* 5:26 pm - And here we go…
State Sen. Suzi Schmidt will stay in office and seek re-election, she announced today, despite a recent controversy over her 911 call to request special treatment in a marital dispute.
“I believe I can and will continue to serve the citizens of Lake County with the same dedication and energy I’ve had for the past 25 years, and the issues in my personal life will not prohibit me from doing the job they elected me to do,” she said. “I am continuing to circulate petitions to run for re-election in 2012, and I hope I continue to earn the support of the citizens of the 31st District.”
Schmidt, a Republican from Lake Villa, again apologized for her “wrong” behavior,” and said she has begun counseling “to help in resolving the issues in my personal life.”
On Sept. 26, Schmidt called Lake County Sheriff’s police, identified herself as the former county board chairman, and asked them to “ignore” her husband if he called during a marital dispute, adding that he might be afraid of her because of her “connections.”
*** UPDATE *** From Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno…
“After a period of reflection, Sen. Schmidt has announced her decision to continue to serve the constituents of the 31st District. Most importantly, she has clearly accepted responsibility for her inappropriate behavior in dealing with a very difficult personal situation. She has acknowledged that her actions were wrong and has asked for the forgiveness of her constituents. She assures me she is taking the appropriate measures to continue to address these issues while maintaining her focus on the needs of the district.”
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* 4:01 pm - The jury is empaneled and opening statements are about to begin. BlackBerry users click here, but everybody else can kick back and watch the live feed…
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Pension proposals on the move
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Crain’s…
Abbott Laboratories chief Miles White had a pointed message for the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Illinois House when he met with them recently: “We have options.”
The statement, confirmed by reliable sources, was an unmistakable reference to the fact that the huge biotech firm owns a ton of property in southern Wisconsin, property that it could use to expand, rather than adding to its Illinois workforce.
Mr. White’s message was the latest sign that business is getting serious about its drive to get the Illinois General Assembly to reform the state’s crumbling employee pension plans, preferably in the fall veto session. And, in fact, the biz guys may be as close to winning as they’ve ever been. […]
They’re prepared to spend $1 million on media ads and have stepped up direct contacts with state workers and teachers covered by the Illinois pension funds, going around union leaders.
* React from the Illinois Federation of Teachers…
The millionaires group has received a million dollars worth of free media over the past couple of years each time they say they’re going to spend $1 million on media ads. It’s the equivalent of rock star millionaires getting all that free swag.
The IFT is right. The biz guys have threatened to run that million dollar ad buy in the past, and it never materialized.
* Abbott Labs has also contributed $75,000 to legislators since the middle of September.
And I’m hearing there’s some polling being done on the issue.
* From a press release…
In a speech at the City Club of Chicago this afternoon, Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross announced that he filed a bill today that will help give more accountability to taxpayers by reconstituting the City of Chicago and Cook County pension boards. The bill, which will be sponsored by Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) in the Senate, will also require pension boards statewide to refer any suspected fraud to the local authorities.
“Recent media reports have unveiled abuses in the Chicago Pension Funds that were not reported to the proper authorities for punishment or investigation. We believe these matters should have and still should be reported to law enforcement. We mandate that in our bill,” said Cross. “We also believe the pension boards in the City of Chicago and Cook County need a fresh start—that’s why we are seeking reconstitution.”
The bill is here.
As you already know, Leader Cross has sponsored another bill which prevents union leaders from drawing pensions years after they were on the city payroll. The pensions weren’t based on their city salaries, but on their union wages.
But while Cross’ bill applies to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund, which is not directly funded by the state, it doesn’t include a provision for the Teachers Retirement System, which covers Downstate and suburban teachers and has a union leader provisions as the city pension laws…
[”Teacher” is defined as] Any officer or employee of a statewide teacher organization or officer of a national teacher organization who is certified under the law governing certification of teachers, provided: (i) the individual had previously established creditable service under this Article, (ii) the individual files with the system an irrevocable election to become a member, and (iii) the individual does not receive credit for such service under any other Article of this Code;
Asked why Cross left out the TRS, a spokesperson replied…
We were just dealing with the City of Chicago which was the reported problem.
I’m sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the Illinois Education Association has backed so many Republican legislative candidates over the years.
* Ummm…
Following his recent failed bid for governor, Republican Adam Andrzejewski is making pension reform his next mission.
Andrzejewski says he doesn’t have any specific proposals, but he stresses that the pension system is bloated because not enough state workers are paying into the system and union leaders are raking in big bucks at the expense of rank and file state workers.
Not enough state workers are paying into the system? Unless they’re on contract, they’re all paying in, aren’t they?
…Adding… Andrzejewski just called to say he was misquoted. What he said was that a majority of teachers aren’t paying enough into the pension fund. That’s still not accurate, of course, since those teachers negotiated with their districts to pick up their share of the pension payments. If you made those teachers pay their share again, they’d just negotiate to retrieve their foregone wage hikes.
* Related…
* Pension issues likely to resurface in veto session: NIU’s State Pension and Budget Update website once again will provide up-to-the minute information on these topics as they develop.
* Civic Committee calls on General Assembly to address pension crisis
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SB 1652: The Value Proposition
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Grid modernization will provide more value to consumers than it costs. Here are the facts.
• Grid modernization will require about a $3 per month increase on the average customer’s bill.
• But that cost will be more than offset by benefits in real and quantifiable ways.
Three ways consumers will save:
1. Utilities will become more efficient through modernization. The savings are passed on to consumers. This alone will offset the entire $3 rate increase.
2. Outages have costs. Consumers will reap tangible savings with fewer outages. This equates to about $1 per month, per customer, in value.
3. When consumers have smart meters they can better manage their usage and reduce their energy budget.
Specific reliability enhancements are in the law with financial penalties for utilities that fail to deliver.
• Outage frequency will be cut by 20% over 10 years, resulting in 700,000 fewer outages per year.
• Outage duration will be cut by 15% over 10 years through Smart Grid technologies that allow faster response to outages.
For more information on all the benefits of grid modernization through SB 1652, visit www.SmartEnergyIL.com.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Debbie Halvorson will announce tomorrow that she’s challenging Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. in the Democratic primary. From a press release…
“Our families are facing serious challenges, and they need a serious Member of Congress who can get things done. Our neighbors don’t need rhetoric, they need results, and I’ve delivered actual results for nearly twenty years. I’m running to bring real representation, real leadership, and real results back to our district.”
* The Question: Does Halvorson have a chance?
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* Mike Boland didn’t just lose his “top staffer,” the kid was basically Boland’s only staffer…
Mike Boland’s top staffer has resigned from his congressional campaign citing “strategic differences.”
Auston McLain, Mr. Boland’s campaign manager, who left the campaign Monday, said Tuesday, “Mike and I continue to be great friends. He did not wish to see me go, and there is not an ounce of harsh feelings on either side.”
Mr. Boland, a former state representative, is one of six Democrats seeking their party’s nomination for U.S. Congress in the 17th Congressional District in the 2012 elections. The others are Greg Aguilar, Cheri Bustos, Eric Reyes, state Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, and Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp. […]
Mr. Boland confirmed Tuesday that Mr. McLain’s resignation was “friendly” and “amicable.”
Boland has good name recognition in the district, but he’ll need more than that. This latest move means we can cue the increased speculation that Boland ends up running for state Senate against fellow Democrat and longtime enemy Mike Jacobs.
* Boland had to deal with a bit of a controversy earlier this week…
A Quad City candidate for Congress says he did nothing wrong when he solicited campaign donations via e-mail from teachers at Blackhawk College last month, even though he is on the Board of Trustees at the school.
In a memo obtained by News 8, a union representative for faculty named Joan Eastlund wrote to members about the e-mail blast, saying ‘’as a trustee, Mike Boland will be in the position to vote directly on the retention, tenure and promotion of faculty members. This presents a clear conflct of interest.'’
The union asks that Boland recuse himself from voting on all personnel hiring, promotions, and firings. […]
Boland says five thousand e-mails were sent in the blast for contributions, those received at Blackhawk College just a small portion of the group.
‘’It’s copied after Obama, what he did in 2008. Getting those massive small donations'’, Boland said. ‘’It’s obviously political'’.
* In other news, former Democratic state Rep. Jay Hoffman released poll results of 400 likely voters taken August 10-15 which he says show he has a good shot against Republican incumbent Tim Johnson. From a press release…
The generic ballot question showed this district to be a tossup with 43% favoring a Democratic candidate and 43% favoring a Republican.
The initial trial heat, prior to providing respondents with any information about either candidate, showed Johnson leading Hoffman 44% to 33%, which can be attributed to his higher name recognition. However as respondents learned more about each candidate Hoffman gained considerably and moved ahead of Johnson. […]
Respondents were read a bio of each candidate’s accomplishments followed by a series of likely criticisms and when the respondents were then asked their preference between Jay Hoffman and Tim Johnson the respondents preferred Hoffman 43% to 42%. Respondents were specifically told about Hoffman’s former ties to Rod Blagojevich as well as his vote for a temporary income tax increase. For Congressman Johnson the respondents were told about his support for President Bush’s budgets and fiscal policies as well as his votes in favor of corporate and business interests.
The Hoffman campaign refused to release the exact wording of the negative pushes. That’s usually the case. But just keep in mind that polls can be gamed that way.
* React…
A spokesman for Johnson discounted the poll’s findings.
“I think you have to take into account who did the polling and what they were asking,” Johnson spokesman Phil Bloomer said. “Tim voted against Bush’s budgets for several years. This is not something new for him to vote against these budgets just since President Obama has been in office.”
Asked if Johnson’s campaign has done any polling, Bloomer said, “Not that I’m aware of.”
* Johnson’s new district includes several college campuses, including UIUC, ISU and UIS. So this can’t hurt…
About two years after he first called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, now appears to be gaining the support of his constituents. […]
Johnson said he doesn’t believe his constituents “are one iota safer because we’re losing thousands of American men and women, and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Libya and Iraq.”
“I have consistently voted in appropriation after appropriation and bill after bill to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya,” he said. It was at that point and during other statements about defense spending that Johnson received his only sustained applause during the meeting.
* Johnson might have some problems with these ideas, however…
Johnson also suggested gradually raising the retirement age to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and said he was willing to look at revenue measures, not just budget cuts, to reduce the federal deficit.
* Other stuff…
* Kinzinger campaign kickoff Saturday in Ottawa: “The exact district won’t be known until we hear the court ruling (on the new state redistricting map). If the Democrats’ map upholds, he’ll run in the 16th. If it’s the Republican map, it’ll be the 11th,” said Kinzinger’s Press Secretary Brook Hougeson.
* Quigley, Gutierrez, Schakowsky to hold hearing on DOMA
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*** UPDATE *** From the Sun-Times…
Sears executives have visited potential new headquarters sites in Austin, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio, but say they remain open to negotiating with Illinois officials to keep the retailer’s headquarters in Hoffman Estates.
The Sears leaders visited potential sites, toured offices and met with municipal, business, state and economic development officials in Austin and in Columbus, sources said Wednesday.
Sears officials expect to make a decision by the end of the year.
* If the union’s contract is ratified, Illinois will get some good job news…
The UAW and Ford reached a tentative agreement on a new contract that will mean 2,000 new jobs in the Chicago area, including 1,100 new jobs and a new shift at the company’s Chicago assembly plant next year if workers approve the deal, the union and Illinois politicians said Tuesday.
Ford now employs roughly 2,700 workers in Chicago at the Torrence Avenue plant, which produces the Lincoln MKS, Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer on two shifts. It also employs 900 workers at its Chicago Heights stamping plant.
Ford plans to add 1,100 workers at the Chicago assembly plant next year and an additional 900 workers at the stamping plant and assembly plant within the next four years.
Both Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel said (separately) yesterday that they’d been working with Ford to help facilitate the new jobs.
*** UPDATE *** The Sun-Times reports that Mayor Emanuel’s agreement to cut the head tax in half was behind Ford’s decision to expand employment…
The $4-a-month employee head tax despised by Chicago businesses would be cut in half, depriving the city of $23 million in annual revenue, under a surprise ordinance proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday.
Emanuel campaigned on a promised to phase out the head tax over four years by lopping off $1 from it each year.
But he opted to do it twice as fast — and eliminate the tax entirely by July 2014 — because the deal that nailed down as many as 2,000 new jobs at a Far South Side Ford plant was contingent on the phase out.
“This was a significant piece of helping us secure the 1,200 jobs at the Ford plant and what they’re gonna add also to the stamping plant across the street. It’s another 700” jobs, the mayor said.
* But, CME Group’s Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy continues to grumble loudly about Illinois…
International expansion aside, CME’s Duffy again raised the possibility that the CME could relocate its headquarters to another state to escape Illinois’ “outrageous” and “inappropriate” taxes.
Illinois raised taxes earlier this year, and several other states are wooing CME with proposals that Duffy called “viable.”
Duffy said he is working with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, state legislators and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to find a solution that would keep CME in the city, but said he has a “fiduciary duty” to do what is best for shareholders.
*** UPDATE *** Interesting…
A deal to keep CME Group Inc. from bolting the state could be reached as early as the start of the legislature’s veto session this month, Gov. Pat Quinn said Wednesday.
An agreement aimed at reducing the corporate income tax liability for the company, which is the parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, would require approval of the General Assembly, Quinn said.
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* So, of course, what we need to do right away is close a prison and lay off guards…
Too many inmates and too few guards have led to dangerous conditions at the state’s second oldest prison, according to a report issued Tuesday.
The report by the John Howard Association said the Menard Correctional Center in Chester has had an “alarming” number of staff and inmate assaults this year, primarily because the prison has the worst inmate-to-staff ratio of all of Illinois’ maximum-security facilities.
The Chicago-based prison watchdog group said there have been 14 staff assaults since Jan. 1, including one in the prison library that sent a correctional officer to a St. Louis hospital with facial fractures.
“Inadequate security not only jeopardizes the physical safety of inmates and staff, but it also undermines rehabilitation efforts and creates a psychologically damaging environment for everyone who lives and works behind the prison wall,” the report noted.
Great. Wonderful.
* More from the report…
* Over the last year and a half, Menard was on full or partial lockdown roughly half of the time.
* The average inmate at Menard spends roughly 21 to 22 hours a day locked in cells idle, with little or no activity or opportunity for normal social and human interaction.
* A few of the John Howard Association’s recommendations…
(1) The Illinois Governor and General Assembly must reduce the prison population through sentencing reform, enacting a safe replacement for Meritorious Good Time, and providing Menard and other DOC facilities with the funding and staffing needed to meet the population’s basic physical and mental health needs. If such actions are not taken, it is all but inevitable that this issue will end up being litigated in the courts.
(2) The practice of using prolonged segregation to discipline mentally ill inmates should be abandoned at Menard and all DOC facilities. […]
(3) Further inquiry should be undertaken by Menard’s administration and the DOC to determine whether excessive use of force and abuse of inmates may be a systemic problem at Menard, given the unusually high number of reports JHA received from inmates of abuse by correctional staff.
* Meanwhile…
Officials in Lincoln expect a full house at a public hearing Oct. 26 on Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to close Logan Correctional Center.
The hearing will begin at 5 p.m. in the chapel at Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln.
“We really need to pack the place and show our support for the prison,” Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder said. […]
To oppose the closure, a coalition of Logan County business, labor and economic development groups has formed, the Lincoln City Council has sent a letter to Quinn, and more than 1,800 people have signed petitions in Lincoln.
That isn’t very many signatures, considering the economic impact of closing that facility. Lincoln has a history of dealing with state closures, so you’d think they’d be more organized.
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Poll: Quinn’s numbers still in the tank
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Just a few days before Gov. Pat Quinn won his election last year, Public Policy Polling found his job approval rating was 32 percent and his disapproval was 54 percent. In March, after the income tax hike passed, We Ask America pegged Quinn’s approval rating at 30.6 percent and his disapproval at 60.7 percent.
We Ask America has a new poll out and Quinn’s rating is pretty much the same…
A FOX Chicago News/We Ask America survey found only 29.6 percent of registered voters approved Quinn’s job performance; 60 percent disapproved.
Even the governor’s own party appears to be deserting him. Among self-described Democrats: 46%percent approved, 42 percent disapproved. […]
Fewer than half of voters in the Governor’s home town of Chicago are happy: 49 percent approve, 39 percent disapprove. In suburban Cook County, 32 percent approve, 57 percent disapprove. In the suburban collar counties surrounding Chicago, 27 percent approve, 61 percent disapprove. Among registered voters Downstate, a mere 19 percent approve, 70 percent disapprove.
African-American registered voters are Quinn’s strongest supporters, with 52 percent approving while 40 percent disapprove. Among Hispanic voters, 30 percent approve, 54 percemt disapprove. Among white voters, 25 percent approve, 63 percent disapprove.
There is little difference between male and female voters. Among women, 31 percent approve, 55 percent disapprove. Among men, 29 percent approve, 65 percent disapprove.
Man, those Downstate and collar numbers are just downright horrible. And his suburban Cook and Chicago numbers are far worse than the president’s. But it has always been thus with Pat Quinn. He managed to win last year by turning his opponent into a bigger ogre than he was. Overwhelming disapproval doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the General Assembly, however. Going up against him is no great risk. Then again, their overall approval rating is probably lower than his.
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Peraica tossed in jail
Tuesday, Oct 4, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tony Peraica was supposed to be at a court hearing this morning regarding his arrest last fall for alleged late-night campaign shenanigans. He was an hour and a half late, so the judge tossed him behind bars…
Former Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica was arrested and sent to the lockup in the Bridgeview courthouse Tuesday morning after showing up late for a hearing in his own misdemeanor case.
Judge Kerry M. Kennedy issued an arrest warrant for Peraica, who should have been in court at 9 a.m. for a scheduled hearing on his criminal damage to property charge.
And when the former Republican county board member walked into court more than 1-1/2 hours late, he was led to the lockup to await his attorney instead of taking his usual seat at the defense lawyers’ table.
“You of all people should know — 9 o’clock is 9 o’clock,” Kennedy yelled from the bench shortly before noon once Peraica’s attorney showed up. “You’re a defendant in this case. I can’t give you special treatment, I won’t give you special treatment.”
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Oct 4, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The setup…
State Rep. Rich Morthland, R-Cordova, has filed legislation in the Illinois House that woud provide sales tax exemptions on farming supplies.
House Bill 3817 would exempt sales tax on fence posts, fencing and farm gates. House Bill 3818 would exempt the sales tax on baling twine, baling wire, plastic bags, plastic sleeves and plastic sheeting.
Rep. Morthland is a seventh generation farmer.
“Every time a farmer crosses the river to buy agricultural products, the state of Illinois loses employment potential and revenue opportunities on all of the purchases made that currently do not qualify for the sales tax exemption,” Rep. Morthland said regarding the new proposed legislation.
The bills are here and here.
* The Question: Do you agree or disagree with Rep. Morthland’s sales tax exemption legislation? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
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* Last week, Crain’s reported that Indiana was offering $150 million in incentives to CME Group to lure the firm across the state line. Today, however, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels claimed the story was not true…
But, in a hallway intereview yesterday after a Union League Club luncheon here, Mr. Daniels replied “no” when asked if the firm would save $150 million a year in taxes in Indiana.
He also said the original story was “misleading” because, in his view, it left the impression that any savings would come from special incentives rather than differences in tax rates between Indiana and Illinois. […]
But as he had in the hallway chat, Mr. Daniels referred to the difference in corporate tax rates between Illinois and Indiana—now about 3 percentage points, with the Illinois’ headed up and Indiana’s down.
CME last yet reported net earnings of $951 million, so a cut in its corporate income tax of three cents on the dollar would seem to save it nearly $30 million a year.
Well, that’s somewhat good news. At least they haven’t gone all in on a monster package.
…Adding… Reading this, you might be forgiven for believing that the gaming bill will cut current school funding…
Stalled legislation authorizing a Chicago casino could wind up costing Illinois schools more than $100 million over a two-year period, according to an analysis by state revenue officials.
That’s because of a tax break written into the legislation at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s request that assigns the highest-grossing casinos a tax rate as little as 20 percent on revenues above $350 million. Existing law taxes such windfalls at a 50-percent rate.
New number crunching by the Illinois Department of Revenue follows the governor’s argument earlier this month that the casino-tax provision is “regressive” and that it “shortchanges” Illinois schoolchildren. […]
The Department of Revenue analysis of the legislation calculated that $123 million less would funnel into state coffers as a result of the lower tax rate on a Chicago casino.
This won’t cut current school funding. But because the Chicago casino’s tax rate would be lower than it would be under current law, schools would get slightly less from a much bigger pie for a couple of years.
The Quinn administration is really being dishonest here.
* Other stuff…
* Dick Durbin: Bank of America customers should ‘vote with their feet’: When Bank of America announced the new $5 fee, it was quickly seen as a result of the swipe fee reform — and dubbed the “Durbin fee” by some… The senator stood proudly by the “Durbin fee” moniker Monday. “I am honored to be connected with this effort,” he said. “What we are doing is fair.”
* Tribune bonus plan OKd by bankruptcy judge: The judge in Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy approved a management incentive plan that will pay bonuses of as much as $42.5 million to 640 employees.
* $11M in savings seen by pooling city-county services
* CTA chief knocks ‘archaic’ work rules, projects $277 million deficit
* Gas prices falling in Chicago
* Ford, UAW leaders have tentative contract deal
* Apple to launch iPhone 5 today
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* 10:12 am - Congressman Jerry Costello’s office just confirmed that the longtime Democratic incumbent is retiring at the end of his term.
“It’s something that he’s been thinking about for a bit… It’s not a health concern,” said a spokesman.
More details as they arrive, but this is taking a whole lot of people by surprise.
* 10:20 am - All heads will immediately turn to two people as possible successors. First would be Costello’s son, who was just appointed to the Illinois House. I have a call into him. The second would be former Rep. Jay Hoffman, who has already announced a congressional bid against Republican Tim Johnson. Hoffman was completely taken by surprise this morning, so it could be awhile before he gets his head around this thing.
* 10:23 am - The official retirement announcement will be at 11 o’clock this morning.
* 10:28 am - Other names that are being floated right off the bat by observers are Rep. John Bradley, St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly and St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern.
* 10:37 am - The Hill has the statement…
“It has been a privilege and an honor to serve in the U.S. Congress for the past 23 years. However, I said when I was elected in 1988 and many times since that I did not intend to stay in Congress forever as I had other interests that I wanted to pursue,” Costello said in a statement. […]
“You can’t go from 100 mph everyday and just stop—I intend to continue to go full speed pursuing other interests and opportunities that may come along,” said Costello. “I will miss the people but not the weekly commute from home to Washington, D.C.”
* 11:01 am - Josh Kraushaar at the Hotline Tweets…
The new Cook PVI for the Costello seat is D +2, was made “more” Republican in redistricting. Wonder if IL Dems spread too thin?
* Let’s go to the live-blogging software to make this easier. BlackBerry users click here. Everyone else can just kick back and watch…
…Adding… If you’re reading the live-blog, you’ll see that Congressman Costello says that his son, who is newly appointed to the Illinois House, has “no interest” in serving in Congress. That’s, by far, the second biggest news item next to the retirement announcement itself.
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Looked at another way, we’re not number one
Tuesday, Oct 4, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a million times. Illinois has far too many local governments. And it’s true that we do have more local governments than any other state. But how does Illinois compare with the rest of the country on a per capita basis? Stateline, the news service of the Pew Center on the States, took a look…
The US average is 3,451 people per local government. Illinois’ ratio is 1,835, or almost twice as many local government agencies per person as the rest of the country.
However, neighbors like Iowa (1,559), Missouri (1,609) and Wisconsin (1,823) have even fewer people per local government agencies as Illinois, making their per capita problem worse. Indiana, at 2,007, has just a bit more.
Then again, some of the other big states do much better than Illinois on a per capita basis. California has 8,576 people per local government, New York has 5,694, Texas has 5,201, Florida has 11,584, Michigan has 3,416, and Ohio has 3,116.
Illinois has a ton of local governments for a couple of reasons. First, it was a Jacksonian state back in the day. President Jackson advocated electing as many people as possible rather than appointing them. Also, Illinois’ old Constitution limited the amount of debt that individual local governments could accumulate, so the locals formed new governments to take on new debt.
Anyway, discuss.
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* As I told subscribers this morning, the Illinois State Board of Elections has posted the new district maps in an interactive format. Click here to see the new maps. It takes a bit to load, so be patient.
You can also view the maps in Google Maps format by clicking here. The Google Earth version is here.
So, what do you think of the Board of Elections’ maps?
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* Fox Chicago had We Ask America do an automated poll of President Obama’s job approval rating here in Illinois. He’s still a net positive, but just barely. And the president’s numbers in Downstate and suburban areas have got to be giving legislative and congressional Democrats a severe case of heartburn…
Do you approve of the job President Obama is doing?
* Approve: 49.81%
* Disapprove: 46.23%
* Neutral: 3.96%
Downstate voters rate Obama job performance:
* Approve: 39%
* Disapprove: 57%
Suburban (”collar”) county voters rate Obama job performance:
* Approve: 43%
* Disapprove: 55%
Chicago voters rate Obama job performance:
* Approve: 78%
* Disapprove: 18%
Suburban Cook County voters rate Obama job performance:
* Approve: 53%
* Disapprove: 42%
African-American voters in Illinois rate Obama job performance:
* Approve: 87%
* Disapprove: 11%
Hispanic:
* Approve: 59%
* Disapprove: 34%
White:
* Approve: 42%
* Disapprove: 53%
Male voters in Illinois:
* Approve: 45%
* Disapprove: 52%
Female voters in Illinois:
* Approve: 55%
* Disapprove: 40%
Emphasis added.
Discuss.
…Adding… As a comparison, Obama’s job rating in the 2010 exit polling here was 54 percent approve, 46 percent disapprove. Fewer Democrat tend to vote in off-year elections, so his total approval rating would probably be higher, meaning he’s slipped even more.
…Adding More… The poll also matched up the president with a few rivals. He’s beating them all quite handily. And while he’s over 50 percent in all the contests, his highest point is just 52.85 percent against Herman Cain. Nobody is saying that Obama will lose Illinois. But he should be doing much better than that, and Downstate and suburban down-ticket Democrats need him to do far better than he is.
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Reform and Renewal, Part 9,487
Monday, Oct 3, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politicians apparently still haven’t gotten the message that their district offices and their political offices are supposed to be kept separate…
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, state Rep. Karen Yarbrough and a township Democratic organization operated for years out of a village-owned building in near-west suburban Broadview.
But the deal among political allies involved no signed leases with the village and was beset by disclosure problems, the Tribune found, raising questions about whether tax dollars helped bankroll political operations.
Among the issues, Davis used federal tax money to pay Yarbrough’s campaign fund about $300 a month — about $15,000 since early 2007 — but the state legislator failed to disclose it in campaign reports. And the Proviso Township Democratic Organization, which is run by Yarbrough, was allowed to use the same village-owned building without a lease specifying how it would be used and how much to pay for it.
The money from Davis came out of his taxpayer-funded allowance for staff salaries, office and travel expenses. Both lawmakers say it was used to cover his share of utilities and cleaning at the shared offices. […]
“(The staffer) was told by an accountant that you don’t want to make it look like the federal government is making a contribution to your campaign,” Yarbrough said.
Oy.
* Double oy…
A new state law barring government employees from drawing a pension while earning another public paycheck doesn’t apply to the vast majority of current workers, leaving thousands free to “double dip” after retirement and doing little or nothing to help salvage desperately underfunded pension systems.
Responding to high-profile examples of double dipping and a public eager for pension reform, legislators last year passed a law restricting the practice, though only for workers hired – not simply retired – after Jan. 1 of this year. That means most current employees would be permitted to double dip even if they retire decades from now.
Lawmakers said they had no choice because the state constitution doesn’t allow them to reduce retirement benefits for unionized public employees, meaning they could not stop pension payments regardless of an employee’s future job status.
But critics say that’s a matter of interpretation, especially because future double dippers already would be retired from their current jobs before they got another, and there is no specific vested right to employment in other government jobs.
* Good points…
Using new, post-Blagojevich rules, the state of Illinois puts up for public bid a contract that’s been held by the same provider for three decades. The winning bidder promises to cut costs for the cash-strapped state by $100 million a year—a cool $1 billion over a decade.
Who possibly could object?
As it turns out, just about everybody in beautiful Springfield. And therein is a classic example of how state government is broken, caught in a morass of mistrust, complexity and good old politics.
At issue in this case is health insurance for roughly 100,000 state workers and government retirees. In an attack led by conservative Republicans—abetted by Democratic leadership, but oddly not by a key workers union—the Capitol gang has pretty well scuttled Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to shift to new providers. Not good. […]
But COGFA’s co-chairman, state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, D-Evanston, says the state is tossing away $1 billion. Largely agreeing with him is AFSCME, the big government employees union, which says the anticipated savings “look real.” Even Mr. Schnorf credits the Quinn administration with a sincere effort.
* Statehouse Roundup…
* 40% of single moms raising families in poverty
* “Fox Guarding the Hen House” of Illinois Health Reform?: One of the next steps for the Affordable Care Act in Illinois is setting up the Health Benefit Exchange that will help about 1 million uninsured residents and small businesses get coverage. This week, a legislative committee finalizes its recommendations on the Exchange. One big issue is who should sit on its governing board. The insurance industry has asked to be represented, saying it has expertise to offer.
* Quinn administration accused of dragging heels on Medicaid changes: In January, Illinois lawmakers passed a series of Medicaid reforms that they said could save the state up to $774 million over the next five years. However, federal regulators later said Illinois couldn’t proceed with two of the changes, which deal with how the state verifies the eligibility of Medicaid recipients to receive aid. Some Republican lawmakers now say Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration isn’t being aggressive enough in challenging that ruling and implementing other reforms.
* Lawmakers to consider reforms for police interrogations
* Lawmakers Will Have Full Plate During Veto Session
* Cook County joins sales tax battle against Kankakee and Channahon
* Erickson: Underwear controversy all washed up
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Question of the day
Monday, Oct 3, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois slashed its budget for indigent burials last spring, and that decision has led to a gruesome result. Bodies are piling up throughout the state. But Cook County has come up with a solution…
The bodies of those who die in Cook County whose family members can’t pay for burial will be automatically donated to science, according to a new policy implemented by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
The new protocol was detailed Sept. 27 and deemed “effective immediately” in a memo from Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Nancy Jones.
If a family of a deceased person claims there is no money for burial, the medical examiner’s office will inform the family that the remains will be released to the Anatomic Gift Assocation within two weeks of the body having being received at the morgue, the memo said. […]
There’s one sticking point. In cases where the remains are decomposed, if the person had AIDS or was HIV positive; or if the person was more than 300 pounds, the cases will not be accepted to the Anatomic Gift Association and the body will be buried by the county in the usual fashion, the memo said.
* The Question: If a family cannot afford to bury a loved one, is Cook County’s solution of automatically donating the body to science OK with you? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
…Adding… Just to be clear, this can be stopped if the deceased has a will which forbids such a thing or directs that something else be done with his/her body.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
After a summer riddled with power outages, angry customers, and a veto of Senate Bill 1652, it’s no wonder that ComEd is back on the SB1652 campaign trail – trying to convince Illinois legislators to override the veto, claiming that the legislation will lead to necessary improvements in Illinois’ electric grid. Don’t buy it.
ComEd and Ameren have received nearly $640 million in rate increases since 2007 – all paid for by consumers. Why haven’t those funds been reinvested for infrastructure improvements? Exelon, ComEd’s parent company, posted $2.6 billion in profits in 2010; Ameren $151 million. Again, why weren’t those funds used to pay for infrastructure improvements?
If ComEd and Ameren had been appropriately reinvesting existing revenues into the infrastructure all along, they wouldn’t need SB1652.
Senate Bill 1652 isn’t about smart grids or modernization of the electric grid. It’s about higher rates and higher guaranteed profits for utility companies. As former CIA Director, James Woolsey, recently said: “A so-called smart grid that’s as vulnerable as what we’ve got is not smart at all. It’s a really, really stupid grid.”
AARP urges lawmakers to stand up for consumers and reject any attempt to override Governor Quinn’s veto of SB1652.
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* The same arbitrator who ruled in July that Gov. Pat Quinn could not halt scheduled, contractual pay raises for union employees ruled today that the governor cannot lay people off or close facilities under provisions Quinn agreed to with the union. The full decision is here. From the opinion…
The language of the Cost Savings Agreements is clear and unambiguous. The repeated promises made by the State in the negotiated words found in the Cost Savings Agreements — “… the parties agree that there shall be no temporary or indeterminate layoffs through the end of FY2012 (June 30, 2012) nor shall the state close any facilities … [and] there shall be no temporary or indeterminate layoffs through the end of FY2012 (June 30, 2012), nor shall the State close any facilities prior to July 1, 2012” — could not be clearer. Those words simply mean what they say — i.e., there will be “no” layoffs or facility closures prior to July 1, 2012. With that clear language, there is no need for a hearing concerning what was involved in the negotiation of that language.
You’ll recall that Quinn agreed to the no-layoff, no-closure issue last year during the campaign. AFSCME was supposed to come up with corresponding budget cuts to mitigate the costs.
* However, as with the pay raise issue, this case will undoubtedly be ultimately decided in the courts. Back to the opinion…
I have issued this award on an expedited basis. As with the July 2011 Wage Increase Award, litigation in the courts will no doubt now follow. Given the importance of this case, one would hope that any judicial determinations will also be handled on an expedited basis. This case must be expedited by all involved
* The arbitrator also reiterated what he wrote about the consequences of the governor’s usage of “subject to appropriation” language to subvert a union contract…
If the State is correct in its statutory and Constitutional arguments, the result will be that public sector employers and unions will have to negotiate collective bargaining agreements every year instead of having multiyear agreements (typically three to five years and sometimes longer) which bring labor peace and stability. Some public sector contracts in this state have taken years to negotiate or settle through the interest arbitration process under Section 14 of the IPLRA. Having been involved in the collective bargaining process as a mediator and interest arbitrator for over 25 years, I estimate that thousands of multi-year collective bargaining agreements have been settled in this state.
If the State is correct that economic provisions of multi-year collective bargaining agreements are not enforceable or are contingent upon subsequent appropriations for the out years of the agreements, then the collective bargaining process will be, to say the least, severely undermined. If the State is correct, the result will be most chaotic and costly as public sector employers and unions will now have to drudge through the often laborious, time consuming and costly collective bargaining process on a yearly basis. Unions will do that. Public sector employers will be loathe to have to engage in that costly and time consuming endeavor on a yearly basis. If the State is correct in its statutory and Constitutional arguments, the multi-year collective bargaining agreement is, for all purposes, probably dead.
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
“The actions taken by the Administration last month are necessary to manage a budget that underfunded the operational and personnel lines in a number of state agencies. This ruling does not change the fact that the money to run all these facilities for the entire year was not appropriated by the General Assembly. You can’t spend money you don’t have.
“Arbitrator Benn concedes that he does not have jurisdiction over the Illinois Constitution and statutes that apply to this issue, and both the Constitution and statutes remain to be addressed by the courts. We will seek to stay and vacate the decision while we continue to manage the budget so that core services the people of Illinois depend upon can be provided for the entire year.”
* Related…
* Illinois Arbitrator Stops Quinn’s Plan to Dismiss 1,900 Workers
* Arbitrator Says Quinn’s Layoffs Violate Union Contract
* Arbitrator rejects Quinn’s layoff, closure plan
* Sen. Brady: Quinn not being sincere with closures
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Today’s numbers
Monday, Oct 3, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From James Warren’s column on Illinois’ complete failure at imprisoning youths…
According to the state’s auditor general, the average cost to the Illinois taxpayer is $142,342 per offender at Murphysboro. It’s even higher, $215,750, at the Pere Marquette youth prison in Grafton, which has 18 offenders and 49 staff members. The governor tried closing that one but failed amid opposition over the loss of jobs.
The recidivism rate in the juvenile system in Illinois is 50 percent, compared with 8 percent in Missouri. And we’re talking just about those who return to the juvenile system as opposed to winding up later in the adult system, a percentage that Illinois doesn’t track. […]
Those community alternatives explain a 25 percent national decline in youths under lock and key. Redeploy Illinois, a program that deals with youthful offenders without incarcerating them, is seen as a success, one that has contributed to a big drop in the state’s juvenile prison population, down to 1,100 in a system with 1,754 beds.
But it’s revealing that while Redeploy Illinois gets $3 million a year, we pay $5.3 million a year in overtime and comp time alone to workers at the youth centers, which helps to explain soaring per-bed costs.
* Doug Finke compares Gov. Pat Quinn’s announcements about new private sector jobs last week with his proposed state job cuts…
Total jobs that will be lost if the state closes all seven facilities: 2,661. That includes non-state jobs that result from the employees and the facilities themselves spending money. Then there are 88 other state jobs that Quinn says have to be eliminated because of budget cuts. Total loss: 2,749.
New jobs in Illinois, according to the press releases: 475.
So, just 2,274 more new jobs needed in Illinois to offset the state government cuts.
Piece of cake.
* Eric Zorn looks at the CTU vs. CPS tally on a longer school day…
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If you’re keeping score at home, which I happen to be, the tally looks to be stuck:
Chicago Public Schools –13
Chicago Teachers Union – 470
That’s 13 city public elementary schools where the teachers have voted to extend their classroom days by 90 minutes this year as part of the administration’s controversial Longer School Day Pioneer Program, and 470 schools where they haven’t. […]
The union says teachers at 116 schools have so far voted down the proposed waiver. The administration challenges that number and notes that the option will remain on the table until at least the end of November.
* Herman Cain won the overwhelming number of votes from this past weekend’s TeaCon Midwest 2011 Straw Poll. And Barack Obama outpolled John Huntsman. From a TeaCon Midwest press release…
10. Johnson 0%
10. Huntsman 0%
8. Obama 0.2%
7. Santorum 1.4%
6. Paul 1.8%
5. Romney 2.6%
4. Perry 3%
3. Gingrich 3.8%
2. Bachmann 9.4%
1. Cain 77.5%
* And John Fritchey wants to turn two into one…
A Cook County commissioner today is pitching the idea of merging the recorder of deeds operation into the county clerk’s office.
Commissioner John Fritchey, D-Chicago, wants the County Board to put a referendum on the November 2012 ballot asking voters to do just that. Fritchey said it could save taxpayers money.
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* If you read the Chicago Tribune’s editorial or the State Journal-Register’s editorial about Bill Cellini’s trial, which starts today, you may notice something missing. The same goes for John Kass’ column. You have to go all the way to the bottom of the Associated Press story to find it. And it’s a buried, toss-away nugget in the middle of several other stories about the trial.
Here’s what was buried or omitted…
The allegations leveled against Cellini were the subject of some charges in Rezko’s 2008 trial. Rezko was acquitted of eight of the 24 counts against him, including those connected to the alleged extortion attempt against Rosenberg. Levine was the star witness against Rezko.
That SJ-R explanation doesn’t really explain that Cellini is on trial for an alleged conspiracy which Tony Rezko’s jury decided did not exist. Stu Levine, according to that jury, made up the entire conspiracy in his head.
Look, Bill Cellini is what he is. He made millions off of his state contacts, and he continues to do so to this very day. But he’s not on trial for being a wealthy insider, no matter how much some people insist he is. He’s on trial for a very specific act that was dismissed out of hand in Rezko’s trial.
* That doesn’t mean, of course, that Cellini will be acquitted.
Participating in a phony conspiracy can still get you sent to prison for a very long time. An uncle of mine, for instance, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for unloading what he thought was a plane full of cocaine. Unknown to myself and most of my family, Uncle Bruce was involved with some extremely bad people in the Outlaws motorcycle gang back in the day. Unfortunately for Bruce, he was actually unloading a government-owned plane filled with drywall paste. It was a total setup. But Bruce thought it was coke, so off he went.
What I recall about the media coverage of Uncle Bruce’s trial is pretty much the same thing I’m seeing in the Cellini coverage so far. A whole lot of hype about how bad the Outlaws were (and they were and are, indeed, the bad guys), but no mention, or only a buried mention, of what he was really being charged with.
* And WBEZ aired a story on Cellini this morning…
Bernie Schoenburg is the political columnist for the State Journal Register in Springfield, and he says Cellini has been the de facto head of the Sangamon County Republicans for a long time, but he never took the top spot; he preferred the less high-profile, though powerful job, of treasurer.
“He’s certainly not a big deal in the typical politician way because you won’t see him giving a speech In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him give a speech. He’s not the kind of person who needs that kind of adoration or attention from the public. But he’s been a big influence in the background for many years,” says Schoenburg. […]
Rich Miller is another political reporter in Springfield. He publishes a newsletter called Capitol Fax and has been observing the political scene in Springfield for a couple decades. He talks about Cellini with a sense of wonder and amazement. Miller says, “Usually somebody has, like, one idea in life, okay, that works and then every other idea they have doesn’t work, but he kept coming up with new ideas all the time and they always worked, but it was based on a common theme. Government makes certain people money, so you be one of those certain people all the time.”
Full audio…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Rezko’s sentencing is again delayed…
A federal judge in Chicago has again delayed the sentencing of convicted political fixer Tony Rezko, the onetime top adviser to and campaign fund-raiser for ousted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve agreed Monday to a request by prosecutors to delay Rezko’s sentencing — which was most recently set for Oct. 21 — until Nov. 22 so the sentencing doesn’t interfere with the trial of Springfield businessman and longtime political power broker William Cellini.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Jury selection hasn’t yet begun…
Potential jurors in William Cellini’s trial were in federal court this morning, but so far, jury selection hasn’t started in the corruption case of the Downstate power broker.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers were still in chambers with U.S. District Judge James Zagel discussing issues connected to the trial, court personnel said this morning. They’re expected in court at about 12:15 p.m.
Last week, lawyers went behind closed doors to talk about star witness Stuart Levine and how much leeway Zagel would give the defense in his questioning.
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This is just too easy to be a big deal
Monday, Oct 3, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is essentially my answer to last Friday’s Question of the Day. Have a look…
Earlier this year, when it was disclosed that Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget director had handed out two pay raises to top staffers on the same day that the governor signed the income tax increase into law, Illinois Republican Party chairman Pat Brady said the move was evidence of a “void in leadership.”
I tend to ignore or downplay most pay raise stories unless they’re particularly egregious. Unlike the standard-issue government haters, I try to understand that the benefits of employee morale and retention are as important in government as they are in the private sector, where raises for mid to high-level executives are the norm, not the exception.
There’s definitely a market for these sorts of stories, however. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Sept. 15 that real average weekly earnings are in a national deflationary slide and suffered a 2.5 percent drop over the previous year. So, it’s easy to see how taxpayers would be susceptible to reporting which purports to show that their government isn’t acting responsibly during a crisis.
Yet, I tend to believe that most of these stories, and the enraged editorials which always follow, are somewhat distasteful and far too predictable. A reporter will discover the raises and then run to the person most likely to spew just the right quote to make the story seem far more important than it actually is.
Almost all of these stories carry a heavy stench of contrived indignation. They seem almost designed to intentionally rile up the public using the path of least resistance. In the public’s mind, bureaucrats equals bad and politicians equals bad. So, politicians giving raises to bureaucrats is basically a gimme story destined for the front page.
And that’s why we routinely see comments like the one above from Brady. It was your standard “gotcha” quote from a partisan more than happy to help give an unfavorable story even more oomph.
But last week, when Brady was asked about an Associated Press story regarding raises for non-union employees who work for Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and Republican Treasurer Dan Rutherford, the state party chairman suddenly changed his tune.
Brady told Charles Thomas at WLS-TV (Channel 7) last week that, rather than some undefined “void in leadership,” he didn’t see any hypocrisy at all with two self-proclaimed fiscal conservative watchdogs handing out pay hikes.
“You have to make individual decisions on individual employees and how you treat them,” Brady said. “Most of these folks are underpaid, so I don’t see an inconsistency there.”
Believe it or not, Chairman Brady was right last week. No complaint here.
These raises for nonunion workers were almost all pretty darned small, especially when put into the context of the lack of raises for non-union employees over the years and the fact that union members have received regular raises for decades. And the few non-union workers who received “big” raises didn’t really see all that much more money. Topinka’s chief of staff, who was singled out by the Associated Press, got just $76 extra a week, for instance.
Not only that, but in Topinka’s case, her office headcount is at its lowest level in decades. She’s planning to give back over $1.5 million out of her payroll budget alone at the end of the fiscal year, and that’s after the modest 3 percent raises to 56 non-union staffers, which will cost the state about $127,000.
At the end of June, 2007, the comptroller’s office employed 302 people. It now employs just 233. And because union employees (under a contract signed by Topinka’s predecessor) are receiving 4.5 percent annual raises, 62 management employees have been enticed to join the union in the past two years alone. Awarding smaller, one-time raises could easily be considered as prudent management. Whatever the case, it still remains true that Topinka has more than offset these pay raises.
Rutherford’s current budget is the same as last year’s budget, so his office’s raises are also not increasing overall state spending.
But, hey, let’s all tee off on these two because it’s just so easy. They’ve sharply criticized government spending, and their party boss has hammered the governor for his raises, so let’s all join the outraged chorus. And for heaven’s sake, we wouldn’t want a few facts to get in the way of a fine public roasting, now would we?
Discuss.
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