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Afternoon videos: Mell, Blagojevich, Med-Mar, Feigenholtz, Softball

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* If you missed it below, here’s the video of Rep. Mell’s remarks on the House floor today about her engagement…

* Several House members then rose to congratulate her. All but one was a Democrat. The lone Republican well-wisher was Rep. Mark Beaubien…

* Rod Blagojevich was on the Fox News channel last night. Watch if you dare…

And if you really have a strong stomach, Fox has posted the unedited interview. Part 1 and Part 2.

* The Illinois Family Institue has posted a video about the “addiction” problems associated with medical marijuana…

* Rep. Sara Feigenholtz and Sen. AJ Wilhelmi talk about their adoption rights bill…

* Once again, the Illinois Channel covered the annual House vs. Senate softball game. I’ve clipped the intro and posted it on YouTube. The clip features your faithful servant…

You can watch the full, higher definition video by clicking here.

* Related…

* If art bill signed, no state funds would finance Blago portrait

* No tax dollars for Blagojevich honor

* Bill to block public funding for Blago portrait heads to governor

* That didn’t take long: Black’s portrait bill headed to Quinn after minute of consideration in Senate

* Senate Nixes Taxpayer-Funded Blagojevich Portrait

* Ill. lawmakers vote to make Blagojevich pay for his own portrait

* Emanuel not subpoenaed in Blagojevich case

* Blagojevich’s book publisher folds

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When 10 is really 30

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Woods Bowman has forgotten more about state budgets than most of us will ever know. Today he explains why a ten percent “across the board” state budget cut is actually much deeper than it appears…

Nearly a quarter of the state budget goes to Medicaid. The good news is that the federal government reimburses nearly half of this amount. That is also the bad news, because $2 of cuts are necessary to achieve $1 in savings, and federal law imposes lower limits on types of services and scope of coverage a state must provide to receive any federal reimbursement. Simply put, that means sick people receive fewer services and they remain sick and get sicker instead of better.

Another quarter of state spending goes to school districts and local governments. Cutting state spending in this area only pushes the problem onto the property tax - the dominant tax source at local levels. Cutting appropriations to state universities and scholarship aid, which are 4 percent of the budget, would force increases in tuition and parental contributions.

Ten percent of state spending goes for debt service and pensions that, as legal obligations, cannot be cut - period. Finally, nearly 8 percent of spending is for transportation, which is financed by taxes on gasoline, license fees and the like.

These objects of spending account for more than two out of every three dollars flowing through the budget. Thus a 10 percent budget cut translates into a 30 percent cut, more-or-less, in the remainder of the budget. This is why it would be unwise to try to cut our way out of the problem.

The most visible proponent of the ten percent across the board cut is, of course, Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady.

* Speaking of Brady, his running mate has a new Internet video of college students talking about why they support Jason Plummer. Watch…

* Back to the session, there isn’t much faith out there that the General Assembly can adjourn by May 7th. Instead, as I’ve already told you, there’s an idea floating around to finish up the substantive issues by the 7th, then come back and do the budget…

“Do I believe that the General Assembly will recess May 7, or whatever that date is? Yes I believe they will,” [Sen. Dan Rutherford (R-Chenoa)] said. “Do I believe the budget will be put together properly? No I do not.”

But Sen. Toi Hutchinson, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite freshmen for her reasonable outspokenness, is not enamored with the idea…

Hutchinson said this is just the latest excuse for lawmakers to push the state’s serious budget problems further down the road.

“The state of affairs in the state of Illinois, and the number of people that they affect should be priority No. 1…I’d like to keep working, but that’s not my call.”

* If you watched the video in a post below, you know that Speaker Madigan is still hopeful they can adjourn by the 7th, but doesn’t want to make any “mistakes” in any rush to get out of town…

* Related…

* Tribune: More kids, more choices: This is all far from a done deal. Opponents may have been caught by surprise by the strong approval in the Senate. We expect a tight vote in the House. And, unfortunately, an amended bill will have to go back to the Senate for another vote. That opens the door for more politicking. It makes this program vulnerable to getting lost in the rush to finish the legislative session.

* Illinois credits program changes with $300M Medicaid savings

* JG-TC: Lawmakers can’t keep delaying budget work

* Pension fund denounces IOU plan

* Pension argument pits ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’

* Reducing benefits, raising taxes among proposed pension fixes

* Ideas on how to fix the pension crisis

* First steps to solve pension crisis

* DH: First steps to solve pension crisis

* DH: Now is time for resolve, reason: But the solutions will not be found in demonizing the beneficiaries of a flawed system nor in lashing out defensively at the system’s critics. Solutions will come from doing what hasn’t been done - establishing firm standards on what constitutes a fair pension and how it will be paid for.

* Despite reforms, professor says Illinois pensions are still in crisis

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Redistricting showdown in the House

Wednesday, Apr 28, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Yesterday’s debate over redistricting in a House committee got a bit intense yesterday…

Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, even said that if the Democratic plan winds up being added to the Illinois Constitution, Republicans might refuse to take part in the new system for drawing political boundaries.

“Be forewarned, be forewarned. That’s all I’m saying,” Durkin said. “If it comes to a constitutional crisis, so be it.”

So, if 60 percent of voters who vote on the question or a majority of voters who vote in the election approve the proposal, the Republicans wouldn’t go along? Really? Doubtful. Then again, it’s also doubtful that the Democratic proposal will make it to the ballot since the House Democrats don’t have the required three-fifths majority.

* There were some racial fireworks as well…

The debate turned heated on how the Fair Map Amendment would protect voting rights for minorities. [The League of Women Voters’ Chris Butler] said he took “strong offense” to the committee “parading as great defenders of minority rights.”

Raoul countered, saying African-Americans did not support the Fair Map Amendment during earlier redistricting hearings.

“Don’t bring tokens out here to defend something like that,” he said. “It’s insulting to my community as an African-American.”

Yikes.

We caught that exchange on video. Watch…

* House GOP Leader Tom Cross, however, said he’d be open to changing his proposal, which is backed by the League of Women Voters and others, to provide more protections for minorities…

That sorta undercuts the argument by the League that their proposal isn’t strong enough on minority representation. And some wondered why the proposal wasn’t changed after Senate GOP Leader Radogno said she was open to changing it…

After the Republican plan was shot down in a Senate committee, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, the sponsor of the amendment, said she would be willing to add more protection for minority populations. That was a major area of criticism from Democrats, and some supporters of “Fair Map” say it could be stronger on this point.

Radogno added that she thought concerns over diversity representation were not the real reason for Democratic opposition. She said Democrats’ true worry was the legislature losing its map-drawing power.

Yet the Republicans did not call what they perceived as the Democrats’ bluff today. The amendment they presented was identical to the one that stalled in the Senate, and many Democrats said their desires to protect minority voters played into their “no” votes.

“The question is, why do you not enhance the ability for communities of interest and minorities … to have their seat at the table,” said Rep. Lou Lang, a Democrat from Skokie.

* The House Republicans are planning to make a stink on the floor today after their redistricting proposal didn’t get out of committee. Speaker Madigan told my intern Barton Lorimor yesterday that he plans to call the Democratic proposal today…

* And this is true up to a point…

Democrats have accused the League of cooperating with Republicans in exchange for financial support. Both Republican leaders – Rep. Tom Cross of Oswego and state Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont – have made contributions from their campaign funds. The League’s executive director, Jan Czarnik, defended the organization’s decision to work with the GOP on the proposal.

“In my judgment, and I’ve been around here a long time as a public interest advocate, if the political situation were reversed the Democrats would be supporting our effort and the Republicans would be opposing our effort because this isn’t about ideology,” Czarnik said. “It’s about the power to draw the maps.”

No question that a lot of this is about politics, but the League undoubtedly blew it by not getting its ducks in a row on the minority represenation questions.

* Your roundup…

* Leaders still pushing for, against STAR bonds

* The STAR bonds debate: Where does it stand?

* SIUE students return to Springfield to ensure MAP grants

* EIU increases tuition by 6.2%

* Pantagraph: Time to put true remap reform on fall ballot

* Illinois Legislature sends `sexting’ bill to Gov. Quinn

* Lawmakers address “sexting” craze

* Monkey ban on governor’s desk

* Illinois approves anti-bullying bill that includes sexual orientation and gender identity

* Illinois school bias task force tussles with time

* Quinn appointments held up school discipline racial bias study; group faces May 1 deadline

* Senate votes to end corrupt schools post

* Advocates: Bring back Illinois prisoner early release

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