Reader comments closed for the weekend
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My mom doesn’t like loud music. Never has. It bothers her. And, unfortunately for her, she married a rocker and had five sons who loved to turn it all the way up. It’s a good thing for us that she had a lot of patience and a very strong sense of humor.
My dad always used to crank up the volume and sing this week’s song to my mom, whose name is Barbara. She’d usually roll her eyes and tell him to stop it, but always with a smile, albeit sometimes forced.
I actually grew to love this song over the years. It’s so loose, which is something the super-tight, even uptight Beach Boys weren’t exactly known for back then. The song was part of an album called “Beach Boys’ Party!,” which was made to sound like it was recorded during a party. Check out their version of the Beatles’ “I Should Have Known Better.” It really does sound like it was just a bunch of folks at an impromptu beach party singalong. You can almost see the campfire. It’s a fun little album.
Anyway, let’s hope Mom’s sense of humor is with her today…
Tried Peggy Sue
Tried Betty Lou
Tried Mary Lou
But I knew she wouldn’t do
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Question of the day
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This Sunday is Mother’s Day. So, how about telling us your favorite story about your mom?
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#SaveTheDE
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last year, the folks who run SIUC’s student newspaper made an agreement with University President Glenn Poshard. They’d slash costs and Poshard would reallocate a little money to keep the paper afloat until a student fee could be approved. The Undergraduate Student Government approved a $9 fee to keep the daily paper going last December, while Poshard was still in charge. Carbondale Chancellor Rita Cheng backed the fee in February. The university’s Edwardsville campus has an $8 fee for a weekly newspaper, so the Carbondale fee wasn’t out of line at all.
Well, within six days of new SIU President Randy Dunn’s taking office, he and the board of trustees nixed the fee. Really bad move.
SIUC has the most committed alumni at the Statehouse. While the U of I alumni are incredibly organized statewide and are truly feared, Salukis have a tight-knit group of folks who make sure to unofficially watch out for the university’s interests. The Senate President’s chief of staff, the House Speaker’s spokesman, and on and on and on and on. That Saluki list is really long. I’m constantly amazed by it.
I’m assuming President Dunn is hearing from those folks this week.
What a wonderful little welcoming party they’ll be planning for his next Springfield visit.
* Then there’s this…
The paper’s closure would mean the end of the School of Journalism. There is no selling point without the Daily Egyptian, and future graduates will be less prepared than their peers who worked for college dailies. It renders us moot in the field of journalism; an already bleak job market.
The Daily Egyptian has former editors in prestigious positions around the country in media outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, USA Today Weekly Edition and Almanac of American Politics.
Several of those folks took to social media yesterday to voice their opposition to President Dunn’s move.
* I’m no fan of journalism schools. At all. But my brother Devin received great hands-on training at the DE. I’ve known several people over the years who had the same experience at the paper. To me, newspaper reporting is more like a trade. I’m not sure that extensive classroom training is hugely important, but on the job training - and especially learning from real-time, real-life mistakes - can be crucial. And the DE, by all accounts, does a very good job.
Since the chancellor was for it, and the student government was for it and the other campus has a similar fee, I really don’t see the problem with allowing this small fee to proceed.
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Drone bill clears both chambers
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* SB2937 passed the House unanimously today and now goes to the governor. From the synopsis…
Provides that except as provided in the Act, a law enforcement agency may not acquire information from or direct the acquisition of information through the use of a drone owned by a private third party. Provides that in the event that law enforcement acquires information from or directs the acquisition of information through the use of a privately owned drone under the Act, any information so acquired is subject to the retention and disclosure requirements of the Act. Provides that nothing in the Act prohibits private third parties from voluntarily submitting information acquired by a privately owned drone to law enforcement. Provides that in the event that law enforcement acquires information from the voluntary submission of that information whether under a request or on a private drone owner’s initiative, the information is subject to the retention and disclosure requirements of the Act.
Senate Committee Amendment No. 1
Allows use of a drone without a search warrant, if a law enforcement agency is using a drone during a disaster or public health emergency. The use of a drone does not require an official declaration of a disaster or public health emergency prior to use. The drone may be used to obtain information necessary for the determination of whether or not a disaster or public health emergency should be declared, to monitor weather or emergency conditions, to survey damage, or to otherwise coordinate response and recovery efforts. The use of a drone is permissible during the disaster or public health emergency and during subsequent response and recovery efforts. Disaster and public health emergency have the meaning as defined by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.
* From the ACLU…
With today’s vote on Senate Bill 2937, Illinois soon will have some of the most far-reaching regulation of the use of drones by law enforcement in the nation. This new bill builds on last year’s enacted law, and ensures that law enforcement cannot simply turn to the growing army of private drone operators to conduct surveillance and evade the current law’s regulations. We hope the Governor will quickly add these protections to Illinois law.
The emerging drone technology is a powerful surveillance tool. We must ensure that our laws keep current with this advancing technology in order to protect privacy in our state. This measure is consistent with our commitment to this process.
Discuss.
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Fun with numbers
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* GOP Rep. Patti Bellock and Sen. Dale Righter held a press conference yesterday to claim that Medicaid reform has turned into “un-reform.” From a press release…
Bellock and Righter said they feel an added sense of urgency because of recent meetings in which majority Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have been pushing for further unraveling of the agreed-to reforms.
“What we have seen since passage of the 2011 and 2012 laws is the ‘un-reform’ of the Medicaid system,” said Righter. “Where the reforms have been implemented, the state has experienced significant savings. However, these carefully negotiated reforms have consistently fallen short of projections and mandated goals because the Quinn administration and Democrat lawmakers refuse to implement the reforms as mandated in law and have quietly worked behind the scenes to undermine and disassemble the bipartisan reforms we enacted.”
In 2011, only 7% of Medicaid enrollees were in a managed care program, leaving the majority of Medicaid enrollees without a medical “home,” with many relying on more costly emergency room care. In response, the 2011 Medicaid reforms mandated that within four years, managed care enrollment was statutorily required to reach 50%. Well over three years later, and quickly approaching the end-of-year deadline, the number in managed care stands at an abysmal 16%.
The lawmakers stress this lagging enactment is indicative of the program’s overall implementation. Many provisions in the SMART Act have been ignored and program expansions have continued. Provisions limiting the number of prescriptions have not been enforced, and the third-party vendor hired to scrub the Medicaid rolls was relieved of its duties—despite saving the state more than $86 million after only reviewing 25% of total Medicaid cases.
* SJ-R…
Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services personnel were not available for comment Thursday, but department director Julie Hamos said in a statement that the state is on pace to meet the goals set out in the SMART Act.
“Since the implementation of that plan two years ago, we reduced Medicaid spending by $3.2 billion, and are now managing within that budget,” Hamos said.
She said the Act was passed with strong bipartisan support to put the state “on track to catch up with the nation’s other states by implementing coordinated care. As a result, we are on target to achieve the state’s 50 percent mandate by Jan. 1, 2015.”
She said the department’s goal is to provide better health care at a lower cost, “and we are doing that.”
The lag on managed care enrollment is indeed quite curious and deserves a much better response. Soon.
* However, Righter’s claim during the press conference that the effort to root out fraud was a “stunning success” caught my eye.
Bruce Rauner and many other Republicans have claimed that billions of dollars could be saved by kicking ineligible recipients off Medicaid. Yet, the outside contractor only found $86 million in savings? That’s not a “stunning success,” and it can’t even be easily projected out over the other 75 percent when you remember this crucial point by Doug Finke last December…
the ones that were checked first were mostly cases where the state already had suspicions. In other words, easy pickings. Once those are gone, it’s entirely possible the rate of fraud discovered will go down.
And what happens when the rate of fraud discovered goes down as most likely will be the case? Well, critics will contend it’s all Quinn’s fault.
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Union wants Quinn intervention
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* UNITE HERE Local 1 represents approximately 15,000 hospitality workers and casino workers in the Chicago area, including a couple of dozen workers at the Thompson Center food court. From a press release…
Today, food service workers at Great State Fare in the Thompson Center are calling on Governor Quinn to protect their jobs. Sodexo, the food service company that employs Great State Fare workers, is leaving its post at the State of Illinois building putting all 29 workers’ jobs at risk, some who have worked at the cafeteria for over two decades. Layoffs are expected to begin in the coming days. Workers are rallying outside of the State of Illinois building, home of Governor Pat Quinn’s Chicago office.
Sodexo workers at Great State Fare have recently ratified a collective bargaining agreement that improves their wages. The new contract would bring the lowest paid worker up to $10.35 an hour – more than the minimum wage increase to $10.00 that the Governor has been advocating. Yet, as the company plans to leave in the coming weeks, workers will not make it to the wage increase they’ve bargained for.
“Just as we’re about to make a more livable wage, we’re losing our jobs,” said Maria Sanchez, Sodexo worker at Great State Fare. “I’ve been able to rely on this job to support my family for over 20 years. But, now, I don’t even know if I will have job next week.”
In Illinois, a full-time worker earning the state minimum wage of $8.25 an hour makes approximately $17,000, which is far below the Federal Poverty Threshold of $19,790 for a family of three. By increasing the minimum wage to just $10.00, those that earn the current minimum wage would make an extra $4,800 a year.
Should Quinn intervene?
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*** UPDATED x1 with photo *** Chicken man?
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s Friday, so a light post is in order. AP…
Things are getting a little fowl at the Illinois governor’s mansion.
A flock of eight clucking hens has moved onto Executive Mansion property, laying eggs that are eaten by guests dining at the home in downtown Springfield.
The chickens peck at flowers, recycle plant waste and provide manure for the gardens. They live in a donated coop that’s inside a fenced-in enclosure and are part of an ongoing sustainability effort.
Backyard chickens are legal in Springfield and several other Illinois communities. They’ve become increasing popular as part of a local food movement among other reasons.
* Erickson…
Located on the heavily landscaped grounds surrounding the 159-year-old Italianate home is a penned-in area home to eight laying hens.
The chickens have come home to roost at 5th and Jackson streets in downtown Springfield as one part of the governor’s ongoing sustainability initiative. […]
The chickens live in a donated coop inside of a secure fenced-in enclosure near Fifth Street and eat a mix of chicken scratch and vegetation from the gardens.
The hens are a range of breeds, including Rhode Island Reds and Ameraucana, which lay eggs that can be pastel shades of brown, green or gray.
There was a huge and very loud party Wednesday night at the governor’s mansion. I can’t help but wonder how the chickens felt about that.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Greg Harris sent along this photo of himself posing with the chickens. He said the party didn’t appear to have bothered them at all…
Caption?
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*** UPDATED x1 *** A justifiable warning
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dan Proft warns legislators about voting to make the income tax hike permanent…
Liberty Principles PAC intends to monitor very closely the votes of those legislators up for re-election in November, such as the 11 House Democrat sponsors of HB 1064, who made a commitment to sunset the 2011 tax increases as originally promised.
I hasten to add that Liberty Principles PAC’s willingness to engage is bipartisan in nature, as was proven in the March primary election. We will also take an interest in the political future of any Republicans who would aid and abet defrauding Illinois taxpayers.
If we do not hold to account legislators who make promises they know they will not keep, we will beget more of those kinds of legislators. And if we do not have legislators who keep their promises, Illinois will keep losing businesses and families to states that do.
Liberty Principles PAC has a balance of more than $1 million in its campaign account currently. I am confident that figure will grow substantially between now and November.
* Set aside the rhetoric and Proft makes an extremely good point about HB 1064, which was introduced last year…
Reduces the rate of tax to 3% for individuals, trusts, and estates and 4.8% for corporations.
The bill’s sponsorship list…
Martin J. Moylan - Stephanie A. Kifowit - Sam Yingling - Katherine Cloonen - Natalie A. Manley, Deborah Conroy, Sue Scherer, Jerry F. Costello, II, Carol A. Sente, Patrick J. Verschoore and Kathleen Willis
Those legislators, plus historically anti-tax Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks, are more than enough to kill the tax hike extension on their own. If any of them flip, Proft and everyone else will have good reason to go after them.
*** UPDATE *** I also seriously doubt that former Rep. Keith Farnham’s recent replacement can be a “Yes” vote on the tax hike extension. That’s 13 total. The House Dems have 71 members with 60 needed for passage. Do the math. This ain’t gonna be easy or pretty.
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* Tribune…
Cook County prosecutors are investigating a land deal that netted Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and her husband tens of thousands of dollars with no money down, the Tribune has learned.
Brown’s husband, Benton Cook III, confirmed that a grand jury is probing the deal, which saw him get a North Lawndale building for free from a longtime campaign contributor to Brown.
The court clerk quickly became a co-owner, and her company sold the parcel for $100,000 to a Frankfort real estate developer who’d long had his eye on it. The developer said Thursday that he testified before a grand jury earlier this year about how he came to acquire the land.
The investigation of the land deal comes as State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s office also is looking at money Cook received as part of a controversial state anti-violence program that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn launched in fall 2010 as he was locked in a close election campaign. County prosecutors have issued subpoenas seeking documents related to the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative and specifically requested information about the agency that hired Cook. […]
Musa Tadros, the owner of south suburban Frankfort-based Crown Commercial Real Estate and Development, told the Tribune that he testified before a grand jury in January or February about the land deal.
It’s becoming even more clear that Alvarez’s probe of Gov. Quinn’s anti-violence initiative is a lot more about Brown than it is about Quinn - at least, for now.
* Meanwhile, from the Sun-Times…
Not long after taking over the budget committee of a state agency, Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown voted by proxy to channel $5 million to a West Side nonprofit to help continue funding Gov. Pat Quinn’s now-disbanded Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.
That vote by Brown came at the same time the nonprofit, Chicago Area Project, employed her husband, Benton Cook III, to oversee millions of dollars in Neighborhood Recovery Initiative programming. The organization subsidized his paycheck with state anti-violence grant money.
It’s not clear whether any of the grant funds Brown authorized for Chicago Area Project’s use in September 2012 trickled into Cook’s paycheck since the nonprofit says he left its payroll in October of that year.
As I told subscribers earlier this week, that decision about CAP’s funding came directly from Quinn’s office. The vote was most likely a mere formality, and it doesn’t look like Brown’s husband got much, if any, benefit from it.
* But that didn’t stop the governor’s office from once again throwing Brown under the bus…
“If that’s the case, it’s unacceptable,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said of her vote. “Potential and actual conflicts of interest should always be disclosed by public officials and their designees. They should recuse themselves from decision-making on any matter involving a member of their family.
“The governor’s office has asked the authority’s chairman to look into this matter and act appropriately to address any conflict-of-interest issues,” Anderson said.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit unions are committed to several cooperative principles, including social responsibility. At First Illinois Credit Union in Danville, reaching out to area school children as part of their financial literacy program is a top priority. For over 20 years, the credit union has partnered with area schools, educated students in the classroom and has invited them to open savings accounts. Scholarships are awarded to graduating eighth graders. Members that are high school graduates are also granted scholarships. By giving out scholarships at school-wide functions, it affords the credit union the opportunity to provide financial education to hundreds of students in the audience. Educating children is just one facet of the credit union’s extensive outreach, which also includes breakfast meals for low income families, financial education for seniors during Money Smart Week, volunteering as a buddy at baseball games for children with disabilities, and many more local clubs and organizations. For all their efforts, First Illinois Credit Union has been recognized by their members and the community as a top financial institution. At the heart of the credit union philosophy is the principle of people before profits – and another reason why members are so fiercely loyal.
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Chicago Tribune: Same Safety Standards for Ride-Share
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
The following is a paid advertisement.
“As we’ve said before, the part-time/full-time distinction is meaningless to the customer ordering a ride. The same safety standard should apply to all ride shares and, yes, to taxis. We’re increasingly wary of leaving it to the ride shares to police themselves when it comes to making those checks, given (Uber’s) unapologetic disregard for rules. UberX just underscored that point.”
Chicago Tribune editorial, “UberX thumbs its nose at the rules,” May 8, 2014
Ride-share companies claim they can regulate themselves, but time and time again they prove they have no interest in following the rule of law or even in protecting their own passengers.
As the Chicago Tribune editorial board points out, the distinction between ride-share drivers is “meaningless.” What’s important is that everyone is held to the same fundamental public safety and consumer protection standards that come with the proper chauffeur licensing.
Instead, multi-billion dollar companies like Uber and Lyft continue to fight the same public safety protections that transportation companies currently follow, including HB 4075, which would provide safety standards for all drivers across the board.
Customers deserve to have the peace of mind knowing that their driver has passed a comprehensive police background check and drug test and carries sufficient insurance in case of an accident.
It’s time for these common sense safety standards for everyone in the transportation industry. Ask Uber why they would want less.
Vote YES on HB 4075 and support ride-share protections for all!
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Downstate a big winner in Manar plan
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* After Republican outrage that Sen. Andy Manar’s school funding reform plan would provide a windfall to Chicago, it turns out that Chicago wouldn’t do all that well. From the State Board of Education’s analysis of the plan, which weights poverty rates much heavier on school funding…
* Finke…
Manar said the numbers show that the poorer school districts in the state fare better under his revised formula. By poorer, Manar said, that includes both districts with high numbers of students from poverty backgrounds and districts that have lower property values that do not generate enough tax revenue. […]
Manar said that the “most striking thing in the (report) is how far downstate districts lag behind in terms of funding. Downstate is very different than it was in 1997 when the current (funding) law was put in place and we have to account for those things to a better degree than we do today.”
That argument did not necessarily play well with Republicans who represent school districts in the suburban Chicago area. Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, said school districts in his area already supply 90 percent of their funding from local property taxes. Yet, under Manar’s revised formula, they would lose state assistance, with one district dropping $13 million in state aid.
“If that narrow amount that we get from the state is cut, what do people in my district, who already have high property taxes, do if they want to maintain the current funding level?” Murphy asked Manar at a committee hearing Wednesday. “It sounds like you are telling my constituents to raise their property taxes.”
* AP…
Schools in Palatine, Murphy’s hometown, would see an 87 percent decrease in overall state aid under the funds — about a $13 million dip compared to how much they received in the 2011-12 school year, the year the state board used to make the calculations.
Similarly, schools in Skokie and Evanston in Chicago’s northwest suburbs would lose 85 percent of state aid under the new formula. Meanwhile, Galesburg schools could stand to gain a 30 percent funding boost — about $5 million more a year than they receive now.
Schools in Red Bud, an Illinois suburb of St. Louis, would see an 83 percent decrease.
* Erickson…
State Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, said many of the schools in his Southern Illinois district would gain under the proposal. He acknowledged it would be a tough vote for lawmakers in areas that would be losing state funds.
“It may not end up a Republican-Democrat issue,” Luechtefeld said.
The measure won approval in the Senate Executive Committee on a 10-3 vote with Luechtefeld voting “present.” He said the overhaul needs more work.
Republicans said the changes might be made more palatable if the state eases back on some of the programs and paperwork it requires of local school districts.
It remains unclear whether the House will take up the proposal if it emerges from the Senate. The plan was developed through a series of hearings in which the House was not involved.
Discuss.
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The carrot and the stick
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Let’s revisit yesterday’s Daily Herald story about how some municipal groups were contemplating whether to back an extension of the state income tax in order to possibly get a bigger piece of the revenue sharing pie or to ward off an attack by Democrats.
The story was based on a letter that DuPage Mayors and Managers Executive Director Mark Baloga wrote to his members…
You likely have seen recent news reports of Governor Quinn and Legislative Leaders discussing the opportunity for local governments to secure, or even increase, the local share of state income tax (aka “LGDF”) if the current 5% income tax rate is extended beyond its current sunset date of 2015. Senate President Cullerton directly addressed this topic with DMMC members on April 9 during our Springfield Drive Down. Since that meeting, our lobbyist has been in discussions with legislators and has conveyed the following:
1. Extension of the 5% income tax is almost certain to pass regardless of municipal support, opposition, or neutrality.
2. If municipalities and municipal groups uniformly oppose or fail to support the legislation, then it is also a near certainty that LGDF will be eliminated or severely cut. This would be framed as cutting state expenses to help balance their budget.
3. If municipalities and municipal groups such as DMMC support the tax rate extension, this could secure an increase in the local share of income tax and direct deposit of LGDF revenue—both long- standing DMMC legislative priorities.
4. Support for the tax rate extension would generate ongoing political capital for DMMC, other municipal groups, and municipalities themselves.
5. “Support” can range from a simple statement of organizational support, to individual mayors actively supporting the legislation and the legislators who vote for it, and anything between. More active support would result in even more political leverage on LGDF and other current and future issues.
After extensive discussion, the DMMC Legislative Committee (by unanimous consent, on April 25) and the DMMC Board of Directors (by a 9-4 vote, on May 1) approved DMMC’s conditional support for continuation of the 5% tax rate as long as the bill adequately increases the current 6% LGDF portion of income tax and provides for direct deposit of LGDF revenue to eliminate delays in payments to municipalities. The Board’s motion further specified using this opportunity to pursue additional legislative action including:
A. Stoppage of HB 5485 which would require negotiation of minimum staffing for fire departments and districts.
B. Consideration of additional legislative priorities such as expenditure authority for non-home rule hotel motel tax revenue.
C. Ability to participate actively in development of municipal public safety pension reform legislation.
That’s all really quite fascinating. A grand bargain laid open.
* OK, now back to yesterday’s Daily Herald story…
Cullerton spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon said she couldn’t confirm the conversations between her boss and municipal leaders.
However, Phelon said Cullerton has said for months that mayors would see a smaller share of state income taxes if the rates don’t get extended.
“That’s not a threat,” she said. “That’s just math.”
In order to cut the municipal share, new legislation would have to be passed.
“This certainly sounds to me like out-and-out extortion,” said Madeleine Doubek, chief operating officer of Chicago-based Reboot Illinois, a voter-advocacy digital media group. “This just pulls back the curtain on the worst of Illinois government in action. Who, in this equation, is looking out for the taxpayers?”
* As I also told you yesterday in an update, Sen. Donne Trotter unveiled legislation yesterday designed to put heat on the mayors…
After facing years of funding cuts, Illinois’ schools could get more than $1 billion in new funding as State Senator Donne Trotter (D-Chicago) is urging his colleagues to truly make education the priority they claim it is.
Currently, mayors and village presidents get a cut of the state’s income tax with no strings attached. Trotter’s proposal ends that giveaway and instead steers the dollars – $1.45 billion in the upcoming budget year – to the state’s public schools in an effort to have the state finally live up to its education funding commitments.
* The bill had a hearing today. Trotter eventually pulled the proposal out of the record, but the SDems tweeted extensively during the debate…
Discuss.
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* As I told subscribers on Monday morning, the Commission on Governmental Forecasting and Accountability has revised its Fiscal Year 2014 revenue estimate upwards by $588 million. Most of this is considered to be a one-time income tax windfall, so next fiscal year’s estimate was revised up by just $167 million.
Anyway, some Senate Republicans have a plan for spending some of that found money…
Thousands of state workers are owed an estimated 112 million dollars in back wages. Governor Pat Quinn negotiated raises with members of AFSCME back before the 2010 elections, but lawmakers never came through with the money to pay them. […]
“We’re not calling for any new spending, any new spending proposals here. We’re just asking for commitments to be honored. Bottom line,” [GOP Sen. Sam McCann] said.
Under McCann’s proposal, the rest of the extra revenue would be used to pay down the state’s backlog of bills. Illinois owes schools, hospitals, and many other service providers nearly five billion dollars.
Sounds like a good idea to me.
* Related…
* McCann still open to keeping current tax rates: “I don’t think the people of the 50th District sent me here, just like the people of everyone’s respective districts back home sent them here, to stick their fingers in their ears and not listen to what people have to say,” said Carlinville Republican Sen. Sam McCann. “They don’t send us here not to roll up our sleeves and go to work on their behalf. They send us here to engage.”
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Today’s numbers are lousy
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chief Executive Magazine ranked Illinois 48th in the nation for business…
Anti-growth hot mess can only coast on Chicago’s economic engine for so long.
And…
Oof.
* Numbers…
State GDP
% Growth ’11-’12: 1.9
% Growth ’11-’12 v. Nat’l Avg. (2.5%): -0.6
Unemployment
Unemployment Rate Dec. 2013 %: 8.6
Comparison with Nat’l Rate (6.70%): 1.9
Domestic Migration
Domestic Net Migration 2013: -67,313
Rank: 49
State Government
State Debt per Capita Fiscal Year ’13 ($): 5,569
State & Local Gov’t Employees per 10k Residents: 503.1
Oy.
* But considering all the screaming about taxes, our state/local tax burden is pretty average…
State-Local Tax Burden
Rate (%): 10.2%
Compared to Nat’l Avg. (9.9%): 0.34%
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Rauner: “Step down” the tax hike
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I thought about putting this in the post below about another temporary tax hike extension but wanted to wait until I heard back from the Bruce Rauner campaign about his statement yesterday regarding the tax hike. Sun-Times…
“I’m very much against keeping the tax hike permanent,” Rauner said. “They promised it would be temporary. We’re going to have a plan we’ll be coming out with soon on how to step that back down, all the way down.”
So, does “step that back down” mean a phaseout? That would be more like what Toni Preckwinkle did with the hugely unpopular sales tax hike - phased it out over a period of years.
I’m pretty sure he’s said this before, but if Rauner was being accurate about his position yesterday, phasing it out is actually a far more fiscally responsible approach than just eliminating the tax hike outright in January.
* The campaign offered no further insight today…
Bruce has always said he wants to get rid of the Quinn-Madigan tax hike and comprehensively reform the tax code so it is pro-growth and fair to all taxpayers. That is still the plan.
* Related…
* Quinn, Rauner address Illinois business leaders
* Quinn, Rauner paint different pictures of Illinois at business lunch
* Quinn, Rauner trade jabs in separate talks with business leaders
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Under the bus he goes
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
One of the people behind Gov. Pat Quinn’s troubled anti-violence program is now heading a new initiative to reduce Chicago violence that’s backed by major businesses and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Toni Irving was a deputy chief of staff for Quinn when his Neighborhood Recovery Initiative was formed in 2010. […]
She told the newspaper she had no role in implementing Quinn’s program, but the newspaper says she chose grant recipients.
The Sun-Times reports that Irving helped steer the choice of the Chicago Area Project as “the main conduit for state anti-violence grants in West Garfield Park.” CAP then hired Dorothy Brown’s husband.
* There’s an interesting little political development in the Sun-Times story as well. Mayor Emanuel kinda threw Gov. Quinn under the bus…
At an unrelated news conference Wednesday, Emanuel sought to distinguish Get In Chicago from Quinn’s troubled Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, which was launched during the governor’s closely contested campaign in 2010. Republican critics have blasted the Quinn initiative as a political “slush fund” created to generate support for Quinn.
“First of all, this is private money. Totally different,” Emanuel said.
“If you were doing it only one-year and around the campaign season, I understand why people would get cynical. But given that it’s also in the years that there is no campaign, but it’s about safety, I would say look at the consistency over the four-year time.”
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Today’s quotable
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Baise from the Illinois Manufacturers Association….
“I think business owners in this state have really gotten to the point that they want to see a change. … I think the business community’s perception of this state (is) if we don’t make a drastic change of some sort, a lot of my members who can will move, and I hear that lament over and over again.”
Baise has told me this more than once and he’s pretty darned adamant about it. Whether he’s right or wrong is beside the point. The guy who runs one of the most influential biz groups in the state truly believes an exodus is coming. And Baise is not someone who regularly engages in hyperbole.
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SURS to re-interpret pension language
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
The State Universities Retirement System now says a troublesome piece of last year’s state pension-reform law may not cut retirees’ pensions after all.
William Mabe is the executive director of the retirement system. He said the language in law that would cost retirees’ a year of pension should be interpreted as if it didn’t – because it wasn’t intended to.
That’s based on the interpretation the Teachers Retirement System has been using when it looks at the law. Now SURS plans to follow suit.
* The News-Gazette broke the story…
Teachers also have a money-purchase option when they retire, and that annuity calculation was changed in the new pension bill as well. But the Teachers Retirement System chose to interpret the “legislative intent” of the added provision, preserving members benefits earned through June 30, 2014.
“From the get-go the way we read the law, the legislative intent was designed to hold members harmless,” said spokesman Dave Urbanek. “Our interpretation was fiscal year 2014 all along.”
The state pension code says that whenever a statute’s language is ambiguous, the interpretation must favor the employee, he said.
Only about 14 percent of teachers use that option when they retire, as opposed to approximately 60 percent of SURS retirees, officials said.
Mabe said SURS had been trying to get the problem fixed legislatively for months, and had been considering adopting the approach used by the teachers’ retirement system anyway when he received [House Speaker Michael Madigan’s] letter. There is legal precedent to support that approach, he said, and Madigan’s letter provided evidence of “clear evidence of intent.”
* From Madigan’s letter to Mabe…
With respect to the money purchase benefit, SURS is the only pension system interpreting the language in a manner that is inconsistent with the intent of the General Assembly. It is my understanding that SURS and the University of Illinois were directly involved in the development of the money purchase benefit language, and reviewed several drafts of the legislation prior to the General Assembly taking final action. At no point did SURS, University of Illinois, or any other pension system indicate there was a technical error with the language that would cause it to be inconsistent with the intent of the Conference Committee Report.
Given that members of the General Assembly have received numerous letters and emails regarding this issue, it is worth addressing the timeline related to the development of the language. The concept of changing the money purchase benefit was introduced on April 30, 2013, in House Amendment #1 to Senate Bill 1, and approved by the House on May 2, 2013. When the Conference Committee was appointed, the members of the Committee met with representatives from SURS and the University of Illinois, and together they drafted the language that ultimately became law. The pension systems were provided with copies of draft legislation throughout the fall and prior to the General Assembly taking action in December 2013. On November 26, 2013, legislative staff specifically asked each of the pension systems if there were any technical concerns with the language. At this time, SURS did not present this objection.
Legislative staff was advised that SURS preferred a hard date for the provision, but that this request was simply to ease administrative burden and would not impact the intent of the provision.
With respect to your concerns regarding the effective date of the bill and the method used to determine the effective rate of interest, again, SURS reviewed this language over the course of many months and did not present any objections. After passage, legislative staff was advised that these provisions could be difficult, but would not be impossible to administer.
While I support efforts to correct the technical error, I urge SURS to consider that its interpretation is inconsistent with the intent of the General Assembly, and also inconsistent with the way TRS has interpreted the same language. A similar reading by SURS may help ease the concerns of university faculty and personnel impacted by the language and assist with avoiding unintended consequences for our universities.
With kindest personal regards, I remain
Sincerely yours,
MICHAEL J. MADIGAN
Speaker of the House
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CTU peace gesture on pension reform
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz has an important story about a pension reform peace gesture by CTU President Karen Lewis…
During an appearance yesterday afternoon before the Crain’s editorial board, Ms. Lewis specifically said the union is willing to consider reducing benefits for those who still are working, although she emphatically ruled out changes for members who already have retired.
“There could be some modification (for current workers),” said Ms. Lewis, who has a reputation as a firebrand and who on May 5 opened the door to a second teachers strike in three years. “We’re interested in talking about modifications, yes.”
* Lewis said she wouldn’t talk about specific cuts until revenue had been negotiated. She’s generally opposed to raising property taxes and has floated things like a financial transaction tax (which was shot down by Mayor Emanuel yesterday) and a commuter tax, which is going nowhere. However, there’s another idea out there…
Ms. Lewis said Chicago Public Schools officials lately have been “more open to discussion [about revenue] than in the past.”
She didn’t say what they’re “open” to. A source who should know says a plan to dedicate revenue from expiring tax-increment financing districts is picking up steam because it would provide a revenue stream for pension bonds without raising the overall property tax rate above today’s level.
* On to Mayor Emanuel…
What he has ruled out — pointedly and specifically — is a transaction tax, a city income tax increase, and a commercial lease tax like the one championed by Mayor Harold Washington during the mid-1980’s. A Circuit Court judge overturned the six percent lease tax in 1986. The city appealed that decision, but the City Council repealed the tax before the city’s appeal was heard.
The mayor has also nixed the idea of using the jackpot of revenue from a Chicago casino to solve the pension crisis.
“I don’t think you should go to the roulette table with somebody’s retirement check. I’m not gonna do that,” the mayor said last month.
“How long has it been laying out there?… A lot of the credit agencies want something that’s reliable that they count on. I’m trying to stop the city from going to a place that I don’t think it can if we…do the morally responsible thing to ensure that every workers, every retiree gets a pension.”
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Make it temporary again?
Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rep. Jerry Costello is against making the tax hike permanent, or even extending it a few years, but suggests another temporary extension might be an alternate way forward…
There might not be enough votes in the House to make Illinois’ temporary tax hike permanent, so a one-year extension of the increase might be sought instead, according to a local lawmaker.
“They’re having problems — leadership in the Democratic Party — coming up with enough votes to pass a permanent extension of the tax,” said Rep. Jerry Costello II, D-Smithton. […]
“I think for some of the people on the fence, if they could say it was a finite situation, it would be easier for them. For me, it doesn’t change my position — I’m a ‘no,’” Costello said.
Steve Brown, a spokesman for Madigan, said he’s not aware of any plan to back away from the permanent increase, in favor of another temporary one.
“That’s news to me,” Brown said. “I know the speaker is supporting what the governor has proposed. The speaker has told the press in recent days that he’s continuing to work on that roll call.”
As subscribers know, the House Speaker is, indeed, having some problems with that permanent tax hike. But another temporary tax hike would mean yet another politically contentious tax vote in a few years, and the Speaker isn’t loving that idea.
Your thoughts?
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