Fracking bill dies
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Review…
Admitting the failure of legislation proposed by State Rep. John Bradley to circumvent the Illinois Department of Natural Resources by directly instituting hydraulic fracking rules via the General Assembly, State Rep. David Reis (R-Ste. Marie) led a call for fracking to begin in Illinois.
“All that needs to be done is that the Governor and the DNR present a second draft of the regulations, and fracking will be able to begin,” Rep. Reis said at a press conference in the Capitol with other members of a diverse coalition supporting fracking. “Politlcally-driven delays by the governor, his administration and departments are single-handedly stymieing the process,” he said. “We need to get busy fracking.”
Mark Denzler, CEO of Illinois Manufacturers Association, headed the pro-fracking GROW Association.
“Even the environmental community said we had the strongest environmental protections in the country. We worked to protect Illinois’ air, water and land. Second we wanted to bring jobs to Illinois,” Denzler said. “It’s been a year, it’s time for the governor and DNR to move on fracking rules.”
* Personally, I think the enviros are making a big mistake by supporting IDNR’s slow-walking of the rulemaking process.
I mean, there’s a reason why Gov. Quinn doesn’t want finalized rules before the election: The moratorium types are gonna freak the frack out once fracking begins. He’ll be constantly hounded in Chicago like he was last month…
By flooding IDNR with thousands of copy-and-pasted public comments and then demanding that IDNR respond to each and every one, they’re an accomplice in the slow-walking.
And what’s that gonna get them? Post-election rules that they will almost definitely hate.
Welcome to Springfield, kids.
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Not soup yet
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Call it a good start…
A change to the way the state doles out school funding passed in the Senate today, but a House floor vote on the bill is not expected before session is scheduled to adjourn later this week.
Sen. Andy Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat, sponsored Senate Bill 16, which supporters say could make school funding for poor communities more equalized to wealthier communities. A Senate committee spent months evaluating the current funding formula after questions arose about drastic disparities between schools throughout the state. The plan would put more of the money the state sends to local school districts through a filter that would weight funding more heavily toward factors such as whether students live in poverty or are bilingual learners. It would also consider the need of local districts that have less affluent property tax bases for local funding. “Will there be winners and losers under a new funding formula? Absolutely. But those winners and losers will be based on need and resources and not what their zip code is,” said Democratic Sen. John Sullivan of Rushville. “We’ve all said that around here for years that it ought to be based on not where you live, but what resources you have, and Senate Bill 16 addresses that.” […]
Lawmakers agreed that the state’s education funding formula needs to be changed, but Republicans questioned whether this legislation is the right way to go. Manar said when asked of the debate, “I was quite shocked at their defense of the status quo at the debate and it’s as if (Republicans) are immune or numb to the reality of what is going on in the state today. There’s no reason to pause, there’s no reason.” […]
The legislation would not take effect until July of 2015 and would allow a phase in period to let schools adjust to the newly proposed funding formula.
There is a reason to pause. Even Manar admitted that the bill wasn’t quite soup yet.
* More…
Some Republicans added they would have to vote against the bill out of principle, even though it helped their district, because they wanted to make sure that the state maintained a minimum amount of spending per student, or a “foundation level.”
“If you look at the winners and losers list for this bill, my district wins, my schools would get more money almost uniformly,” said state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon. “There are times when we act focused solely on our districts and then there are times when we act focused more broadly on what the policy is statewide and what the long term policy is…. If this bill becomes law the one objective measuring stick that we have to say that we are funding to the degree that we said we would will be change dramatically, that is the foundation level. The $6,119 per child that this General Assembly and this Governor have said is the absolute minimum a child can spend in these schools and give them an adequate education… is no longer locked in statute.”
* But the sole Republican vote for the bill explained why that foundation argument doesn’t really hold up. From a press release…
“The current formula is out of touch with current fiscal realities and it creates major disparities throughout the state,” said Senator Sam McCann.
One of the major issues identified in the Senate GOP report was that state dollars have been redirected from the basic foundation formula grant, which was established to ensure all students are guaranteed a minimum level of funding.
“Senate Bill 16 reprioritizes state education funding by focusing funding priorities on need,” said McCann. “This means our poorest districts, the ones who rely the heaviest on state dollars, will see increases in funding. This is the way it should be.”
SB16 will slowly implement increases or decreases in funding over a period of three years. Currently, Senator McCann is finalizing the details of new legislation which would require the state to fully fund the formula, whether it’s the current formula, or the new system laid out by SB16. In recent years, the state has been paying less than 90% of the recommended level.
* More…
Under Manar’s bill, the state would send districts money based primarily on need.
Many collar counties would take a hit if the bill becomes law. In hopes to lessen the negative impact on districts, Manar has capped the amount of money a school district can “lose” in the matter at $1,000 per pupil.
* But some aren’t convinced…
“Poverty disparity is widened by this,” said state Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine. “Current law is $3,000 dollars per poor kid in a high density poverty area, it’s $314 in a low poverty area. Under this bill it goes up to $4,800 all the way down to $12… That great school district in that rich area I live in has 31 percent poverty—we get $12 a kid for everything [in taxes] we send out.”
That school district Murph spoke of had cash reserves of over $148 million in 2012. They built that gigantic reserve by over-taxing by about $10.6 million each year.
* And, of course “Chicago“…
“The problem is the disproportionate funding that goes to one district… that benefits one district at the expense of every other student and child throughout this state,” said state Sen. Jason Barrickman, R-Bloomington, talking about the Chicago Block Grant.
The block grant is eliminated by this bill.
* One more link…
Manar added several amendments to his bill. They include giving more weight to at-risk students, capping the amount of money a district could lose per student, and funding early childhood programs, special education, and transportation.
One amendment that got left off the list was a proposal to allow schools to opt out of dozens of mandates, from teaching drivers ed to black history. Some senators thought that belonged in a separate bill.
Like I said, it ain’t soup yet.
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Minimum wage referendum to appear on ballot
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s pretty obvious from the press release that the governor fully intends to use this issue as much as he can in the upcoming campaign…
Governor Pat Quinn today released the following statement regarding Illinois Senate passage of House Bill 3814, legislation that would place a question on the Nov. 4, 2014 ballot asking voters if the state’s minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour by Jan. 1, 2015. The bill previously passed the Illinois House, and now heads to the Governor’s desk:
“This November, Illinois voters will have the opportunity to send a clear signal to lawmakers that we must have an economy that works for everyone.
“Raising the minimum wage will benefit hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women across our state. Higher wages for employees means they will spend more at local businesses, which in turns boosts economic growth.
“As we work to build a majority to raise the minimum wage in Illinois, this referendum will help us get the job done.
“I thank Senator Kimberly Lightford and House Speaker Michael Madigan for sponsoring this important legislation. I look forward to signing it and letting the people’s voice be heard on this important issue.”
Think it’ll work much?
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Question of the day
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* State Sen. Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap) wants a privately funded statue of Ronald Reagan somewhere in or around the Illinois Statehouse…
“Everyone knows about our extensive Lincoln heritage and President Grant’s military prowess, but they often forget that Ronald Reagan is the only Illinois-born man to reach the White House,” LaHood said. “Currently, the Capitol features prominent statues of Lincoln and Grant, but it’s time for President Reagan to have his place at the Illinois Capitol.”
LaHood and other lawmakers are seeking to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of President Reagan’s death on June 5, with a private fund-raising drive to place a formal statue on the Illinois State Capitol Complex grounds.
Senate Resolution 1242 was introduced on May 27 and requests that an appropriate memorial be placed at the State Capitol. In addition to the resolution, Senator LaHood also sent a letter to the Architect of the Capitol and the four legislative leaders stating the desire for the Reagan memorial. That letter was signed by Senators Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), Tim Bivins (R-Dixon), and John Sullivan (D-Rushville).
“We are keenly aware of the state’s fiscal condition, which is why we want to emphasize the need to raise private funds for this Reagan memorial at the Capitol,” LaHood concluded. “Let me make it abundantly clear that this Reagan tribute will not be funded by any taxpayer monies.”
The resolution is still in the Assignments Committee.
* The Question: Should a privately funded statue of Ronald Reagan be placed on the Illinois Statehouse grounds? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
polls
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Roger and me
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I guess I can reveal this now since he passed away last Saturday, but Roger Stanley and I used to talk on the phone all the time when his company handled the House Republicans’ mail program.
Roger would call just as soon as then House Republican Leader Lee Daniels’ chief of staff Michael Tristano left his office. He’d then brief me about what was in the mailers and whatever else was on Tristano’s mind and I’d get some great stories for subscribers.
The House Republicans were always furious that they obviously had a leakage problem, but to my knowledge they never caught Roger and I always tried to be careful with how I reported whatever he told me so he wouldn’t get caught.
* Despite our frequent chats over many years, I never once met the man. He invited me to accompany him on election night, 1998, when his old friend George Ryan was elected governor. He said he’d rented a limo, was getting some “broads,” as he called them, and some booze and insisted that I come along. I politely declined. I have to work on election nights, I explained. There were no hard feelings.
I can’t remember how or why we began talking on the phone. But he was a heckuva source, baby, and I’ve missed him ever since he got into trouble with the law. He knew everybody, and he was privy to tons of incredible stuff, much of which he passed on to me. There was never a dull moment, lemme tell ya.
* Apparently, the feds loved the way Stanley talked, too. You really should read his Sun-Times obit in its entirety, but here’s a snippet…
Former state lawmaker Roger Stanley, an informant for the feds in a corruption investigation that led to the trial and conviction of former Gov. George Ryan, has died.
Stanley, a longtime colorful figure in state politics who carried the moniker “The Hog,” died Saturday after “living the good life in Costa Rica,” according to his death notice. He was 71. […]
Stanley finally agreed to sit down with prosecutors and so began a long relationship with the feds — one that involved regular meetings in a “secret FBI office” in Chicago for more than a year, [former assistant US attorney Michael Ettinger] said.
“He had a great personality,” said Ettinger. “He was very entertaining to talk to — had story after story.” […]
“He did sit down and essentially give us a tutorial from his perspective on how all this stuff works,” [former assistant US attorney Patrick Collins] said of Stanley. “He was very helpful on how what later would be called “pay to play” sort of worked. He was a firsthand player and he provided that firsthand knowledge to us.” […]
“He ended up being an entertaining colorful person, who ultimately when you sat down with him, told it like it was,” Collins said.
The downside, of course, is that he ratted out the very people who made him so rich and successful, chief among them George Ryan. Lee Daniels was a Ryan protege, and George never let him forget it. So Stanley was a must-hire for Lee and Tristano, who was also taken down by the feds.
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Illinois Credit Unions – A Smarter Choice
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In these uncertain times, it’s important to have a financial institution you can trust. Credit unions have been serving their members for more than a century, providing them with a member-owned, not-for-profit alternative to traditional banks. Credit unions are different. They return profits back to their members in the form of lower rates and reduced fees. And because credit unions are member-owned and member directed, credit unions provide members with services they want, not products that will generate a tidy profit for a few investors. Credit unions know their members. Loan decisions are made locally, not by bureaucrats and computer models from across the country. If you are a credit union member, you already know the credit union difference. If you are not a credit union member, go to www.asmarterchoice.org to see which credit union can show you the advantage of credit union membership.
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Not quite ready for cupcakes
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
At first, it looked like the “cupcake-girl” bill suffered the same fate as an overbaked batch of brownies or cookies: It got tossed.
But the Illinois Senate had second thoughts, undoing a vote it had taken earlier in the day and voting to give a downstate 12-year-old cupcake baker the right to stay in business without her family having to build on a second kitchen in their home to satisfy their county public health department.
The Senate used a parliamentary maneuver to reverse a 17-32 vote that appeared to have killed legislation aimed to help Chloe Stirling. On a second try, the Senate voted 57-0 on legislation that would keep her mixing bowls spinning and bake-oven lit.
“Let them eat cupcakes,” said state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, after the early-evening revote.
The offending language was demanded by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Apparently, Gov. Pat Quinn ordered a reversal after the bill went down in flames.
* The Tribune editorializes today on the cupcake bill fiasco…
Senators spent an hour debating whether the state should crack down on young business people such as Chloe, a 12-year-old from Troy. Chloe was earning $200 a month selling homemade cupcakes to family and friends. After she was featured in her local newspaper for her baking skills, the Madison County Health Department made a few phone calls and shut her down.
She was told she needed to set up a commercial kitchen if she wanted to sell her cupcakes. “The rules are the rules,” the health department spokeswoman told local reporters.
Lawmakers in the House who heard about this filed a bill to give Chloe a break. The bill would have barred county and state health departments from regulating small, home-based food businesses that earn less than $1,000 per month. It was a one-page bill. It passed without a dissenting vote.
* But there’s something that nobody has been mentioning. The only way they got that bill through the House was with language demanded by some Chicago-area public health officials…
This Section applies only to a home kitchen operation located in a municipality, township, or county where the local governing body has adopted an ordinance authorizing the direct sale of baked goods
Troy’s mayor is in the process of drafting an ordinance which would allow for these bake sales, so, the kid can’t legally sell her wares yet.
And unless Cook County, Chicago, etc. vote to allow this sort of thing, it ain’t gonna happen there, either.
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** UPDATED x1 *** Slow it down, please
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
*** UPDATE *** Sunny Fischer, the chair of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Board of Trustees, has released a statement on this issue, claiming that her board was blindsided by the Madigan bill. Click here to read it.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Sun-Times…
A move by House Speaker Michael Madigan to wrest control of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum from a state agency moved out of the House Tuesday despite qualms that his framework seemed “drastic.” […]
The quick emergence of Lincoln library and museum bill has triggered murmurs at the Capitol, even from some Democrats, who question privately whether Madigan is engaged in a power grab that has the potential to become, what one high-ranking party aide described as “Metra times two.”
Madigan, who hasn’t been to the library and museum in two years, has said he began contemplating the power shift four or five months ago and that one of the problems with the current management setup is that numerous job vacancies have gone unfilled at the library and museum.
* Sun-Times editorial…
The $115 million Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is being undermined by greed and selfish ambition.
Actually, that’s what we wrote 13 years ago, when then-Gov. George Ryan tried to end the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency’s authority over the Lincoln center so he could, in the words of Sun-Times columnist Steve Neal, turn the center into a “patronage dump.”
Now, House Speaker Michael Madigan is trying to do the same thing — end the IHPA’s authority over the Lincoln center. And the sneaky way he’s going about it — producing a bill at the last moment in a busy legislative session, pushing it through a committee on Memorial Day and ramming it through the House the next day — is offensive. Last we heard, the Legislature has bigger problems to grapple with, like a potentially devastating unbalanced budget.
* But check out the roll call. The bill passed 84-29. By my count, 21 Republicans, including House GOP Leader Jim Durkin, voted for Madigan’s bill.
So, maybe Madigan cut a deal with Durkin on something else. I dunno. But there was clearly bipartisan support for this move.
* However, the Sun-Times is most definitely right about this…
If Madigan feels there’s a better way to run the Lincoln center, he should follow the normal legislative process, getting the input of everyone from Lincoln scholars to museum experts. Rushing things through invites unforeseen consequences.
I totally agree. The library/museum is a state gem. Changes should only be made after careful deliberations, with lots of input from outside experts.
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A look ahead
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* House Speaker Madigan is probably correct. The November election will almost surely turn out to be a referendum on whether to keep the income tax rate at 5 percent or roll it back…
Speaker Michael Madigan acknowledged the budget proposal would leave unfinished business and vowed to spend the summer and fall working to get the income tax hike made permanent to provide more money to run state government. The approach also ensures the governor’s race will continue to be framed up by opposite positions on a tax hike Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican challenger Bruce Rauner have staked out.
“My expectation is that this issue will be taken into the general election and I think the governor will be supportive of an extension of the income tax increase through the general election,” Madigan said. “My expectation is that Mr. Rauner will be against. So you’ll have a clear line of division going into the election. And people can make their choice.”
Rauner will point to things like Senate President John Cullerton’s prediction that taxes will have to rise after the election and maybe even tell voters that there’s already a “secret plan” to do just that. Quinn will have to campaign on a platform of avoiding painful cuts by keeping taxes at 5 percent.
* For his part, Madigan is trying to remain coy…
Asked if he also believes a tax increase will be needed later in the budget year, Madigan said “not necessarily.”
“I plan to work into the summer on the budget and when we get into the fall and into January I’ll assess the situation at the time,” he said.
That gives cover to some of his more politically vulnerable members.
* I haven’t received anything official from Bruce Rauner’s campaign since last Friday, May 23rd, when he sent an e-mail blast to supporters…
This week, we made a series of phone calls to voters in key legislative districts encouraging voters to stand against the Quinn-Madigan tax hike.
Quinn pledged to the people of Illinois the tax hike would be temporary and now he’s breaking his word. But our calls worked. When we stand on principle we can beat the Quinn-Madigan machine.
* The next day, Rauner attended the annual Livingston County Republicans Lincoln-Reagan Dinner at the Elks Lodge in Pontiac…
“Our plan is to roll that income tax back – all the way back to 3 percent,” said Rauner. “He said he was going to have that income tax hike be temporary and now he’s flipped-flopped to make it permanent.”
* But Eric Zorn added his voice to those who are clamoring for some specific answers…
Oh, but the plans are coming, Rauner said, as the conversation began to wrap up. “We’ll have a pension plan, an education plan, a transportation plan.”
Pearson’s follow-up was on point: “How can anyone believe this after hearing it month after month after month?”
Well, they can believe it if Rauner stops playing the coy, condescending critic and becomes an active participant in this week’s negotiations.
Tell us: Where would a Gov. Bruce Rauner find the estimated necessary $4 billion in spending cuts, on a full-year basis, that will be needed if the tax hike expires, while also increasing support for education? What constitutional remedies do you have for the pension crisis?
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House budget roundup
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jamey Dunn has a really good take on yesterday’s House budget action. Go read the whole thing…
Debate on the bills was lacking in the House in part because lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were uncertain about the details of the budget. For example, none of the key budgeting players in the chamber were able to give a definitive answer on the total spending number for the plan. All the responses were between $35 billion and $36 billion, but nobody knew the number spot on.
The bills were worked out in House budgeting committees, but many Republicans on those committees said they were not included in negotiations. Complaints aired by Republicans on the floor were primarily about the process and not the specifics of the budget itself, which they say they got this morning. “This is not a good budgeting process when you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know what you’re advancing,” said Rep. Ron Sandack, a Downers Grove Republican.
“I guess that the speed-reading classes that you’ve taken are paying off over there. Thank God. But the process has been a complete joke,” Elmhurst Republican Rep. Dennis Reboletti said to Democrats on the House floor. “You do this every year, and then you’re surprised that we’re not working with you, or that we’re angry or frustrated.” Democrats said they tried to include Republicans, but that many did not attend meetings held budgeting committees yesterday. They say that because Republicans have been unwilling to vote for budgets in recent years, they likely would not have been in favor of the plan, no matter what the process.
Those Democrats who crafted the proposal were able to keep the budget relatively flat by tapping into some well-worn creative budgeting tactics, such as delaying payment for some spending obligations, adjusting revenue estimates up and borrowing from funds outside of general spending. Democrats say that the moves freed up about $2 billion. Most of the tactics are short-term solutions or one-time sources of funding. […]
But flat funding does not mean that the budget picture is rosy. The bill backlog would grow substantially and there would be layoffs under the plan, according to those who worked most closely on it. “As the year goes on, things are going to get tighter and tighter in our departments,” said Rep. Greg Harris, who chairs the House human services budgeting committee. Harris said that the budget would likely increase the state’s stack of unpaid bills by “a couple billions of dollars” and would result in “thousands” of layoffs of state workers.
It’s a heckuva way to run a railroad.
* More…
Rosier revenue estimates, long a staple of Statehouse budgets, also are on the table this time. The state is now estimating it will collect another $200 million in the new budget year that starts July 1.
That’s kinda misleading. The revenue estimates are from COGFA, not pulled out of thin air. And the overall estimates are not as optimistic as the governor’s.
* Some of the cuts…
At the Illinois State Police, for example, the new plan scraps a new cadet class at a time when the agency already has a problem with overtime costs because of a manpower shortage.
At the Department of Children and Family Services, workers will face bigger caseloads.
Spending on mental health and programs for developmentally disabled people would be cut in order to divert money to comply with federal regulations. […]
Education funding actually rises slightly under the plan, but overall aid to schools remains at about 89 percent of what officials say is adequate. Universities will receive roughly the same amount they are getting this year.
* More cuts…
“People will not stop being disabled, people will not stop getting elderly simply because we don’t have the ability to raise the revenue to pay for it,” said Harris, who chairs the human services appropriations committee. “So the providers are going to be faced with the fact they are going to be serving those people until their appropriation runs out.” […]
But the budget also would cut $137 million from community care programs that serve the elderly at home. Another $7.8 million would be cut from programs that provide in-home care for the disabled. Funding for child care for the poor would be cut by $24 million, one legislative analysis showed.
Also eliminated would be $10 million for grants for after-school programs and another $15 million that funded anti-violence programs that arose from Quinn’s troubled Neighborhood Recovery Initiative. Republicans argued the Democrats moved money into different agencies to keep some of the programs going.
* Finke…
Asked if the budget bill passed by the House could lead to layoffs, Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, chairman of the Human Services Appropriations Committee, said, “Yes, probably thousands of people.”
Steans said the Department of Human Services alone warned of 1,500 job cuts under the so-called doomsday budget during budget hearings this spring.
Harris also said agencies may be forced to leave jobs unfilled if people retire or leave for other reasons.
However, Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, chair of the General Services Appropriations Committee, said layoffs aren’t necessarily certain.
“Some agencies are going to have to make decisions based on the money they have,” Crespo said. “They can probably cut elsewhere to make sure they meet those needs. I don’t think they necessarily have to let people go.”
* Gov. Quinn’s react…
Quinn’s office called the spending plan that advanced Tuesday “incomplete.”
“The budget doesn’t avoid the tough decisions. It just postpones them,” said his spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson.
* And the last word goes to Reuters…
The fate of the income tax increase is being tracked by Wall Street credit rating agencies, which already have Illinois at the lowest ratings among states, largely due to its $100 billion unfunded pension liability.
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* The problem with kicking the can down the road is eventually you get to the end of the road. So, this comment shouldn’t come as a shock…
Senate President John Cullerton says lawmakers will have to hold a vote on extending Illinois’ temporary income tax hike or find another source of revenue after the November election. […]
Without the tax extension lawmakers are considering a roughly $35 billion budget they acknowledge won’t cover the state’s costs. It could lead to layoffs and delays in paying bills.
Cullerton says various revenue options will be “on the table” after the election.
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*** UPDATE ***. A motion to reconsider was passed, Trotter withdrew his poison pill amendments and a “clean” bill has passed.
- End of update -
* Illinois Review…
It could soon cost $200 for kids to set up a lemonade stand, have a bake sale or sell cupcakes in Illinois.
“This is absolutely insane!” State Senator Jim Oberweis (R-Aurora) said at a Capitol press conference Friday. “Somebody in Madison County went crazy and decided to enforce a law against an 11 year old kid who was baking cupcakes. That was a mistake, but it happened.”
In the House, the little girl Oberweis referred to - Chloe Stirling of Troy’s State Representative Charlie Meier tried to do the right thing by introducing a law that would help those in her situation and exempt up to $1000 in sales.
“Then what happened? It came to the Senate… We ‘Illinois-ized’ the bill - doing things the way we do in Illinois, which is everything we can to discourage entrepeneurism to discourage business interests,” Oberweis told reporters. […]
[Sen. Donne Trotter] amended the bill to require anyone selling food products to take an 8 hour food service sanitation course costing $145, obtain a county health department permit costing $25, label the food products to indicate ingredients and the fact that they are homemade, plus another $35 fee.
* As expected, the amendment sank the bill today…
(B)y a 17-32 vote, with six members voting present, state senators killed the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, arguing it went too far and was unduly burdensome for children like Stirling wanting to make a few bucks off selling cupcakes or cookies on their driveways. […]
“This may sound like a silly thing known as the ‘cupcake girl’ bill, but this goes to the heart of what goes on in Springfield,” Oberweis said. “It’s an example of how we are Illinoizing, killing, entrepreneurship among kids.”
Trotter, however, defended the principle behind his legislation.
“It sounds good to talk about all these things — that we’re stifling entrepreneurship,” he said. “No, we’re actually encouraging it the right way. There are laws that have to be adhered to when you sell to the public. There are things we must be cognizant of, and that is the allergies or the other things that will impact other individuals’ health. That’s the job of public health.”
Thoughts?
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For the newbies
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Because I also write my daily newsletter, I’m often quite busy in the afternoons running down stories, etc. This is especially true in the last week of session.
So, if you’re looking for breaking Statehouse news, the very best place to find it is on our live session coverage post. Click here to go there now.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WUIS…
Universities in Illinois may soon get the chance to research industrial hemp. HB5085 is weaving its way through the legislature.
The Illinois Farm Bureau has been pushing the idea. But hemp was banned in the 1970’s and labeled a controlled substance, as it is related to marijuana.
Supporters say hemp can be re-purposed for materials like clothing, rope and much more. David Leitch–a House Republican from Peoria–says there’s been enough communication about what hemp actually is to make lawmakers comfortable with the bill.
“Time has come and the question is whether Illinois is going to be timely to this or be last like usual,” Leitch said.
* From the bill’s synopsis…
Provides that an institution of higher education or the Department of Agriculture may grow or cultivate industrial hemp if (1) the industrial hemp is grown or cultivated for purposes of research conducted under an agricultural pilot program or other agricultural or academic research, (2) the pilot program studies the growth, cultivation, or marketing of industrial hemp, and (3) any site used for the growing or cultivating of industrial hemp is certified by, and registered with, the Department of Agriculture.
The bill is now on concurrence in the House. The bill passed the Senate unanimously, 51-0. Almost all of those not voting were Democrats.
I’m continually amazed at these cannabis-related roll calls. Check out this link for some Illinois hemp history. It’s quite long.
* The Question: Should the General Assembly just forget about these studies and legalize hemp? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
polls
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A Real Solution for the Future
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois faces a retirement crisis. Over 2.5 million private sector workers in Illinois have no access to a retirement plan through their employer.
The question is not how to deal with the retirement crisis, but how and when…
The Secure Choice Savings Program (SB2758) is the how, and immediately is the when.
Senate Bill 2758 is a commonsense bill designed to give millions of private sector workers the choice to save for retirement through automatic payroll deductions into a Roth IRA, and the provides the opportunity for financial independence.
Without Secure Choice, Illinoisans will continue to rely on social security alone and continue to retire into poverty, placing an increasing burden on the State and taxpayers. Amongst African Americans, Latinos and low-wage workers, the need for Secure Choice is even greater.
Secure Choice is a bipartisan effort that strengthens the Illinois economy for everyone.
“I support Senate Bill 2758 because it is an innovative private sector focused option that will encourage long-term savings by individuals. People will have additional retirement security and the overall economy will benefit from the pool of capital created by additional savings,”
- Representative David McSweeney (R), chief co-sponsor of the bill.
“It is a startling fact that the typical household of color has nothing saved in a retirement account, but Secure Choice opens up access to a secure and affordable employment-based retirement savings opportunity from which minority communities have been historically excluded,”
- Martin Cabrera, Jr., CEO of Cabrera Capital Markets, one of the largest Hispanic-owned financial services firms in the United States.
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A Trojan Horse ad
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Policy Action, the new, more overt political arm of the Illinois Policy Institute has been running a Chicago-targeted online ad that can only be described as chock full of chutzpah.
As you most certainly are aware by now, the Illinois Policy Institute wants to end the public pension system as we know it and replace it with a 401(k) type of plan.
But this week-old ad allies the group with Chicago city workers by urging them to ask Gov. Pat Quinn to veto the pension reform bill which “takes more of your money, cuts your benefits, but fails to improve your retirement security.”
I kid you not…
The video has over 7,600 views so far.
* Script…
Are you a Chicago city worker?
If Governor Quinn signs the Chicago pension bill, he’ll cut your pension benefits and take even more from your paycheck.
What? So we can continue to bail out the crooked politicians who have nearly bankrupted Chicago?
Demand Quinn veto the bill that takes more of your money, cuts your benefits, but fails to improve your retirement security.
This bill only benefits the same politicians that got us into this mess.
Click the link, and tell Quinn to veto the Chicago pension bill.
* Clicking the link takes you to ChicagoTaxHike.com, where workers are encouraged to send this message to Gov. Quinn…
Dear Gov. Quinn,
For decades, politicians have underfunded city-worker pensions and broken their retirement promises. Now my retirement future is at risk.
It’s not fair for you to ask me to pay more in property taxes, contribute more to the pension system and cut my cost-of-living adjustments. And you’ll have done nothing to ensure that politicians stop using my pension as a slush fund.
All of this will fall on the backs of my family and me, as well as the thousands of other individuals who have dedicated their lives to working for the city.
I’m asking you to veto the Madigan/Rahm pension bill and take your “solution” back to the drawing board.
Man, that takes some serious gall.
Last month, the group posted a video of a public school teacher arguing against the proposed progressive income tax. It received less than 200 views.
* And while the Illinois Policy Institute is sucking up to unionized Chicago public employees and Downstate teachers, its Journalist in Residence Scott Reeder just penned a column demanding a right to work law in Illinois...
Thirty-one years ago, I gave a speech to my high school rhetoric class on how Illinois ought to become a right-to-work state.
Back when I was in high school, my hometown of Galesburg was an industrial center that churned out lawnmowers, refrigerators, steel buildings and outboard motors.
Industrial unions were powerful in Galesburg just as they were in nearby Peoria, Moline and all across Illinois. So my speech calling for ending compulsory unionism was not particularly well received.
After all, many of my classmates were the sons and daughters of union workers. To them, I was preaching apostasy. A right-to-work law simply means that employees cannot be forced to join or otherwise pay union dues in order to keep their jobs.
Today, when I visit my hometown, I feel sadness. Those union factory jobs have evaporated. Many of my classmates have moved to other states to raise their families.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** More budget deets leak
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about this earlier today…
Although the so-called “middle of the road” budget plan may be more palatable to election-minded lawmakers, the new approach nearly guarantees Gov. Pat Quinn will have to navigate some serious financial potholes as he runs the state and plots his re-election chances against Republican Bruce Rauner.
The proposal, for example, won’t account for rising wages, higher health insurance bills and other unavoidable cost increases in the fiscal year beginning July 1, meaning even a flat budget in some state agencies could still seem like a significant cut — especially once the temporary tax hike expires at the end of the year.
“It’s still going to feel very draconian,” said Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago. “The agencies will have their challenges.”
Without an increase to payroll and health insurance lines, the state may very well be forced to lay off workers.
Earlier this year, the Senate Democrats estimated that total “increased costs from legally binding personnel contracts” for next fiscal year would be $373 million.
*** UPDATE *** So much for that idea…
A bid to fight obesity through taxing sweetened drinks lost its fizz Tuesday as a House committee rejected a plan that could have injected $600 million into the state treasury.
The measure, which failed by a 2-7 vote, would have charged a penny more per ounce on sweetened beverages, making a 2-liter bottle of soda cost about 67 cents more than its artificially sweetened, zero-calorie counterpart.
“I think the public policy initiative is good; I just think you’re really hitting the consumer with a substantial tax that, to me, is not consistent,” said Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, who voted against the legislation.
But state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, the sponsor of the sugar tax, said the difference in cost was necessary because it incentivized choosing the healthier drink.
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* Tribune…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking another crack at heavily regulating firearms in Chicago after a federal court ruled an outright ban on gun sales was illegal: Requiring gun dealers to videotape sales.
Under a plan Emanuel is preparing to introduce, gun dealers would videotape the sales “to discourage traffickers and buyers who use false identification,” according to a report from the city detailing the specifics of the ordinance.
In addition, the proposal would require a 72-hour waiting period for purchasing handguns and 24 hours for rifles and shotguns. A dealer would be able to sell only one handgun per month per buyer, and the store records would be subject to quarterly audits to discourage trafficking.
If a business license is revoked for failing to follow the law, “former key employees and managers cannot reopen immediately in the same location.”
* The Sun-Times writes about the reasoning behind the videotaping…
[Janey Rountree, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff for public safety] said similar safety measures were imposed on gun stores in New York City in a settlement of a 2006 lawsuit the city brought against 20 firearms dealers.
Those stores agreed to videotape the “point of sale” when a customer bought a gun, Rountree said. Their employees also received training from a retired federal agent on identifying potential “straw purchasers,” people who can legally buy guns but then supply criminals with them.
As a result, those dealers saw an 85 percent drop in the number of “crime guns” they sold, Rountree said.
The one gun a month rule, though, has been successfully challenged elsewhere.
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Ride-sharing: Close the Insurance Gap
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Based on testimony from the Illinois Department of Insurance and other experts, the (Illinois Senate Transportation) Committee found that “customers, drivers and pedestrians are potentially put in harm’s way due to the lack of insurance coverage.”
– Statement from Illinois Department of Transportation
When the Illinois Department of Transportation and all the statewide experts are warning us that our citizens are being put in harm’s way, we should listen.
The truth is that ride-sharing companies’ current insurance plans are just not enough.
Ridesharing companies claim to have a fabulous one million dollar policy but there are no facts to support this claim. The policy does not provide the public with any primary coverage, only excess, which in most cases will not cover accidents. And personal insurance policies of the drivers don’t apply while drivers are providing rides for money.
This insurance gap has real life and death consequences. Recently, an Uber driver hit and killed a 6-year-old girl in San Francisco, only to have Uber deny responsibility and keep the little girl’s family from any insurance compensation because there was “ no passenger in the car.”
Tell the Governor to sign HB 4075 and close the insurance gap, so a tragic case like San Francisco never happens here in Illinois.
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Taxes, taxes and revenue
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about this 11th Hour move last week…
A proposed hike in Chicago’s tax on cellphones has surfaced in Springfield — one of a series of last-minute developments as lawmakers rush to pass a budget and take up other business before their scheduled adjournment May 31.
The phone tax, which would apply only to cellphones and not land lines, is being pushed in the Illinois General Assembly by lobbyists for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and reportedly would take the levy from $2.50 a month now to $3.90.
A spokeswoman for the city budget office would say almost nothing about the move, saying only that the current surcharge for operation of the city’s 911 emergency center expires July 1 and “we are working with the General Assembly on an extension bill.” […]
Steve Brown, House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman, confirmed the matter is pending, but “I don’t know that the (tax) numbers have been finalized.”
As of the other day, the mobile phone folks appeared grudgingly willing to settle for a $1 hike. We’ll see where it ends.
The city originally asked for no cap at all.
* In other news…
Cook County leaders said Tuesday they’ll offer a plan to the Legislature this week to shore up a pension system expected to go into the red “in a big way” in the decades to come.
But Ivan Samstein, the county’s chief financial officer, could offer few specifics to explain how the county would fund the proposed $146.9 million increase in its contributions during the 2016 fiscal year — other than by trying to “make county government more efficient.”
“You do those things first and then you talk about taxes afterward,” Samstein said.
Tax and fee increases are a last resort in fixing the county’s pension system, he said — but not off the table.
* Meanwhile…
For the first time since slot machines began to appear in bars and taverns across the state in summer 2012, video gaming recorded its first month-to-month drop in tax revenue last month. Illinois’ cut of the industry’s profits fell about 2 percent in April from March, records show.
That decrease in revenue amounted to about $300,000 less in taxes paid. And that’s despite the continued rise in the number of video gaming licenses in Illinois, which grew 4.5 percent from 15,667 in March to 16,380 in April.
But individual machines still took in about $106.45 in net income on a per-day basis — above the monthly average of $96.16. And the tax revenue collected last month outpaced February’s numbers by about 19 percent.
The bottom line: Video gaming experienced only its second-best month in April.
It should also come as no surprise that the boat people want lots more restrictions on video gaming establishments to protect their former monopolies.
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* Wow…
* Deets…
When Sox catcher Tyler Flowers lost his grip on his bat on a second-inning swing, it sailed into the seats at U.S. Cellular Field. A fan seated in the first row, identified by MLB’s Cut 4 website as Eileen Depesa, speared the flying bat one-handed after it bounced off the top of the dugout and prevented it from injuring anyone.
Depesa had to return the bat, but as she told Cut 4, “I was more concerned with protecting the baby seated behind me.”
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* From a few days ago…
House Speaker Michael Madigan moved Friday to shift control of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum away from a state agency in a move that was not initiated by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration, which now controls the complex.
The Southwest Side Democrat introduced legislation removing control over the Lincoln facilities from the state Historic Preservation Agency and establishing an independent entity to oversee it.
“I just think he believes an entity as important as the Lincoln library deserves to be a stand-alone entity,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown told Early & Often, the Chicago Sun-Times online political portal.
* The bill passed out of the Executive Committee with only one dissenting vote. The advisory board’s chairman, Steven Beckett, who is also a U of I law professor, said he drafted the bill…
“The board had great hopes that we would have a significant role to play regarding operation of the museum and library,” Beckett testified before the committee. “We actually have very little to say.”
Beckett said there are a number of problems at the facility that aren’t being addressed, including 17 vacant positions at the library and four at the museum. He said there is no consistent policy to replace those people.
“We need to focus and solve these problems, and they’re not being solved,” Beckett said.
He also said the board tried to implement programs, but the separate Illinois Historic Preservation Agency board also had to sign off on them.
“The IHPA board has a different mission,” Beckett said.
Those job openings are inexcusable in this economy. However, the Quinn administration takes its sweet time approving applicants. The general rule of thumb is even if the Quinnsters want you hired, expect to wait up to a year.
* And since MJM is the sponsor, speculation ran rampant…
Madigan’s proposal could benefit some of his friends. The Springfield presidential museum is run by Eileen Mackevich, a Madigan friend. Madigan confirmed she is a longtime acquaintance of Stanley Balzekas, whose family runs the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture. Madigan acknowledged his Southwest Side office is at the same 13th Ward address as the museum, and that Balzekas is the landlord.
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,” said Madigan, who noted Balzekas is an “eminent Lithuanian American.”
The speaker said “no” when asked if his friendships with Balzekas and Mackevich played any role in the decision to try to separate the Lincoln library and museum from the Quinn administration, pointing instead to what he said were operational problems with the current set-up. […]
Madigan, who doubles as the Illinois Democratic Party chairman, maintained he “wouldn’t expect” a separate Lincoln agency to be turned into a political landing zone for his own partisan pals. Asked if he had anyone in mind for the top spot at the Lincoln agency, Madigan referenced Mackevich, saying, “There’s an executive director there today.”
* More…
Balzekas and Mackevich are not married, though they frequently attend functions together.
* But there do appear to be legit differences between the advisory board and the IHPA…
Mackevich and Historic Preservation Agency Director Amy Martin have had disagreements, including over where to house and how to display a potential gift from former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson III of his political papers and those of three previous generations of his family, including his father, Adlai Stevenson II, who was a former governor and a Democratic presidential nominee, and Adlai Stevenson, who served under President Grover Cleveland as vice president.
Martin and Mackevich also have disagreed on the importance of a potential exhibit of Civil War-era music at the Lincoln museum, which was Mackovich’s idea. She described it as not a “high priority” for Martin, who could not be reached Monday.
But Mackevich insisted a personality clash with her boss, Martin, is not what is driving Madigan’s legislation.
“I don’t think this is a personality clash. If that’s what people are trying to say, that’s not so. I’m long in the tooth. I’m a person who’s been founder and president of the Chicago Humanities Council. I ran the National Bicentennial Commission. I’m willing to share of my knowledge and learning. I think what we’re talking about is different visions, not a personality clash,” she said. “There’s a big difference.”
Mackevich went on to tout her accomplishments, including being a founder and president of the Chicago Humanities Council and her running the National Bicentennial Commission.
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* Way back in late March, I did a couple of analyses of the budget outlook for subscribers and concluded that a bunch of cash appeared to have been squirreled away. It was impossible to say for sure just how much was available, but it looked to me like it was maybe around a billion dollars or more.
I wasn’t attempting to make the case that the state’s fiscal problems aren’t real, just that the GA could probably limp through this next fiscal year and then essentially kick the can down the road until after the November election. The problems are real for FY2015, but they get much, much more difficult in FY2016, when the full impact of the tax hike expiration will become apparent.
Anyway, kicking the can appears to be what the Democratic leaders have now agreed to do…
House Speaker Michael Madigan on Monday declared an extension of the 2011 temporary income tax increase dead for the spring and said House Democrats are preparing a “middle-of-the-road budget” that eases up on spending cuts that were part of a failed budget blueprint last week.
Madigan informed his 71-member House Democratic caucus that he was taking the income-tax extension favored by Gov. Pat Quinn off the table and shifting budgetary strategy as state lawmakers enter their final week before a scheduled Saturday adjournment.
“We’re proceeding under the expectation that the income-tax increase will not be extended,” Madigan told reporters after a Monday committee hearing at the Statehouse. […]
Madigan said the new spending plan that he expects to emerge soon will be a hybrid of the so-called failed “doomsday” budget that mustered only five House votes last Friday and an earlier, more-generous package of 73 spending bills that passed the week before on the assumption the income-tax extension would pass.
* More…
Budget makers will look to borrowing built-up money in special funds and spending adjustments to develop a “middle-of-the-road” fiscal outline – between the doomsday scenario and one that increased spending by $3 billion with the continued escalated income tax.
* More…
Madigan said the new budget will be based on a revenue estimate adopted in the House earlier this year that set $34.5 billion as the target. That projection will be increased by $189 million because of revised estimates for next year since the original estimate was set.
Quinn had said “savage” cuts would have to be made to education if the tax hike was allowed to expire. Madigan, though, said the plan is to give elementary and secondary education the same amount they received this year.
“It will be held flat,” Madigan said. “We’re always interested in providing more help for education, but at the same time we’re required to live within the revenue estimates that are available.”
He added that “pension payments will be made.” […]
Asked if the budget under development might results in layoffs and closures, Madigan said, “Those are matters for the agencies and the institutions to decide.”
* Raw MJM video…
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