* If you want a pretty good summation of where the state budget plans are right now, then you must watch this video shot today by my intern Dan Weber of House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie taking questions from the press…
The House Executive Committee [this morning] approved two versions of borrowing nearly $4 billion to make pension payments next year to state-backed systems. One would be a straight bond sale as Illinois has done in the past. The other is a more controversial plan to split the payment between a bond sale and basically issuing IOUs to the pension systems.
The latter idea would have to be approved by the Internal Revenue Service so the pension systems don’t jeopardize their tax-exempt status. The Quinn administration plans to seek that approval, but said it could take six months.
Republicans on the committee opposed both pension borrowing plans, which could be an ominous sign. At least one Republican vote is needed to approve a borrowing bill in the House. Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said if Illinois can’t borrow for pensions, another $3.7 billion will have to be found elsewhere to balance the budget. That could result in deeper cuts to programs.
The tax amnesty would allow people who owe back taxes to the state to pay up during a six-week period and avoid penalties and interest. The plan is estimated to raise $250 million. Gov. Pat Quinn last week said he wasn’t inclined to support an amnesty program. Currie said the administration supported the bill Wednesday.
* Republican state Rep. Roger Eddy explained his opposition to the school voucher plan to my intern Barton Lorimor yesterday. Eddy has been getting heat from the Tribune and others for his opposition. Eddy is a school superintendent and has received thousands of dollars in contributions from teachers unions, and that’s being used against him. Barton grilled him politely, but thoroughly. Have a look…
* Gov. Quinn and the Campaign For Better Health Care unveiled the governor’s demand that the General Assembly pass a bill to implement the new federal health insurance law. Background is here. Watch…
* The Paul Simon Institute has released more polling results from their survey of southern Illinoisans. Click the pic for a larger image…
Using a question construction that political scientists call a “feeling thermometer,” the poll asked respondents to describe their feelings toward groups or institutions on a 100-point scale, with ratings between zero and 49 representing “cool” feelings, a rating of 50 describing a “neutral” feeling, and ratings between 51 and 100 describing “warm” feelings. […]
“While our results confirm our assumptions that voters in the 18 southernmost counties of Illinois are more Republican and more conservative than voters in the rest of the state, the picture is more complicated than that,” said Charles Leonard, the visiting professor at the institute who supervised the poll.
“For example, the region has a long tradition of union membership in mining, manufacturing and the trades, and four of 10 voters here give warm ratings to unions. The average rating for unions is a relatively warm 53.3, which you might not expect in an electorate in which most partisan identifiers call themselves Republican,” he said.
According to an earlier question in the Southern Illinois Poll, 81 percent feel their area does not get its fair share of state spending. Southern Illinois voters may direct some of this resentment toward “People from Chicago,” as reflected in one question. Only 17 percent gave warm ratings to Chicagoans.
* Other breaking news…
* McPier’s Ochoa quits; top shows balk at proposed reforms, threaten to walk
* MAP college grants run dry, rejections to double
* Bill for Marion development awaits filing in Senate: Senate Bill 2093, sponsored by state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, and state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, will authorize Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds for the project as an incentive to bring major destination development businesses into the area. The project was announced Saturday, just one day after a similar deal proposed by project developer Holland Construction of Swansea was killed over arguments and disagreements in its establishment.
