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High-speed rail advocates call Pritzker capital bill “retrograde”

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A Midwest High Speed Rail Association blast e-mail to supporters…

Tell Gov. Pritzker the capital bill needs more trains and transit!

Springfield is debating the capital bill right now.

Several weeks ago, Illinois Senator Martin Sandoval introduced legislation for a major transportation package that could lead to more trains around Illinois and the Midwest by significantly rethinking the way the state funds and selects projects.

Last week, Governor Pritzker released his own proposal for a “capital bill,” but it lacks some of the critical advantages of Sen. Sandoval’s proposal, and instead opts for “business as usual.”

Please click here to send a message to the Governor

Sen. Sandoval’s proposal includes the creation of a sustainable, dedicated fund for transit that sets aside money every year for things like track upgrades for better Metra and Amtrak service. Knowing that these funds would be available into the future would make it easier to plan and execute the sort of large-scale, transformational projects we need to bring high-speed rail to the Midwest.

Gov. Pritzker’s proposal only contains a few one-time allocations for certain transit projects, leaving trains and transit to an uncertain future of relying on one-off legislative appropriations. A good solution would be to dedicate 30% or more of new state transportation revenue to trains and transit.

Sen. Sandoval’s proposal also included a requirement that major projects be evaluated and prioritized based on a broad range of data-driven, measurable factors like environmental impact, economic development, and safety. This would make it much easier for trains to compete with traditional highway projects, but Gov. Pritzker’s proposal lacks this forward-thinking requirement.

Finally, Sen. Sandoval’s proposal indexes the gas tax and other transportation user fees to inflation, ensuring these revenue sources do not effectively degrade over time as they do today. Gov. Pritzker’s proposal does not index to inflation, meaning the state will find itself back in the same funding squeeze ten or so years from now.

Illinois has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make it easier to get around and significantly reduce our carbon impact by setting a transportation policy that favors investing in trains and transit. Instead, the Pritzker administration is pushing a retrograde approach that would only further entrench Illinois and the Midwest’s reliance on cars and highways.

We’ve made it easy to send a message to Gov. Pritzker. Time is running out on Illinois’ legislative session, so act now!

* Meanwhile, here’s Kristen McQueary…

Nearly two years ago, voters in Cook County rebelled against taxation. It was a rare galvanization.

Overtax our income, we’ll shrug. Overtax our property, we’ll acquiesce. But add 68 pennies to a bottle of soda and you’ve unleashed a “Game of Thrones”-style Battle of Winterfell, a thousand Arya Starks with dragonglass daggers and steely eyes.

R.I.P., soda tax of 2017. Even Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle realized she would have to pry bottles of Mountain Dew from Cook County taxpayers’ cold dead hands before they would back down.

And yet, where is the swell of opposition to broader, deeper, more impactful taxation? Gov. J.B. Pritzker, now in the final, frenzied days of the spring legislative session, is pushing a $41.5 billion bricks-and-mortar capital program that would hike taxes on top of the tax hikes in his budget proposal. Remember that columnist a few weeks ago who advised taxpayers to guard their wallets? Yes, that was me. I told you so. […]

The state of Illinois — we taxpayers — are still paying for projects built in the mid-1980s through bond programs. We’re still paying for former Gov. George Ryan’s “Illinois FIRST” program, for pension bonds sold during the last 15 years to make ends meet, for former Gov. Pat Quinn’s infrastructure bill. We still can’t pay vendors on time for services they perform for the state, and we are paying off bonds we bought to cover those day-to-day costs. But what the heck. Let’s see how much more debt we can accumulate.

The need for the pop tax and the use of its revenues were never adequately defined by Preckwinkle. Capital projects cost money, and this isn’t Washington, DC where we can just borrow without worrying about ever paying it back. You want your road fixed? Pay up.

With that being said, I’m not loving the idea of borrowing money for 20 years for infrastructure repairs that won’t last as long as the bond payments. What the governor has proposed is six years of projects financed with bonding and tax hikes that will last much longer than the construction. I’d personally be more comfortable with more pay-go.

…Adding… The late Chuck Sweeny’s final column was a lament that no projects for his beloved Rockford were listed in the governor’s capital plan outline…

I’m surprised — but maybe I shouldn’t be — that Gov. JB Pritzker’s $41.5 billion, six-year capital spending plan listed no transportation projects for the greater Rockford area west to the Mississippi River. […]

Now these aren’t the only northern Illinois projects that will be funded should the governor’s plan pass, but I sure would have liked to see the greater Rockford area included in the initial plan he released Friday.

I am hopeful that the $14.7 million the state owes the Chicago Rockford International Airport for the state’s share of funding for the $41 million AAR maintenance, repair and overhaul hangars will come through should this plan pass.

Once again, Quinn promised the money in 2014; Rauner put it on hold in 2015 when he and the General Assembly couldn’t agree on a budget for two years. To get the hangars built on time and on budget, the airport took out a $17 million line of credit from five local banks in 2015 and is paying $80,000 a month in interest.

The governor’s plan provides $70 million for “aeronautics.”

* Related…

* Northern Illinois leaders write letter to Gov. Pritzker asking for support at Rockford Airport

* Tax on Beer and Internet Streaming Proposed

* BGA: Lawmakers should seek reasonable registration bump for electric vehicles

* Gov. Pritzker’s capital plan proposes $57M for Route 47 in McHenry County

32 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Addendum to today’s edition

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

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*** LIVE COVERAGE ***

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Today’s post is sponsored by SEIU Healthcare. Follow along with ScribbleLive…

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Revenue Committee sends Pritzker’s constitutional amendment to House floor

Monday, May 20, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Finke…

On a party line vote, a House committee Monday sent the constitutional amendment to bring a graduated state income tax to Illinois to the full chamber for a vote.

The amendment’s proponents, however, dodged questions from House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs about whether there are 71 votes in the House to approve the amendment and place it on the November 2020 ballot for voters to consider.

Also, House committees have so far not taken up any of the three companion bills that were approved by the Senate which set the rates that would be in force with the graduated tax, that would eliminate the estate tax in Illinois and would provide some property tax relief if the state puts more money into K-12 education. […]

It was Durkin, who is not a regular member of the committee, who cut to the critical question of whether the supporters of the graduated tax believe they have the necessary 71 votes lined up to put the issue on the ballot. Neither the amendment sponsor, Rep. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago, nor representatives from Pritzker’s office would directly answer the question.

* It’s looking like they have the votes…

All six Republicans on the committee sided with Reick, while all nine Democrats supported the amendment — even one who had stated publicly he was leaning against voting for a graduated tax amendment.

That legislator is Jonathan Carroll, a Northbrook resident who is widely believed to be a swing vote in the 74-member Democratic House caucus. To be put on the ballot, the amendment, which has already passed the Senate, needs 71 votes in the House.

“I still have strong reservations on this,” Carroll said, calling it “way too important of an issue” not to be brought for a full floor vote. He also said his committee vote does not mean he would necessarily vote for the amendment when it comes before the full House.

* Rep. Carroll approvingly posted what I think is an Illinois Policy Institute cartoon on his Facebook page over the weekend…

And then he pulled it down.

…Adding… It is indeed an IPI mailer. Click here to see it.

* The House may not get to the rate bill this month. We’ll see…

House Democrats are still negotiating with the governor’s office over the rate structure and potential property tax relief, a key issue for some holdouts.
Illinois income tax calculator: How would Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed graduated income tax affect you?

“They want to use that leverage to extract as much property tax relief as they can,” Rep. Robert Martwick, a Chicago Democrat who’s sponsoring the proposed constitutional amendment, said before Monday’s hearing. “When you’ve got a rate structure that’s going to get you enough to close the structural deficit and a little more, then you have to figure out where it fits into the list of priorities.”

Asked during Monday’s committee meeting how a rate proposal in the House will differ from proposals from Pritzker’s administration and the Senate, Martwick said he expects it will be “substantially similar to what we’ve seen.”

I still think the better way is to do everything at once and get it over with.

23 Comments

Chuck Sweeny

Monday, May 20, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Chuck was an unapologetic Rockford booster, a smart and unreformed curmudgeon and a friend and mentor to many. He cannot ever be replaced…

Longtime Register Star reporter and columnist Chuck Sweeny died early Monday after collapsing at home.

Sweeny, a Rockord native, was 70.

* React is starting to roll in…

Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17) offered the following statement:

“My heart aches for the Sweeny family, the staff at the Register Star and the city of Rockford – what a loss. Chuck was a pillar of the Rockford community and truly served the public through journalism. With his columns, Chuck never held back and always called it how he saw it – he was candid, colorful and fair. Gerry and I send our deepest condolences.”

* And…

Saddened by the news of Chuck Sweeny’s passing. My condolences are with his family, his @RRStar team, & the field of journalism for this loss. Chuck was a dedicated professional, talented and tough, a true staple in our community. He will be sorely missed. #IL16

— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) May 20, 2019

This post will likely be updated.

* Sen. Stadelman was a former Rockford TV anchor…

State Senator Steve Stadelman issued the following statement regarding the passing today of veteran Rockford Register Star political columnist Chuck Sweeny:

“Having worked with Chuck for many years as a fellow journalist and more recently as an elected official, I saw from more than one perspective that his reporting and commentary was insightful, fair and incredibly well sourced. As a reader, I always appreciated his ability to inject humor into the often tense public discourse. Like any good newsman, Chuck would not use the word ‘institution’ lightly. But through decades of helping the public understand government, local history and the civic issues of our times, he was just that — a Rockford institution.”

* RRStar…

Sweeny was also a musician and had played electric piano in several bands that performed around the region. Ron Holm, who played in an Americana rock ‘n’ roll band with Sweeny in the 1970s and 1980s, said if Sweeny heard a tune on the radio, he would “just play it. He was utterly remarkable; he performed by ear.”

Cherene Sweeny, Sweeny’s wife, said she’ll miss conversations with her husband — “all the political and national issues. He liked to read about everything. And Rockford was really important to him.”

Sweeney’s younger sister, Mary Douglas of Carol Stream, said her brother “just remembered everything.” And she remembered his fondness for trains. “He had a model train in the basement” when they were kids growing up in Rockford, she said.

Scott Christiansen, former Winnebago County Board chairman, said Sweeny was fair in his editorial coverage. “Let’s just say we would argue some, but I never felt he was totally unfair. If he disagreed, he would still tell the other side.”

* Gov. Pritzker…

“Today we mourn the loss of a beloved figure in Illinois’ journalism community. I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Chuck Sweeny, who dedicated his life to his hometown paper for over three decades.

“Chuck tackled issues at every level of politics: no issue was too small to matter or too large for dissent. He was courageous in his advocacy and steadfast in his passion for Illinois. My heart goes out to the city of Rockford and the Register Star family as they grieve one of their finest.”

* Comptroller Mendoza…

The Rockford area needs strong advocates and Chuck Sweeny rose to the occasion. You did not need to agree with all his columns to respect the passion he brought to his job. He asked good questions when I visited the Register-Star’s editorial board. I send my most heartfelt condolences to his family, his friends and his fans.