After weeks of listening to predictions of doom and gloom from top state officials, Democrats in the Illinois House are poised to roll out a spending plan that relies on an extension of the temporary income tax.
Rather than imposing tough cuts on schools, prisons, universities and social services, the spending plan would mirror a budget proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn that adds more cash for schools, universities and social service programs, said state Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat who chairs a House appropriations committee.
The majority party could schedule a vote on the budget blueprint as early as Thursday, with an eye on asking lawmakers to extend the temporary income tax at a later date. […]
State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said leaders are polling Democratic members to try to gauge how many members support an extension.
If they go ahead and do this and it’s somehow signed into law before the tax hike extension is approved, I don’t know how it could satisfy constitutional review.
The General Assembly by law shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.
They’ve gotten around this in the past by fudging revenue or even spending numbers (not making pension payments, for instance, or pushing Medicaid payments off to the future). But when the revenue numbers are clearly lower than the spending numbers, the budget could be challenged.
…Adding more… I can’t help but think this’ll really mess with the state’s bond rating as well. Talk about “uncertainty.” Sheesh, what a stupid idea this is unless they can actually pass a tax hike extension by the end of the month.
And those are only complaints that passengers reported. According to ABC, there are cab drivers on the road with up to eight complaints against them.
In contrast, Lyft and other ridesharing services value the safety of passengers and drivers above all else, and have rigorous safety requirements including criminal and driving background checks, vehicle inspections, and safety ride-alongs that ALL drivers must pass.
When you hail one of the city’s 6,600 licensed cabs, you may not know what to expect when that meter starts.
So the I-Team read through three months of recent cab complaints, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, from the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
“We get 12,000 complaints a year,” said Jeffrey Lewelling, BACP First Deputy Commissioner […]
The I-Team found that 48 percent, or about 1,400 of them, were about reckless driving. And in just three months, there were 28 total complaints of physical assault.
There’ve been a few allegations of physical assault against Uber/Lyft drivers across the country, but 28 Chicago cabbie assault complaints in three months?
* Despite overwhelming opposition by the state’s editorial boards and fierce lobbying against it by the Medical Society, David Ormsby writes today that legislation to allow psychologists to prescribe certain medication is gaining momentum…
A year-and-a-half battle between Illinois psychologists and psychiatrists may reach a critical point in the House this week. […]
The plan, which is sponsored by State Senator Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and is being pushed by the Illinois Psychologist Association and community mental health agencies from across the state, cleared the Senate on April 25, 2013 on a bi-partisan roll call, 37-10-4, but stalled in the House last year.
The fight, which has brought out heavyweight lobbyists on both sides of the issue, tilted last week in the psychologists’ favor when a fresh amendment helped House sponsor State Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) propel the bill out of the House Human Services Committee on a bi-partisan 9-5-1 vote, a vote that drew 34 proponent witness slips and 104 opponents.
The key concession by psychologists was to agree to a “two-year conditional license” supervised by a physician before moving to a permanent “continuing license”.
Only two other states, Louisiana and New Mexico, have similar laws.
Psychologists and community mental health groups say that much of rural Illinois has no access to psychiatrists, which was the same basic argument used by optometrists when they wanted to be given some responsibilities of ophthalmologists a while back.
* The Question: With conditions, and despite physician disapproval of the concept, should psychologists be given the right to prescribe some drugs to their patients? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
(T)here’s one very big thing a governor can do on his own, without legislative approval. Pat Quinn won’t do it, but Bruce Rauner might. And it could make all the difference for the state of Illinois’ future.
When the current AFSCME collective-bargaining agreement expires in 2015, the governor will represent Illinois in the bargaining over a new contract. What if he tells the union — and all our citizens…
When the current collective-bargaining agreement expires, I’m going to ask our employees to take a reduction in wages. They won’t like it, but we have no alternative. And I’m going to continue to hold wages down until we get control of our runaway budgets.
“This will save on annual operating costs. It will also help deal with the pension debt. Pensions are based on career-end wages. If wage levels are reduced, so are pension obligations.
“Some employees will retire or find work elsewhere. Maybe we won’t replace them. If we do, we’ll replace them with “new employees” who come under the new, less-costly pension plan put in place a few years ago by House Speaker Mike Madigan. Or we’ll outsource to some company or firm that will do the work at market rates.
“The unions probably won’t agree, but that will be my bargaining position. If we can’t reach an agreement, then we’ll be at impasse. Some may strike. I hope not, but I’ll do what I think is necessary to save Illinois.
* The Illinois Policy Institute has been pushing for a major state worker wage cut in recent days, so this isn’t likely a coincidence. And Rauner pledged to do what Martin dreamed as far back as March of last year…
“I may have to take a strike and shut down the government for a few weeks [in order to] redo everybody’s contract.”
Martin omits any mention in his column of the essential services state employees provide, ignores years of budget cuts that have left Illinois with the nation’s smallest state work force per capita, falsely claims that state employees are paid more than private-sector workers and urges the next governor to violate Illinois labor law by refusing to bargain with our union. […]
Although a recent study by the University of Illinois found that salaries paid to state employees are 13.5 percent lower than comparable private-sector workers, Martin says cutting state employee pay “would make all the difference for the state of Illinois’ future.”
In fact, wages for the entire state work force amount to less than $1 of every $20 the state spends. Reducing that even by several percentage points wouldn’t dent our fiscal woes. And cutting the pay of middle-class workers will hurt the Illinois economy, not help it. The same U of I study found that public employment contributes $105 billion to the state’s GDP, and is responsible for sustaining 1.1 million jobs statewide, including 300,000 in the private sector.
* Meanwhile, in a somewhat related story, Chicago’s Blaine Elementary School Principal Troy A. LaRaviere recently penned a righteous letter to the editor about how he and other principals are being mistreated…
Since 2011, CPS principals and teachers have experienced unprecedented political burdens. Early on, teachers felt publicly maligned and disrespected by the mayor, leading to the historic strike of 2012.
While publicly praising principals in speeches and with awards, behind the scenes this administration has disregarded principals’ knowledge and experience. They have ignored and even suppressed principals’ voices in order to push City Hall’s political agenda for Chicago’s schools.
The administration’s interaction with principals is often insulting. During the debate over the longer school day, some principals questioned its merits. CPS officials were then dispatched to tell the principals their opinions didn’t matter. “You are Board employees,” a central office official told a room full of principals at a meeting, “and when you speak, your comments must be in line with the Board’s agenda.” He instructed us to have an “elevator speech” supporting the longer day ready at a moment’s notice. We were told that if Emanuel and the press walked into our schools, we’d better be prepared to list the benefits of his longer day. In a move that further humiliated principals, they were called on at random to give their elevator speeches at subsequent principal meetings.
Shortly afterward, CPS slashed school budgets, voted to close 50 schools and made disingenuous statements about the slashed budget giving more “autonomy” to principals. They insinuated these cuts would have little effect on classrooms. I spoke up to give Chicagoans a factual assessment of the effects of these cuts. A reporter from WBEZ Radio recorded a statement I delivered at City Hall in July 2013 and posted it on the station’s website. It became one of the station’s most downloaded audio files.
* The piece sparked a whole lot of interest. So much so that Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett felt the need to respond…
In a telephone call Monday, Byrd-Bennett said she was surprised to read the op-ed by Troy LaRaviere, principal at Blaine Elementary School in Lake View, whom she called “clearly one of our most distinguished.” […]
“He does a wonderful job. But he is feeling as if somehow there is this repressive environment coming from me and or my office, that he feels if he says anything there’ll be a retribution, I need to understand that and know where it’s coming from.”
Byrd-Bennett continued: “It’s a little saddening to believe that people think there’s a fear of retaliation. I know I have never set that fear. I have never called a principal in and said, ‘Off with your head.’ ”
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Ride-share car companies: they call it your own private driver, but do you really know who is driving?
FACT: Multi-billion dollar ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft are fighting standard criminal background checks and drug tests for drivers, including HB 4075, which would provide safety standards for all drivers across the board. Recently, a NBC 5 Chicago investigative team report found numerous UberX drivers with criminal pasts, including an ex-con on probation with a list of felonies over twenty years long, even after company “background checks.”
FACT: Ride-share companies are fighting standard insurance requirements for drivers. In fact, after an Uber driver hit and killed a 6-year-old girl in San Francisco, Uber denied responsibility and kept the little girl’s family from any insurance compensation.
These tragic stories show why the Chicago Tribune editorial board recently wrote they are “increasingly wary of leaving it to the ride shares to police themselves when it comes to making those checks, given (Uber’s) unapologetic disregard for rules” and the “same safety standard should apply to all ride shares.”
Customers deserve to have the peace of mind knowing that their driver has passed a comprehensive police background check and drug test and carries sufficient insurance in case of an accident.
* A press release from the Civic Federation, which should never be confused with Ty Fahner’s Civic Committee…
In a new report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability opposes Governor Quinn’s recommended budget for FY2015 because it uses revenue from extending the 2011 temporary income tax increase for new spending. The State’s fiscal crisis demands that any increased revenue be used to stabilize State finances by significantly reducing its massive backlog of unpaid bills. The Institute’s full 36-page report is available at www.civicfed.org.
Under existing law, the State would lose $1.8 billion in General Funds revenues in FY2015 when the 2011 income tax rate increases are phased out beginning in January 2015. The Civic Federation is encouraged that the Governor’s plan addresses this fiscal cliff by extending the higher rates. The alternative – recommending budget cuts that are not based on specific public policy proposals – may be expedient but does not solve the State’s fiscal problems.
“The Governor’s plan appropriately recognizes that the State’s finances cannot withstand a dramatic reduction in revenues next year,” said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall. “However, new spending initiatives are just as contradictory to the State’s fiscal reality — especially those financed by borrowing.”
The Civic Federation opposes the Governor’s plan to spend $1.3 billion on a new homeowners’ grant program that would replace the State’s existing property tax credit on individual income taxes. Currently, the State provides an income tax credit for residential homeowners equal to 5.0% of the property taxes paid to local governments on their primary residence. The net cost of replacing this credit with the Governor’s proposed homeowners’ grant program is expected to be $715 million in FY2015.
The additional spending would require the State to borrow money to balance the operating budget, even after extending the higher income tax rates. The Governor proposes closing a $170 million budget gap in FY2015 by borrowing $650 million from funds outside of the State’s General Funds and repaying those funds with interest over the next two fiscal years. Although interfund borrowing is a low cost alternative to accessing transitional capital markets, this option should be reserved for financial emergencies and not to compensate for increased spending.
The Federation commends the Governor’s publication of a five-year budget plan, a first step toward true long-term financial planning. However, the policy choices made in the plan are projected to leave a substantial backlog of bills at the end of the five-year period and no strategy is detailed to establish a meaningful rainy day fund.
In its recent State budget roadmap for FY2015, the Federation recommended that the 2011 tax rate increases be extended for one year and then scaled back by 20% over the following three years. The Federation’s five-year plan also broadens the income tax base to include federally taxable retirement income. In the plan, additional revenues would be used to allow modest growth in agency spending while eliminating the $5.4 billion backlog of unpaid bills, providing relief to local governments and building up reserves to cushion against future economic downturns. The Federation continues to urge State lawmakers to adopt a similarly comprehensive approach to stabilizing Illinois finances.
The full analysis is here. Check out the section on the property tax “rebates”…
The State does not collect property taxes, so these payments cannot be considered property tax rebates or property tax relief. The existing property tax credit is nonrefundable, meaning it can only be used to reduce income taxes owed to the State and cannot be collected for any amount above the total individual tax liability. In contrast, new grants would be made regardless of whether the homeowner owes State income taxes, which adds to the cost of the new program. It is also possible the grant would be taxed by the federal and State governments as part of the calculation of homeowners’ individual income tax liabilities.
That could very well be true. In fact, I think it is true. Here’s your alleged property tax rebate, and, by the way, you owe income taxes on it.
Sheesh.
* I personally think the overall analysis makes some sense. The state shouldn’t be paying for that silly property tax “rebate” plan with borrowed money.
In its recent State budget roadmap report for FY2015, the Federation found that the steep rollback in income tax rates would destabilize Illinois’ already weak financial condition. The Federation recommended that the 2011 tax rate increases be extended for one year and then scaled back by 20% over the following three years and that the income tax base should be broadened to include federally taxable retirement income. The Federation urged that the additional revenues be used to allow modest growth in agency spending while eliminating the unpaid bill backlog, providing relief to local governments and building up reserves to cushion against future economic downturns.
That might be doable, except it relies on the retirement income tax. Man, that would be a tough political vote. Impossibly tough, more likely. Suggesting such a thing amounts to a belief in magical budget dust.
Other than that, it’s not far out of line. Although I agree with the governor’s budget office that the entire bill backlog doesn’t have to be eliminated. People and big corporations don’t pay bills the day they arrive in the mail.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
HFA #2 to SB 2187 – which would radically expand prescription-writing powers – puts patients at risk. Just ask the State Journal-Register.
In a May 7 editorial, the Journal-Register called on legislators to reject the bill, calling it “desperately flawed legislation.”
“Desperate” is right. The Illinois Psychological Association is desperate to expand revenues and shore up the schools of professional psychology. That’s why it’s pushing “RxP” legislation to let psychologists prescribe dangerous drugs. Under current Illinois law, advanced practice nurses (APNs) and physician assistants (PAs) can prescribe along with doctors. But they have medical training; psychologists don’t.
The Journal-Register saw through the IPA’s most dishonest argument: “Proponents of S.B. 2187 say the ability of mental health patients in underserved areas of the state to receive medication from psychologists will solve the problem of access. We disagree.”
* The pension reform fight between mayors and unions representing firefighters and police officers has been raging for months. The mayors claim that dozens of pension sweeteners passed by the General Assembly over the years has made the pensions unaffordable. Unions rightly point out that pretty much all of those increases were negotiated with the municipalities, and those agreements included union concessions as well. The unions, in turn, point the finger of blame at the municipalities for deliberately underfunding their systems. But WBEZ’s Alex Keefe manages to sort through the claims and counter claims…
Rather than “pension sweeteners,” longtime Illinois police and fire pension actuary Art Tepfer said the rapidly rising pension costs that towns are struggling with came about by design.
“This is the way that Illinois retains it’s No. 1 ranking as having the worst-funded pension funds in the country,” said Tepfer, who serves as an actuary to more than 100 downstate and suburban public safety funds in Illinois.
Tepfer points to a 1993 change in state law, when legislators approved a pension funding scheme that functioned similar to an adjustable-rate mortgage: low payments at first, but rapidly rising payments in the future.
“Well, we’re in the future now,” Tepfer said. “This is what’s happened. And that’s why we have a pension crisis. We saw it coming.”
Tepfer said smaller funds are also limited in how much money they can invest in stocks, which limits the amount of money they can make on their investments.
It appears Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider will take on the role to lead the Illinois Republican Party without a challenge.
Schneider’s potential challenger, Blair Garber, notified Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner that he is pulling his name from contention, a source close to Rauner said. Garber reached out to Rauner, saying he would not oppose Schneider in what was to be an election to succeed Jack Dorgan scheduled for Saturday.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* From a press release…
Statement from Jack Dorgan and Bruce Rauner on ILGOP Chairman’s Race
CHICAGO - The following statement was released today from Jack Dorgan, Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party:
“Today, I am proud to announce that I will be joining Bruce Rauner’s Team as a Co-Chair of his Finance Committee. I will continue with the Illinois Republican Party as a member of the State Central Committee in the 5th District. However, with these new dual roles, I will no longer be able to run for re-election as chairman of the Party.
“It has been my great honor to lead the Illinois Republican Party as chairman over the last year, helping position our candidates across Illinois for an incredible victory this November. Our Party is exactly where I had hoped it would be: firing on all cylinders and ready to deliver a new direction to the people of Illinois.
“I believe that Tim Schneider is the best person to succeed me as Chairman. He understands exactly what it will take to spread the Republican Party’s message of more jobs, better schools, and value for tax dollars.
“Bruce and I look forward to working closely with Tim in the months ahead. We trust he’ll do a great job.”
Bruce Rauner today issued the following statement regarding Illinois Republican Party Chairman Jack Dorgan and the upcoming chairman’s election:
“Jack Dorgan has been an extraordinary Chairman, and he will be a great partner in our campaign. I’m honored he’ll be a part of the team. I applaud Jack’s service to the Illinois Republican Party over the last year and look forward to working with him to defeat Pat Quinn in November.
“As we work to shake up Springfield and bring back Illinois, I can think of no one better to be our next Chairman than Tim Schneider — a small business owner, fiscal conservative and proven reformer. Tim has served at the forefront of the fight against cronyism, corruption and fiscal irresponsibility in Cook County - and I know he will be an unmatched spokesman across the state for our pro-growth, pro-reform vision for Illinois.”
Blair Garber of Evanston, who sits on the committee from the 9th Congressional District, is the only other candidate.
But Schneider’s backing from both Rauner and Dorgan gives him a clear advantage going into Saturday’s vote. […]
Dorgan was first elected to the post a year ago following the resignation of Pat Brady of St. Charles, who was nearly ousted from the job after lobbying state lawmakers to vote for same-sex marriage.
It’s no secret that the national GOP is going to put some money behind the party’s nominee for governor here, Bruce Rauner, although Mr. Rauner has plenty of his own to spend on the campaign. But now comes word that the Republican National Committee is hiring 193 field staffers nationwide, boosting a variety of data collection and analytical tools and even springing for campaign offices as part of a Victory 365 program.
“The Illinois implementation of the program means several field offices around the state, advanced voter-contact technology, and a renewed focus on reaching out to new Republican voters,” the Illinois Republican Party said in a statement. Democrats “have taken the people of our state for granted for far too long,” added Illinois GOP Chairman Jack Dorgan.
In follow-up phone calls, officials aren’t offering any more details yet about exactly what will be spent and where. And, as is usual in such cases, the big decisions and financial commitments likely will wait until the fall, when insiders have a better idea which races are winnable and which are lost causes.
But the party already has dispatched a well-respected operative here to act as Illinois victory director, Tony Esposito. A staffer also has been assigned to help embattled downstate Congressman Rodney Davis, R-Champaign, hang on to his job.
* I heard yesterday that Bruce Rauner attended a big ACLU Illinois gala Saturday night and reached out to the group to see if they had any photos. No luck, so no caption contest today.
The fundraising party was intended to celebrate decades of pro-choice advocacy by the group. Illinois Review also got wind of Rauner’s attendance and filed this report…
Nearly 500 guests attended the ACLU event, which was hosted by a number of corporations and individuals, including Rauner’s wife Diana.
“Congresswoman Schakowsky spoke with confidence that reproductive freedom will continue to be protected throughout the states,” Youhnka said, alluding to ACLU-Illinois’ success in warding off attempts to restrict abortion in Illinois. […]
“It is disgusting that Mr. Rauner would give money to, and celebrate with, an organization that brags about its support of partial birth abortion, a gruesome procedure involving the severing of the spinal cords of fully developed unborn children,” Illinois Right to Life Committee’s new executive director Emily Zender told Illinois Review. […]
Zender told IR they had originally been informed that Rauner’s running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti was going to attend the pro-life dinner. However, when the Illinois Right to Life Committee refused to provide her a complimentary ticket, the Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate backed out, citing a scheduling conflict.
Today the State Universities Annuitants Association and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan reached a tentative agreement to postpone implementation of the State’s new pension law (PA 98-599).
The agreement is pending as it requires judicial approval before going into effect. The agreement delays implementation of the pension law until July 1, 2015. Specifically, the agreement protects SURS members currently eligible for retirement by allowing them to delay their retirement decision until the constitutionality of the new pension law is determined. It allows them to calculate their money purchase annuity based on the effective rates as of June 30, 2014 and allows them to avoid the skips in the annual increases if the changes to the pension are upheld. The agreement also ensures that any unnecessary pension contributions will be refunded.
The SUAA request had also asked for a stay of the entire pension law, but instead of holding out for that or going through a protracted court battle, negotiated the deal with the attorney general. Those involved say time is of the essence in hopes of holding off a retirement wave they argue will harm the state’s schools through a loss of institutional memory. They say the State Universities Retirement System has been overburdened with members trying to understand how the pension law would affect their benefits, and without enough time to meet with each, people have been forced to make retirement decisions without the full scope of information.
The tentative agreement between the SUAA and the attorney general resolves problems stemming from what can be described as typo in the pension law affecting university workers’ so-called “money purchase plans.” The SURS board recently voted to interpret the law as if the typo were fixed, so as to not inadvertently further cut some university workers’ pensions.
But the SUAA deal also goes beyond that; it eliminates issues involving so-called “refunds” that would have meant some university employees would have taken big hits were they to stay on the school payroll; the original request for an injunction, filed May 2, cited a man who would lose $190,000 if he kept working rather than retire by July.
The deal would also allow retirement systems to temporarily ignores a key provision of the pension law which reduces by one-percentage point how much employees must contribute toward their retirement; under the terms workers will continue paying what they do now, so as to not create additional harm if the law is found to be unconstitutional. There are additional changes, that affect individuals under systems besides SURS.
A coalition of labor unions on Monday asked a court in Springfield to prevent a new state law aimed at curbing Illinois’ public employee pension debt from taking effect next month until questions about its constitutionality have been resolved.
The legal filing in Sangamon County by We Are One Illinois came more than a week after a similar request was made on behalf of a group representing current and retired state university employees.
The pension law, approved by lawmakers and signed into law in December, sets a goal of wiping out the state’s $100 billion retirement debt within 30 years by reducing automatic cost-of-living increases for existing and future retirees while requiring workers to work longer before retiring.
“The pension theft bill must not be implemented before the courts have ruled,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan said in a statement. The coalition includes the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association and other public worker unions.
* The National Journal somehow snagged an interview with Fred Eychaner, one of the Democrats’ biggest campaign contributors both nationally and here in Illinois. Eychaner almost never grants interviews, so this is a very rare profile…
Eychaner decided to construct his own heavily funded lobbying and public-relations vehicle [to help pass gay marriage] instead of donating funds to existing gay-rights groups. To do his media, he hired ASGK Public Strategies, a Chicago-based PR firm with ties to Obama, and he enlisted several of the state’s top lobbyists. […]
Eychaner entrusted Mike Madigan—the powerful Democratic speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and someone to whom he had been a generous donor over the years—to deliver the votes. This did not sit well with other advocates, who wanted to cast a wider lobbying net, as opposed to leaning so heavily on Madigan to round up support.
“I would go on the record with my respect for Mike Madigan, which will probably upset a lot of friends,” Eychaner says now. “He’s enormously skillful at what he does. The only speakers of any House who survive are the ones who can keep their majority and keep everyone going largely in the same direction. Mike Madigan is superb at that.”
When it appeared last summer that they didn’t have the votes, the Legislature’s gay-marriage supporters delayed calling the bill to the floor. The grassroots wing of the LGBT movement was upset, and some began blaming Eychaner. The most obstreperous of these critics, a longtime gay-rights activist named Rick Garcia, publicly chastised Eychaner for being in Madigan’s pocket.
But after a five-month delay, the bill was voted on and passed, marking a historic occasion as well as vindicating Eychaner’s strategy. Eychaner compared the process to 20 mad chefs cooking on 20 different burners. “The person to the left of you by one degree thinks you’re selling out,” he said. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I don’t think I’ll be in that position again.”
When I asked about his near-term plans, he indicated only his interest in putting money behind the reelection campaign of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn whose self-funding Republican opponent, Bruce Rauner, busted the individual spending-limits cap in the primary. “I don’t expect to be among the top donors this year, but I will do my share,” he said. “I am not the progressive Koch brother.”
* OK, I’m gonna give you a hint about how to read news stories. When you don’t see a hard number right away, it’s a tip off that the problem being claimed isn’t as large as the lede might suggest. For instance…
Dozens of state jobs involved in a dispute over whether they should be free of politics were filled by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration with candidates who were politically connected or gave campaign contributions to the governor’s party, an Associated Press review of state documents shows.
* Four paragraphs in, we see that “dozens” is about two dozen…
In an analysis of about 45 Quinn administration hires described in the government emails, the AP found more than half had connections. For instance, four held jobs in Quinn’s office or worked for another Democrat before moving to IDOT; nine are relatives of officeholders, party officials, union representatives or others who are politically connected; seven are politically active, either as officeholders or party officials; three have donated to campaign committees; and two have served on campaign payrolls, including for legislators.
I’m not trying to minimize this revelation or the reporting at all, but if the administration thought those jobs were exempt, then of course they’d put political hires in there. The only thing that truly surprises me is that it wasn’t 45 out of 45. /snark
Again, it’s clear that those jobs shouldn’t have been classified the way they were. Whether anybody knowingly broke the law is now what’s in question.
The Illinois transportation secretary says it would be too difficult to reopen the hiring process for jobs contested in a federal lawsuit. […]
Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider told a Senate appropriations committee Thursday that people in those jobs are union members and repeating the hiring process would lead to costly lawsuits.
Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine says taking no action could lead to future illegal patronage hiring.
I can see Murphy’s point, but it’ll cost a whole lot of money to fire these folks, who aren’t really guilty of anything. It was IDOT’s fault they got those jobs, not theirs. But perhaps you disagree and I’m all ears.
An Illinois tollway director appointed by Pat Quinn also heads a union that is a major financial player in the governor’s re-election campaign, most recently giving $250,000 to the cause in January.
The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, whose president is tollway Director James Sweeney, has donated more than $450,000 to Quinn’s campaign fund since the 2010 election, state records show. Sweeney also is chairman of the Chicagoland Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC that contributed $150,000 to Taxpayers for Quinn in 2010 and 2011.
The contributions don’t breach any ethics laws but they’re troublesome, some government experts say, particularly given past cronyism at the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.
“It’s worrisome to see so much money coming from one source, especially since the head of (Local 150) is also a member of the tollway board, where so many road construction dollars have been spent,” said Susan Garrett, chair of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
I can also clearly see Garrett’s point, but you can’t deny that Sweeney knows a thing or two about building roads.
Senate Bill 2721 sponsored by Representative Mike Bost and Senator Dave Luechtefeld will authorize Jackson County to generate revenue to repair the Grand Tower Levee by issuing bonds. In 1994, voters in Jackson County approved a referendum for the issuance of bonds needed to repair the Grand Tower Levee. Unfortunately, not enough bonds were sold and the timeline to sell the bonds expired – which led to Bost and Luechtefeld’s legislation to help repair the Grand Tower Levee.
* As it turns out, this was Rep. Bost’s final bill. Bost is running for Congress against Bill Enyart (who also traveled to Springfield to testify for the bill after it was bottled up by the House Democrats). Here’s Bost’s speech on his final bill…
And just in case you can’t watch videos where you are, he didn’t throw any papers in the air this time.
Bost has occasionally been someone of a lightning rod over the years, but he remains quite popular on both sides of the aisle. I covered his first successful race when he won a Democratic district in the 1994 GOP landslide. The HDems targeted him for defeat for years, but he always held on.
* The Question: Your thoughts on Rep. Mike Bost leaving the House this fall?
Illinois always has been one of the last states to suffer from a recession and one of the last states to recover, but this is getting ridiculous.
Nearly five years after the recession ended nationwide, the Illinois unemployment rate is 8.4 percent, third worst in the nation… The rate is now almost 2 percentage points above the national average… Since November 2010, when the Illinois unemployment rate was 9.6 percent—just two-tenths of a point above Indiana and the national average—only New Mexico has seen a smaller decline in its unemployment rate, compared with where it was. Indiana’s rate is down 3.5 percentage points since then, while Michigan, which started higher, is down 4.1 percentage points. […]
Income taxes went up in January 2011, precisely when Illinois started to diverge from most other states that saw steady improvement in their unemployment rates.
* As Merrion points out, quite a few people believe that the 2011 income tax hike is the main culprit. We’ve all seen charts like this before…
However, as Andrew Crosby and David Merriman of the U of I’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs note…
Illinois still tracks below ROM after January 2011; however, this difference is no longer statistically significant. One of several possible explanations for the diverging trends in employment is noted by Illinois’ Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA). COGFA notes Illinois has a “growing number of part - time workers that now has reached a record high.” If these part - time workers get a second part - time job, they could be double - counted by CES.
Correct. That probably isn’t a reliable chart.
* Bill Testa at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago read that U of I report and then tested some theories…
Illinois’s slow recovery may have more to do with its industrial structure. […]
Illinois’s mix of industries, while similar in some respects to those of other Great Lakes states, differs as well. It is possible that the small differences in job growth between Illinois and its neighbors are due to its somewhat different industry mix rather from disinvestment and a reluctance to hire in the state. […]
As an analytic exercise, I further ask how the Illinois economy would have fared 1) if it had the same industry composition as the four other Great Lakes states combined and 2) if its industries had the same job growth rates as those in the other states.
The chart…
* So, we’d have been much better overall with that hypothetical. The big difference between Illinois and the rest of the Great Lakes is the prominence of manufacturing and the type of manufacturing…
What are some of the industry mix differences that are notable between Illinois and other Great Lakes states? The large professional and financial services employment base in the Chicago area has already been noted. Further, in relation to other states, Illinois is now much more services oriented overall rather than goods producing. Manufacturing’s share of employment for 2013 clocks in at 11.4 percent of private sector payroll jobs in Illinois, versus 16.4 percent for the other four states. […]
And within manufacturing, Illinois tends to lean more toward food processing and farm, construction, mining machinery relative to the other Great Lakes states. In contrast, while there are important auto assembly operations in the Bloomington–Normal and Rockford areas of Illinois, as well as important links to the automotive supply chain throughout the state, Illinois’s ties to the automotive industry are much less prominent than those of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
Nonetheless, even payroll employment trends suggest that Illinois is underperforming when examined on an industry-by-industry basis. Accordingly, recent changes in public policies that influence the investment climate, such as tax rate hikes, cannot be ruled out entirely, though such policy effects are unlikely to be exerting such a large and immediate effect. [Emphasis added.]
Economists are loathe to point to local taxes as being to blame for business decisions. But Illinois’ tax and budget crises are almost universally known and derided here, particularly among the corporate types (hence Rauner). There are other factors as well, including our notoriously high workers’ comp costs.
The underperformance in growth on an industry-by-industry basis is striking. Even if we had the same employment mix here, we’d still be behind.
“In fact, one could argue that the economy would be in worse shape had the tax hike not occurred, since the reduction in public-sector jobs and subsequent ripple effect would have been much larger,” says Aaron Smith, a regional economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc., an economics consulting firm in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “Of course, consumer spending would also have been stronger due to more discretionary income, but I don’t think the tax hike is a valid cause of the hiring slowdown in other industries.” […]
Despite claims that Illinois employers are freaked out by higher taxes, public-sector job losses account for a significant portion of the unemployment rate. Six of the nine occupations in Illinois losing the most jobs in 2011 were teachers and other government workers, according to Economic Modeling Specialists International, a labor market data analysis firm based in Moscow, Idaho.
* Joe Cahill at Crain’s writes “I’ve been following Chicago business for more than 30 years, and I can’t recall a time when so many of our big companies were in such a state of flux.” A few examples…
Walgreen’s deal with Europe’s Alliance Boots brought in a major wild card—Alliance Boots GmbH Chairman Stefano Pessina, now the company’s largest single shareholder—and sparked pressure to move its corporate headquarters to Europe.
United management underestimated the challenge of rationalizing the enormous airline it created by merging United and Continental. Poor first-quarter results all but ensure another round of disruptive cutbacks.
Caterpillar, similarly, is trying to right itself after the spectacularly ill-timed $7.6 billion acquisition of Bucyrus International Inc. Cat’s biggest deal ever dramatically increased its exposure to mining equipment just as the industry nose-dived. Sales have plummeted, forcing Cat to eliminate more than 9,000 jobs.
* I hadn’t really been following the Walgreen’s saga until I spoke with a company representative the other day. I was pretty shocked that the possibility of Walgreen’s moving its headquarters to Switzerland is quite real. The company could save huge money…
According to an analysis by UBS, Walgreen’s U.S. [effective] tax rate is 37.5% — compared with Alliance Boots’ rate in Europe of about 20%.
The state can’t do much about that. If it wants to go, it’ll go.
Aon Corp., one of Chicago’s most prominent businesses, shifted its corporate home to London in 2012. Last month, Deerfield-based Horizon Pharma Inc. said it would move its headquarters to Ireland as part of a merger.
Michigan’s Perrigo, Pennsylvania’s Endo Health Solutions and New Jersey’s Actavis moved their headquarters to Ireland last year following merger deals. Connecticut’s Alexion Pharmaceuticals moved some of its intellectual property there, as well, to cut taxes.
Mr. Pessina, a billionaire who resides in Monaco, turned his family’s struggling Naples pharmaceutical wholesaler into the heavyweight Alliance UniChem Group. In 2006, he merged it with U.K. pharmacy chain Boots Group to create Alliance Boots. A year later, the company was taken private in a $22 billion deal that remains Europe’s largest leveraged buyout. The deal was financed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., the storied private-equity firm that inspired “Barbarians at the Gate,” a book about the tumultuous 1988 takeover of RJR Nabisco Inc.
“When Walgreens talks about the best interests of their shareholders, they’re talking about Stefano Pessina,” Mr. Fein says. “I don’t know if Walgreens did or did not anticipate his influence, but they’ve negotiated a transaction with one of the most sophisticated and respected businessmen in the world.”
A new poll today showing that 99% of Chicagoans don’t want higher property taxes confirmed a key principle of Governor Pat Quinn’s budget: Illinois over-relies on the property tax.
Governor Quinn is pushing a responsible and honest budget plan that would begin to reduce the state’s over-reliance on property taxes by properly funding education and sending every homeowner a guaranteed $500 property tax refund each year.
By contrast, billionaire Bruce Rauner is scheming to shift more of the tax burden to property taxpayers by cutting the state’s investment in education.
“It’s no surprise that Rauner - a self-proclaimed member of the .01% - would be scheming to do something that the 99% are strongly against,” Quinn spokesman Izabela Miltko said. “By cutting the state’s support for education, Rauner would preside over the largest property tax increase in Illinois history.
“It’s time to lower the property tax burden for homeowners across Illinois by properly funding our schools and sending every homeowner a guaranteed $500 property tax refund each year. The governor’s budget plan does just that.”
More than 2.1 million Illinois households would receive an annual $500 property tax refund under the governor’s budget plan, which also provides the largest increase in funding for the classroom in state history. Illinois collects more money in property taxes than the state’s sales tax and income tax combined.
* The poll didn’t say that 99 percent of Chicagoans don’t want a property tax hike. The somewhat oddly worded McKeon & Associates poll [ADDING: McKeon just called to say that the Sun-Times chose the question’s wording] merely allowed Chicagoans to pick their preference of new revenue streams…
Offered four choices on ways Chicago could solve its $20 billion pension crisis, raising property taxes ranked dead-last, chosen by only one percent of the Chicago voters surveyed.
The favorite remedies on the list — both at 25 percent — were a “commuter tax” on suburbanites who work in Chicago and the transaction tax on LaSalle Street exchanges championed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
Running close behind — at 21 percent — was a city income tax. That’s somewhat surprising, since a city income tax would have to be paid by many of those polled.
The transaction tax is dead, as is the city income tax. The commuter tax isn’t going anywhere any time soon. And while the 1 percent favoring a property tax hike is newsworthy, there apparently were no follow-up questions about what voters actually thought of that prospect.
* Also, the governor’s proposed property tax rebate isn’t really a property tax rebate. It’s a $500 check to all Illinois homeowners - at a net new cost to income taxpayers of $700 million.
* And, as Rauner has noted before, education funding hasn’t been protected by Quinn in the past. So, is the governor, then, responsible for large numbers of school-related property tax hikes? And since the governor pushed the original income tax hike, which didn’t include money for local government revenue sharing, is he also responsible for their tax hikes?
* As I told you Friday, eleven House Democrats co-sponsored a bill to completely roll back the 2011 income tax hike. One of those House members was Rep. Willis, who now says she’s undecided about making the tax hike permanent…
State Rep. Kathleen Willis is “totally on the fence.”
“I’m totally undecided still. I’m talking to the people in my district to see,” the Addison Democrat said.
“I’m talking to the people in my district” more likely means “I’m waiting to hear from the Speaker.”
“I was a firm ‘no’ in 2011, and I continue to be a firm ‘no’ on making the temporary income tax permanent. What we really need is bipartisan, long-term economic development plans and major budget reform,” said Sente, who has outlined such plans in a proposal that’s been stagnant in the legislature since March.
One theory for how this will all play out began emerging last week. Rather than take the tough vote, Madigan will ask his members to vote for Quinn’s preferred budget — one that doesn’t include the drastic cuts — but not take a vote on making the income tax permanent.
State government operations would continue as they are now. But, come January when income tax rates roll back from 5 percent to 3.75 percent, the state won’t have enough money to continue on its current track.
Such a move would turn the race for governor into a referendum on whether voters want the tax hike to stay permanent.
A vote for Quinn would be a vote for keeping the tax intact, thus avoiding the doomsday budget scenario he and his agency heads have been laying out this spring.
A vote for Republican businessman Bruce Rauner would be a vote for allowing the tax to roll back and the possibility of major cuts in state spending.
Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a leading Democrat, says members are split on the best approach.
“I’m not making any predictions right now, it’s all in such a state of flux and every legislator I talk to about the budget and what they’d like to see, how they’d like to see it resolved, has a different idea,” Nekritz says. “Until we get 60 that are on the same page, it’s going to be a real challenge.”
* We once again quote Illinois Manufacturers’ Association chief Greg Baise. This time it’s about Bruce Rauner…
“He’s a transaction guy. He knows he can’t do this all alone. He knows he is going to have to come in here and work with” the legislative leaders, two of whom are powerful Democrats who currently hold supermajorities in their respective chambers.
* And speaking of Rauner, the Sun-Times ran a story over the weekend about how disgraced former Democratic US Senate candidate Blair Hull had given $5K to Rauner’s campaign…
“I admire wealthy people who want to serve,” Hull told the Sun-Times in an interview last week. “I admire people like Michael Bloomberg, and I think he did a great job. People who are wealthy can really do what they believe, they can push for the right reforms.” […]
When asked if more financial backing was on the way, Hull laughed.
“He doesn’t need my money. He’s got a lot more money than I do,” Hull said. As for the $5,000 check he wrote to Rauner: “It was emotional support.”
* And one more. Winnebago County GOP Chairman Jim Thompson recently made a bit of news by writing this in his party’s newsletter…
“Media update for the week: saw on the news this week the offspring of a donkey and a zebra, black and white legs, rest all donkey. Not sure why this is news. Now if we can teach him to read a teleprompter, we could have two living creatures the media will fawn over that is part white, part black and all a**!”
Rauner eventually reacted, saying Thompson should resign…
“Bruce believes the comments in the newsletter were wholly inappropriate and don’t have a place in the Republican Party. It would be best if he resigned,” said Mike Schrimpf, Rauner spokesman.
State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, confirmed that Rauner called him Friday afternoon and said it would be best for the party if Thompson stepped down. Syverson has been one of Thompson’s supporters, saying he should stay in his position because he apologized for the “joke.”
“He’s not racist and he apologized and if somebody took it the wrong way, he apologized and that’s all he can do,” said Syverson.
It’s been assumed all along that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s proposal to spend $100 million to help build Barack Obama’s presidential library was designed to put the Republicans on the spot and perhaps provoke an over the top, maybe even racial response, which would help gin up Democratic turnout a bit this November.
President Obama has put the library’s location out to bid, so Madigan’s proposal is ostensibly designed to help Chicago attract what will likely be a pretty big tourist destination.
But politics is just about everything in Springfield. Democrats are hoping to crowd the November ballot with enough measures to help gin up their party base and get them out to vote. A constitutional amendment to forbid any voter discrimination along racial, ethnic, gender, etc. grounds was already approved for the ballot. A non-binding referendum on whether voters want to increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour is being prepared.
So, this was mainly seen as just another in a series of ploys to fire up the base.
But the Republicans have so far played it quite well, publicly pledging their own support for the library and focusing on the cost. No Republican legislator has yet crossed the line. President Obama may not be all that popular elsewhere, but polling has consistently shown he remains popular here. There’s no sense attacking him and risk a backlash.
Plus, the Republicans make a good point. Obama has proved to be an incredible fundraiser. He still has a lot of very wealthy supporters and he just doesn’t need any help raising money. The government doesn’t really need to be involved.
Illinoisans overwhelmingly agree with the GOP.
“As you may know,” 1,029 likely voters were told May 7th in a Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll, “some lawmakers in Springfield want the state to commit $100 million to help pay for the construction of the future Presidential Library for Barack Obama, if it is located in Illinois. We’d like to know whether or not you generally approve or disapprove of that $100 million proposal?”
Just a scant 29 percent approved, while an overwhelming 67 percent disapproved. A mere 4 percent were unsure.
The only demographic support for the project wasn’t even majority support. A plurality of Chicagoans supported the idea 48-43, as well as a slim plurality of African-Americans, 45-44.
But a plurality of Democrats actually was against the plan, 48-44. And the idea is hugely unpopular with everybody else. A whopping 68 percent of women, 66 percent of men, 75 percent of independents, 80 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of both Latinos and whites, 65 percent of suburban Cook residents, 72 percent of collar county residents and 77 percent of Downstaters opposed the Obama presidential library idea. The poll’s margin of error was ±3.1 percent. 23 percent were cellphone users.
But even more said the state couldn’t afford to help build the library.
“No matter how you feel about the Presidential Library,” respondents were asked, “do you believe the state can afford to support it?”
Only 21 percent said the state could afford it, while an overwhelming 71 percent said it couldn’t. Another 8 percent were unsure.
Not a single demographic category said the state could afford the project. Chicagoans said it was unaffordable 43-42, a 53 percent majority of Democrats said it was unaffordable and African-Americans said it was unaffordable 54-35,
Everybody else’s responses were almost off the charts. 71 percent of women, 70 percent of men, 83 percent of Republicans, 79 percent of independents, 78 percent of whites, 69 percent of suburban Cook and 80 percent of both collar county residents and Downstaters said the state can’t afford it.
Speaker Madigan has had a few misfires this year. He wanted to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to levy a surcharge on income over a million dollars, but he couldn’t round up enough votes.
Madigan said in March that he wanted to make the income tax increase permanent, but last year eleven of his members - many of whom are his most politically vulnerable - introduced a bill to roll the tax hike all the way back. He has 71 Democrats and he needs 60 to pass the permanent extension measure. That gives him no wiggle room at all.
And, as the poll makes clear, Madigan badly miscalculated with this Obama library thing, both with Republican legislators and the voting public.
* My mom doesn’t like loud music. Never has. It bothers her. And, unfortunately for her, she married a rocker and had five sons who loved to turn it all the way up. It’s a good thing for us that she had a lot of patience and a very strong sense of humor.
My dad always used to crank up the volume and sing this week’s song to my mom, whose name is Barbara. She’d usually roll her eyes and tell him to stop it, but always with a smile, albeit sometimes forced.
I actually grew to love this song over the years. It’s so loose, which is something the super-tight, even uptight Beach Boys weren’t exactly known for back then. The song was part of an album called “Beach Boys’ Party!,” which was made to sound like it was recorded during a party. Check out their version of the Beatles’ “I Should Have Known Better.” It really does sound like it was just a bunch of folks at an impromptu beach party singalong. You can almost see the campfire. It’s a fun little album.
* Last year, the folks who run SIUC’s student newspaper made an agreement with University President Glenn Poshard. They’d slash costs and Poshard would reallocate a little money to keep the paper afloat until a student fee could be approved. The Undergraduate Student Government approved a $9 fee to keep the daily paper going last December, while Poshard was still in charge. Carbondale Chancellor Rita Cheng backed the fee in February. The university’s Edwardsville campus has an $8 fee for a weekly newspaper, so the Carbondale fee wasn’t out of line at all.
SIUC has the most committed alumni at the Statehouse. While the U of I alumni are incredibly organized statewide and are truly feared, Salukis have a tight-knit group of folks who make sure to unofficially watch out for the university’s interests. The Senate President’s chief of staff, the House Speaker’s spokesman, and on and on and on and on. That Saluki list is really long. I’m constantly amazed by it.
I’m assuming President Dunn is hearing from those folks this week.
What a wonderful little welcoming party they’ll be planning for his next Springfield visit.
The paper’s closure would mean the end of the School of Journalism. There is no selling point without the Daily Egyptian, and future graduates will be less prepared than their peers who worked for college dailies. It renders us moot in the field of journalism; an already bleak job market.
The Daily Egyptian has former editors in prestigious positions around the country in media outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, USA Today Weekly Edition and Almanac of American Politics.
Several of those folks took to social media yesterday to voice their opposition to President Dunn’s move.
* I’m no fan of journalism schools. At all. But my brother Devin received great hands-on training at the DE. I’ve known several people over the years who had the same experience at the paper. To me, newspaper reporting is more like a trade. I’m not sure that extensive classroom training is hugely important, but on the job training - and especially learning from real-time, real-life mistakes - can be crucial. And the DE, by all accounts, does a very good job.
Since the chancellor was for it, and the student government was for it and the other campus has a similar fee, I really don’t see the problem with allowing this small fee to proceed.
Provides that except as provided in the Act, a law enforcement agency may not acquire information from or direct the acquisition of information through the use of a drone owned by a private third party. Provides that in the event that law enforcement acquires information from or directs the acquisition of information through the use of a privately owned drone under the Act, any information so acquired is subject to the retention and disclosure requirements of the Act. Provides that nothing in the Act prohibits private third parties from voluntarily submitting information acquired by a privately owned drone to law enforcement. Provides that in the event that law enforcement acquires information from the voluntary submission of that information whether under a request or on a private drone owner’s initiative, the information is subject to the retention and disclosure requirements of the Act.
Senate Committee Amendment No. 1
Allows use of a drone without a search warrant, if a law enforcement agency is using a drone during a disaster or public health emergency. The use of a drone does not require an official declaration of a disaster or public health emergency prior to use. The drone may be used to obtain information necessary for the determination of whether or not a disaster or public health emergency should be declared, to monitor weather or emergency conditions, to survey damage, or to otherwise coordinate response and recovery efforts. The use of a drone is permissible during the disaster or public health emergency and during subsequent response and recovery efforts. Disaster and public health emergency have the meaning as defined by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.
* From the ACLU…
With today’s vote on Senate Bill 2937, Illinois soon will have some of the most far-reaching regulation of the use of drones by law enforcement in the nation. This new bill builds on last year’s enacted law, and ensures that law enforcement cannot simply turn to the growing army of private drone operators to conduct surveillance and evade the current law’s regulations. We hope the Governor will quickly add these protections to Illinois law.
The emerging drone technology is a powerful surveillance tool. We must ensure that our laws keep current with this advancing technology in order to protect privacy in our state. This measure is consistent with our commitment to this process.
* GOP Rep. Patti Bellock and Sen. Dale Righter held a press conference yesterday to claim that Medicaid reform has turned into “un-reform.” From a press release…
Bellock and Righter said they feel an added sense of urgency because of recent meetings in which majority Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have been pushing for further unraveling of the agreed-to reforms.
“What we have seen since passage of the 2011 and 2012 laws is the ‘un-reform’ of the Medicaid system,” said Righter. “Where the reforms have been implemented, the state has experienced significant savings. However, these carefully negotiated reforms have consistently fallen short of projections and mandated goals because the Quinn administration and Democrat lawmakers refuse to implement the reforms as mandated in law and have quietly worked behind the scenes to undermine and disassemble the bipartisan reforms we enacted.”
In 2011, only 7% of Medicaid enrollees were in a managed care program, leaving the majority of Medicaid enrollees without a medical “home,” with many relying on more costly emergency room care. In response, the 2011 Medicaid reforms mandated that within four years, managed care enrollment was statutorily required to reach 50%. Well over three years later, and quickly approaching the end-of-year deadline, the number in managed care stands at an abysmal 16%.
The lawmakers stress this lagging enactment is indicative of the program’s overall implementation. Many provisions in the SMART Act have been ignored and program expansions have continued. Provisions limiting the number of prescriptions have not been enforced, and the third-party vendor hired to scrub the Medicaid rolls was relieved of its duties—despite saving the state more than $86 million after only reviewing 25% of total Medicaid cases.
Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services personnel were not available for comment Thursday, but department director Julie Hamos said in a statement that the state is on pace to meet the goals set out in the SMART Act.
“Since the implementation of that plan two years ago, we reduced Medicaid spending by $3.2 billion, and are now managing within that budget,” Hamos said.
She said the Act was passed with strong bipartisan support to put the state “on track to catch up with the nation’s other states by implementing coordinated care. As a result, we are on target to achieve the state’s 50 percent mandate by Jan. 1, 2015.”
She said the department’s goal is to provide better health care at a lower cost, “and we are doing that.”
The lag on managed care enrollment is indeed quite curious and deserves a much better response. Soon.
* However, Righter’s claim during the press conference that the effort to root out fraud was a “stunning success” caught my eye.
Bruce Rauner and many other Republicans have claimed that billions of dollars could be saved by kicking ineligible recipients off Medicaid. Yet, the outside contractor only found $86 million in savings? That’s not a “stunning success,” and it can’t even be easily projected out over the other 75 percent when you remember this crucial point by Doug Finke last December…
the ones that were checked first were mostly cases where the state already had suspicions. In other words, easy pickings. Once those are gone, it’s entirely possible the rate of fraud discovered will go down.
And what happens when the rate of fraud discovered goes down as most likely will be the case? Well, critics will contend it’s all Quinn’s fault.
* UNITE HERE Local 1 represents approximately 15,000 hospitality workers and casino workers in the Chicago area, including a couple of dozen workers at the Thompson Center food court. From a press release…
Today, food service workers at Great State Fare in the Thompson Center are calling on Governor Quinn to protect their jobs. Sodexo, the food service company that employs Great State Fare workers, is leaving its post at the State of Illinois building putting all 29 workers’ jobs at risk, some who have worked at the cafeteria for over two decades. Layoffs are expected to begin in the coming days. Workers are rallying outside of the State of Illinois building, home of Governor Pat Quinn’s Chicago office.
Sodexo workers at Great State Fare have recently ratified a collective bargaining agreement that improves their wages. The new contract would bring the lowest paid worker up to $10.35 an hour – more than the minimum wage increase to $10.00 that the Governor has been advocating. Yet, as the company plans to leave in the coming weeks, workers will not make it to the wage increase they’ve bargained for.
“Just as we’re about to make a more livable wage, we’re losing our jobs,” said Maria Sanchez, Sodexo worker at Great State Fare. “I’ve been able to rely on this job to support my family for over 20 years. But, now, I don’t even know if I will have job next week.”
In Illinois, a full-time worker earning the state minimum wage of $8.25 an hour makes approximately $17,000, which is far below the Federal Poverty Threshold of $19,790 for a family of three. By increasing the minimum wage to just $10.00, those that earn the current minimum wage would make an extra $4,800 a year.
Things are getting a little fowl at the Illinois governor’s mansion.
A flock of eight clucking hens has moved onto Executive Mansion property, laying eggs that are eaten by guests dining at the home in downtown Springfield.
The chickens peck at flowers, recycle plant waste and provide manure for the gardens. They live in a donated coop that’s inside a fenced-in enclosure and are part of an ongoing sustainability effort.
Backyard chickens are legal in Springfield and several other Illinois communities. They’ve become increasing popular as part of a local food movement among other reasons.
Located on the heavily landscaped grounds surrounding the 159-year-old Italianate home is a penned-in area home to eight laying hens.
The chickens have come home to roost at 5th and Jackson streets in downtown Springfield as one part of the governor’s ongoing sustainability initiative. […]
The chickens live in a donated coop inside of a secure fenced-in enclosure near Fifth Street and eat a mix of chicken scratch and vegetation from the gardens.
The hens are a range of breeds, including Rhode Island Reds and Ameraucana, which lay eggs that can be pastel shades of brown, green or gray.
There was a huge and very loud party Wednesday night at the governor’s mansion. I can’t help but wonder how the chickens felt about that.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Greg Harris sent along this photo of himself posing with the chickens. He said the party didn’t appear to have bothered them at all…
Liberty Principles PAC intends to monitor very closely the votes of those legislators up for re-election in November, such as the 11 House Democrat sponsors of HB 1064, who made a commitment to sunset the 2011 tax increases as originally promised.
I hasten to add that Liberty Principles PAC’s willingness to engage is bipartisan in nature, as was proven in the March primary election. We will also take an interest in the political future of any Republicans who would aid and abet defrauding Illinois taxpayers.
If we do not hold to account legislators who make promises they know they will not keep, we will beget more of those kinds of legislators. And if we do not have legislators who keep their promises, Illinois will keep losing businesses and families to states that do.
Liberty Principles PAC has a balance of more than $1 million in its campaign account currently. I am confident that figure will grow substantially between now and November.
Martin J. Moylan - Stephanie A. Kifowit - Sam Yingling - Katherine Cloonen - Natalie A. Manley, Deborah Conroy, Sue Scherer, Jerry F. Costello, II, Carol A. Sente, Patrick J. Verschoore and Kathleen Willis
Those legislators, plus historically anti-tax Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks, are more than enough to kill the tax hike extension on their own. If any of them flip, Proft and everyone else will have good reason to go after them.
*** UPDATE *** I also seriously doubt that former Rep. Keith Farnham’s recent replacement can be a “Yes” vote on the tax hike extension. That’s 13 total. The House Dems have 71 members with 60 needed for passage. Do the math. This ain’t gonna be easy or pretty.
Cook County prosecutors are investigating a land deal that netted Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and her husband tens of thousands of dollars with no money down, the Tribune has learned.
Brown’s husband, Benton Cook III, confirmed that a grand jury is probing the deal, which saw him get a North Lawndale building for free from a longtime campaign contributor to Brown.
The court clerk quickly became a co-owner, and her company sold the parcel for $100,000 to a Frankfort real estate developer who’d long had his eye on it. The developer said Thursday that he testified before a grand jury earlier this year about how he came to acquire the land.
The investigation of the land deal comes as State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s office also is looking at money Cook received as part of a controversial state anti-violence program that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn launched in fall 2010 as he was locked in a close election campaign. County prosecutors have issued subpoenas seeking documents related to the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative and specifically requested information about the agency that hired Cook. […]
Musa Tadros, the owner of south suburban Frankfort-based Crown Commercial Real Estate and Development, told the Tribune that he testified before a grand jury in January or February about the land deal.
It’s becoming even more clear that Alvarez’s probe of Gov. Quinn’s anti-violence initiative is a lot more about Brown than it is about Quinn - at least, for now.
Not long after taking over the budget committee of a state agency, Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown voted by proxy to channel $5 million to a West Side nonprofit to help continue funding Gov. Pat Quinn’s now-disbanded Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.
That vote by Brown came at the same time the nonprofit, Chicago Area Project, employed her husband, Benton Cook III, to oversee millions of dollars in Neighborhood Recovery Initiative programming. The organization subsidized his paycheck with state anti-violence grant money.
It’s not clear whether any of the grant funds Brown authorized for Chicago Area Project’s use in September 2012 trickled into Cook’s paycheck since the nonprofit says he left its payroll in October of that year.
As I told subscribers earlier this week, that decision about CAP’s funding came directly from Quinn’s office. The vote was most likely a mere formality, and it doesn’t look like Brown’s husband got much, if any, benefit from it.
“If that’s the case, it’s unacceptable,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said of her vote. “Potential and actual conflicts of interest should always be disclosed by public officials and their designees. They should recuse themselves from decision-making on any matter involving a member of their family.
“The governor’s office has asked the authority’s chairman to look into this matter and act appropriately to address any conflict-of-interest issues,” Anderson said.
Friday, May 9, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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