* WBEZ checked public records to see if any Chicago aldermen had been popped by a red light camera. They found some…
“I ran a red light at Diversey and California. I have never ran it again since I got the ticket,” Ald. Dick Mell of the 33rd Ward announced at City Hall.
Mell wasn’t shy about his “criminal” history. In general, though, there wasn’t an outpouring of confessions at City Hall when a committee debated speed cameras last week.
But thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, we got a list of red light camera tickets sent to people whose names match those of Chicago aldermen. The city refused to provide identifying information like home address of license plate number, so we can’t be sure which of the tickets belong to aldermen, or to someone with the same name.
Still, that list helped spur some admissions.
* The Question: Have you ever been ticketed as a result of a red light camera? Tell us your story.
A state commission studying education spending says Illinois school districts can save hundreds of millions of dollars without being forced to consolidate.
The Classrooms First Commission claims districts could save up to $1 billion simply by studying each other’s budgets to find new ideas for cutting costs.
The study will be released today. I suppose one might say that if schools could save a billion dollars without consolidation, couldn’t they also save even more if several consolidated? Well, maybe not…
The commission found that mass consolidation would cost state taxpayers nearly $4 billion up front under current law. A more cost-effective approach would be to eliminate or modify state regulations that discourage districts from voluntarily consolidating. At least 40 districts were in the process of or considering such realignments in the past year, according to the report.
In 2011, the GA spent a total of 96 days in session. (And 22 were “perfunctory days,” during which little business was done.) Legislators also receive $132 a day stipend just for showing up in Springfield. That means our senators and representatives were paid $838.63 a week extra for doing their jobs. I’ve never had a part-time job that paid $838 a week.
Can somebody please help me with that math? Plus, nobody gets stipends for perfunctory days.
While Republicans look at the situation as a chance to finally rein in runaway costs, Democrats are looking to offset the need for some cuts through a cigarette tax hike. Lawmakers say the idea was first floated last week by Julie Hamos, Quinn’s director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers Medicaid.
It’s estimated the $1-a-pack increase would generate about $700 million for health care when federal matching dollars are added in, said Sen. Heather Steans, of Chicago, who is leading Medicaid negotiations for the Senate Democrats. The extra money would reduce the amount that needs to be cut to around $2 billion.
Steans acknowledged that raising taxes on cigarettes would be a difficult sell during an election year in which every House and Senate seat is on the November ballot. But she said the extra money might appeal to some lawmakers as an alternative to slashing reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals that provide services, with many already waiting up to six months to be paid by the state.
“More money means more spending,” said [Republican Sen. Dale Righter, of Mattoon], the Medicaid point person for Senate Republicans. “They’re going to use the new money to lessen the pressure to make cuts in the program and make the program more efficient.”
Righter said a higher tax on cigarettes will exacerbate a trend in which fewer cigarettes are being sold, a problem that would hurt Illinois in the long run because money to help pay Medicaid costs would come from a declining revenue source.
You could say that the Dems want to use the tax hike money to avoid making cuts, but you could also say the Dems want to use the cig tax hike cash to avoid doing real damage to the system as a whole. But an election year tax hike won’t be easy to do, to say the least.
* A mock strike vote and a real strike vote are entirely different animals, but this is quite fascinating…
Teachers at more than 200 Chicago schools overwhelmingly favor a plan to walk off the job in protest, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Monday.
Lewis said a number of schools have taken “mock strike votes,” and the majority favor work stoppage.
Keep in mind that it now takes a 75 percent majority (of members, not just of those voting) to approve a Chicago school strike…
NBC Chicago has received the results from the following high schools, with the percentages indicating teachers in favor of a work stoppage:
With efforts to reach a compromise on the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals at an apparent standstill, five downstate hospitals recently withdrew their administrative applications from the Illinois Department of Revenue, leaving 20 requests still pending.
The remaining applications included tax-exempt status requests for Children’s Memorial Hospital’s new Streeterville tower, NorthShore University HealthSystem’s Skokie campus, and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare’s new hospital in Elmhurst, according to a list provided by the Revenue Department.
Gov. Pat Quinn on March 1 directed the Revenue Department to resume issuing decisions on tax-exempt applications after efforts to reach a compromise stalled. Now the battle has shifted to the General Assembly, where the Illinois Hospital Association is conducting a lobbying campaign to expand what counts as charity to prevent hospitals from having to pay property taxes.
Among those medical centers withdrawing applications is Trinity Regional Health System, which was pursuing tax-exempt status for its hospital in Moline, about 165 miles west of Chicago, along the Mississippi River.
State Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, said Monday he’s interested in being appointed as the GOP candidate for the U.S. House in the new 13th Congressional District.
“I’m looking at it,” Watson said, although he called his review “strictly exploratory at this point.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, won the March 20 primary election, but then announced he wouldn’t run in November.
Watson’s home is not in the new 13th, but that would not preclude him running for the office. If he were to run and win, “I would move to Springfield for sure,” Watson said.
* Meanwhile, state Rep. Adam Brown (R-Decatur) has dropped out of contention, according to McLean County Republican Chairman John Parrott. Chairman Parrott hosted a luncheon yesterday and six potential candidates showed up…
Six Republicans seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson on the 13th Congressional District ballot this fall avoided criticizing each other in a forum Monday, but they were less kind to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi was the foil for the six men — state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington; former state Rep. Mike Tate of Springfield; state Sen. Kyle McCarter of Lebanon; Rodney Davis of Taylorville, an aide to U.S. Rep. John Shimkus; Jerry Clarke, a top aide to U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren; and Bloomington businessman David Blumenshine — who hope to be chosen by GOP county chairmen as the replacement for Johnson. He announced 10 days ago that he would not run for a seventh term.
“Dr. (David) Gill, who is the Democrat nominee in this district, I know him very well,” said Clarke, formerly the chief of staff for Johnson. “I ran Tim Johnson’s campaigns against him. He’s run against Tim three times so I know Dr. Gill and I know the district. I’d like to beat Dr. Gill a fourth time to make sure that Nancy Pelosi doesn’t become speaker again.”
“We know Nancy Pelosi and the national Democrats want to recover the House and they don’t care where they get the seats,” Brady said. “The Democratic National Committee will pour money into any district where a glimmer of hope exists and of course that includes the 13th.”
* In other news, political competition is a good thing, but I doubt they’re gonna find much of a competitor…
t’s not looking like the Democratic Party will find a candidate to run against Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger in the new 16th Congressional District.
So a group of concerned citizens, along with Democratic Party precinct committeeman Dan Kenney, says they’re looking for a qualified independent candidate.
“We are looking for someone who is able to represent the citizens who have battled with health issues and have had trouble funding insurance,” Kenney said.
The group will meet in DeKalb this weekend. The Citizen’s Convention will be held at the Unitarian Church on Fourth Street starting at 2 p.m. Saturday.
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office Tuesday morning confirmed that indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) won’t be returning to the Illinois House anytime soon despite an assurance from Smith’s lawyer to the contrary.
“I don’t believe he’s going to come back this week,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. “Let’s just leave it at that without me saying how I know.”
Brown would not divulge any other information except to say he was unaware of an illness or any other extenuating circumstance affecting Smith that might normally keep a state legislator from making the trip to Springfield.
Told of Brown’s comments, Smith lawyer Victor Henderson Tuesday stuck to his story from last week that his client, in fact, intends to return to work — though unlike last week, Henderson left himself wiggle room.
“That’s not my understanding,” Smith’s lawyer said when told of Brown’s prediction of a week-long absence by the lawmaker. “But I could be wrong.”
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* I checked with his Stratton Bldg. office and was told that Rep. Smith is expected to arrive in Springfield today, but that there is no hard confirmation as of yet. NBC5…
State Rep. Derrick Smith (D - Chicago) heads back to work Tuesday in Springfield after being indicted on a federal bribery charge
Smith has vowed to stay on the job despite accusations he allegedly accepted a $7,000 bribe from undercover officers.
Thoughts on this?
* Meanwhile, Rep. Smith’s lawyer reiterated his claim that Smith won’t resign…
State Rep. Derrick Smith, D-Chicago, charged with accepting a bribe, has no plans to resign his seat, his lawyer said Monday.
“We’re encouraging people to watch the information come out,” said Victor Henderson, the Chicago attorney who represents Smith. “The state and the Legislature would do well to wait and not rush to judgment.” […]
Henderson and Smith’s other lawyer, Samuel Adam, suggested federal investigators are using Smith’s case to investigate potential wrongdoing by other government officials, although Henderson wouldn’t identify anyone.
“All we know is that they asked him about other high-ranking public officials,” Henderson said. “He did not respond to those requests.”
* Smith’s arraignment hearing date was set yesterday…
State Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) is set to formally answer his indictment on bribery charges later this month.
Smith’s arraignment in federal court is scheduled for April 30, according to the federal court docket.
Last week, a lawyer representing the lawmaker said Smith would not step down from his post despite calls to do so by leading Democratic officials. “He’s going to plead not guilty, there’s no vacillation about that,” defense lawyer Victor Henderson said.
Smith’s case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Sharon Coleman.
* Wisconsin was reportedly in the running to snag this corporate headquarters, but Illinois won out. More details as the story develops…
Paris-based building-materials giant Lafarge will relocate its North American headquarters from Virginia to Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn’s office confirmed early this morning.
The manufacturer, which employs 76,000 people worldwide, selected the state due to its transportation network, central location and skilled workforce, according to Quinn’s office.
The deal was sealed last month when Quinn traveled to Europe with Chicago’s NATO Summit host committee, his office said. The delegation visited NATO headquarters in Brussels, and Quinn held some business meetings as well.
Expect a press release soon.
*** UPDATE *** From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn today announced that Lafarge North America is investing approximately $10 million to relocate its U.S. headquarters from Virginia to Illinois. Lafarge, one of the largest cement, aggregate and concrete manufacturers in the world, will create more than 90 jobs in Illinois in the first two years and likely more than 100 jobs over three to four years. By moving its U.S. headquarters to Illinois, Lafarge will gain access to Illinois’ pool of highly-skilled workers, world-class transportation infrastructure and central location. Governor Quinn personally recruited Lafarge and met with its senior leadership during a recent economic trade mission to Europe. […]
Lafarge is eligible for an Employer Training Investment Program grant to help increase the skills of its workforce and Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credits, which are based on job credits. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) will administer the state’s targeted investment package.
* Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s address to the Illinois Chamber begins at about 10 o’clock this morning. Via our good friends at BlueRoomStream.com, here’s the embed…
* Michael Holewinski is the chairman of the Illinois Manufacturers Association and president of Ace Industries. He has a must-read op-ed in today’s Tribune…
A lot has been said over the last two years about the business climate in Illinois and, unfortunately, very little of it has been positive. In particular, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is speaking Tuesday in Springfield, seems to enjoy using us as a foil to detract from the challenges he faces in his own state. Does Illinois have problems? Of course. Our financial difficulties are serious and must be addressed.
A thoughtful analysis, however, shows that Illinois is a great place to do business because it is where the business is. This isn’t an attack on Wisconsin. While Wisconsin is a great place to vacation, Illinois is where you want to locate your company.
According to a comprehensive state-by-state analysis by the 2012 Competitiveness Redbook, our state has twice the population of the Badger State and our workers earn 12 percent more than their Wisconsin counterparts — that’s more consumers with more money to spend.
Our workers are more productive. Wisconsin ranks 46th nationally in worker productivity. We have twice the gross domestic product of Wisconsin and export twice as much. More businesses are started in Illinois and we rank higher in high-tech employment opportunities. As the nation recovers from the recession, Illinois is creating jobs at a rate 10 times greater than Wisconsin. We are spending more on research and development. We have five times the venture capital investment. We are producing more people with science and engineering advanced degrees. While the recession has been brutal, we are working our way out of it. We are investing in our people and our businesses.
I’ll have a live video feed of Walker’s speech, which is expected to start at 10 o’clock. The video will be on a separate post, so you can chew on this one until then.
Tuesday, Apr 17, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The proposed Taylorville Energy Center coal plant would leave Illinois families and businesses paying nine times today’s market price for electricity every year for the next 30 years. That’s a cost increase to customers of $400 million every year, which would add up to $12 billion over the lifetime of this project.
Illinois already produces 30% more electricity than its residents use, meaning consumers would be forced to pay more for power we don’t even need.
In 2010 the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) concluded, “The TEC facility features high costs to ratepayers with uncertain future benefits, and uncertainties that potentially add to already-significant costs.” What’s more, natural gas and electricity prices have sharply decreased since the ICC’s study, meaning the Taylorville Energy Center has grown even more costly relative to alternatives.
As a result of the Taylorville Energy Center:
• Local governments and vital service providers would face huge new costs at a time when budgets are already strapped;
• Illinois employers and job-creators would be subject to nearly limitless financial risk from cost overruns and construction delays; and
• Illinois residents would battle more pollution due to the lax emissions limits project developer Tenaska has pursued.
The bottom line: the Taylorville Energy Center would send your hard earned money up in smoke for power that we don’t need. Tell your legislator to oppose SB 678 or any legislation that supports this unnecessary project.
* Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, as quoted by Illinois Issues magazine about a year ago when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was announcing a grand plan to take companies and jobs away from Illinois…
Whitley, meanwhile, says Daniels and Walker might find more long-term benefits if they stopped trying to poach jobs from Illinois. He says they should instead be helping Illinois succeed. “I don’t understand why the Midwest governors would want to spend so much time trying to dance on the grave of Illinois when, indeed, the Midwest as a whole has common bonds,” Whitley says. “It’s a common economy, and we have a lot at stake.”
“We know Scott Walker is controversial, but by giving him a forum, it allows us to bring more attention and dialog to the discussion regarding how Illinois can restore its fiscal integrity, our single most important public policy issue,” Whitley wrote.
When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker comes to Springfield Tuesday to address the state Chamber of Commerce lobby day, he could well see more people outside the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center than inside waiting for his speech.
Labor unions, incensed that Walker – best known for his efforts to curtail most public employee collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin — was invited to speak to Illinois business leaders, plan a rally outside the hotel during Walker’s appearance. […]
“I’m amazed that anybody, especially organized labor, would be so critical of the First Amendment, for freedom of speech, for freedom of thought and the ability to share that,” Whitley said.
“Everybody should have a right to give a speech anywhere in this country. I think it’s appropriate than any organization, whether it be AFSCME or it be the Illinois Chamber of Commerce ought to have a right to have anybody come in and speak to our group whenever we want.”
The visit has prompted Governor Pat Quinn to tell Walker he may want to concentrate on the troubles he has in his own state. “He has enough challenges in his own state. I don’t plan to go to Wisconsin anytime soon. But I’m happy to compare our job record against his. Illinois is in recovery. We have a long way to go. Wisconsin is dead last in the whole country. They have not created any jobs,” Quinn said.
* The Question: Do you think it was proper for the Illinois Chamber to invite Gov. Scott Walker to speak in Springfield? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Back during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, Gov. Pat Quinn suspended both the Meritorious Good Time prison release program after discovering that a new MGT “Push” program was letting violent offenders out of prison way too early. That decision caused a huge spike in the prison population, from 45,750 inmates in January of 2010 to a high of 49,135 inmates last October.
The governor is trying to close several prisons, but that big population increase has been dogging him. So, Quinn has come out in favor of restoring the original MGT program (without the notorious “push”) as long as the General Assembly makes some changes…
“I think we definitely want to work with anyone that’s interested in this issue,” Quinn said. “It has to be done very carefully. We studied it in the last several years comprehensively.” Quinn says the program, which was long used by the Department of Corrections until it was suspended in 2010, must be updated to include crimes that were once considered non-violent but are considered violent today.
“There were offenses in the past that were not put in the category of violent offenses by the General Assembly,” Quinn said. “We think that has to be remedied. Things like domestic violence and DUIs.” There are bills in both the House and the Senate that look to reinstate MGT with updated offenses but Quinn says he has yet to see them.
* But, there’s also an interesting twist which is mostly being ignored by the media. The prison population no longer appears to be spiking upward. We see a lot of news stories that are using that 49,000 inmate population figure, but according to the Department of Corrections, the census as of yesterday is 48,264 inmates - about 900 fewer than last year’s high point.
From the IDOC’s spokesperson…
Management of Illinois’ prison population is an ongoing issue that requires both administrative and legislative action. The Department of Corrections continues to work with the involved partners, including ICJIA, local law enforcement agencies, court systems and all four legislative caucuses on ways to manage population numbers while continuing to incarcerate—for safety, rehabilitation, and punishment–those individuals who should be serving prison time.
Last year, we convened continuous discussions to develop policy that deals with population, inmate reintegration and alternatives to incarceration. The issue must be addressed from both a policy and budgetary perspective, and we are continuing to work with members of the General Assembly to find long-term solutions to maintain safe, sustainable prisons.
Also to be noted- the Sentencing Policy Advisory Council (SPAC) continues to explore sentencing issues, practices and how they impact the criminal justice system as a whole. SPAC is a nonpartisan group of 18 key stakeholders from across state and local criminal justice systems, including legislators, retired judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, corrections and administrators of the court officials, law enforcement, victim’s rights advocates, and academics.
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is about something that happened just before spring break…
Retiring state Rep. Joe Lyons (D-Chicago) said a debate on the House floor last month was his “finest hour.” He was probably right.
Lyons successfully fought off five hostile floor amendments to his bill requiring that women seeking abortions be offered a look at an ultrasound test before having an abortion. The proposal has been a matter of much contention for three years, and it came to a head again in late March.
Last year, after two years of failing to pass the House Human Services Committee, the ultrasound bill was assigned to the infinitely more conservative House Agriculture Committee, a move that enraged pro-choice advocates. They vehemently protested the assignment, claiming that “women are not livestock,” and were able to stop the legislation on the House floor with a flurry of parliamentary moves.
Lyons is a member of Democratic leadership who’s leaving the House early next year, so he took sponsorship of the bill this year to help give the effort some muscle. The measure was again assigned to the ag committee, where it was again approved.
This time, pro-choice opponents filed several hostile amendments, one requiring that men with erectile problems view a video of a painful pharmaceutical side effect. Those amendments were assigned to the House Human Services Committee, which approved it last month and sent it to the floor.
When the amendments were called on the floor for a vote, Lyons claimed that House Democratic leadership, which controls the rules committee, had deliberately shepherded the hostile amendments through the process.
“If the rules committee will do this to me as a fellow member of leadership,” Lyons said, “think what they’ll do to you if the will is there to try to hurt one of your bills and sabotage it, sabotage it in the rules committee.”
Lyons was applauded by the House several times during his speeches against the hostile amendments. Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) said that if Lyons’ bill had been sent to “an appropriate committee and addressed in a dignified manner,” her erectile amendment wouldn’t have been needed. Rep. Jim Watson (R-Jacksonville) then rose to Lyons’ defense.
“There is no more dignified member of this chamber than Joe Lyons,” Watson insisted to roars of approval, “and for somebody to take this opportunity to try to slight him is a little out of hand.”
Feigenholtz’s amendment was soundly defeated 66-36.
Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) rose next to explain her amendment, which changed the bill’s title to the “Ultrasound and Erectile Dysfunction Information Opportunity Act.” After seeing what happened in the previous debate, Cassidy showed respect to Lyons up front but said it was “profoundly insulting” that his bill was assigned to the agriculture committee.
Lyons pointed out that the bill had gone nowhere in the human services committee and claimed the opinion of ag committee members were “just as valid as any other committee.” Cassidy’s amendment received a mere 32 votes. Three more hostile amendments went down in flames after that.
When the Chicago Sun-Times still endorsed candidates, the editors would ask my opinion of legislators. Lyons had a general election in 2010, and the editorial board seemed ready to support his opponent. But I told them that they were looking at Lyons too much from outside appearances as a mere run-of-the-mill Chicago political hack.
Lyons, however, had become one of the most respected members of the House. Legislators of both parties recognize the great reverence he shows the chamber and its members. There is, I told the editorial board, no more beloved figure in the House than Joe Lyons.
Republicans will loudly chant “We want Joe!” if whoever is sitting in the speaker’s chair acts less than evenhanded. They know Lyons always tries to be fair when he’s in that chair, and that’s why so many of his colleagues sided with him during those amendment debates.
The Sun-Times endorsed him.
Lyons’ retirement is going to be a huge loss for the House. Whatever you think of his stance on the issues, I’m here to tell you it’ll be impossible to replace him.
* Subscribers were told about this and other stuff earlier today…
A working group of state legislators tasked with charting a path to pension stability will likely miss its Tuesday deadline for releasing a draft report, but members believe they’ll have information to share soon.
The four-member committee is waiting to make its release until after another of Gov. Pat Quinn’s working groups releases its report on how to achieve a $2.7 billion Medicaid cut in fiscal 2013.
“We’ve still got some data we’d like to gather and certainly that the members of the General Assembly would like to see,” said Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, one of four legislators on the pension panel. “I don’t think we’ll release anything Tuesday, and my understanding is that the governor’s not expecting it until late next week.” […]
“I think it’s been very good,” Brady said of the process. “In the past, not everyone has participated (in these kinds of meetings). This is the first time everyone realized the need and participated. Not everyone will like 100 percent of our product, but sometimes that’s how things work out.”
Gov. Pat Quinn’s pension working group is asking public employee unions to accept lower pension benefits and a higher contribution rate in exchange for a more ironclad guarantee that the state will meet its funding obligations.
The proposal also would shift the employer costs of local teacher and university employee pensions from the state to school districts and universities, according to Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook.
In a statement, AFL-CIO president Michael Carrigan, who spoke for the We Are One Illinois Coalition, said labor has not been given enough information to analyze any potential proposal. The coalition is made up of the AFL-CIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, the Police Benevolent and Protective Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Service Employees International Union. […]
“Our unions are firmly committed to negotiating a solution to the pension funding crisis,” Carrigan said. “However, to go forward, we need both the data supporting any proposals and a commitment that the representatives with whom we engage are authorized to speak for the governor and the legislative leaders.”
There’s no sense in negotiating a bill if the leaders aren’t supporting the process.
* Meanwhile, figuring out how to pay or cut $2.7 billion in additional Medicaid costs next fiscal year is proving to be as tough to accomplish as pretty much everybody thought it would be…
Last week, Quinn’s administration floated a different proposal that included $1.3 billion in cuts to Medicaid program spending, with the rest of the $2.7 billion coming from a $1-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax and rate cuts to health care providers, according to Sen. Heather Steans, one of the Democrats on the Medicaid committee.
“When you look at what it takes through just cuts to get to $2.7 billion in one year, it’s impractical,” Steans said. “It’s hard to maintain program integrity.”
Rep. Patti Bellock, a Republican on the committee, is pushing for more cuts and doesn’t want to raise cigarette taxes or cut payments to providers, she said.
“The governor wanted to come forward with a plan this week and had been encouraged by some of the (legislative) leaders to do that,” Bellock said. “I’ve just been trying to push them more. … I think we can find some more reforms.”
Republican Sen. Dale Righter said a cigarette tax is not the right approach when the goal is to reduce the size of the Medicaid program.
This spring, the Illinois Defense of Marriage Initiative sought 500,000 signatures to put a non-binding referendum on the November ballot, recommending the state legislature enshrine in the state constitution rules that forbid same-sex marriage.
Jim Finnegan, the president of the initiative, said that effort will fall short with the group likely acquiring about 100,000 signatures by the end of the month. However, he said it still sends a message that those opposed to gay marriage are willing to come forward.
To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children, the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose
State Rep. Greg Harris (D–Chicago) told the Chicago Sun-Times that reeling in Medicaid and pensions programs as well as approving an overall budget would take precedence during the homestretch of the General Assembly’s spring session.
“I never say never,” Harris quipped. “[But] I don’t think there will be a push before the end of this session.”
His bill, HB 5170, would delete a provision outlawing marriage between individuals of the same sex.
It was first introduced on Feb. 8 and, perhaps unsurprisingly during an election year in which fiscal issues have been front-and-center, remains pent up in the House Rules Committee.
As I’ve been saying for a while now, it’s probably way too early to move that gay marriage bill. It’ll take more time. It took years to pass a civil rights bill, then several more to get civil unions.
Monday, Apr 16, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois is on the verge of another dubious distinction – spending the least for Medicaid patients of any state in the country.
Currently, Illinois ranks 44th in the U.S. for Medicaid spending per beneficiary – well below the national average and large states like New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
The Governor wants to cut Medicaid by $2.7 billion (23%). No other state is considering Medicaid cuts of that magnitude in such a short period of time.
Such drastic cuts will jeopardize access to quality health care for everyone – not just Medicaid beneficiaries – and people will suffer.
Blunt Medicaid cuts will mean hospitals – one in three in Illinois are already losing money – will have to reduce or eliminate services, lay off staff, or even close.
The Illinois Hospital Association and hospital community understand the state’s budget challenges are significant. We have offered a comprehensive list of workable alternatives to generate substantial savings and new revenues for Medicaid, totaling up to $1.4 billion. Hospitals are firmly committed to working with the General Assembly on solutions to help address the state’s budget challenges and ensure we maintain a sustainable health care delivery system for the people of Illinois.
* Here we go, campers. Session restarts next week. Seven weeks of craziness are heading our way. Get some rest. You’re gonna need it.
* Jamey Johnson is right out of the old school “outlaw” country genre and he’s become a new favorite of mine thanks to a particularly cool friend. I absolutely love this song, man…
A day after he defied his security detail and ran into a burning house to save a woman’s life, Newark Mayor Cory Booker says he’s a good neighbor, not a superhero.
The mayor of New Jersey’s largest city was treated and released from the hospital after suffering smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on his hands Thursday night.
With a bandage around the thumb and first finger of his right hand, Booker said he felt terror, not bravery as he dashed through the flames with the woman over his shoulder. Though many are hailing him as a hero, he said he did what anyone would have done.
“There are people who do this every day. There are firefighters who do this every day. I am a neighbor and I did what any neighbor would do,” Booker said at a news briefing Friday.
The woman Booker helped save is in stable condition at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston with burns to her back and neck. The mayor described her as a close friend who has been his neighbor for six years.
* The Question: With snark heavily encouraged, what do you think our state’s most prominent leaders would do if their neighbor’s house was on fire?
Concerns about the shaky state budget, a new union labor contract and threats to alter state retirement plans have triggered a major exodus of state employees.
The State Employees Retirement System, which administers pension benefits to state government workers ranging from prison guards to child welfare workers, is projecting a more than 40 percent spike in the number of people retiring during the fiscal year ending June 30.
The system’s executive secretary, Tim Blair, said the state is on track to see more than 4,000 workers join the ranks of retirees this year, compared with about 2,750 last year. […]
The Department of Corrections has already seen more than 680 workers retire this fiscal year. The Department of Human Services has the next highest number of retirees at 585.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s spending proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 allocates money for about 51,500 workers, down from about 54,500 when he took office in 2009. It remains unclear whether the spike in retirements will drive that number even lower.
I’ve talked to several state employees over the past few months who’ve said they were getting out while the getting was good. That’s probably a decent plan, considering all the state’s problems.
A new survey of Chicago area mid-size businesses found 30 percent considered moving to another state in the past 12 months.
The firms weighing exits mainly were manufacturers with $10 million to $25 million in sales, according to Cole Taylor Bank’s first Business Owners Confidence Index survey.
The survey did not ask companies to give reasons for considering relocation, though it did ask them to identify local challenges. Those included taxes, competition, cost of materials, red tape and government interference and local budget crises.
Nearly 80 percent rated Illinois economic policy as poor, while 52 percent gave that assessment of national policy. The survey did not ask for views on specific policies.
Um, not quite. I checked with Cole Taylor Bank and got the exact wording of the poll question…
In the last 12 months, has your business considered relocating outside of the Chicago area? [Emphasis added.]
“Outside of the Chicago area” could mean Downstate.
Also, since those businesses are still located in the Chicago area I’m not sure this is much of a story. Yes, they considered leaving, but they stuck around or they wouldn’t have been polled.
Also, this is an Internet poll, which isn’t mentioned in the article. However, company execs were contacted via e-mail, so it is not a self-selected universe.
* That’s not to say there aren’t problems here. There are. Many of them. This poll result is telling…
What is the most challenging aspect of conducting business in the Chicago area?
Taxes 26%
Competition 12%
Expenses, materials 10%
Red tape, government interference 8%
Government uncertainty, budget crisis 7%
More than two-thirds (67 percent) of Illinois business owners plan to grow their businesses over the next six months — up from last fall’s reading of 61 percent.
And more than half of Illinois entrepreneurs — 52 percent — have a positive outlook on the economy, but they’re slightly less enthusiastic than their national counterparts, 56 percent of whom on average are optimistic about the nation’s economic prospects.
These are just a few of the findings in the latest American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, a survey of the nation’s small-business owners released each spring and fall since 2002. […]
More than 4 in 10 Illinois business owners (41 percent) are planning to hire within the next six months, up from last fall (34 percent). More than 1 in 10 (11 percent) are currently recruiting for an open position. As for the economy, more than one-third of Illinois business owners (38 percent) would say we are still in recession, nearly one-third (32 percent) would say we are recovering and 25 percent say the economy is stagnant. Nearly 8 in 10 (76 percent) Illinois business owners say the economy stresses them out, down from last fall (83 percent). Sixty-three percent of Illinois business owners report having cash flow issues, down from last fall (70 percent).
* Caterpillar CEO’s pay package grows 42 percent in 2011: The CEO of heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. saw the value of his compensation jump 42 percent to $14.8 million last year as the company’s global sales grew nearly as much. An Associated Press analysis of a document the company filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment gave Doug Oberhelman $1.4 million in salary plus stock options worth $8.3 million and incentive pay of $4.9 million.
* Industry lobbying for Illinois to extend life of enterprise zones: Illinois’ system of enterprise zones, a set of incentives extended to businesses aimed at stimulating economic growth, are set to expire within the next couple of years, but lawmakers and industry groups want an extension. Groups such as the Illinois Manufacturer’s Association are pushing for passage of Senate Bill 3688, which would increase the lifespan and number of enterprise zones. Mark Denzler, IMA vice president and chief operating officer, said that without action by the governor and the General Assembly, eight of the zones will expire next year. The enterprise zone in Springfield expires Dec. 31, 2014.
* Taxed by the boss: Across the country more than 2,700 companies are collecting state income taxes from hundreds of thousands of workers - and are keeping the money with the states’ approval, says an eye-opening report published on Thursday.
* Report: Few states effectively track tax breaks: Most states are doing a poor job tracking whether their tax breaks for businesses are actually spurring job growth, including some that have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into corporate incentive programs even while grappling with record deficits, according to a new report. The report released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States found that no state regularly takes a hard look at the effectiveness of all of its tax breaks. Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C., do little if any evaluation, including Illinois, which is among the states facing major budget struggles.
* Cook County wages silent battle against IL cottage food: But the Cook County Department of Public Health isn’t taking registrations, citing an ambiguity in the Illinois Local Food Entrepreneur and Cottage Food Operation Act, which requires “a unit of local government” to take registrations, not necessarily the local health department. “It’s not our responsibility to take on additional work unnecessarily,” said Sean McDermott, spokesman for the health department and a county alderman.
* The Speaker introduced a similar proposal last year, but local governments opposed it, so Madigan revamped the idea…
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Wednesday proposed making it tougher to approve increases in pension benefits for public workers throughout Illinois, an idea immediately opposed by the state’s largest employee union.
The Democratic leader from Chicago introduced a state constitutional amendment that would ask voters this fall to require the Legislature to approve pension benefit increases by a three-fifths vote instead of a simple majority.
The stricter voting requirement also would apply to city halls, school districts and their retirement boards.
The measure would need to pass the House and Senate by early May for it to go before voters in November.
The latest proposal is aimed at dozens of bills introduced over the years to sweeten government workers’ pensions. The piecemeal changes add up. The rub is that most of those proposals get nearly unanimous support, anyway.
In the Teachers Retirement System alone, legislative changes have added more than $2 billion to the state’s unfunded liability since 1996, or 6 percent of the total growth in the state debt to the system, according to TRS figures.
The largest state-employees’ union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, opposes Madigan’s plan, while the Illinois Municipal League views it “very favorably.”
House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said he supported the measure but echoed AFSCME’s repeated concerns about the $80 billion debt.
“Our real focus needs to be on how to reduce the unfunded liability,” Cross said.
The TRS told me and Northwest Herald readers – many of whom are teachers – there was nothing to worry about. TRS denied the crisis before running the numbers themselves, and attacked the credibility of people who suggested that the pension funds could belly up.
But when their actuaries finally looked at the numbers, they found that the retirement fund that so many in Illinois are counting on could run dry in less than 20 years.
Maybe in political terms, 2029 is far away. Maybe it’s another doomsday date that few legislators still will be around to see, so they don’t understand the urgency for reform.
But to a 45-year-old teacher, 2029 is right around the corner. Last week’s news that the TRS could be insolvent means her pension fund might run out of cash precisely at the time she hopes to retire.
* The TRS FY 2012 contribution grows by 3% each year for 37 years
o TRS is insolvent in 2049 ($2.9 billion deficit)
* The TRS FY 2012 contribution of $2.4 billion is frozen at that level for 37 years
o TRS is insolvent in 2038 ($8.4 billion deficit)
* The FY 2012 contribution is cut to 60% of the original level and stays frozen at $1.4 billion for 37 years
o TRS is insolvent in 2030 ($434 million deficit)
Nobody is talking about doing any of those things. Period. This is a total non-story.
* The National Rifle Association’s annual convention is this weekend in St. Louis. I’ve been thinking about heading down there and checking out the scene. The NRA’s website has a list of new products that will be showcased, including…
According to the NRA, that’s the Heizer DoubleTap tactical pocket pistol, “the smallest and lightest .45 ACP concealed carry on the market.”
* The Question: What, if any, restrictions should be put in place if Illinois makes it legal to carry a concealed handgun? Explain, please. Thanks.
* It’s easy to just say “Cut people off All Kids coverage if they make too much money.” But, as always, there is a very strong human dimension to any budget cut. WBEZ has an article about one of the 4,000 children who will lose All Kids coverage on July 1st, because her family makes more than $60,000 a year…
The Wright household is wrapping up dinner this weekday night. Vinita Wright cooked fried rice and husband Jim rinses bowls as he loads the dishwasher.
The couple has guardianship over Sara Opsenica, the daughter of a family friend. Sara’s a high school freshman diagnosed with cancer, specifically, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Vinita shows me a bag of liquid Sara gets hooked up to overnight.
VINITA WRIGHT: This is nutrition. We call it TPN. I don’t know what that means. But it’s basically nutrition. There are lipids in it, that’s why it’s white. it’s a fatty substance.
Sara’s prescriptions, hospital visits, chemotherapy have all been paid for underAll Kids. Sara was diagnosed last fall but had been on All Kids for several years. Sara’s father had been unemployed but he’s now a shuttle bus airport driver, and his health insurance coverage is haphazard; he’ll be off it a while, then he’ll have coverage, only to be off again. The family says All Kids has been a relief.
SARA OPSENICA: My dad doesn’t make a lot of money. We just have Social Security because my mom passed away. The All Kids have paid for everything. I don’t think - we have a small co-pay of my prescriptions but I don’t think my dad has gotten any hospital bills. […]
Back in Chicago’s West Chesterfield neighborhood, Vinita Wright is considering what will happen to Sara Opsenica, the girl in her care. Vinita says Sara’s chemo treatment should last another 16 months, but All Kids runs out in less than three.
VINITA WRIGHT: There’s so much stress connected to this cancer business…to not have to deal with a whole other several layers of stress having to do with which bill do we attempt to pay first.
Cutting Medicaid will be without a doubt the toughest vote some legislators will ever take in their careers.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune recently looked at the Medicaid numbers…
• Stop services for people who simply don’t qualify. Some recipients don’t even live in the state. Some make too much money to get health care designated for the poor. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 people can be removed, saving $100 million to $700 million a year. Julie Hamos, director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, is moving to scrub the rolls.
• Speed the switch to managed care to save money and improve quality of care. Managed care generally means patients are assigned a “medical home” — a doctor (it could be an HMO-style clinic) who oversees their care. Doctor and hospital fees are geared to delivering better health care, not just more of it. So far, only a fraction of those patients have been switched to managed care. The state now says it can dramatically pick up the pace, moving some 85 percent of Medicaid recipients into managed care by the end of fiscal 2013.. Savings: $200 million to $500 million a year. We’ve heard these promises before, though. Time to deliver. […]
Prescription drug coverage costs Medicaid $814 million a year. Eliminating that wouldn’t be wise because many drugs help control chronic conditions and prevent expensive hospital stays. But drug coverage can be prudently trimmed. If Medicaid recipients were limited to five prescriptions a month (there are virtually no limits now), the program would save a whopping $136 million. Several states have done this. The hope is that a limit would force doctors to better coordinate recipients’ prescription drug care. Possibly on the block: Illinois Cares Rx, a supplemental drug program for seniors that doesn’t draw federal reimbursement. It costs $72 million a year.
There’s lots more on the table, such as hospice care (about $89 million); adult dental care ($51 million); durable medical services and supplies such as wheelchairs and ventilators ($150 million); adult speech, hearing and language therapy ($411,000); podiatric services ($5.8 million); bariatric surgery ($8.4 million); group psychotherapy for nursing home residents ($14 million); even therapy for refugees who were torture victims in their native countries ($133,000).
All of that still doesn’t come close to $2.7 billion. That’s why there’s a 6 percent cut for hospitals and nursing homes in play. Savings: $550 million. Hospitals argue that the state should exhaust other options before trimming providers, who are already reimbursed at low rates. But providers likely will feel some pain. “Everybody,” the governor says, “will take a haircut.”
* And Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute has a couple of smallish proposals…
Recent research suggests that instead of arbitrarily reducing access to prescriptions, policies focused on improving adherence — that is, ensuring that patients take their prescriptions as prescribed without missing doses — hold more promise for cost savings. A study conducted by economist William Encinosa and colleagues has demonstrated how increasing adherence among diabetes patients can reduce hospitalization rates and save on health-care costs. Another study, by Dr. Michael Sokol and colleagues, examined adherence among high cholesterol and hypertension patients, in addition to those with diabetes and found similar results. New techniques and technologies have been shown to effectively improve prescription drug adherence. Private insurers have particularly strong incentives to coordinate care in this way, as is the case for Medicaid managed care organizations that include pharmacy services.
In addition to saving money by reducing hospitalizations, another option the state could consider is ensuring that Medicaid patients receive the lowest-cost version of a given prescription drug. Research I have conducted on wasteful spending in the Medicaid drug program found that all too often states reimburse for a version of a drug that is more costly than another product with the exact same active ingredient, dose, form and bottle size. I estimate that the Medicaid drug program wasted $329 million nationwide in 2009. In Illinois, taxpayers could have saved about $11 million if the cheapest version of a given pharmaceutical had been consistently dispensed.
The lawyer for indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith says the Chicago Democrat plans to return to work in Springfield despite numerous calls from him to step down.
Victor Henderson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Smith “takes his responsibility as a state representative very seriously” and that Smith told him he’ll return to the General Assembly shortly.
I seriously doubt that anybody is gonna talk to that guy when he gets to town. He’s been indicted for federal bribery charges, for crying out loud. Everybody will figure he’s out to cut a deal with the feds, so they’d better keep their distance.
And then there’s the problem of allowing somebody to vote on legislation after he was caught on tape allegedly (and blatantly) accepting a bribe. Yes, he’s innocent until proven guilty, but, I mean, really. C’mon, man. His triumphant return could speed up the process of his own expulsion.
* In an impassioned column arguing against the closure of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center, Phil Kadner takes Gov. Pat Quinn to task…
I have tried to tell myself that Gov. Quinn has to be a realist, while Citizen Quinn could afford to be an idealist. But then I remember that a governor’s job is to lead and that Quinn claimed he could be a great leader.
Quinn, you may recall, vetoed a bill that would have expanded casino gambling in Illinois. He felt it was immoral to hand slot machines to racetrack owners.
Those slots could have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue for the state. But it was dirty money.
Hurray for Quinn! He took a moral stand.
But where’s the morality in cutting funding for mental health? How good can it feel to know that many people who are ill will end up in jails and prisons instead of medical facilities?
I hate to connect gambling to health care, but it’s just one example of something the governor could’ve done to avoid these cuts. Citizen Quinn, I’m sure, could have come up with something better.
Yes, the governor is faced with tough choices. But the victims of his choices too often seem to be the politically powerless who cannot defend themselves.
Citizen Quinn would have recognized that and become their public champion.
