Several Occupy Illinois groups came together Saturday in Springfield for Occupy Your State Capital Day. […]
Next came the first reading of an eviction notice delivered to the lobbyists for the 1% and their servants in elected office who currently occupy the Illinois Capitol Building. It reflects that the same issues raised by the Wall Street Occupiers exist in Illinois state government. Rather than a request for temporary fixes, it’s an indictment of a broken, corrupted political system that’s largely unresponsive to the 99%.
* Again, an “eviction notice,” no matter how symbolic, is not in any way democratic. From their press release…
TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE PRESS: The General Assembly for Occupy Springfield has agreed to stand in solidarity with National Occupy Your State Capital Day by posting a Notice of Eviction on the door of the State Capitol. Lobbyists and their servants in elected office will be notified their tenure in the Capitol Building is over.
A handful of protesters has no right to overturn elections nor deny people from exercising their 1st Amendment right to petition the government, no matter how much one might disagree with their employers. I fully support the occupy folks’ rights to protest. I flat out oppose any attempt to take away constitutional rights from others. When we overturn elections we don’t like or allow the government to decide who can and who cannot lobby, we’re gonna be in really big trouble.
* Last night, somebody on my Twitter list retweeted a post by Occupy Chicago…
State police has brought canines to break up vigil. We are leaving Thompson Center and are on sidewalk
I went to the Occupy Chicago Twitter page and discovered that the occupiers were holding a candlelight vigil for Marine veteran Scott Olsen, who was allegedly shot in the head by an Oakland “police projectile.”
Also according to the page, the State Police asked the protesters to leave the Thompson Center plaza in 5 minutes or they’d be arrested. They claimed the cops had dogs.
The governor’s office said there were police dogs nearby as part of standard procedure. A different administration official said the coppers were advised not to provoke anybody and to keep things calm.
* So far, the only real violence involving the Occupy protesters here in America has happened when the police tried to break up a demonstration. Despite lots of fears, everything has been peaceful, as long as you don’t have to hear their loud drumming or their bullhorns. Let’s hope it stays that way.
I do wonder though, why the state felt that so many police had to be deployed last night. Here’s a photo posted by the “occupiers.” Click it for a better look…
* I count 38 police officers in that photo. I was told there were no specific threats made in advance.
The Thompson Center plaza officially closes late at night, so technically the vigil was in violation of the law. They don’t want to give the occupiers the idea that they can camp out there permanently, so I get that they had to tell them to move along. But that’s a lot of cops for a peaceful crowd.
* My point here is that Gov. Pat Quinn needs to continue to make sure that everything stays calm. There’s no need to be provoking folks who are just expressing their 1st Amendment rights.
* By the way, I asked Quinn the other day what he thought of the occupy protesters. Here’s what he said…
An expensive bidding war is escalating at the Illinois Statehouse and it needs to be slowed down.
Gov. Pat Quinn met with the four legislative leaders Thursday morning. Much of the discussion centered around CME Group’s threat to leave Illinois unless it gets a tax break. CME owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, among other things.
CME says it pays six percent of all Illinois corporate income taxes, making it the state’s largest taxpayer. The company also claims that the recent income tax hike cost it an extra $50 million a year. Its executive chairman, Terry Duffy, has repeatedly warned that he’s furious about his company’s tax burden and is seriously contemplating a move to a more favorable location.
The problem is that Illinois bases corporate taxes on instate sales and CME records all of its transactions that way, even though lots of transactions are occurring in other states and other countries. When Caterpillar sells a bulldozer in Germany, Illinois doesn’t tax that income. But when a CME trade is executed in Japan, that income is taxed by Illinois.
Our corporate tax system was changed several years ago at the behest of companies like Caterpillar. As a result, Cat paid less and CME paid more.
If Illinois readjusted its tax code, Cat would scream bloody murder. Caterpillar was already involved in one scary blowup this year over the state’s business climate. Nobody wants to poke that giant again.
So, the options are adjusting CME’s taxes or letting it leave. The state budget would take a huge hit if CME left, so we’re back to a tax cut. The problem is, the legislation drafted by Senate President John Cullerton would reduce CME’s taxes by $75 million a year. That’s a 50 percent cut. The Senate Republicans say CME’s taxes would actually fall by $100 million a year.
To sweeten the pot and attract downstate, suburban and Republican votes, Cullerton offered to reinstate the corporate research and development tax credit, which will cost the state as much as $30 million a year.
However, the Republicans want more. House Republican Leader Tom Cross insisted Thursday that a $500 million tax cut package be considered as part of the deal. Cross also wants the R&D reinstatement, so the total amount of tax cuts on the table right now is somewhere around $600 million.
All of these tax cuts have legitimate arguments in their favor.
But big tax cuts are stupid at a time when Illinois can’t pay its own bills unless the tax reductions produce lots of new state revenue by providing strong economic stimulus, or prevent significant revenue losses by convincing companies to stay put. According to the comptroller’s office, the state owes roughly $6 billion in past due bills, including $600 million in unpaid corporate income tax refunds.
So, we’re gonna cut corporate taxes by $600 million when we can’t even afford to pay corporations $600 million in tax refunds?
One of the problems we’ve had in this state for the past 20 years is that expensive deals were cut by the leaders behind closed doors and then legislators rubber stamped the agreements. A careful, legitimate process is underway in the House Revenue Committee to look at reforming the entire corporate tax code. That ought to be given time to ripen before the state makes any big moves.
And Cullerton’s CME proposal is just way too rich. The company should get a significant break, but $75-100 million is too much to ask for a company with healthy pretax profits of around $2 billion a year.
* House Republican Leader Tom Cross’ tax cut plan is here.
“I get calls in my office, and I am not kidding, from small and medium sized businesses that say, ‘What about me? I’m struggling,’” Senator Christine Radogno, the Republican minority leader from Lemont, said during the committee hearing.
“I don’t want to perpetuate the perception of special treatment,” she said.
Speaking directly to CME’s Parisi, Radogno said, “If you guys leave because this doesn’t pass today, it does raise the question to the sincerity of whether or not you’re staying in the first instance.” […]
“We’re now looking at something growing like Topsy,” Representative Barbara Flynn-Currie, a Chicago Democrat, said in an interview. “The business community is telling us to spend less, get your fiscal house in order, and in the meantime their constituent elements are coming to Springfield with their hands out.”
James Parisi, chief financial officer of CME Group, said the company’s tax payment last year represented 6 percent of all state corporate income tax receipts. The company’s annual tab is about $150 million.
“This modernization of tax law would allow Illinois and Chicago to maintain leadership as a global financial services center,” Parisi told the Senate Executive Committee.
* This tax cut push is apparently an element of the company’s longterm strategy. From Morningstar…
We recently had an opportunity to attend CME’s analyst day, the company’s first such event since 2009. Among the subjects discussed at the gathering were the company’s targets for expense and revenue growth–two drivers we are particularly interested in. The company’s CFO set a long-term goal to grow revenue by at least 10% a year while keeping growth in operating expenses at no more than 5% per year on average. The expense target is in line with our views; the revenue goal, while certainly achievable, is a little more aggressive than our expectation for growth of around 8%
* Meanwhile, Reuters columnist David Clay Johnston reports that Navistar, Continental Tire, Motorola, Ford, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and other big Illinois companies are keeping the state taxes deducted from their workers’ paychecks. “If you’re already on the payroll, they get to get keep half of them,” Johnston says. “If you’re a new hire, they get to keep all of them.”
Because the companies don’t pay much state income tax the only way they can get any state tax help is by letting them “pocket their workers’ income tax.” Watch…
* Related…
* Illinois Senate Executive Committee advances tax break measure for Chicago’s financial exchanges - Measure, which still faces hurdles, could cut up to $110 million a year from state coffers
* House Republican Leader Tom Cross claimed today that Gov. Pat Quinn offered to support the CME Group tax cut proposal if the General Assembly agreed to borrow $4.5 billion over 7 years to pay off old bills. Cross said he didn’t favor the borrowing idea. Here’s part 1 of his press conference…
*** UPDATE 1 *** A spokesperson for Gov. Quinn denied that her boss specifically offered to straight up trade his support for the CME tax cut in exchange for a borrowing plan.
“Republicans made it very clear that they wouldn’t support the CME proposal as it is without a larger package of tax cuts,” the spokesperson said.
“In response to that, the governor is open to negotiating a larger package for jobs. There were a lot of things discussed in that context.”
The spokesperson said the governor is reviewing the CME proposal, which could cost upwards of $100 million.
“He’s looking at options to mitigate the loss in revenue, like closing corporate tax loopholes,” she said, saying the proposal would result in a “pretty hefty loss” for the state budget.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Part 2 included more discussion about the CME bill. Cross claimed that the governor “wasn’t going to support CME” without borrowing, and said he mentioned some off-shore tax provisions as well. Cross also claimed that the governor “didn’t seem all that excited” about a pension reform bill Cross wants to bring to a vote in the second week of veto session, saying Quinn had some constitutional questions about the proposal.
Cross also said his “theory” is that the governor targeted Downstate facilities for closure had a lot to do with Quinn’s push for a borrowing plan for old bills. Watch…
* Senate President John Cullerton told reporters he’ll meet with Gov. Quinn next week to talk about gaming expansion. Cullerton said that means, as of now, the issue is on hold.
Cullerton also disagreed with characterizations made by Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno and Leader Cross that Gov. Quinn signaled opposition to the CME Group tax cut bill. Cullerton claimed the governor said he’d look at the proposal. Watch…
*
* Cullerton’s Tenaska bill failed in the Senate today and was placed on Postponed Consideration. His closing remarks…
* Rep. La Shawn Ford asked for a moment of silence today for the Occupy Chicago protesters. Listen…
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor’s plan to pay Regional Superintendent of Schools salaries out of the personal property replacement tax (which goes to local governments) fell way short today in the House. The bill received 59 votes. It needed 71 to pass. Here’s audio of the floor debate. Rep. Roger Eddy goes off on Quinn at about the 12-minute mark…
* More…
* Cross: Deal made for pension bill: Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said he will be ready to call a bill to set up a three-tiered pension system for state workers during the second week of the legislature’s veto session, which starts Nov. 8… Cross said the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a group of the city’s top CEOs, has brokered a deal in which House Republicans would provide 30 votes for the pension bill, Senate Bill 512, and House Democrats would provide another 30. Sixty votes are needed for legislation to pass the House… The bill would offer current teachers, university employees and state workers three pension options: Stay in the current system but pay significantly more, go into a second tier for workers hired after Jan. 1 that has reduced benefits or choose a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.
*** UPDATE 3 *** IEA: Statehouse sources say today’s report that a deal’s been set to pass pension-cutting SB512 was erroneous. Still not enough votes.
* VIDEO: Treasurer Rutherford Opens Vault for Public Tours
* After yesterday’s votes to override the governor’s veto of the “Smart Grid” bill and pass the companion legislation, AARP Illinois issued the angriest press release I’ve ever seen from that group…
“The General Assembly just sent a clear message to their constituents: Corporate interests and campaign cash trump the needs of Illinois consumers.
“Today, lawmakers voted to override the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 1652 – guaranteeing higher electric rates for consumers and higher profits for ComEd and Ameren.
“At a time when consumers are struggling to make ends meet, with prices on the rise for everything from gas to groceries, taxes increasing, and home values declining, it is appalling that Illinois lawmakers would chose to further burden consumers with a law that amounts to nothing more than corporate greed.
“Under the guise of improved infrastructure, ComEd and Ameren successfully convinced the General Assembly to gut Illinois’ utility ratemaking process – a process that exists to balance the interests of consumers with that of the utility companies. This veto override has effectively silenced the voice of the consumer and tied the hands of the Illinois Commerce Commission – all while guaranteeing higher profits for two of the state’s largest monopolies.”
ComEd has said the bill will raise average household electric bills by about $3 per month to finance installation of “smart meters” throughout Northern Illinois and make $1.3 billion in improvements to traditional grid equipment.
But the bill’s actual cost to ratepayers may well be higher because the guaranteed return on equity ComEd will reap rises with Treasury bond yields, which currently are at historic lows.
State legislators essentially have boxed Quinn into a corner. After the governor vetoed the original smart grid bill, a so-called trailer bill was introduced this week that called for ComEd to make concessions. By passing that bill, legislators knew that if the governor vetoed it or signed it with suggested changes, the legislature could ignore his advice or nix the trailer bill altogether, leaving him again with the original bill, which is now veto-proof.
* The votes were close in the Senate, but the veto override and the trailer bill flew through the House…
The House voted 74-42 to override, with no debate.
Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, rejected the idea that this is a jobs bill. He said it adds a new burden in a state that already hits businesses with high taxes, fees and workers’ compensation costs. “One of the last good things we’ve got going in this state for businesses is affordable power,” he said.
Our communities, working through the Northwest Municipal Conference, have proposed legislative recommendations to address ComEd’s communication and transparency issues. These recommendations would help ComEd better partner with our communities during storm and non-storm related outages and must be adopted as a condition of any legislation to upgrade the electric grid.
Therefore, we as mayors have no option but to urge the members of the General Assembly to uphold the Governor’s veto of Senate Bill 1652 unless the bill is amended, via additional legislation, to directly address these shortfalls by including the language proposed by local governments. Until ComEd is held accountable for providing reliable power and effective communications on good days and bad, they don’t deserve the automatic rate increases and guaranteed profits in Senate Bill 1652. Unless this critical amendment is adopted, legislators should scrap Senate Bill 1652 and rewrite the bill so that smart grid technological advances don’t come at the expense of consumer safety and well-being.
Now, after a series of meetings, those suburbs say they’ve struck a deal with ComEd to develop enforceable protocols to address storm outages in the entire territory. The details will be filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission within 45 days if the smart grid legislation becomes law, according to ComEd.
The Tribune recently reported that while a law exists to reimburse consumers affected by extreme outages, the utility has never paid under the law.
Separately, ComEd previously announced that it has established a Storm Response Process Improvement Task Force to develop and implement improvements in its storm restoration process and reliability performance.
* And one legislator who voted against the utilities was upbeat…
And even critics, like Senator Dave Syverson, who voted against the bill twice, see a positive side to the upgrade.
“Its going to be a better system a more modern system to eliminate many of the outages and under the new system ComEd will know the power outages occur rather than someone having to call them and let them know electricity is out” says Syverson.
* Roundup…
* Legislators override Quinn’s veto on smart-grid bill
* Chuck Sweeny: Electric rates going up, thanks to Illinois Legislature
* Illinois Senate overrides Gov. Quinn’s veto of ComEd rate-hike bill
* AFSCME Council 31 President Henry Bayer compares House Speaker Michael Madigan to Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker…
* There was a pretty big union rally at the Statehouse yesterday. The IEA has a brief video…
* The Illinois College Republicans have a new video…
The Illinois College Republicans are launching a new grassroots initiative this week in response to OWS. The initiative is called “Liberate Main Street”. New CR state president Mick Paskiewicz told Illinois Review, “We’re kicking it off by releasing this video today, and from here we’re encouraging our chapters to host Liberate Main St. events on their campuses to recruit college students.”
Supporters of Joe Walsh’s campaign for the 14th District GOP primary have unleashed a brutal Facebook page that cuts at just about everything opponent (and current 14th District Congressman) Randy Hultgren stands for. […]
Writing as if it’s Hultgren himself who’s posting on the page, it mocks an “allegiance” to “GOP establishment masters” Peter Roskam and John Boehner, Hultgren’s recent hire of campaign “hit man” Joe Calomino, and his promise not to mudsling.
“Here’s screen shot number 14 of my personal attack (that I promised I wouldn’t do) of my opponent Joe Walsh on my Facebook page….that I recently deleted and some pesky Tea Partier took screen shots of. DING DANG IT!” is one recent post.
