* Senate President John Cullerton talked to reporters a short while ago about lump-sum appropriations, the pension “holiday,” the cigarette tax and adjournment. Watch…
*** UPDATE 1 - 6:48 pm *** The “Worst Bill Ever” (STAR bonds) moved out of the House Revenue Committee and is heading to the floor for a vote tonight. The House Democrats substituted two people off the committee to make sure it passed.
* House Majority Leader Barbara Currie unveiled the budget outline at committee tonight. It’s a five percent across the board cut with lots of emergency powers for the governor, most of which we’ve talked about here before. Contingency reserves, extended lapse period, furloughs, interfund borrowing, selling tobacco proceeds, and a temporary suspension of the Contuing Appropriations Act.
The Democrats are also “suspending” the pension payment for 6 months. They say they’ll still pay the entire amount, but the scheduled payments will be delayed until January 31st.
*** UPDATE 2 - 7:47 pm *** House Speaker Michael Madigan talked to reporters earlier this evening about the McCormick Place reforms, which is being debated on the House floor now…
The House passed a nursing home reform bill a few minutes ago as well.
*** UPDATE 3 - 7:49 pm *** Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Sandoval isn’t talking much about this story, but he is clearly interested in the job and suggested that some higher-ups have talked to him about it…
At Metra, where Executive Director Phil Pagano has been put on leave amid a financial scandal and is likely to be gone soon, the name of Illinois Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Martin Sandoval, D-Cicero, has come up as a possible replacement.
*** UPDATE 4 - 8:00 pm *** As I told you earlier, the STAR bonds bill is heading for a House floor vote tonight, but the mayor of southern Illinois’ Mt. Vernon thinks they ought to slow down…
Mount Vernon mayor Mary Jane Chesley already echoes the concerns that halted the Glen Carbon project.
“We have a new interchange and are in the process of building infrastructure on approximately 600 acres around the interchange to attract businesses to the area,” she wrote on May 6.
“What are our chances of attracting these businesses when only 40 miles down the interstate lies Marion with this proposed added development tool?
“While I am all for regional development, I cannot support projects utilizing state sponsored programs that give one community an advantage over others.”
*** UPDATE 5 - 8:04 pm *** Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno is on her way to her daughter’s college graduation in Arizona, so she isn’t present for the floor action tonight.
*** UPDATE 6 - 8:06 pm *** In case you were wondering, the end of session party is scheduled for tomorrow night at the building which houses the Pizza Machine and other establishments. Same place as last year. Show your Statehouse ID to get in.
*** UPDATE 7 - 8:08 pm *** Budget director David Vaught talked to reporters this evening about borrowing to pay the pension funds, among other things. Have a look…
*** UPDATE 8 - 8:22 pm *** The House just overwhelmingly approved the McCormick Place reform bill.
*** UPDATE 9 - 11:15 pm *** The Senate Democrats pulled a bit of a stunt in Senate Approp 1 tonight. They stripped out all the reappropriations of Senate GOP capital projects and added them onto a separate amendment. The idea was to make the Senate Republicans vote for their own pork projects separately. The Dems said at least the Repubs would be voting for something. The Repubs accused the Dems of violating the original capital projects agreement by stripping out their projects and forcing a special vote on just their capital items.
The Republicans announced that they would refuse to vote for their own projects. They were willing to allow it all to go down and the SDems weren’t willing to put more than nine votes on the amendment - the bare minimum required to help the Repubs get to 30 votes.
The Democrats, however, are now having second thoughts. As I write this, the debate is beginning on the budget including the capital reapproprs, but the Democrats will now just drop the whole thing and apparently vote for the GOP projects.
* Remember that press release from earlier today from the Illinois Republican Party?…
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is holding a press conference at Granite Innovation today for his Senate campaign. While the stated purpose of the event is to promote Giannoulias’ “new agenda to help Illinois families balance increased challenges between working to make ends meet and raising children,” perhaps the State Treasurer could ask his hosts to pay the $26,446 they owe the State of Illinois in back taxes.
Turns out, the business in question didn’t have a back tax bill. Oops. From a press release…
STATEMENT BY GIANNOULIAS CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN MATT MCGRATH ON KIRK/ILLINOIS GOP’S MALICIOUS SMEAR OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
“Mark Kirk and his Republican allies hit a new low today, spreading an irresponsible, malicious lie in order to smear an Illinois small business owner in the furtherance of a political agenda, and the only honorable thing for Congressman Kirk to do is to repudiate his party chairman, Pat Brady, and apologize to Ms. Dandamudi immediately.
“Today’s event, hosted by Ms. Dandamudi, was intended to foster a discussion of the issues facing women and families, and was successful - notwithstanding the Illinois Republican Party’s false claims apparently intended to drown out the discussion of important issues. By participating in the process, telling her story, and showcasing her successful small business, Ms. Dandamudi, who is also a single mother, deserves better than to be maliciously and falsely smeared, particularly on behalf of a politician like Mark Kirk, who seeks to represent her in the U.S. Senate. This kind of drive-by, cheap shot, substance-free attack is exactly what is wrong with our political process, but exactly what a Washington insider like Mark Kirk traffics in. Alexi is proud to be running for Senate to be a voice for people like Ms. Dandamudi and the countless others like her who are looking for leadership and solutions to the problems they face everyday, not more of the same political games.”
* WLS radio talkshow hosts Don & Roma stirred up a hornet’s nest online by posting audio of CBS2 Ed Marshall apparently claiming that his station wasn’t going to cover the Senate race if all Mark Kirk wanted to talk about was the Broadway Bank closure. The clip is here. And here’s Ed’s quote…
“Channel 2’s made a decision that we’re really not going to cover the Senate race if it consistently, only in your terms is about Broadway Bank. The bank’s been taken over by the government. Alexi’s been pilloried. Tell me – what is your campaign going forward?”
“Anyone who characterizes our position as a refusal to cover the Kirk campaign or the Giannoulias campaign is not only wrong, they are recklesly and purposefully wrong,” Kiernan tells me.
“My suggestion is to ask them why they’re doing it. I absolutely stand by the spirit of that question — of course we’re going to aggressively cover candidates Kirk and Giannoulias — however we refuse to let the candidates and their managers reduce a U.S. Senate campaign to a single issue of one candidate’s relationship with a bank. Yes, that is an important issue and one that I will affirmatively tell you we have consistently reported on and will continue to do so, but we will also aggressively challenge the candidates to talk about other substantive and critically important issues facing the citizens of Illinois and the United States.”
Kiernan noted that the station has pushed both candidates, with limited success, to talk about subjects other than the bank, and that Kirk himself, in the exchange played on WLS, “moves beyond Broadway Bank.”
Giannoulias recently cracked that Kirk’s entire campaign strategy was “A noun, a verb and Broadway Bank.” Kirk certainly spends a lot of time on the bank, and reporters do have a right to push him to talk about other stuff. Ed’s word choice was, um, quite unfortunate, but there are a whole lot more issues than the bank and they deserve coverage.
Also, contrary to the hyperventilating types, Ed is no liberal Democrat. He used to flak for Republican Comptroller Loleta Didrickson. I got into it with him so intensely once that they canceled their Capitol Fax subscription. That hadn’t happened before (or since). We’re not exactly close.
Kirk, by the way, has published his “Small Business Bill of Rights.” And the IL GOP just sent out a press release slamming Giannoulias…
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is holding a press conference at Granite Innovation today for his Senate campaign. While the stated purpose of the event is to promote Giannoulias’ “new agenda to help Illinois families balance increased challenges between working to make ends meet and raising children,” perhaps the State Treasurer could ask his hosts to pay the $26,446 they owe the State of Illinois in back taxes.
“Treasurer Giannoulias should know better,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady. “Illinois is in the midst of an unprecedented budget crisis - a crisis Alexi Giannoulias says we need a tax hike to solve. But while Alexi is asking struggling Illinois families to pay even more, he’s holding campaign events with people who haven’t paid what they already owe.”
According to public filings, the State of Illinois has filed $36,869 in tax liens against Granite Innovation and M R D Associates from 1998 to 2007. Releases have been filed for $10,420-worth of the liens, while $26,449 appear to still be outstanding.
A May 3-4 survey of 300 likely voters in Illinois 14th District by the Tarrance Group showed Hultgren with 45% and Foster 44% in a general election match-up.
Republicans believe other numbers in the poll further demonstrate Foster’s vulnerability. The congressman’s job rating was 40% approve/41% disapprove and personal rating 40% favorable/33% unfavorable. Hultgren’s personal rating was 22% favorable/4% unfavorable.
In addition, 28% of respondents said Foster deserves reelection while 55% said a new person should be given a chance. And Republicans led on the generic ballot 47%-36%.
* The House has passed a bill to bring some sanity to the recently changed lobbyist fees law. The law was struck down as unconstitutional. It imposed $1,000 annual fees for both individual lobbyists and the entities they work for. That can add up quick for small not-for-profit groups. The annual fee in this bill would be $300 and it passed 116-1 (Rep. Mell was the lone “No” vote). [UPDATE: Somebody else voted Mell’s switch and voted wrong. Oops. She corrected the record right away.] The legislation now moves to the Senate. The proposal is SB 1526.
* The “slots at tracks” language has finally surfaced. Click here to read it. This could start moving quickly. We’ll see.
* Senate committee approved the AT&T dereg bill today and it’s heading to the floor for certain passage. My intern Dan Weber talked to a representative from CUB about what they believe is still wrong with the legislation that zoomed out of the House unanimously yesterday. Take a look…
* The House approved the governor’s back to school sales tax holiday 65-51. It now moves to the Senate, where Senate President Cullerton has expressed reservations. Republican Rep. Chapin Rose has co-sponsored similar bills in the past, but he said with the budget crisis engulfing the state this is the wrong time to be taking money out of the till. He debated sponsoring Rep. Keith Farnham, a Tier One target. Watch…
A House committee today narrowly approved raising cigarette taxes to provide aid for health care and schools in the cash-strapped state budget.
The 4-3 vote for Senate Bill 44, which would raise the cigarette tax by a $1 a pack, means the measure now heads to the full House.
The tax would increase from 98 cents a pack, to $1.98 cents per pack. House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said the money from the tax increase would go into the Medicaid program first and would be matched by federal dollars.
A tweak to the bill would allow the money to go into the Education Assistance Fund after the federal match. The money would be spent on special education and transportation costs.
*** UPDATE 2 - 1:59 pm *** The Senate just passed the AT&T bill 59-0. End.
*** UPDATE 3 - 2:15 pm *** Old news, but here you go…
Lawmakers might decide to simply delay making billions of dollars in state worker pension payments until January as a way of dealing with a massive budget gap, leading House and Senate Democrats said today.
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie and Sen. Donne Trotter, both Chicago Democrats, acknowledged the possibility of skipping the pension payment. The option arose after Republicans showed little support for borrowing money to balance this year’s budget.
*** UPDATE 4 - 2:33 pm *** Commenter “George” made an excellent point…
* Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) just announced that he was moving his final bill as a House member. Fritchey won the Democratic nomination for a Cook County Board seat in February, so he’s retiring from the House.
The new [income] limit would require a senior living alone to make no more than $41,000 a year. Seniors living together would be limited to $54,000, and three seniors could make no more than $57,000.
State Sen. Ricky Hendon, D-Chicago, said the limits are reasonable. Though he said the real test will be how the Chicago Transit Authority and Regional Transportation Authority will handle the new limits, and new pool of money.
“Let’s see what they do with the money. I don’t trust them…They just want to take the money and run. We want to make sure with the sunset at least we can see if they keep their word.”
The limits on free rides would expire in two years. Chicago’s mass transit officials say they need at least that long to recover from the cost of the free rides program first started under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously and now goes to the House, where it will likely zoom through. The free rides program for seniors regardless of income has stuck in the craw of many, so this change will help calm some well-deserved rage.
Under the measure, SB 107, broadband and Internet-based phone providers would be guaranteed for the life of the law that those services would remain unregulated. Internet-based phone services would be required to register with the Illinois Commerce Commission but would only have to provide very basic information. That information would allow the state to map where Illinois does and does not have adequate broadband adoption.
Regulations on landline service providers would also be loosened. Instead of requiring repair of landline service within 24 hours, the measure would allow a 30-hour window. The threat of a $30 million fine for companies such as AT&T for failing to meet service quality standards would also disappear if the bill became law.
They would, however, still be subject to fines of up to $200,000 for each offense. Other service quality standards would include installing service to customers within five business days and keeping appointments with customers. Failing to meet those standards would result in consumer credits.
The measure would also fix costs for three levels of basic phone service for the next three years.
Proponents say loosening regulations and providing regulatory certainty will encourage telecommunications companies to invest in broadband in Illinois, which in turn would bring more jobs in other sectors to the state.
The consumer advocacy group The Citizens Utility Board says the bill contains no provisions requiring telecommunications companies to invest in broadband throughout the entire state, including rural and low-income areas, nor does it guarantee jobs.
This is either a great bill or a disaster. Nobody knows for sure what AT&T will do, but there’s no guarantee of more jobs or better and wider broadband service. It’s a “trust us” thing, and those have a habit of backfiring.
A day after offering to help the financially strapped state with a $500 million payment in exchange for a rate hike, ComEd late Wednesday changed its mind.
The state-regulated utility pulled its offer after concerns were raised about consumer protection and how the deal would be construed.
“In last few days … it has become clear that there is not enough support in Springfield to continue pursuing this course,” ComEd said in a statement. “We acknowledge and respect the concerns many public officials have and will move on.”
However, sponsoring Rep. Kevin Joyce, told the Sun-Times that he probably won’t bring it back until November…
Joyce kept the voucher plan alive through a parliamentary maneuver, but it won’t resurface during the remaining two scheduled days of the Legislature’s spring session. Instead, Joyce said he may try to revive it after the fall elections.
We didn’t post this last night, but Rep. Joyce delivered one of the strongest closing speeches I’ve seen in 20 years. Watch it…
A move to redefine green energy in Illinois died a quick death this week in Springfield, and we’re thankful that lawmakers’ frenzied push for job creation did not trump common sense.
Legislators were correct to keep power created by incinerating rubber tires in a separate and less-desirable category than wind and solar power. Harnessing the elements to produce electricity differs greatly from burning tires for power, and we’re thankful it only took two days for Springfield lawmakers to figure that out.
* The “Worst Bill Ever” was scheduled for a hearing last night, but didn’t move. Its sponsors are hoping to get the STAR bonds bill back on track today…
Legislation designed to make possible a major development project in Marion has been filed and awaits action in the House.
State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, has filed an amendment to Senate Bill 2093 to authorize Sales Tax and Revenue bonds for the project as an incentive to bring major destination development businesses into the area. The project was announced Saturday, just one day after a similar deal proposed by project developer Holland Construction of Swansea was killed over arguments and disagreements in its establishment.
State Rep. John Bradley is backing the legislation in the House.
Rep. Bradley ably defended his bill yesterday when pressed by three reporters. Watch it…
While he made some excellent points about the impact on his region, I still say this thing will become an uncontrollable monster in the coming years as more and more communities attempt to fund massive projects with state sales tax revenues.
* Related and a roundup…
* Illinois House Could Vote on Medical Marijuana This Week
* Arlington Park vision’s missing ingredient: The proposal cooling its heels in Springfield would authorize up to 1,200 slot machines at Arlington Park and other tracks, generating, supporters say, millions for the cash-starved state. But it has a fatal flaw. It overrides home-rule authority and forces on communities something that, let’s be candid, falls just short of a vast land-based casino, especially since Arnold refused to rule out the possibility of seeking other forms of gambling in the future.
* Dear lawmakers: Do the right thing for our region: Legislation must be approved creating sales tax and revenue (STAR) bonds for the development of a tourism destination on a 400-acre site bordering Interstate 57 and north of Illinois 13 in Marion. The development plan from Bruce Holland, of Swansea, is projected to include a major retailing destination and entertainment venues, potentially including a sprawling resort and water park complex.
* My mom’s birthday is today. She’s had a pretty rough couple of months since my dad’s stroke and I feel bad that I cannot be there with her on her special day.
My mom almost always worked while we were growing up. She was a social worker, then a school teacher, then was employed by the Department of Defense and had a high security clearance. She is the reason we were able to live in Europe. Mom’s a brilliant person. Her IQ dwarfs mine and pretty much everyone else I know. She graduated from college in three years and finished second in her class, all with two babies at home and one more on the way. Yet, for all that, she has been the best mom anyone could ever ask for and we never wanted for attention.
When she was with the DoD, she often had to work late, but would regularly come home at lunch and make us a pie and get dinner ready so that when we got home from school we’d have something to eat. She loves crafts, and we spent countless hours being entertained with her projects for us. She was a committed teacher and instilled a curiosity about the world into her children. We mostly flew through school because of her work with us.
Mom taught all of her five sons to cook, sew, do laundry and generally take care of ourselves. She has always been a feminist without the dogma. Women should work hard and then naturally expect to get ahead just like men. And men needed to step up and take responsibility at home. End of story. She took a lot of flak from the far too prevalent insensitive old boy clods in the military, but she kept plugging away and retired at a high rank.
Mom has a great sense of humor, even though she can’t tell a joke to save her life. She dotes on her grandchildren, she worries over her sons, she spoils her husband (rotten, at times) and she has welcomed all of her daughters-in-law into the family with open arms. My wife calls her “Mom” for a reason. She’s just as much a mother to Wasan as my wife’s own mom. That means more to Wasan and myself than you could imagine.
We were all exchanging birthday greetings via e-mail today and Mom responded…
I always thought when I reached the ripe old age of 67 I would feel old and change somehow. But that isn’t true. Why is it when we see older people we think they have no more hopes and dreams? Take it from me that they do have hopes and dreams albeit a bit different ones than a 20, 30, 40 year old.
Today I hope for a full recovery for your Dad and no more strokes. He is doing well and even went out to get the newspaper for the first time today. Later he will go with me to see [grandson] Ryan’s circus program at school. That would not have been possible only one short week ago.
Today I hope for good health and increased prosperity for my kids and grandkids. And I hope that they realize how truly lucky they are to have all that they have—remembering material goods are not the only measure of success. Keep in mind if you have everything you always wanted, there would be no more need to dream.
Today I hope for a more tolerant society where everyone’s dreams can be achieved.
Today I hope, as I have hoped all my life, for a better way to solve a problem than with guns and war.
And to lighten things up a little, today I hope that the idiots in Springfield can pass a budget that will get our State out of a shameful financial mess. That one is about as likely to happen as world peace.
* Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing a sales tax holiday for school supplies this August, just like he did last year. Last year’s plan didn’t go anywhere, and this year’s proposal isn’t looking all that promising, either…
With lawmakers days away from leaving town, Gov. Quinn renewed his push Wednesday for a sales tax holiday on school supplies despite the bill’s unknown pricetag and less than resounding support from a top Democratic ally.
Under Quinn’s plan, which advanced from a House panel, consumers would pay a reduced sales tax on school supplies ranging from binders to scissors as well as school clothes retailing for less than $100 Aug. 6-15 — the second-largest shopping season of the year, Quinn said. […]
But Sen. President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) was lukewarm to the idea and said it was unclear whether the state would stand to make or lose money.
“We’re going to need to talk to the retail merchants about that,” Cullerton said, stressing he had not “signed off” on the governor’s proposal.
Brady called the governor’s sales tax holiday proposal “typical populist Pat Quinn rhetoric.” He said a single holiday doesn’t make nearly as much sense an as overall sales tax reduction
Cutting sales taxes when state revenues are way down is not the greatest budget idea I’ve ever heard.
We can argue all day about the tax holiday, and you could make the case that cutting sales taxes across the board during a recession might make economic sense. But cutting off a revenue source when state revenues are drying up makes absolutely no fiscal sense. The state has a responsibility to pay its bills, and - as we all know by now - it isn’t doing so. Making matters worse just isn’t responsible.
State budget negotiators are heading back to the drawing board today after a key component of a possible budget compromise fell short in the House Wednesday.
The House put 61 votes on a plan to borrow $3.8 billion that would be used to make required payments to state-funded pension systems next year. However, the plan needs 71 votes to pass.
“I don’t know what else we can do, but we’ll go back to the drawing board,” said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, the bill’s sponsor. “We thought there might have been some Republican votes and maybe that will change. So back to the drawing board.”
Because borrowing money requires a supermajority, so at least one Republican vote is needed in the House to approve the plan. But even some Democrats voted on Wednesday against borrowing money for pension payments.
Lawmakers have shown little interest in raising taxes to balance the budget, little interest in dramatic cuts and now appear uninterested in borrowing.
The result could be the state skipping nearly $4 billion in pension payments as part of a fiscal Band-Aid intended to keep the state running for the coming months.
Legislators know that borrowing is a horrible option. It merely kicks the can down the road. But since both parties appear determined to wait until after the November election to do the heavy lifting, then borrowing is the only real recourse. Statements like this one are basically not honest…
“It’s the same old thing. We’re just continuing to look at a budget as an instrument of debt rather than a balanced instrument that’s supposed to have real revenue for the expenses,” said Rep. Roger Eddy, a Hutsonville Republican.
When Rep. Eddy is ready to support big cuts to education - his central issue - then I’ll believe he’s being completely forthright about his opposition to borrowing.
And Bill Brady is even more disingenuous because his own fiscal blueprint would absolutely require substantial borrowing. Check out how he tried to deflect a reporter’s question about how he has already essentially admitted that borrowing would have to be a major part of his plan. Brady has said, and repeated it again yesterday, that it’ll take “at least three years” to pay down the state’s deficit. But there is no other way to do that than through borrowing. I’ve set up this video to begin with the reporter/Brady exchange, which is at the 2 minute, 27 second mark. Watch…
Brady has proposed a 10 percent across the board cut, which won’t even produce $3 billion. He also wants to cut taxes by a billion dollars, which will make the budget hole that much larger.
They need to find about $6.2 billion to get rid of the structural deficit and another $6.5 billion or so to pay off past due bills. Brady’s plan barely puts a dent in that. If he follows through, he’ll have no choice but to borrow billions of dollars.
The governor’s proposal is mostly a freaking horrible mess. Borrow to pay pensions, defer obligations and borrow on the tobacco settlement. Other components make more sense, including hiking cigarette taxes, implementing a tax amnesty plan and adding to the governor’s power to withhold appropriations (even from mandated programs), renegotiating non-labor state contracts (as Daley is doing) and requiring furloughs.
As unpalatable and even irresponsible as most of that is, I have yet to see any state legislator in either party come up with even a slightly plan that can pass right now. Until they do, borrowing is all they’ve got, because skipping the pension payment would be an utter disaster.
Also, let’s try to avoid silly drive-by comments today. I’ve seen so much “they need to stand up and do what’s right” drivel that I’m pretty sick of it. Forget the bumper sticker slogans and elevate the discussion or find yourself deleted.
* Related…
* Are public employees overpaid? Another study says no
* The school voucher bill sponsored by Rep. Kevin Joyce, SB2494, has been placed on postponed consideration. A roll call vote showed the measure was 12 votes shy of the constitutional majority.
* Gov. Quinn and Sen. Brady were the keynote speakers at a luncheon for the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and Illinois Retail Merchants Association today in a downtown Springfield hotel ballroom.
Quinn revealed his intention to push lawmakers to approve a sales tax holiday. The move is meant to tone down the school supplies bill parents face. The Tribune has more…
Taxpayers would get a break on paying the state’s share of the sales tax — which is 5 percent — from Aug. 6 through Aug. 15 under legislation that advanced in the House today. State sales tax would be waived for clothing, school supplies, sporting goods and computer accessories like flash drives and printers.
Quinn also said the proposed tax amnesty would likely be in the final budget package, and said he prefers public charter schools over school vouchers.
The governor also took the opportunity to take a few jabs at Brady. Though he declared himself a cheerleader for the state, Quinn said his opponent is the exact opposite. The AP reports…
Gov. Pat Quinn says his Republican challenger is “running down” the state of Illinois.
Quinn says state Sen. Bill Brady should stop criticizing Illinois’ business climate. The Chicago Democrat calls it disappointing.
Quinn says the governor should be a cheerleader for Illinois workers and the business climate, which Quinn says is strong.
The governor spent roughly 12 minutes with reporters after the luncheon. Here’s the first part of that question-answer session…
Brady struck down Quinn’s comments and fired back by calling the governor a populist for introducing the sales tax holiday instead of lowering the sales tax on a more permanent basis. Here’s some of Brady’s remarks to reporters after his speech…
1:30 a.m. I just realized the video embedded was of Gov. Quinn when I meant to post Sen. Brady. My apologies. The correct video is now posted.
* Quinn also said he would have to review Sen. Sandoval’s initiative to move the White Sox’s spring training camp out of Arizona (mentioned in today’s QOTD). Have a look…
* The Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has an answer for those who say that Illinois has a spending problem and not a revenue problem. We do, indeed, have a revenue problem…
For [the month of April], gross corporate income taxes fell $247 million, or $203 million net of refunds… Gross personal income tax receipts dropped $103 million, or $93 million net of refunds. Public utility taxes declined $37 million, corporate franchise taxes were off $7 million, interest income fell $4 million, and both vehicle use tax and other sources dipped $1 million each.
The state also saw a $345 million drop in federal sources for just this month. There were a few highlights mixed in with the lowlights…
Relatively few sources experienced gains in April. Sales tax receipts did manage to grow a decent $45 million, while insurance taxes were up $15 million. Liquor taxes as well as inheritance taxes managed to eke out $1 million in monthly gains.
And the fiscal year to date numbers are enough to make you choke…
Through April, gross personal income tax has fallen $697 million, or $629 million net of refunds. Sales tax receipts are off a disastrous $461 million, while gross corporate income tax is down $382 million, or $315 million net of refunds. Inheritance tax has declined by $51 million and public utility taxes by $84 million. All of the other revenue sources net an additional decline of $47 million.
All non-federal state revenue sources are down “a staggering $1.213 billion,” according to CoGFA. Take out the one-time transfers, and that decline grows by more than $100 million.
Also in the report, there were just 853 new single family housing permits issued in March, but that’s up almost 50 percent over a year ago. Man, talk about a crash.
* If you want a pretty good summation of where the state budget plans are right now, then you must watch this video shot today by my intern Dan Weber of House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie taking questions from the press…
The House Executive Committee [this morning] approved two versions of borrowing nearly $4 billion to make pension payments next year to state-backed systems. One would be a straight bond sale as Illinois has done in the past. The other is a more controversial plan to split the payment between a bond sale and basically issuing IOUs to the pension systems.
The latter idea would have to be approved by the Internal Revenue Service so the pension systems don’t jeopardize their tax-exempt status. The Quinn administration plans to seek that approval, but said it could take six months.
Republicans on the committee opposed both pension borrowing plans, which could be an ominous sign. At least one Republican vote is needed to approve a borrowing bill in the House. Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said if Illinois can’t borrow for pensions, another $3.7 billion will have to be found elsewhere to balance the budget. That could result in deeper cuts to programs.
The tax amnesty would allow people who owe back taxes to the state to pay up during a six-week period and avoid penalties and interest. The plan is estimated to raise $250 million. Gov. Pat Quinn last week said he wasn’t inclined to support an amnesty program. Currie said the administration supported the bill Wednesday.
* Republican state Rep. Roger Eddy explained his opposition to the school voucher plan to my intern Barton Lorimor yesterday. Eddy has been getting heat from the Tribune and others for his opposition. Eddy is a school superintendent and has received thousands of dollars in contributions from teachers unions, and that’s being used against him. Barton grilled him politely, but thoroughly. Have a look…
* Gov. Quinn and the Campaign For Better Health Care unveiled the governor’s demand that the General Assembly pass a bill to implement the new federal health insurance law. Background is here. Watch…
* The Paul Simon Institute has released more polling results from their survey of southern Illinoisans. Click the pic for a larger image…
Using a question construction that political scientists call a “feeling thermometer,” the poll asked respondents to describe their feelings toward groups or institutions on a 100-point scale, with ratings between zero and 49 representing “cool” feelings, a rating of 50 describing a “neutral” feeling, and ratings between 51 and 100 describing “warm” feelings. […]
“While our results confirm our assumptions that voters in the 18 southernmost counties of Illinois are more Republican and more conservative than voters in the rest of the state, the picture is more complicated than that,” said Charles Leonard, the visiting professor at the institute who supervised the poll.
“For example, the region has a long tradition of union membership in mining, manufacturing and the trades, and four of 10 voters here give warm ratings to unions. The average rating for unions is a relatively warm 53.3, which you might not expect in an electorate in which most partisan identifiers call themselves Republican,” he said.
According to an earlier question in the Southern Illinois Poll, 81 percent feel their area does not get its fair share of state spending. Southern Illinois voters may direct some of this resentment toward “People from Chicago,” as reflected in one question. Only 17 percent gave warm ratings to Chicagoans.
* Other breaking news…
* McPier’s Ochoa quits; top shows balk at proposed reforms, threaten to walk
* MAP college grants run dry, rejections to double
* Bill for Marion development awaits filing in Senate: Senate Bill 2093, sponsored by state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, and state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, will authorize Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds for the project as an incentive to bring major destination development businesses into the area. The project was announced Saturday, just one day after a similar deal proposed by project developer Holland Construction of Swansea was killed over arguments and disagreements in its establishment.
House Speaker Michael Madigan swayed the University of Illinois to admit the relatives of public officials, political allies and donors who contributed $115,200 to campaign funds he controls, a Tribune investigation has found.
Only five of the 28 applicants helped in three recent years by the state’s most powerful lawmaker lived in Madigan’s district, and many would not have been admitted on their own merit.
Among the beneficiaries: North Shore attorney Steven Yonover, a longtime contributor who has donated $71,800 to Madigan-related campaign funds. Three of Yonover’s relatives enrolled at the U. of I. in 2008 and 2009 after being sponsored by Madigan. The two who applied for 2009 had been wait-listed, and one had the lowest possible rating given by the admissions office.
Madigan also helped a relative of Thomas Ryan, who in 2005 was convicted of stealing more than $100,000 from the south suburban school district he oversaw. Between 2002 and 2005, Ryan gave Madigan $1,000 and was treasurer of a state school organization whose political arm gave the speaker an additional $30,000. That’s around the same time his relative vied for a spot, then enrolled in the U. of I. law school in 2004.
The Trib said it has identified 28 Madigan-backed applicants to the University of Illinois. 23 of those were accepted. However, the paper does not indicate how many families of those 28 applicants contributed campaign money. Reading the story, it looks like ten or so, but I’m not quite sure of the exact figure there. Maybe you can do better. Also, Madigan’s personal campaign committee has raised over $12.4 million since January of 2002, which appears to be the earliest year of contributions in the story. So, the U of I contris would be less than one percent of the total amount he raised in just that one fund over the years.
Still, the appearance isn’t good, and Madigan ought to quickly divest himself of those contributions.
The Illinois House has just voted to form a task force to study why bedbugs have made a comeback in the state. Yes, really. […]
No budget discussions so far. We’ll keep you posted.
If you’ve ever had bedbugs, you know what a horrific thing it can be. A buddy of mine accidentally brought some home after staying in an upscale out-of-state hotel and it was a freaking nightmare. He and his wife were basically living in one room of their house for weeks while the exterminator painstakingly killed all the little critters. The best solution is DDT, but that’s been outlawed in the US for a long time.
Also, contrary to the story, budget negotiations have been going on for weeks between the leaders and the governor.
This year Illinois will spend millions trying to attract visitors to the state — a business officials say brings in more than $30 billion a year. But critics say when the state is broke, that’s part of a failed strategy. […]
“We’re taking taxpayer money to build a statue of Lois Lane and to acquire a piece of property in Yorkville,” said John Tillman, Illinois Policy Institute. “I think it’s beyond belief and I think it should stop immediately.”
Tillman says the state shouldn’t be in the tourism business.
“This is why we have such a terrible problem in the state of Illinois…is that the people who dole out the money through the favor factory of state government or the tourism bureau think it’s their money when it’s actually the taxpayer’s money,” said Tillman.
He has a point, but all states spend money on tourism and there are legitimate, proven reasons to do so.
I often give Tillman and IPI a hard time here, but I will say this for them: At least they’re identifying problems and offering solutions, in some cases quite comprehensive solutions. I don’t always agree with them or their numbers, but I do very much appreciate the fact that they’re engaging in ways that others simply are not. For instance, today’s Peoria Journal Star editorial just whines and whines about the early adjournment without once mentioning what the hard budget choices it wants legislators to make would actually entail. Bogus.
llinois State Senator Martin A. Sandoval (D-Chicago) is urging the Chicago White Sox to move their spring training camp out of Arizona.
“I have been an avid White Sox fan all of my life and a State Senator who represents the heart of the Latino Community in Illinois,” stated Senator Sandoval. “Although I bleed ‘Sox Black’, I cannot change the color of my skin for the State of Arizona.”
The new Arizona Law requires law enforcement to question people about their immigration status and arrest individuals if law enforcement has a “reasonable suspicion” that they are in the country illegally. This law, if fully implemented, would institute and legitimize a policy of profiling that would infringe upon the civil rights of individuals and families, and would threaten the basic notion of decency, justice, and fairness which are essential elements of the American Way of Life.
“I am calling on Jerry Reinsdorf to move the team’s Spring training from Arizona altogether unless and until Arizona modifies or repeals this terrible law. The White Sox are a tenant of the Illinois Sports Facility Authority that owns U.S. Cellular Field,” said Senator Sandoval. “I believe the team has a special partnership with the State of Illinois and expect Mr. Reinsdorf to excise leadership commensurate with that special relationship.”
The State of Illinois contributes an annual subsidy of $5 million to the Illinois Sports Facility Authority. In these very difficult budget times, it does not seem prudent to continue to spend very scarce taxpayers dollars on behalf of an organization that chooses to continue to invest in the State of Arizona.
* The Question: Do you agree with Sen. Sandoval or not? Explain fully, please.
* As subscribers have known for well over a week, the governor isn’t having much luck convincing Democratic leaders to go along with this health insurance plan…
Two hundred million dollars in federal funding is available to help provide health insurance for uninsured Illinois residents. But before the state can tap into those funds lawmakers must first pass reform legislation. Governor Pat Quinn called on lawmakers to do that before they adjourn.
The pending bill would provide a new coverage for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions. The legislation would also create a health insurance bill of rights, which calls for guaranteed coverage for children with pre-existing conditions, guaranteed access to OBGYN services for women and it would require insurance companies to cover free wellness an prevention benefits.
The worry, as always, is what a vote for this could do to targeted Democrats in conservative districts in a bad Democratic year. There’s little chance of finding GOP support, so the Dems would have to go it alone, and they are not willing.
The first bill allows the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan to form an expanded high-risk pool with approximately $200 million in federal funds that will be made available this summer. The high-risk pool will provide affordable coverage for uninsured persons with pre-existing conditions and is required under the federal health insurance reforms.
The second bill creates the Health Insurance Consumer’s Bill of Rights. That bill will:
* Guarantee coverage for children with pre-existing conditions;
* Guarantee residents the ability to have health insurance rescissions reviewed by the state – the same protection available now for home and automotive insurance policyholders;
* Guarantee women’s access to obstetrical and gynecological care;
* Ensure that all dependents under the age of 26 are eligible to remain covered under a parent’s plan;
* Require insurance companies to cover wellness and prevention benefits such as immunizations and screenings at no cost to the policyholder;
* Require health insurers to publicly disclose important information about premiums, health care costs, enrollment and claims information.
Harris said that even though there would be some support for the idea of health insurance reform, there doesn’t appear to be any room for it on the legislative agenda.
“We’ve got a couple days left of the scheduled session in which we have to pass a state budget, deal with a $13 billion revenue shortfall, relieve [home] owners of undue burdens in the county of Cook, reform McCormick Place so that it can continue to bring billions of dollars of revenue to the state, possibly deal with school vouchers, and a couple of other small odds and ends. So I don’t know what the timing of this is going to be.”
* Speaking of last-minute snafus, the cigarette tax hike is short in the House…
“Last I looked, we were a handful of votes short,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago.
Lawmakers representing border districts say higher tobacco taxes would push local citizens to neighboring states to purchase cheaper smokes.
“Some people from Illinois go over there already,” said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg. “If you do another cigarette tax increase, they will definitely go over there.”
Phelps’ district borders Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri, all of which have a cigarette tax rate under $1. With a $1 cigarette tax increase, Illinois’ rate would be $1.98.
Illinois would also be among the top 15 states in the nation for highest cigarette tax rate. Iowa has a rate of $1.36, for instance, which borders state Rep. Pat Verschoore’s district.
People sometimes forget how long our borders are. There are a lot of people who live close to another state here. That’s one reason why tax hikes are difficult to pass, particularly stuff like this. Send ‘em to Indiana for their cigarettes, and they may end up buying groceries and gas there as well, or even more.
[GOP State Sen. Dave Syverson] predicts that the governor will need to borrow from $5 billion to $6 billion in addition to skipping the scheduled $3.7 billion pension payment. “It’s being called a pension holiday, but in reality it’s a pension raid,” Syverson said. Illinois’ long-term pension liability is $85 billion, worse than any other state.
Syverson said Quinn just isn’t serious about economizing, noting that “while he proposes $50 million in cuts to mental health programs, the Department of Mental Health budget features $55 million in raises for department employees, and 1,000 employees are getting over 10 percent raises.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers are preparing to stave off 465 State Police layoffs. Tuesday, the House passed a Senate bill raising certain court fees to come up with about $22 million to keep the cops on the force.
Suburban lawmakers questioned the motivation behind Gov. Pat Quinn’s last-ditch effort to revive a soon-to-expire property tax break for Cook County homeowners even as they embraced keeping the program in place.
“Is there some political motivation to it? Probably,” said state Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican. “Otherwise, I think we would have maybe seen it a little earlier.”
Quinn called for extending a tax exemption worth up to $20,000 for homeowners. His Sunday announcement came as lawmakers prepared to head back to the Capitol to finish up their final week of session. Extending the exemption wasn’t part of Quinn’s budget plan and has no effect on the state’s bottom line.
But with a $13 billion deficit likely to go unresolved, the state’s budget picture getting worse seemingly by the day, and plenty of voter disdain for proposed tax increases, lawmakers and Quinn are eager to embrace popular programs as they prepare for campaign season.
Downstate is the problem there, as always. I don’t think they have the votes right now. We’ll see.
Free rides for senior citizens on buses and trains would be scaled back significantly and transit systems throughout Illinois would net millions dollars under a new plan approved with bipartisan support in a Senate panel today. […]
“Today, we’re going to correct the Blagojevich mistake,” declared Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago. Sandoval forged the bill with a key co-sponsor, Sen. Rickey Hendon, D-Chicago, who long has fought to keep the free rides for all seniors in place. After beating back prior efforts to ditch the program, Hendon embraced this new proposal because it eliminated only a portion of the free rides. [Emphasis added to show why this has legs.]
* The Tribune once again insists that legislators must change current pension plans and finds a previously unreported nugget…
We’ve written twice recently on the legality of reducing pension benefits that current state employees earn going forward. Legislative leaders who pretend that isn’t possible had better hustle up their own remedy, and fast: Joshua Rauh, a public finance expert at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School, calculates that Illinois’ pension plans could run out of money as early as … 2018.
You can see that analysis by clicking here. I’m not sure yet if it’s totally accurate, but it’s definitely scary whatever the case.
* Related and a roundup…
* Developers up ante in Illinois project: Developers who want to put a tax-backed destination and retail development in Marion are sweetening the pot with an offer of money for area schools, in hopes of avoiding the kind of opposition that drove them out of Glen Carbon.
* Now it’s up to Quinn: The hard work, after all, was done by some dedicated lawmakers and school officials who believed the time had come to abolish the disgraced and useless Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education - then went out and made it happen.
* Lawmakers shoot down measure to classify tire burning as renewable energy
With Illinois struggling for cash, ComEd is offering half a billion bucks to lawmakers, but the trade-off could be higher electric bills for customers.
The Chicago-area utility giant offered Tuesday to give the state $500 million. That could help offset education cuts and a plethora of other funding shortfalls in a budget carrying a $13 billion deficit. And it comes as lawmakers scramble for budget Band-Aids with a scheduled May 7 adjournment rapidly approaching.
In return, the power company wants a rate increase locked in for four years by state law. […]
“You don’t jump into a swimming pool unless there’s water there,” Quinn said. “You’ve got to make sure you’re paying attention.”
The benefits Exelon and ComEd would get would dwarf what they’re offering.
Chief among them would be enshrining in law a minimum 10.3% return on equity for the utility and automatically increasing customers’ rates when profits fall short of that mark. […]
Under the proposed law, a rate freeze would remain in effect until June 2014. After that, the ICC would be largely removed from assessing the need for future rate hikes. And rates would likely climb since future investment in infrastructure would necessitate higher revenues to meet return targets. Such increases would not affect residential and small-business bills until after the rate freeze expires.
ComEd rates are expected to rise 8% in June, to about 12.2 cents per kilowatt-hour from 11.3 cents. ComEd wants to lock that price in for the next four years. Absent an unexpected reversal in today’s low power prices, it is significantly above what ratepayers likely would pay through much of that period.
The idea is a last-minute addition as lawmakers look for an easy way to get free money to help close a massive budget deficit and escape Springfield by Friday to begin their re-election campaigns. To some leading lawmakers, ComEd’s proposal is as politically unpalatable as voting for an income tax increase because it would lead to Chicago-area customers paying more for electricity.
If I was ComEd and Exelon, I might try to quietly derail the budget-making process to boost my chances. I’m not saying they’ll do it, I’m just saying.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE 1 *** A rival utility is getting into the act. From a press release…
BlueStar Energy Solutions, an energy solutions company based in Chicago, today announced that it is offering Illinois residential consumers the ability to switch electricity suppliers to their residential service to avoid a proposed ComEd energy tax proposal.
BlueStar Energy is offering consumers a 12-month contract at an estimated 8% discount off ComEd’s current rate. Consumers will have the choice to go green for less too. BlueStar will offer 100% Renewable American Energy at an estimated 3% discount off ComEd’s current rate. […]
BlueStar is entering into the Illinois residential marketplace with a groundbreaking new approach: offering customers not only a choice in who provides their electricity – but also a choice in the type of power they wish to use. “Traditional energy or Renewable American Energy, customers will save with us either way,” said Morgan.
“It is my job to protect utility customers from excessive rates. I will not support any proposal that forces ratepayers to pay more than they should for electricity. That’s why I fought to eliminate the reverse auction that resulted in consumers overpaying for electricity in 2007. This is just another effort to lock in unjustified profits. I strongly oppose allowing ComEd to use the State’s financial crisis to try to increase their profits by asking ratepayers to pick up the tab.”
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Taylorville means jobs
• Nearly 10 million labor hours needed to build plant - resulting in almost 2,500 construction jobs at peak
• Hundreds of permanent plant and mining jobs
• Billions of private dollars injected into Illinois economy
Taylorville protects ratepayers
• Residential and small business customer rate impact capped at 2.015%
• No cost to ratepayers before 2015, when TEC comes online
• Increasing supply of “base load” power will hold down future prices
Taylorville safeguards the environment
• Emissions comparable to natural gas generation
• Net reduction of nearly 2 million tons of CO2 annually
• Dry cooling design cuts water needed by 70% - no fresh water used for cooling
U of I / Illinois Chamber of Commerce study shows clean coal economic “Ripple Effect”
• “Clean coal development produces significant energy, jobs, economic development and significant, long-term positive economic impact on the state”
• Taylorville and similar projects can boost central and southern Illinois economy
Taylorville supported by broad coalition including
• AFL-CIO
• American Lung Association of Illinois
• Citizens Utility Board (CUB)
• Clean Air Task Force
• Illinois Coal Association
