* I will probably update later tonight and through the weekend, considering the number of breaking stories today. Also, it turns out that Sen. Bill Brady didn’t have to pay federal income taxes for 2009 because of a provision in the stimulus package. So, it’s all Obama’s fault. Heh.
Anyway, comments are off and I’m gonna go rest for a while.
* Greg Hinz has a must-read story which looks at how a bipartisan bill requiring means testing of seniors to qualify for free mass transit rides was killed in the Senate Executive Committee this week…
By a narrow 6-7 vote, the committee rejected the bill co-sponsored by Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat, and Christine Radogno, the Senate GOP leader from La Grange. All seven votes came from Democrats.
And they did it even though the biggest Senate Democrat of them all, President John Cullerton, voted to move the bill to the Senate floor — and even though the Executive Committee traditionally does exactly what the Senate president wants it to do. […]
Mr. Cullerton’s spokeswoman says the president prides himself on not being a political boss but on allowing his members to vote their conscience. But that doesn’t explain why after Senate Executive Committee member Donald Harmon came down with food poisoning — he quite possibly would have voted for the bill —Mr. Cullerton replaced him on the committee with a definite “no” vote, Sen. Donne Trotter.
So Mr. Cullerton voted “yes” — reflecting the view of his district, his spokeswoman says. But he took an action to kill the bill upon which he voted “yes.”
Sen. Trotter is a regular replacement for members who can’t make Exec meetings, but Greg is certainly correct that Cullerton could’ve moved that bill to the floor if he wanted to. Instead, it was a nicely orchestrated bit of theater.
Is it any wonder the state can’t get a handle on its $13 billion deficit?
Our so-called statesmen in Springfield — led on this one by Sen. Rickey Hendon, a Chicago Democrat — can’t even deny a free bus ride to a senior who can comfortably do without it.
The true insult is to the many seniors who say they are willing to give up this little perk for the good of the greater cause — fixing the state’s budget mess. They know shameless pandering when they see it.
If this is the best Springfield can do, why drag out this legislative session another day?
They’ve failed to pay for state employees’ pension systems, which have become an unsustainable burden on the state. They’re months behind in making payments to hospitals, doctors and school districts.
Why not give free rides to seniors? In fact, why not give free rides to everyone?
Senior citizens I have encountered think the perk is madness. If a person can afford to pay his way, let him, they say.
I don’t know where the Tea Party folks are on this one.
And there were thousands of people rallying outside the state Capitol, begging for tax hikes to avoid cuts, when the Senate Democrats proudly protected free rides for seniors. If ever elected officials should have been run out of town on a rail, that was the moment.
* Speaking of this week’s rally, I’m not sure that Neil Steinberg fully understands who was at the event. He claims they were all “state workers.” Not true, unless you think teachers are state employees. Also, there were tons of employees of not-for-profit groups and companies at the event…
Still, I would have felt better had those been private-sector Illinoisans begging for more taxes. But that would be unlikely, given those most affected by government cuts — the poor, the sick, children — aren’t about to bus themselves to Springfield and wave signs.
There were plenty of poor people at that rally. All he had to do was read the coverage.
* The Responsible Budget Coalition has a new TV ad slamming “the politicians in Springfield” for wanting to “walk away” from the budget morass and adjourn early. “Don’t let them come home without a responsible budget,” the ad concludes. Watch it…
When I reached the Council of State Governments in Lexington, Ky., executive director David Adkins told me, “I’d never heard the term until your phone call today.”
Adkins is important because he was a Republican state legislator in Kansas from 1993 until 2005, and those who are now calling for a forensic audit of Illinois government frequently claim that a forensic audit in the Jayhawk State in 2003 saved taxpayers $1 billion.
It’s true, said Adkins, that then-Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius instituted an aggressive review of state spending practices early in her first term. “But most of the savings came from picking low-hanging fruit,” he said, such as selling off state vehicles.
And he quoted Auditor General Bill Holland saying the audit wouldn’t save money…
“These resolutions would require my office to re-examine 135 million transactions and check all the details on about 50,000 contracts a year going back nine years,” said Illinois Auditor General William Holland. “It would be a mind-boggling, astronomical cost. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Holland, whose office is nonpartisan, was once chief of staff to former Democratic Senate President Phil Rock. And though Holland formally takes no position on any bill, he said it’s “very doubtful” that such an undertaking would pay for itself.
Andrzejewski vehemently disagrees and Zorn lays out his entire reasoning, so go check it out.
“The governor came out and wants to convince people that he heard the people of this state when they said they want government to rein in spending. He is trying to convince people he’s going to cut $2.6 billion, when it’s clear that at best, he’s got $200 million up there in unspecified cuts [if his proposed 1 percentage point tax increase passes], and this is from a guy who’s got a track record of claiming he is going to cut and not having the guts to go ahead and do it,” he said.
However, Kelly Kraft, spokeswoman for Quinn’s Office of Management and Budget, said if the governor’s proposed income tax increase passes, there would still be $900 million in cuts. She added that Quinn is seeking to make $400 million more in reductions, in addition to the cuts he proposed in March.
Since it’s highly doubtful that the approximately $3 billion income tax hike will pass, this is mostly an empty argument.
* Related…
* Rep. Jack Franks: Want to solve the budget crisis? Say no to spending
