 million to fiscal year 2014. […]
Those three bills are linked — if one of them fails to pass or isn’t signed by the governor, the others also will fail.
“The governor likes the cigarette tax,” Cross said. “The governor does not like what we call section 25, which prevents him from putting bills off. That’s why you’re seeing some of those connections.”
Another piece of the package will combine a $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase and property and sales tax exemptions for hospitals, according to Danny Chun, spokesman for the Illinois Hospital Association. The bill number for this portion is expected to be Senate Bill 2194, but the language has not yet been filed.
Cross said he expects some Republican House members to vote for the cigarette tax increase. Most believe every bill in the package will have to collect support from both Republicans and Democrats, because the solutions are so unpalatable.
Sen. Dale Righter, a leader on Medicaid issues for Senate Republicans, said he doubted any of his GOP colleagues would support the tax increase. If the tax doesn’t pass, Democrats would be forced to return to the bargaining table to consider more spending cuts, he said.
The Senate Democrats have twice passed a cigarette tax hike without Republican votes, so they’re probably not needed this time, either.
Some of the most controversial cuts in the plan are the eliminations of maintenance dental care for adults and Illinois Care Rx, which is a prescription drug program that helps low-income seniors pay for their medicine. Approximately 180,000 seniors would be affected by the loss of the Illinois Care Rx program. The cut to adult dental care would affect 172,000 Illinoisans. “We believe that these cuts in human terms are very damaging. People will not get less sick because we made these cuts,” said William McNary, co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois. According to McNary, the cut to the Illinois Rx program is the biggest reduction in the plan, and it will cost the state more in the long run if seniors are not able to get the prescription drugs they need and end up in nursing homes.
Under the reductions, adults who have oral infections could get a tooth pulled. But Dave March, director of government relations for the Illinois State Dental Society, said most oral surgeons, who would perform an extraction in an emergency situation, do not take Medicaid. He said patients with oral infections often end up in emergency rooms, which have little to offer them. “All they can do is give them antibiotics and send them away.” He said that such infections left untreated can turn into life-threatening abscesses.
Those who opposed SB 2840 argued there are other options legislators could have considered, such as fund sweeps, applying sales tax to services and closing some of the corporate loopholes to help the state bring in more revenue instead of cutting Medicaid. “There’s lots of things, ladies and gentlemen, we can do rather than putting senior citizens and disabled people out on the street without having access to their health care,” Chicago Democratic Rep. Mary Flowers said during floor debate.
Members of the Black Caucus and the Latino Caucus came out strongly against the bill in both legislative chambers. “Once we push that green light, are we pushing people into the grave? That’s the question that we really need to ask ourselves,” said Sen. James Meeks, a Democrat from Chicago.
Proponents acknowledged the pain that the plan would cause but said the changes are needed to keep the system from collapsing because the state cannot afford to reimburse providers. “There are going to be people who get benefits today under the Illinois Medicaid program … who will no longer receive them. Or they’re not going to receive them in as convenient of manner as they do today, and that’s going to be tough on some people,” said Sen. Dale Righter, who served on the legislative working group that negotiated Medicaid reform.
“This is not immoral,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican. “What would be immoral in my mind would be to sit back, pretend there’s no problem” and let the system fall apart.
* Dave McKinney writes about something we pointed out yesterday…
Included in those cuts is a provision affecting 536 children with “medically fragile” conditions who live at home on ventilators or who require around-the-clock nursing care, like Letty Young. For the first time, their families would be asked to share more in the state’s costs for their children’s highly specialized services, saving the state $15 million.
Hamos told reporters that families in the agency’s Medically Fragile/Technology Dependent program will have to begin paying $400 a month co-payments, on average.
“We thought it was fair, in the world we live in, that there be some co-payments,” Hamos told a House panel Thursday.
But Myra Young, Letty’s mother, said that isn’t something her family can afford and may necessitate moving her daughter, who was born with congenital fiber-type disproportion, permanently from their two-bedroom condo at North and Clark into a hospital under a different Medicaid program that would ultimately wind up being more costly to the state.
“My daughter was in the hospital for her first nine months. She was diagnosed at about 2œ months old. She couldn’t breathe on her own. She had no muscle tone. She struggled to keep her eyelids open. She had no movement,” Young said.
“The cost-sharing is not really an option. We can’t afford it,” Young said. “There’s no way for families — my family — to be able to do this. The costs are so exorbitant. How they think that’s the place to make the big cuts is just unbelievable.
“This isn’t the life we expected,” she continued. “I think a lot of people don’t realize this could be them. This is a spontaneous, genetic thing. It could be anyone. People need to get behind us. This could be their loved ones.”
* Related…
* Illinois Legislature passes $1.6 billion in Medicaid cuts
* Illinois House passes bill to cut $1.6 billion from Medicaid
* Illinois Legislature approves $1.6B in Medicaid cuts
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan says it would be unconstitutional to force current state employees to work to age 67 before collecting full retirement benefits.
Madigan told The Associated Press Thursday that he will not raise the retirement age as part of package to cut pension costs. The Chicago Democrat says delaying retirement for current state workers would violate the Illinois Constitution.
“By no means am I a proponent of expanded gambling, but you take a look at this bill and the benefits to agriculture I think outweigh any detriments in the bill,” said Brown, a freshman lawmaker. “When agriculture is the number one industry in our state I think it’s got to be a priority, not only in this bill but in several other bills.”
Both Barickman and Brown, as well as Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, said they would vote for an override if Quinn vetoed the bill. Until the recent past, Jakobsson had opposed any gambling expansion.
“Everyone knows we’re in a crisis as far as our revenue, and I believe that by putting people to work and giving them jobs, they’ll need fewer of our services. As people are working that will eventually balance things out.
“You know we talk about the social ills of gaming but look at the social ills of unemployment.”
I must hear that question a half- dozen times a day at the Illinois Statehouse. So, I’ve developed a standard retort.
“Man, there’s never any good news in this building.”
Despite struggling the past year or so to overcome decades of misrule and mismanagement, Illinois has not yet been able to right itself. Unemployment is falling, but it’s still way too high.
The state government’s credit rating has been bruised and battered for years and is now in danger of falling off a cliff.
Despite a huge income tax increase, the state is still carrying billions of dollars in unpaid, overdue bills. The tax increase was eaten up almost entirely by gigantic annual pension payments, which the state made worse by skipping or skimping on for years.
Pensions and Medicaid spending is are gobbling up almost 40 percent of the state’s budget. And if nothing is done right now, in just a few short years the mountain of overdue Medicaid bills alone will be higher than what the state spends on its annual budget.
In other words, even with the income tax increase, there’s no money left to dig out from under that pile of overdue bills. Not to mention that “natural spending growth” (without adding a single new program) is eating up every dollar and more of natural revenue growth. Even without those unpaid bills, the state simply can’t afford to keep paying for everything it already does.
A corporation or individual in this sort of trouble would probably just declare bankruptcy. But states can’t declare bankruptcy.
Instead, the state has to look for politically popular revenues and make politically unpopular budget cuts.
The new revenues have to be popular because yet another unpopular tax increase this close to the election would surely be the final kiss of political death.
Cigarette tax increases are consistently far and away the most popular revenue stream out there. So, that’s part of the plan to help patch the gaping Medicaid budget hole, which is a whopping $2.7 billion.
People always say they want budget cuts, but they never like the actual cuts. Cutting Medicaid programs and kicking a hundred thousand people off the system won’t be popular at all.
But the ugly, harsh political reality is that a large number of Medicaid recipients live in Cook County, where the Democratic primary is the real election. And that election was this past March.
So, politically, those cuts are easier to make.
But just because they’re politically easier, that doesn’t mean legislators who represents lots of poor people will be voting for those cuts. They won’t. I don’t blame them. All politics is local. I get it.
What cannot be allowed to happen, however, is one group of legislators dictating to everyone else how things should go.
Legislative Black Caucus members announced Wednesday that they wouldn’t be voting for the Medicaid cuts, but they also said they wouldn’t oppose the cigarette tax increase. Doing so would’ve created big problems because without that tax increase the cuts would have to be even worse.
Democrats, mostly, will be voting for the cigarette tax increase. Republicans, mostly, are voting for the cuts, despite the tax increase.
And that’s how it should be, as long as it gets done. Individuals can and should make their point about an individual issue without obstructing the entire process.
So, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there is good Statehouse news.
Except that even the good news is bad. Snatching health care away from poor people is not exactly something to be proud of.
That column was due before the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved Medicaid cuts. Few expected that many Democrats to be for the bill, including me. But it’s still a good sign that spines are stiffening in Springfield.
* Illinois Review raged yesterday against Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno for having “permitted (or urged)” five lame duck Republicans to vote for HB 5007, which allows Cook County to add 100,000 people to the Medicaid rolls without any cost to the state government…
HB 5007 - sponsored by State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) and Jeffrey Schoenberg (D-Evanston) passed in a 35 to 22 vote, with no questions or discussion on the Senate floor. And despite the fact that its passage did not require Republican votes, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno permitted (or urged), five lame duck GOP Senators to cross over and vote with the Democrats.
The vote indicates how the Medicaid-Obamacare vote on SB 2840 is likely to go down. Shane Cultra, Tom Johnson, John O. Jones, John Millner and Suzi Schmidt broke ranks, damaged the GOP anti-tax brand, and possibly cost Republicans seats come November. None of them are on the ballot this year and therefore have no accountability to the voters.
Of course, Radogno’s deal did allow four Democrats in tough races to vote against the bill. Democrats Forby, Haine, Jacobs, and Sullivan got a pass thanks to Radogno and the five others.
Um, how, exactly did Radogno’s alleged deal allow “four Democrats in tough races to vote against the bill”? It takes 30 votes to pass a bill in the Senate. Five Republicans voted for it. The bill got 35 votes. If all five Republicans had voted against it, the bill would’ve still received 30 votes without those four Democrats. If anything, it showed how silly opposition was to this bill because people who aren’t running for reelection didn’t care about political threats over nothing.
And there wasn’t a single tax hike in that bill, so I’m not sure how it “damaged the GOP anti-tax brand,” or can see how it cost the GOP some seats. What’re the Democrats gonna do to a bunch of lame duckers anyway?
Friday, May 25, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Something about HB3881 doesn’t smell good, and it’s not the Cook County landfills the bill seeks to ban.
The bill is just a solution in search of a problem. Not a single Cook County official, municipal mayor or village manager has asked for this legislation. South suburban mayors are opposing the legislation because it undermines their ability to do what’s best for their communities. More should join them.
Today, communities make their own decisions on how best to manage their own land use and waste issues. Local communities, for example, have authority to permit or deny new landfills from operating. That approach works, so why change it?
The bill, in one fell swoop, snatches home rule authority right out from under scores of communities. If Springfield lawmakers can legislate what’s best for communities on this issue, what’s to stop them from gutting their home rule authority even further?
Ultimately, this is an issue about communities doing what’s best for their residents and not having our future dictated to us by Springfield politicians, big businesses or their lobbyists.
Springfield has much work to do, so let’s keep local issues out of the hands of state lawmakers.
* Poll: City residents don’t want speed cameras: The survey logged opposition to speed cameras from 54 percent of those questioned, while 69 percent said money — not safety — was behind the mayor’s push to install automated equipment that will nab and ticket lead-footed drivers near parks and schools. The disparity between those results suggests that even some of the 43 percent of voters who said they back cameras nonetheless harbor doubts about the mayor’s stated reasons for wanting them. Just 22 percent of those surveyed agreed with Emanuel that the purpose of his speed camera program was to protect children.
* Subscribers knew about this development earlier in the week. Sen. Michael Noland sponsors the Senate Bill that was used as a vehicle for Rep. Elaine Nekritz’s “eavesdropping bill.” The proposal, which took months to craft, would decriminalize audio recording of on-duty police. Doing so is currently a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
* Noland told me that he thought the Nekritz bill was “bad law” and “superfluous.” He didn’t repeat those claims to other reporters, but check out what he wants to do…
Senate Bill 1808’s chief sponsor, Sen. Michael Noland, D-Elgin, wants to include a provision that would allow police officers to make audio recordings of citizens in public places. The proposal currently allows only members of the public to record officers.
“We don’t want an unfettered ability for law enforcement to record our citizens, but if they have probable cause … to approach somebody on the street,” Noland said. “If you’re approaching someone on the street with a video camera, there’s notice that the whole world is watching. When the whole world is watching, people tend to behave better.”
Noland is refusing to give up sponsorship of the bill, and he also is refusing to call it for a concurrence vote in the Senate. That means the bill is dead.
Noland’s suggestion also might be unconstitutional, said Josh Sharp, director of governmental relations for the Illinois Press Association. Sharp referred to Article 1, Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution, which states that people have the right to be protected against “invasions of privacy or interceptions of communications by eavesdropping devices or other means.”
“That makes it clear to me that police can’t have unlimited surveillance power,” Sharp said. “If we were to pass that bill (with Noland’s changes), it would be found unconstitutional.”
Sharp is absolutely spot on.
* Despite the fact that Noland thinks Nekritz’s bill is “bad law,” he wants to combine both ideas on a new vehicle…
Noland told Illinois Statehouse News he’s not stalling the bill, but he wants to “reconcile” the move with recent court rulings that deem the law unconstitutional, and add additional provisions to allow police to record civilians.
Josh Sharp is government relations director for the Illinois Press Association, a media and First Amendment group. He says courts are all but asking the General Assembly to address the issue. Three courts have found the law unconstitutional, but prosecutors can still try to enforce the current law, Sharp said, leaving it in limbo.
“There’s no reconciliation needed. The courts have said you cannot criminalize activity protected by the First Amendment,” Sharp said. “We’re just looking for an up or down vote on the bill as it passed the House.”
Noland said he thinks the bill could pass before the end of the legislative session next week.
* The famed US Attorney is leaving office next month. But he says there will be no campaigns and no criminal defense work in his future…
Fitzgerald — who oversaw prosecutions that sent two Illinois governors to prison for corruption — said he’s 100 percent certain he won’t ever seek elective office.
“I am not wired to campaign for anything or run for elective office, period,” he said. […]
Asked if he might consider doing what many former federal prosecutors have done and become a criminal-defense attorney, a potentially lucrative field, Fitzgerald, who is paid $155,000 a year as U.S. attorney, smiled and said, “Can you imagine me as a defense attorney? I respect what defense attorneys do. I won’t do anything I don’t feel comfortable because that’s not me.”
Though he dismissed the prospect of running for office, Fitzgerald made clear he isn’t ruling out some future post in government.
“I love public service,” he told reporters, speaking in public for the first time since announcing his resignation Wednesday. “Public service is in my blood.”
* The Senate Republican aversion to any government increases in taxes and fees no matter what was highlighted again yesterday when a bill requiring “concentrated animal feeding operations” to pay permit fees passed the Senate and was sent to the governor.
The bill establishes a fee for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) that have National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to discharge pollution into waters of the U.S. The annual fees, though very minimal, are needed to fund the IEPA’s permitting program, which is required by federal law.
All other regulated industries such as municipal sewage plants and industrial processing facilities already pay permit fees.
To date, they have been paying for the CAFO program because livestock operations have always been exempt from paying fees. However, numerous CAFOs have been found discharging and they should contribute to the cost of regulating their own pollution.
The number of farms that will be required to have a permit will be extremely limited, impacting only a small number of farms… IFB supports HB 5642.
* Even with that farm-based support, 15 Republican Senators voted against the bill. Sens. Brady, Cultra, Dillard, Duffy, Tom Johnson, LaHood, Lauzen, McCann, McCarter, Murphy, Pankau, Rezin, Righter, Sandack and Syverson all voted “No.”
* There is another side to this issue. State funds are subject to sweeps. And while the state hasn’t done any sweeps the past few years, it’s always possible that the fee money will be snagged for use elsewhere.
* The Question: What do you think of a vote against a limited fee increase which is supported by the industry being targeted?
* I’ve been warning subscribers about this development for almost two weeks. The Black Caucus made it official yesterday via press conference…
Most people in Springfield have been planning for next year’s budget with the idea that there would be a $2.7-billion cut in Medicaid, the state’s program of health care for the poor.
That includes the budget Senate Democrats voted for. […]
Shortly before the Senate vote, black legislators came out as a united front, protesting the Medicaid reductions.
Rep. Mary Flowers, a Democrat from Chicago, says cutting benefits like prescription drugs is a lose-lose proposition. […]
With just a week left in the legislative session, the fight over Medicaid seems to be holding up a broader budget agreement.
There are more problems with Medicaid than this, but without Black Caucus votes, the benefit/eligibility/provider cut package can’t pass unless Republicans also support the plan. Subscribers know more about that aspect.
* Meanwhile, the Senate Democrats pushed through their own budget yesterday…
emocrats rammed a budget plan through the Illinois Senate Wednesday, but the state’s financial blueprint for the coming fiscal year is far from being complete.
With the House still working to craft a bipartisan spending plan, action in the Senate was viewed as more symbolic than a finished product.
Republicans in Senate called the $33.7 billion proposal budgetary “sleight of hand” and a “sham” and wondered why Democrats weren’t waiting until there was more agreement with the House and Gov. Pat Quinn.
“I don’t think that we want to be in a position of waiting for the House to pass a budget. We want to get the process rolling. We don’t know whether we will get to an agreement [on Medicaid] yet or not, yet. So we are going to move a budget to the House and continue negotiations,” said Sen. Heather Steans, who sponsored two of the three budget bills that passed tonight.” […]
“So it’s more important to beat the House than it is to pass a sound budget that’s premised on everything that’s necessary to pass a budget, like what’s going to happen with Medicaid, the central issue in the entire budget? We are in such a rush to beat the House that we would rather do it fast … than do it right?” Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican, asked during floor debate. Murphy said that the proposal would not put the state on track for financial stability when the recent income tax increase rolls back in 2015.
Democrats argued that Republicans have not presented a plan of their own, and the massive cuts they say they want would never be politically viable on either side of the aisle. “We think we’re doing this right. I could also suggest, if you don’t like this approach, we’d be happy to entertain a bill from you suggesting how we might do the budget,” Steans said. Democrats say that their budget is responsible because doesn’t spend more than the state will take in next fiscal year, and it would address $1.3 billion in overdue bills. The proposal would dip into money that is usually automatically transferred out of the General Revenue Fund and special funds to pay down the bills, and Steans said the money would not be repaid to those funds. […]
Sen. Dale Righter predicted that the history of last year would repeat itself. “It’s … a chamber squabble for you folks. It’s to beat the House of Representatives. And here’s what’s going to happen: You’re going to go through all this turmoil over here and all this grief,” Righter, a Republican from Mattoon, said. “And what’s going to happen is these budget bills are going to zoom over to the House of Representatives, and they will meet exactly the same demise as your budget did last year.”
* This schtick of the Republicans not presenting their own cuts - even via amendments to the Senate Democrats’ budget bills - is really getting old. The Democrats extrapolated overall Republican budget demands (which I told subscribers about several days ago) and came up with some numbers…
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said the kind of cuts being demanded by Republicans would slash $446 million from education and $350 million from human services.
“It would be impossible to pass a budget with those cuts,” he said.
* But the SGOPs did make one very good point. From a press release…
Buried within a budget plan approved by Illinois Senate Democrats on May 23 was a $1.5 million earmark for a little-known program that is supposed to recruit and train parents and community leaders to become teachers.
The problem is, the program has already received more than $19 million in its first six years and only produced 29 teachers. That’s an average of $662,000 per teacher.
In fact, only 54 individuals have ever graduated from the program, which works out to $356,000 per graduate. Although students who fail to graduate or who do not take teaching jobs are supposed to repay their educational costs, most are “counseled out” of the program, which does not require a repayment.
Digging deeper into the statistics – a total of 615 students have started the program since it’s beginning in fiscal year 2006. That works out to a dismal graduation rate of 8.7%.
Despite the massive failure of the program, the Senate Democrat budget would provide a total of $1.5 million for the program.
Where does the money go? The program hands out grants to 15 consortia around the state. One of the requirements of the program is that each consortia must include at least one “community organization,” one school district, one two- or four-year college, a teachers’ union or a regional office of education.
Before approving the budget, Democrats added back money to keep the Jacksonville Developmental Center open. It was slated to close under an earlier version of the budget.
The spending plan also provides money to cover only about half of state employee health insurance costs next year. That would give Gov. Pat Quinn more leverage in union contract negotiations, Steans said.
* In other news, I received a desperate call today from a woman who’s trying to stop what she says would be devastating cuts to a crucial Medicaid program. Here’s her e-mail…
Dear Rich Miller,
House amendment 4 to SB 2840 includes a section, on p. 81 of the new amendment, that guts the Medically Fragile Technology Dependent Waiver for children. This program provides home nursing for 500 children with ventilators and other medical technology. The result of this amendment would be hundreds of children taken away from their families and hospitalized permanently, at three times the cost of care under the current program.
The new amendment would limit this program to families who earn 500% FPL or less, and imposes exorbitant copays that many families will be unable to pay. It also (p. 70) removes a guarantee in current law that states children with an institutional level of care or higher are eligible for home and community based services.
Here are the most important things to know about this issue:
1) This legislation could lead to hundreds of children being cut out of this program. These children are so medically complex that most of them will end up hospitalized permanently. It only costs $188,210 a year to care for these kids at home, but it costs $660,000 to care for them in the hospital, three times as much.
2) SSA law requires that the state cover costs for these children in a hospital/institution, but does not require them to cover home based services. Therefore, the state will be paying three times as much per child for every child who is cut off the program. Only 23 children would need to be hospitalized to erase all of the proposed savings.
3) Both Equip for Equality (Illinois’ federally-appointed Advocacy and Protection agency) and the Arc of Illinois have stated this legislation is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act as interpreted by the Olmstead Supreme Court decision. Both groups have written letters to the Governor and others expressing this fact. [See http://www.thearcofil.org/arc-fights-changes-to-medically-fragile-technology-dependent-childrens-waiver for the ARC of IL; the Equip for Equality letter is not yet on their website–we have an advance copy if needed.]
4) A family of 3 who earns 500% FPL would have to pay 246% of their income in order to keep their child at home, which is obviously impossible. $188,210 is the average cost of care, and some children have much higher costs. You would have to earn 1500% FPL just to break even after taxes for the average kid, and more than 2500% FPL for a sicker higher-needs child.
We have at least 17 families who are willing to be interviewed and have invited media and legislators into their homes. Our families are desperate–their children are about to be taken away from them because on paper it would save money, when in reality it would actually cost more.
I have attached a background information packet for your reference as well as our most recent press release. Please help us!
* I’ve been telling subscribers about this development for the past several days…
One piece of Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to overhaul state employee pensions may be facing a tough sell with lawmakers.
As part of his proposal to ease the cost of the state’s retirement programs, Quinn has called for the re-tirement age to be boosted to 67.
But, a key Democratic negotiator Wednesday raised red flags about the concept, saying it could trigger a wave of retirements that could result in far less savings for the state.
“There is some feeling that that is a tougher pill to swallow and that creates a rush to the door that we don’t necessarily want to create,” said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook.
Nekritz, however, cautioned that no provisions have officially been ruled out in the bid by lawmakers and Quinn to overhaul employee pensions.
Everything is still really fluid, but that specific Quinn proposal has hit a brick wall so far. We’ll see how it goes.
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
At a time of tough choices, the single largest job-creation plan in decades is now before the General Assembly.
SB 1849 is a gaming solution that would create more than 20,000 jobs and bring in $200 million in new annual revenue to Illinois. It would be an economic shot in the arm for our state, and we can’t afford to pass it up.
Illinois workers need a jobs plan. Unemployment in the state stands at 9 percent, families are struggling to make ends meet and the effects of the recession have further endangered thousands of already existing jobs, like the more than 30,000 statewide agricultural jobs that SB 1849 will save.
The job creation boost SB 1849 would provide is why major voices from Illinois’ organized labor community support this gaming solution. Supporters include Illinois AFL‐CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor, IBEW Local 134, SEIU Local 1, and UNITE HERE Local 1.
These labor groups and over 80 members of the Illinois Revenue & Jobs Alliance know this bill would be a “win” for the state of Illinois and its residents. Legislators ought to pass SB 1849 – and start putting workers back on the job.
* As I’ve often said, gaming expansion is never accomplished without the support of all four leaders and the governor. This time, at this point, the governor is opposed, but legislators are hoping to do it without him…
Offering up a direct challenge to a resistant Gov. Pat Quinn, the Illinois House resurrected a huge expansion of legalized gambling Wednesday that includes a land-based casino in Chicago, four more on riverboats - including one in Danville - and allowing ailing horse-racing tracks to add slot machines.
Quinn responded to House approval with ridicule, asserting the measure “continues to have major ethical shortcomings.”
The 69-47 tally was two votes shy of what would be necessary to overcome a Quinn veto — something the Democratic governor promised to do last year with a similar bill. But in a state starved for cash, Rep. Lou Lang, the bill’s sponsor, was confident that tax revenue of at least $300 million a year would change the Democratic governor’s mind.
“I’m hopeful that with the vote total we got today that the governor will decide that economic development, job creation and saving an industry — the horse racing industry — is worth doing,” the Skokie Democrat said.
During the voting, the number of yes votes hit 71 at one point — the number of votes needed to override a veto by the governor — but two legislators changed their “yes” votes to “no” before the official record was taken.
Two lawmakers voted present, and several more legislators could have lame-duck status after the November election, making it easier to vote for more gambling. The measure heads to the Senate, where sponsoring Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, plans to call a vote next week as the Legislature nears a May 31 adjournment date.
The two “Present” votes were Speaker Madigan and Majority Leader Currie. Madigan always votes “Present” on gaming bills, so that wouldn’t matter. Currie has voted for past gaming bills.
* Gov. Pat Quinn’s official statement…
“It’s ironic that on the very day that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced his resignation, the Illinois House would pass a gambling bill that continues to have major ethical shortcomings.
“This new bill falls well short of the ethics standards I proposed in my framework last October. Most importantly, it does not include a ban on campaign contributions as lawmakers in other states have done to keep corruption out of the gambling industry and out of Illinois. Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and bordering states like Iowa, Michigan and Indiana have all approved such bans.
“It does not provide the Illinois Gaming Board with sufficient time to make critical licensing and regulatory decisions. This bill also does not provide adequate oversight of the procurement process. It does not ensure clear oversight of the proposed Chicago casino.
“As long as I’m governor, I will not support a gambling bill that falls well short of protecting the people of Illinois. It is clear that this gaming bill still needs significant improvement.
“Finally, Illinois cannot gamble its way out of our fiscal challenges. I urge the members of the Illinois House and Senate to pay close attention to the most pressing issues that we must address by next Thursday, May 31 –pension reform and Medicaid restructuring.”
OK, fine. I get it. He wanted the contribution ban. But he had an opportunity last week to cut a deal on that and he didn’t follow through. So, now, he’s getting it stuck in his eye, so to speak.
Also, and I’m probably only going to say this one more time, but chastising legislators for not focusing on the “real” problems and then flying home to do a TV press pop at a middle school didn’t help the governor’s cause at all. I’ve gotten a ton of pushback from the administration on this issue, but it was obviously a stupid move that had some consequences yesterday. Don’t do it again.
* Related…
* House passes bill allowing Chicago casino — but vote not veto-proof
* Illinois House passes gambling bill with more casinos, slots at racetracks
* I met Lance Tyson when he was working the Statehouse for city hall. He was a solid worker and respected in the building. He agreed to go to work for Todd Stroger to help settle things down over there and right the ship, but Stroger was not exactly the greatest boss in the world. Tyson did the right thing as a citizen, but he’s definitely tainted, even though his opponent probably won’t have the resources to exploit the problem…
A lawyer and aide to former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has been chosen by Chicago Democrats as a third-party candidate to challenge indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith.
The group led by Secretary of State Jesse White met Wednesday. They’ve been vetting candidates for the newly formed 10th District Unity Party.
* Ald. Jason Ervin was quite petulant after the ward committeemen chose Tyson…
Committeemen chose Tyson after two rounds of voting Wednesday. The panel split 5-4 in favor of Tyson, with the rest of the support falling to Winters.
Conyears had been considered the front-runner the day before, but her support dropped after committeemen were told she was the girlfriend of 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin, who sits on the panel. Committeemen said that although Conyears was qualified, they were concerned about transparency because the relationship was not disclosed before they began private deliberations.
On Wednesday, Conyears implored the panel “to not allow outside forces” to affect the decision, saying she should be judged on her merits and “not such a simple label.”
Ervin said Wednesday that Conyears was not given a fair shake, arguing that their relationship was well-known.
“If her only crime is by association with the alderman that had the most votes in any contested race in the city of Chicago, then that’s unfortunate,” said Ervin, who added that “there need to be some discussions” before he decides whether to back Tyson.
Whatever.
A Chicago alderman tried to put his girlfriend into the Illinois House. There are worse crimes, but that was a supremely stupid move in the wake of the Derrick Smith fiasco. He should’ve known better than that.
Tyson said he’d already secured support from unions to run in the district on Chicago’s West Side.
“I’m incredibly humbled to have gotten an opportunity to present my ideas on the free market.” he said. “It’s time to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”
As a third-party candidate, he will have to get 1,500 signatures to put his name on the ballot. Tyson said he is aiming for 4,000.
Backing Tyson was the smart move. Eddie Winters has run before, so he has experience, but he came up way short, getting less than 12 percent of the vote in the 2010 primary.
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
As opponents continue to ignore closing coal plants and rising electric costs, the REVISED SB 678 offers SAVINGS FOR RATEPAYERS and LOW, HARD RATE CAPS FOR ALL CUSTOMERS. The new SB 678 would:
• Save Illinois ratepayers an expected $437.7 million over 20 years with below-market energy costs – yes you read that right – the revised Tenaska plant would have BELOW MARKET COSTS
• Require Tenaska to absorb 100% of any cost overruns
• Cap even the possibility of a rate hike at .75% for residential customers (less than 60 cents per month);
• Cap even the possibility of a rate hike at $0.00085 per kilowatt-hour for ALL larger customers
• Postpone coal-to-natural gas portion of Taylorville plant and preserve it as a hedge against potential future natural gas price increases, a back-up plan that couldn’t go forward without General Assembly approval.
Illinois needs to take action now. As the Chicago Tribune reported on May 17:
Residential electricity rates are expected to spike more than 10% beginning in 2015, with consumers paying between $150 and $330 a year more than this year, as coal plants, the least expensive producers of electricity, continue to close.
Tell legislators you agree with CUB, the Attorney General, business, labor and environmental groups that you want a smarter energy future in Illinois.
Chicago’s longest-serving U.S. Attorney leaving office June 30
CHICAGO — Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois for more than a decade, today announced that he is stepping down as U.S. Attorney effective June 30, 2012. Mr. Fitzgerald notified the White House, Attorney General Eric Holder, and U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin and Mark Kirk this morning of his decision to step down from the presidentially appointed post that he has held since Sept. 1, 2001, making him the longest-serving U.S. Attorney ever in Chicago.
Mr. Fitzgerald, 51, has no future employment plans and will take time off this summer before considering career options. Including his tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York, Mr. Fitzgerald is leaving the Justice Department after nearly 24 years.
“When I was selected for this position in 2001, I said that it was one of the greatest opportunities that one could ever hope for, and I believe that even more now after having the privilege of working alongside hundreds of dedicated prosecutors and agents. I have tried not to get in their way. I extend my deepest appreciation to the attorneys and staff for their determined commitment to public service. This was a great office when I arrived, and I have no doubt that it will continue to be a great office,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.
He plans to hold a press conference tomorrow.
*** UPDATE *** From a press release…
STATEMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ON RESIGNATION OF
U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
PATRICK FITZGERALD
WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the resignation of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald:
“Throughout his distinguished career as a prosecutor, United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has served the American people and the citizens of Illinois with the utmost integrity and a steadfast commitment to the cause of justice.
“From his early consequential years in New York City confronting the terrorist threat to his strong leadership of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, Pat has rightly earned a reputation over these last 24 years as a prosecutor’s prosecutor, overseeing significant cases involving public corruption, international terrorism and terrorism financing, corporate fraud, organized crime, and violent crime.
“A hallmark of Pat’s tenure has been his personal commitment to the Department’s mission and his willingness to accept the call of duty – whenever it came and whatever it required. In 2003, he was appointed as special counsel in the investigation into the disclosure of the identity of a covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency that resulted in the indictment of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, then chief of staff and national security advisor to the Vice President. He also served as lead counsel in the trial, which resulted in Mr. Libby’s conviction on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. In 2010, I appointed Pat as Special Attorney to supervise the investigation that resulted in the pending indictment, in the Eastern District of Virginia, of former CIA officer John Kiriakou for allegedly repeatedly disclosing classified information, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee in classified activities.
“Over the years, he has gained the trust of two presidents and the unwavering confidence of four Attorneys General, and I am deeply grateful to him for his service and his friendship over the years.”
* As I told you yesterday, Gov. Pat Quinn spent part of Tuesday speaking to a class of 8th Graders. From that appearance…
During his hour long talk, Quinn told students that with little more than a week to go before the spring Legislative session is scheduled to adjourn, it was time for lawmakers to get cranking.
“They’re like you, they’ve got to get their homework done,” he said.
Yes, they do. No quarrel with that. But so does the governor. And taking questions like this doesn’t move the ball forward…
At one point, an eighth-grader asked, “What’s a pension?”
* What a total waste of time, unless the governor’s intent was to get his mug on Chicago TV again while continuing his way-too-early victory lap at the very moment that things were falling apart in Springfield…
Legislation restructuring Illinois’ Medicaid system was put on ice Tuesday as legislative leaders attempted to figure out what pieces of the package to pass first and whether to tax tobacco products other than cigarettes.
Feigenholtz said a portion of the legislation that would clear the way for Cook County to take on more Medicaid patients might be removed. The provision would roll back a state mandate against Medicaid growth to allow Cook County to add to the Medicaid rolls 100,000 people who would become eligible in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. The move to add more enrollees would let Cook County receive federal matching funds for patients who are currently getting free treatment at county hospitals. The measure would not be paid for with tax dollars from outside of the county.
* The reason for removing that provision, which costs state government nothing, is because the Right wing is getting all worked up over it…
Gov. Rick Perry in Texas and Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey supported similar waivers in their states, and here Tom Cross expressed his support, which of course sent off alarms among the national Republican mullahs.
“The Republican leader of the Illinois state house is on the verge of voting to speed up the implementation of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in the state nearly two years early,” the National Review gasped.
“Illinois Liberty PAC will be monitoring the votes of Republican lawmakers. Republican legislators who vote to raise taxes, increase spending, grow the Medicaid rolls and—incredibly—implement Obamacare when Republicans across the rest of the nation are smartly resisting the siren song of federal largesse, will be targeted for replacement in the 2014 primary election season.”
* The Tribune rebuts…
Now, about the Cook County provision. Some conservatives argue that it will expand Medicaid coverage, costing the state money. Reality: It will allow Cook County to capture federal dollars for care that county taxpayers provide now. It will save local taxpayers a lot of money. Republican leaders negotiating the deal are confident that this won’t create new costs or obligations for the state. Proponents point to a similar program crafted last year by Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.
A Medicaid package could come to a vote in the next few days, if there is a final agreement. Pension reform is still the most essential element to saving the state from fiscal ruin. Anyone who has been around Springfield knows how easily the whole grand bargain could collapse.
Yes, it could collapse, and the governor really needs to be here in town, not gallivanting around the state on a media tour.
* But there are more troubles than just right wing pressure on Republicans…
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, a House sponsor of Senate Bill 2840, said there is more work to do on the legislation, while state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said there was talk about whether to broaden a $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase and hike taxes on all tobacco products, including pipe tobacco.
Doing so could bring in $825 million instead of the estimated $725 million take from a higher tax on cigarettes only. That revenue is from both tax revenue and federal matching funds. Gov. Pat Quinn has called for the legislature to cut Medicaid spending or find new money to cover some of a projected $2.7 billion increase in program expenses for fiscal year 2013, which starts July 1.
The dynamics of changing the massive program, which provides health care for the poor and is paid for by state and federal funds, are difficult.
Discuss.
* Related and a roundup…
* Our view: Illinois General Assembly must act now on fiscal reform
Campante and Do used a sophisticated statistical model to determine which capitals are the most isolated from their states’ population centers. They compared that measure of isolation with a database of convictions on federal corruption charges between 1976 and 2002. (Using federal convictions avoids the problem that some states may have more corruption convictions simply because local prosecutors are more aggressive. In addition, a long time period minimizes possible partisan bias).
The results showed an impressive effect, they wrote: “more isolated capital cities are associated with more corruption.”
The graph illustrates their findings. The states with the highest number of corruption convictions relative to their population size are at the top of the chart. Those with the most geographically isolated capitals are at the left-hand side.
The most corrupt state capitals – Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., Nashville, Tenn., Pierre, S.D., Springfield, Ill., and Albany, N.Y., for example – are all more isolated than average. Nashville is the least so, being a major city in its own right although distant from other population centers in the state. Springfield and Pierre rank as the two most isolated on the list. The less isolated the capital (the further to the right), the more likely it is to rank low on corruption.
Isolation doesn’t explain everything, of course. Some states, such as Oregon, Washington and Vermont, have unusually low levels of corruption. But the impact of isolation appears strong.
Correlation does not equal causation. Keep in mind that most people are busted for corruption in this state outside Springfield. Rod Blagojevich was recorded cutting crooked deals in his Chicago campaign office. The overwhelming number of people indicted by the feds are low-level types out in secretary of state offices or whatever scattered throughout Illinois.
If Springfield’s alleged isolation was the reason for corruption, you’d expect to see more busts at the Capitol. Hasn’t happened.
Also, Springfield may be a few hours away from the population center, but it’s hardly isolated. Peoria, St. Louis and other mid-sized cities are nearby. Pierre, on the other hand, is literally out in the middle of freaking nowhere. But that capital is almost completely empty when they’re not in session - far more so than our own.
What might cause the relationship between isolation and corruption, the researchers asked. One possibility was that newspapers, which provide most coverage of state governments, may be less likely to cover the capital when it is further from their circulation areas. So they examined the content of 436 U.S. newspapers, searching for references to state government. Sure enough, “in states where the population is more concentrated around the capital,” the study found “more intense media coverage of state politics, and therefore greater accountability.”
Yes, the Chicago newspapers do tend to play up local politics over Springfield, but they’ve done some excellent work as well and have top notch reporters assigned to the Statehouse.
* Under current Illinois law, taking this video of a “Black Bloc” surge against a Chicago Police Department line is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Actually, I could be charged with a felony just for showing it here. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. The unprovoked surge by the moronic “anarchists” starts at about the 25 second mark…
Months after its initial proposal and just a day after the NATO summit that made the law a national issue, a plan to allow citizens to take video recordings of police officers was approved by the Illinois House.
The proposal would allow citizens to record on-duty police officers in a public place. The House approved it by a 71-45 vote Tuesday, and it will be sent to the Senate for further debate.
* There were a bunch of “No” votes on the big board, though…
State Rep. Dena Carli, D-Chicago, opposed the revised bill, saying she fears people may get too close to dangerous situations to get audible sound.
[The Senate] on Tuesday sent Gov. Pat Quinn a separate eavesdropping measure aimed at helping police record drug deals faster. The legislation would allow law enforcement officials to make audio recordings of drug deals with only the permission of a state’s attorney instead of a judge.
“By that time, the drug dealers are gone,” said Democratic Sen. William Haine, a former Madison County state’s attorney.
Democratic Sen. Tony Munoz, a Chicago police officer, said the measure would better protect undercover police. He dismissed constitutional questions raised in debate, saying the courts can review the law. “But if we can save an officer’s life, I think it’s worth it,” Munoz said.
* The Senate came one vote short of passing a new anti-bullying bill. The AP has some info…
The bill would have required anti-bullying policies to include a definition of bullying and a statement saying it was against the law. The policies would have spelled out how allegations could be submitted anonymously and how they would be investigated. Policies also would have been required to describe what could happen to students who bully others, such as counseling or community service.
Some conservatives feared the bill would be used as cover to indoctrinate students. The Illinois Family Institute lobbied for an “opt out” provision that would let students and teachers skip any lessons or events that violated their religious beliefs.
“There are some programs that are not just against bullying in general. Some of them tend to have an agenda of being pro-homosexual,” said Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon.
The legislation would not require schools to offer programs on bullying or homosexuality, but McCarter said it would be a step toward such a mandate.
A step toward such a mandate? Really? The far Right Illinois Family Institute claims the bill does pretty much nothing…
Cassidy stated that this additional law is needed because 3 school districts (out of over 900) have no policy and 20 do not have “adequate” bullying policy. What she failed to make clear during floor debates is that the 3 school districts that don’t have bullying policy are already in violation of existing law, so HB 5290 is unnecessary.
Furthermore, HB 5290, which mandates nothing, would do nothing about the 20 school districts that have — in Cassidy’s view — inadequate policy. If these 20 districts have bullying policy, they are in compliance with existing law.
Each school district and non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school shall create, and maintain, and implement a policy on bullying, which policy must be filed with the State Board of Education.
It would require implementation, not just having a policy.
McCarter and other opponents wanted an addition to the bill that would allow students to opt out of any anti-bullying programs or activities that clashed with their personal or religious beliefs. Supporters said federal law already gave students that right.
* An amendment was introduced yesterday on this very topic by Sen Kirk Dillard…
No student or school employee shall be required to attend or participate in any bullying program, activity, assembly, or event that may infringe upon his or her free expression or contradict his or her personal, moral, or religious beliefs.”.
Dillard is creating chits for another statewide bid, so naturally he introduced the amendment. Why do I say that? Compare Dillard’s amendment to to the language already in the bill…
Nothing in this Section is intended to infringe upon any right to exercise free expression or the free exercise of religion or religiously based views protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or under Section 3 or 4 of Article 1 of the Illinois Constitution.
Equality Illinois, which promotes gay rights, was among the supporters of the bill. Spokesman Randy Hannig stressed that the legislation wasn’t specific to homosexual bullying victims. “This is not a bill about gay and lesbian kids. It’s a bill about ending bullying.”
But Hannig speculated that the group’s backing of the bill alone may have prompted others to oppose it. He slammed critics for “trying to hijack this bill for their own political agenda.”
Equality Illinois is a homosexual activist organization. The Illinois Safe Schools Alliance is a homosexual activist organization that was once part of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The ACLU is an organization as committed to normalizing homosexuality and gender confusion as GLSEN, Equality Illinois, and the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance. And State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) is openly homosexual.
Yeah. It’s all a liberal gay plot to indoctrinate our children and take over the world.
the Carol Stream-based Illinois Family Institute fears the law would silence certain students whose views might be unpopular. For instance, they say, a student who does nothing more than share his opinion that homosexuality is immoral could be labeled a bully and put through anti-bullying lessons that say his religion is wrong.
The group is correct that freedom of expression never should be taken for granted, and the right of students to assert their religious beliefs must always be protected. But this legislation not only protects such students from being falsely labeled as bullies; it also helps assure that they won’t be bullied themselves.
The anti-bullying proposal clearly states that the law is not meant to “infringe upon any right to exercise free expression or the free exercise of religion or religiously based views.” It contains no read-between-the-lines encroachment on any students’ freedoms. It simply provides another tool to prevent the hurt and even tragedy that vicious teasing and pranks can cause.
We urge the Senate to reconsider and for school officials to be vigilant in ensuring that both free speech and students’ well-being are protected.
West Side Democratic leaders were unable to reach consensus Tuesday on a challenger to indicted Rep. Derrick Smith, but among the finalists is the girlfriend of 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin. […]
But several committee members questioned the integrity of the process, saying Ervin, who sits on the selection panel, admitted during private deliberations that Conyears was his girlfriend. The relationship was not disclosed during the public portion of the meeting. […]
[Secretary of State Jesse White] said that while the relationship revelation was troubling, Conyears was selected as a finalist because she spoke knowledgeably about Springfield’s budget problems and how she would fix them.
After the problems with appointing a hack like Derrick Smith to the House last year, these committeemen now think it’s OK to consider an alderman’s girlfriend? OK, fine, she “spoke knowledgeably about Springfield’s budget problems.” But what the heck? From WBEZ…
Asked if he was romantically involved with Conyears, the alderman replied, “I don’t think that has any bearing on the decision that’s being made.”
And if they are - hypothetically - involved, does Ervin think that would impact how he’d vote?
“No,” he said.
Reached by phone, Conyears would only say she and Ervin are “friends.” She said she sees no conflict for the alderman.
Indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith will likely get a respite from his House colleagues through the end of the Legislature’s spring session.
Several members of the House Special Investigative Committee looking into federal bribery allegations against the Chicago Democrat said chances of the committee meeting before the spring session ends May 31 are slim.
“As you can imagine, things are a little hectic around here right now,” said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, chairwoman of the investigative committee. “My time is very limited by the whole pension thing. Everyone else’s time is taken up by the end-of-session crunch.”
Rep. Nekritz, you’ve had since the primary to take care of this matter. This latest delay is just ridiculous.
Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday called indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith’s decision to award nearly $185,000 worth of tuition waivers last week “very disappointing” and reiterated plans to sign legislation to abolish what he has called a “political scholarship” program. […]
The group of students whose names Smith initially submitted for tuition waivers for the 2011-2012 school year included two students who didn’t live in his district — as state law requires for the scholarships.
The Illinois State Board of Education rejected those two because the students lived in the neighboring legislative district of Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago).
Ugh.
The unconscionable delays by the House Special Investigating Committee led directly to this scholarship mess.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
At a time of tough choices, the single largest job-creation plan in decades is now before the General Assembly.
SB 1849 is a gaming solution that would create more than 20,000 jobs and bring in $200 million in new annual revenue to Illinois. It would be an economic shot in the arm for our state, and we can’t afford to pass it up.
Illinois workers need a jobs plan. Unemployment in the state stands at 9 percent, families are struggling to make ends meet and the effects of the recession have further endangered thousands of already existing jobs, like the more than 30,000 statewide agricultural jobs that SB 1849 will save.
The job creation boost SB 1849 would provide is why major voices from Illinois’ organized labor community support this gaming solution. Supporters include Illinois AFL‐CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor, IBEW Local 134, SEIU Local 1, and UNITE HERE Local 1.
These labor groups and over 80 members of the Illinois Revenue & Jobs Alliance know this bill would be a “win” for the state of Illinois and its residents. Legislators ought to pass SB 1849 – and start putting workers back on the job.
* What’s next, the Girl Scouts? From a press release…
Governor Quinn Talks Pension and Medicaid Reform with Students
Hosts Town Hall About Illinois’ Future at Julian Middle School
OAK PARK – May 22, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today hosted a town hall meeting with students at Julian Middle School about the urgent need for pension and Medicaid reform. With just 9 days left before the end of spring legislative session, the governor continued his push to stabilize Illinois’ Medicaid and pension systems and educate the public about our fiscal challenges. During the visit, Governor Quinn took questions from 8th graders about their stake in what happens in Springfield this session and the impact that these two issues have on the future of Illinois.
“At its core, this battle to resolve our fiscal challenges is about the future of our children,” Governor Quinn said. “If we want to educate our kids and ensure they are ready for the workforce, our moment is now. We must assume responsibility to build a better future for our children. We must work together to get these vital reforms done.”
For crying out loud, governor, get back to Springfield and stop doing silly press pops near your house. You told reporters yesterday that you wanted to see “an epic 10 days” at the Capitol and wanted legislators to avoid all distractions, and now you’re spending time taking questions from 8th Graders?
Then again, some might say that Quinn is doing more good by getting outta town so he can’t screw things up.
* I received an e-mail from AFSCME yesterday saying they had over 400 people at the Statehouse lobbying “for a fair solution to the pension problem that can be supported by all parties.” The union plans to bring 1,000 people per day through Thursday.
* The Question: Should AFSCME “pull a Wisconsin” and try to flood the Capitol with thousands of protesters? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Things got a bit heated on the House floor yesterday when one member accused another of playing to the press box on the bill abolishing legislative scholarships…
State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) accused the sponsor, State Rep. Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates) of simply trying for a “press pop” and of trying to impugn the integrity of lawmakers who, as Dunkin indicated he does, use an impartial committee to make the awards. Supporters of the bill, which passed by more than a two-to-one margin in the House, say the program has taken on too much scandal to survive.
In January, the Sun-Times and the BGA revealed that state Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island) awarded a $37,000 tuition waiver to the daughter of Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), a political ally who endorsed Rita for the statehouse and whose wife was employed by Rita as a $400-a-month staffer until he recently fired her after the Sun-Times reported on a probe focusing on her past employment in the secretary of state’s office.
Crespo credited the reporting for prompting action after years of debate.
“Kudos to you, the Sun-Times and the BGA, for sticking to it almost like a pit bull,” Crespo said. “That was a key. It would pop up in the past, then go away, but you guys did a very good job of keeping it alive.”
I received an e-mail from the Better Government Association this morning highlighting that quote and claiming they’ll be invited to the bill signing ceremony.
* Yes, this was indeed a major press pop. But that scholarship program was rife with problems and it had to be killed. So, sometimes good media is actually good government. I’m not sure how the Tribune is gonna feel about Crespo after that gushing praise for the Sun-Times, however. It’s gotta sting a little.
* The State Journal-Register published an op-ed today by Stephen Kaufman, a retired university professor…
And business as usual is expensive for the people of Illinois. In his discussion of the [Illinois Reform Commission’s] findings, [commission chairman Patrick Collins] stated unambiguously that corruption and inefficiency in Illinois’ government cost the people of Illinois up to $10 billion annually.
Yes, that’s 10 billion dollars. In the absence of substantive government reform and in a tight economic climate, the people of Illinois are being asked to make extraordinary sacrifices: a major increase in state income tax, decreased state resources for education and health care, and serious erosion of pension benefits are among the many thus far imposed and more are under consideration. Instead of demanding and fighting for meaningful and cost-saving government reform, institutions, businesses and individuals are capitulating to the greed and corruption-driven practices of Illinois state government. [Emphasis added.]
Wow. $10 billion in Illinois state government corruption? That’s a heck of a lot of money - almost a third of General Revenue Fund spending.
* But I didn’t remember Collins actually saying that. So I Googled it. This is what I came up with…
The Illinois Reform Commission has gathered testimony from some experts who peg the “corruption tax” at more than 5 percent of every public contract.
That would easily equate to hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, a year, says commission chair Patrick Collins, a former federal prosecutor who helped put Ryan in prison.
Hoffman estimates there is about $10 billion alone worth of state contracts that are subject to political manipulation that ultimately could mean higher costs and worse service.
Oops.
* Kaufman’s bio…
Stephen Kaufman, emeritus professor at the University of Illinois, taught immunology and cell biology at the university for 32 years. His research focused on skeletal muscle development and diseases including muscular dystrophy. He is the author of more than 75 scientific papers.
Maybe somebody with more experience ought to be writing op-eds for major Illinois newspapers.
* Illinois State Board of Education Chairman Gery Chico has been working editorial boards across the state lately, decrying a possible cut to education funding. The work has paid off. Here’s the Southern Illinoisan…
It’s the wrong time to be looking at cuts in education. Illinois State Board of Education Chairman Gery Chico said $650 million in funding already has been cut from school districts since 2009. Chico said plans that would seek another $250 million to $750 million in cuts could be devastating in a state that already ranks near the bottom nationally in funding public education.
In just one example, looking at the potentially deepest cut of $750 million from education, funding for Murphysboro Community School District 186 would be cut from a projected $8.26 million to $6.75 million. Chico said such cuts would force local schools to cut programs, eliminate teaching jobs or raise taxes.
This is no idle threat. The Illinois House of Representatives has approved spending caps for the coming fiscal year that would cut education by nearly $260 million — even if the state successfully cuts $2.7 billion from Medicaid. The other, more-dire possibilities could see education cut by $500 million or $750 million in a state already ranked near the bottom for funding education.
“If that happens, I just think it’s devastating to school systems,” Chico said. “This is going to mean that if we continue to cut education in the state of Illinois, it’s going to reach laughable levels.”
But we believe every citizen in the state should be concerned at the damage that could be inflicted on public schools statewide under a 2013 budget plan backed by the Illinois House that strips from Quinn’s plan some $258 million from education spending. We admire the goal, which is to use $800 million in 2013 tax receipts to pay off some of the state’s bill backlog, which stands at $5 billion. We question whether jeopardizing public education and endangering celebrated reforms is a worthy trade-off.
“We have to have sanity in the way we look at affecting the finances of our school system,” Illinois State Board of Education Chairman Gery Chico told The State Journal-Register editorial board last week. “That ($258 million) is real money. That means you’re either letting go teachers, cutting back programs or you’re raising taxes. Those are all the options. So it’s dramatic, it’s drastic.”
For the Springfield School District, it would mean a loss of $5.7 million. School districts simply can’t absorb cuts that size without effects that are felt in classrooms.
And all that teacher accountability? It can’t happen without an assessment program in place, and that doesn’t happen without funding.
“We had a few million dollars put in there (for assessments) and some people in the House now are talking about striking that line item,” Chico said. “I don’t know why we’re getting applause for passing one thing and then the resources for getting it done are taken out.”
The state has a huge mountain of overdue, unpaid bills to schools. The school funding cuts are supposed to be used to pare down that and other debts.
…Adding… The comptroller’s office says that the current bill backlog to schools is $561 million.
* Despite Chairman Chico’s strong opposition, some are defending the cuts…
If the cuts go through, almost every district in the Stateline would feel the effects. Belvidere could lose 300-thousand dollars for the year, Winnebago over 600-thousand dollars, and Rockford would lose close to 8-millon dollars for fiscal year 2012.
“It’s not going to be pretty, but there’s really no other way,” said state senator Dave Syverson.
Syverson says out of control spending has left lawmakers will little options.
“We can’t do that anymore,” said Syverson. “You need to be honest with schools, with healthcare providers.”
And while lawmakers are still looking at other options to fill a near 3.5 billion dollar hole, Syverson says the education system in the state will likely take a hit.
“You have to cut into both when you have this big of a debt,” said Syverson.
* But the Senate Democrats’ budget plan contains no education cuts, which they believe is the right way to go. Even so, things got a bit testy in the approp committee yesterday…
But Senate Republicans said Democrats should be considering cuts instead of tapping into other funds. They said they could not support the proposal because it does not put the state on a path to security after the recent income tax increase begins to roll back in 2015. “I believed that we shared brief, shining moment of optimism in the beginning of our talks,” said Sen. Pamela Althoff, a McHenry Republican. “Unfortunately as we tried to progress, we really broke down. Our conversations, they stalled over one basic staunch principle, and that was a promise of the Republican caucus to always craft a spending plan that put the state of Illinois on a trajectory to eliminate the tax increase on schedule. And what we see before us now makes [our] support of this proposal impossible, as we cannot meet that principle.” […]
Democrats said Republicans are stalling and being obstructive. Steans said that any time an agreement seemed close in negotiations, Republicans “moved the goalpost.”
Another potential sticking point is facility closures. The proposal calls for the closure of the Dwight Correctional Center, the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia, the Jacksonville Developmental Center and the Tinley Park Mental Health Center. While no Republicans spoke out adamantly against the closures at today’s hearings, Republicans on the Commission for Government Forecasting and Accountability, which takes advisory votes on facility closures, have general opposed closing downstate facilities.
* The Medicaid restructuring bill popped up yesterday…
The measure, filed as a House amendment to Senate Bill 2840, includes $240 million in payment rate cuts to hospitals and nursing homes. But it spares doctors from rate cuts, along with 51 rural community hospitals and about 20 urban hospitals that care for poor patients.
The legislation eliminates most dental care for adults, but keeps emergency dental care. It limits adult eyeglasses to one pair every two years, pays the same amount for cesarean sections as for vaginal deliveries — unless the C-section is medically necessary — and limits podiatry care to people with diabetes.
The bill would eliminate Illinois Cares Rx, a program that helps nearly 200,000 seniors get prescription drugs, which concerns the AARP. […]
Medicaid payments to many hospitals would be cut by 3.5 percent, but the bill exempts rural community hospitals and safety-net hospitals from the cuts. Association of Safety-Net Hospitals spokeswoman Julie Sznewajs said Latino and black caucus members are “standing strong for their communities” by supporting the exception.
* Eliminate coverage for group therapy for nursing home residents, chiropractic care for adults and in-patient detoxification programs.
* Eliminate the Illinois Cares Rx program, which helps seniors pay for prescription drugs.
* Require a $2 copay for prescription drugs
* Cap hearing, speech, occupational and physical therapy at 20 sessions. Eliminate adult dental care except for in emergency situations.
* Limit patients to four prescriptions per month. Three of the prescriptions can be brand name drugs. Limit patients to one pair of eyeglasses every two years ,.
* Require prior approval for the repair or replacement of equipment, such as prostheses and wheelchairs
* The dollar a pack cigarette tax hike is crucial to the plan, but it will be run on a separate bill…
Feigenholtz and Steans said the plan relies on the approval of a cigarette tax. “If the cigarette tax doesn’t pass, we are going to have to go back to the drawing board and cut a lot of human services things that are very important to us, like taking care of the elderly [and] child care. It is going to blow a massive hole into the human services budget.” The proposed $1-a-pack increase is not in Senate Bill 2840. Steans, a Chicago Democrat, said she expects the tax legislation to surface in the next few days. Backers of the proposal also hope to rework the hospital assessment — which is an accounting practice that the state uses to leverage federal funds — to bring in $100 million more next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Steans said she hopes to have the whole plan approved by the end of the week, so lawmakers can move on to considering the budget. “The goal is to do it this week or try to finish it up by the end of this week. We have to turn over the budget by the [May] 31st deadline.”
* The overall Medicaid package has broad support, but there are some holdouts…
Some House Republicans are supporting a proposal from the Illinois Policy Institute, a think tank dedicated to “supporting free market principles,” which they say can cut the Medicaid liability by $2.7 billion without rate reductions or a tax increase. “The governor and the members of the House and the Senate agreed that it was imperative to find $2.7 billion in Medicaid savings. The plan that is being proposed and discussed by lawmakers unfortunately fails to live up to that promise. Instead, tax hikes and rate cuts are being substituted for reform,” Sen. Kyle McCarter, a Republican from Lebanon, said today at a news conference to promote the plan.
Some of the Policy Institute’s proposals are pretty good, but many of their more high-dollar ideas can’t be implemented right away to save enough money in the coming fiscal year. For example…
Implement data analytics and transparency tools. Utilize services to steer beneficiaries to low global-cost providers for all non-emergency, elective inpatient and outpatient services. The state should begin this program on a voluntary participation basis, providing clients with incentives to use the service, while seeking federal approval for mandatory participation in the program.
Potential Savings: $185.0 million
* Pat Quinn has been the king of distractions. The governor is infamous for bouncing around all over the place during negotiations. So this is more than a little ironic…
Rebuffing talk of new legislation that would expand gambling in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn urged the legislature Monday to pass bills to restructure the state’s Medicaid and pension programs, two of the largest drains on Illinois’ budget.
“I’m not going to get distracted by that subject. Sometimes, down here, shiny objects can distract people,” Quinn said. “We don’t want any of that this week.”
Look, I understand why he wants to get Medicaid and pensions done first. And it’s laudable that he now wants everyone to stay focused on those goals. It’s just kinda funny to hear him talk about bright, shiny objects when he’s constantly chased squirrels all his life.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In a slow economic recovery, we should be doing more, not less, to spur job growth and economic development. That’s why the International Union of Operating Engineers urges lawmakers to oppose HB3881.
The claim that this is a “green” bill just masks what it really is – special legislation pushed at the last minute by one anti-union company that kills current and future jobs in Cook County.
The IUOE has hundreds of members working in Illinois communities to ensure that waste is disposed of and managed in the most environmentally responsible way we know how. We are proud to do the job because we know how vital a service it is to communities.
The bill will effectively export all of Cook County’s garbage to other counties and other states. But with the trash also goes the jobs and economic benefits. Everyone says jobs are a priority. Yet, HB3881 will shift jobs out of the Chicago area and out of state.
As an organization comprised of 23,000 hard working members, we are urging lawmakers to vote no on HB3881.
Jim Sweeney — International Union of Operating Engineers
