Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s drive to get major city pension relief from Springfield has stalled, potentially upping the size of local tax hikes she’ll have to include when she unveils her proposed 2020 city budget next month.
The mayor in recent months has floated a variety of “help us” proposals, the most viable of which is to have the state assume unfunded Chicago pension liabilities as part of a package in which it also would help underfunded plans in numerous municipalities around the state. She’s facing a projected $823 million budget hole.
But a wide range of Springfield insiders say that’s not going to happen, at least not in the General Assembly’s fall veto session. Instead, a more limited plan that excludes help for Chicago is being teed up for consideration. […]
“Consolidation (of downstate and suburban pension funds) seems to be the one common theme I’m hearing,” said one top legislative insider who asked not to be named. “Lori’s between a rock and a hard place.”
Taking on Chicago’s unfunded pension liabilities was actually the least viable state option of all her floated proposals. No way was that ever happening.
There’s still potential revenue from a Chicago casino, however. And there are other things that the state might be able to do.
* The governor’s office sent Greg and myself this statement about the pension task force…
Addressing the challenges with downstate and suburban police and fire pensions would be a monumental accomplishment. For decades, these 650 unique operations have underperformed because they’re individually too small to participate in the highest-performing funds, and they pay substantially higher investment fees than their larger peers. However, if their investment resources were pooled together and they performed like their peers, they would have significantly better returns and at a lower cost. Right after taking office, the Governor asked a group of experts and stakeholders to come together on a potential agreement and solution, and he’s pleased that they’ve made significant progress. He looks forward to reviewing their findings.
The statement doesn’t mention Chicago, but the city was not part of the task force’s mandate. But there could be some future action. From a few weeks ago…
“The pension consolidation task force has been working hard since the winter to develop recommendations to address problems specific to the financial challenges of small downstate police and fire pensions,” Pritzker spokeswoman Emily Bittner said.
“We expect that they will submit recommendations for action this fall based on their mandate, but after we receive those initial recommendations, the task force could explore additional proposals related to pensions, including the city of Chicago funds.”
* The Question: What assistance, if any, should the state give to Chicago’s pension funds? Make sure to explain your answer, please. Thanks.
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Looking on the bright side
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Springfield city council last night…
* Half will go to pensions…
The other half with go toward community development on the city’s east side.
Aldermen also approved a resolution for a public hearing to designate where recreational marijuana can be smoked in the city limits.
I’m hearing some interesting ideas for social use in Springfield. Stay tuned.
* News-Gazette…
Champaign City Council members, unanimously signaling their support for a 3 percent tax on recreational cannabis, took the first steps Tuesday toward regulating its use and sales ahead of legalization Jan. 1. […]
“This is something people have been doing for a long time anyway,” [council member Matt Gladney] said. “It’s just that now it’s being legalized.”
He said that much like alcohol and cigarettes, cannabis “is a vice that people should be able to consume within certain parameters,” and thought perhaps the state is “overthinking it,” with the opinion that restrictions will likely be loosened in coming years.
Gladney finds that disallowing public consumption is “particularly ridiculous.”
* Aurora is gearing up…
[Martin Lyons, Aurora’s chief financial officer] said Aurora wants a competitive sales tax rate to attract “quality” dispensaries.
“We want someone that’s going to provide a great operation that is operated in a safe and responsible manner,” he said.
A lower sales tax rate also would give a dispensary owner “a chance to put dollars into the operation.”
If Aurora allows recreational marijuana sales, it’s estimated the city could collect $200,000 to $600,000 a year in additional tax revenue, officials said.
* East Peoria…
Beginning Jan. 1, it will be legal with a state-issued license for a business to sell recreational marijuana in East Peoria. […]
“I have a personal opinion and I have a job as mayor,” [Mayor John Kahl] said. “Whether we accept this or not, marijuana is going to be here and we have to deal with that.”
One way to deal with it, is to tax it. Commissioner Seth Mingus likened the legalization of marijuana to the legalization of gambling that brought a casino to East Peoria 25 years ago.
“No matter what we decide, we can’t stop it,” Mingus said. “People have urged us to vote no and I respect that. East Peoria has always been open to alternative means of revenue and in the past there were concerns the (gambling) boat would bring crime and the concerns with pot are the same. $100 million (in tax revenue) later we have not had to raise our property tax rate because we have the boat.”
* I read four local news stories on the Danville City Council’s vote last night to approve the sale of adult-use cannabis, but only one of those four stories had what could be considered a positive quote. The rest were either jammed with reefer madness quotes or didn’t have any at all…
[Ald. Bob Iverson] said cannabis is “already here and it’s going to be everywhere.” He feels the city should try to control it and get something good out of it.
* Related…
* Getting marijuana convictions expunged in Illinois: What you need to know about the process
* Convicted Of A Weed Crime? Expungement Clinic Aims To Help People Clear Their Records In West Loop This Weekend
* Peru OKs zoning to allow pot dispensary
* Niles plan commission recommends creating districts for recreational marijuana sales
* Rock Island County cashing in on cannabis: “Any non property tax based revenue opportunity for the county is, is a good one,” said Rock Island County Board Chairperson Richard Brunk.
* Buffalo Grove Establishes New Tax For Possible Recreational Marijuana: A medical cannabis dispensary is currently located at 1623 Barclay Blvd. in Buffalo Grove. Village staff conservatively estimates the village could generate $300,000-$400,000 annually from the sale of recreational marijuana, in addition to the 1% home rule sales tax.
* Want to Solve the Vape Crisis? End Marijuana Prohibition: The reason these illnesses are coming from THC vapes and not nicotine is precisely because the latter is legal while the former is not.
* Grassroots ‘Preparing Very Quickly’ for Illinois Cannabis Legalization, Says COO: “As is commonplace in the cannabis industry, the implementation of these adult-use laws oftentimes are not without hurdles. So I think [in] Illinois there’ll be some of those as well, but I think we’re all preparing very quickly to get ready to be open for January 1st.”
* Anna city leaders consider allowing recreational marijuana sales
* Machesney Park passes 3% marijuana sales tax
* Evanston officials exploring regulation options as legal recreational marijuana sales near
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Today’s must-read
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My old buddy Scott Reeder’s recent column was too good to just post an excerpt, so I asked him to send me the whole thing. Read it all…
No good deed goes unpunished.
As least that’s how Jessica Barron feels these days.
She lives with her partner of 18 years, Kenny Wylie, and their three children on a quiet residential street in Granite City, a blue-collar Illinois community not far from St. Louis.
In July, they heard a pounding on the door and someone shouting, “Police. Open up.”
When Jessica answered her door, she found a group of police officers on her porch with an eviction notice.
But here’s the rub: neither Jessica nor her family have broken any laws and their landlord wants them to remain tenants. But the city says they must go.
Why? Because of a friend of her son’s, who had been their houseguest for a few nights the previous winter.
“He told me his mother was dead and his father was in prison,” Jessica Barron said. “He was 19 years old and it was below zero outside. I told him he could sleep on our sofa that night. I also told him our door was always open to him.”
Jessica said she was raised to help others.
“I may only have three biological children. But lots of kids call me, ‘Mom.’ “
The friend of their son stayed in their home occasionally until Jessica learned that his mother was very much alive and then her family experienced a theft. She told him he was no longer welcome.
The erstwhile houseguest was later convicted of burglarizing a neighborhood tavern.
Like about 50 other Illinois communities, Granite City has a compulsory-eviction ordinance, which allows police to force landlords to evict an entire household after anyone who has stayed in the house—even a house guest—commits a crime.
It’s the sort of “mother knows best” mindset that’s all too common in government.
“No one should be punished for a crime someone else committed,” said Robert McNamara, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, which is representing Jessica’s family. “That simple notion is at the heart of our criminal justice system—that we are all innocent until proven guilty. And yet Granite City is punishing an innocent family for a crime committed by someone they barely knew.”
Under Granite City’s “crime-free housing” ordinance, private landlords are required (on pain of fines or revocation of their rental license) to evict an entire household of tenants if police believe any member—even a house guest—committed a crime. There is no requirement that the tenants participated in or even knew about the crime. If one member of the household is a criminal, the whole household can automatically be punished for their crime.
“We want to stay in this house,” Jessica said. “Buying a home isn’t an option for us, and with an eviction on our record, it’ll be nearly impossible to find another place to rent. I cannot believe we could end up homeless because we choose to open our home to someone in need—someone we trusted, but who was not the person he claimed to be.”
At the end of the day, ordinances like the one in Granite City have little to do with punishing criminals and everything to do with punishing renters who happen to be friends, family or just roommates with a person who commits a crime.
Institute for Justice attorney Sam Gedge said he is seeking a federal court order to block the city from evicting the family.
“What Granite City is doing is not just wrong, it is plainly unconstitutional. The Constitution does not allow the government to punish people for who their roommates are or for crimes other people have committed. The government cannot take away your home—whether you own it or rent it—because of something someone else did somewhere else,” he said.
* Some background…
* Federal Lawsuit Claims Granite City’s Crime-Free Housing Rules Are Unconstitutional
* Granite City facing federal lawsuit over controversial crime-free housing ordinance
* A Granite City family took in a teen. Now they face eviction
* Landlord criticizes Granite City’s crime-free ordinance
* Granite City threatens family with eviction after house guest burglarizes tavern
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Arduin continues winning streak
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We’ve talked about this story before, so here’s an update. From the Anchorage Daily News…
Donna Arduin is no longer in charge of the state budget for [Alaska] Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration, effective today.
Dunleavy’s chief of staff, Ben Stevens, announced the change in leadership in the state Office of Management and Budget in a Monday call with reporters. He said the decision was “made unanimously within the leadership of the governor’s office.”
* The governor apparently went into self-protection mode…
The massive cuts to Alaska’s budget that Arduin pushed earlier this year — affecting everything from a ferry service linking isolated coastal towns to the University of Alaska to Medicaid — prompted fierce backlash.
A recall effort targeting Dunleavy was announced shortly after he used his line-item veto to slash more than $400 million from the state’s budget, adding to hundreds of millions in earlier cuts approved by the legislature.
And though the governor eventually walked back some of the vetoed line items in August, the recall has gained steam.
As a buddy of mine noted this morning, people say they hate taxes but they really, really, really hate major budget cuts. Gov. Rauner’s tenure, of which Arduin was a part, made that pretty clear to Illinoisans. Now, Alaskans are learning the same lesson.
…Adding… As I explained in comments, the budget cuts were made so the governor could fulfill a campaign promise and increase the amount of annual oil royalty payments to individual Alaskans. So, Alaskans are actually furious that the governor was trying to give put more money in their own pockets by slashing state spending. Whew.
The only person who pulled this off and grew his popularity was former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who cut spending to the bone in order to build public support for additional revenues. Brown’s cuts weren’t an end in themselves like they were in Alaska. They were a means to an end. He is the best US governor of my lifetime by far.
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* Center Square…
A task force comprised of 88 state lawmakers with seven subcommittees has started meeting to discuss the complex issues that have pushed property taxes in Illinois to among the highest in the nation, but the group has faced criticism from the outset. […]
The task force met several times last week to talk about school funding and government consolidation. State Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Springfield, said a subcommittee he’s on met Monday to discuss the state’s property tax caps.
“Some counties that have no tax caps is actually holding down a little bit better,” Murphy said. “McLean County, for example, has for a period of time had increases lower than Sangamon County.”
People talked about this happening way back when the tax caps first passed. Local governments would tax all the way up to the cap just to be on the safe side.
* In other news, here’s Ted Slowik…
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau found a supportive audience Tuesday during a town hall on the state’s proposal to switch to a graduated income-tax system from a flat rate on everyone. […]
“The state of Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” Pekau told an audience of more than 50 community members during the forum at the Orland Park Civic Center. […]
The state promised to return 10% of income-tax revenues to municipalities through the Local Government Distributive Fund, Pekau said.
But the state only shares 5.757% of individual income tax collections and 6.5% of corporate income tax collections through the LGDF, according to a fact sheet by the Illinois Municipal League.
So, Mayor Pekau first complains about too much state spending, then complains that the state doesn’t spend enough on local governments. Thanks. Drive through.
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* We discussed this a bit last week…
Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services plans to put all 16,000 children in its custody on Medicaid health insurance. But at a hearing Tuesday, state lawmakers expressed skepticism, saying they’re worried those kids may fall through the cracks.
If you’ve ever moved from one insurance plan to another, you know it can be complicated. Now try doing that for thousands of foster care children at once.
That’s what DCFS, alongside the state’s Department of Healthcare and Family Services, is trying to manage for all the kids who are considered wards of the state. It wants to move them all to Illinois’ Medicaid plan, known as IlliniCare. […]
DCFS is planning to move the kids in its care to Medicaid by November 1.
* From state law…
The Child Welfare Medicaid Managed Care Implementation Advisory Workgroup is established to advise the Department on the transition and implementation of managed care for children. The Director of Children and Family Services and the Director of Healthcare and Family Services shall serve as co-chairpersons of the Workgroup. The Directors shall jointly appoint members to the Workgroup who are stakeholders from the child welfare community […]
Prior to transitioning any child to managed care, the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, in consultation with the Workgroup, must develop and post publicly, a transition plan for the provision of health care services to children enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans.
* Emphasis added because of Hannah Meisel’s revelation today…
[Rep. Mary Flowers] said she was more concerned with another body that was written into the law codifying the transfer of foster care children into Medicaid managed care: the Child Welfare Medicaid Managed Care Implementation Advisory Group, which was supposed to have been formed “effective upon becoming law,” Flowers said.
Flowers asked DCFS officials at last week’s hearing why that group had not yet gotten off the ground, and accused them of being “blatantly in violation of basically the entire law.”
DCFS spokesperson Jassen Strokosch told The Daily Line that the agency is finally moving forward on the Child Welfare Medicaid Managed Care Implementation Advisory Group, and said officials are “reach[ing] back out to the people who were appointed.”
“We’re scheduling meetings as quickly as we can,” he said.
Great. Just great. By law, DCFS cannot transition a single child into Medicaid managed care until the agency has developed and published a transition plan with a working group that hasn’t even met. And the deadline is November 1, which is only 44 days from now.
The future of 16,000 kids is at stake and they’re throwing together a working group at the last minute. Yeah, that report won’t be rushed at all. Nope. And I’m so sure its members won’t be pressured into rubber-stamping whatever plan the state has already come up with.
Also, way to stiff your stakeholders again, DCFS.
Governor, you have a lot of extra time on your hands these days since you’re not attending many events. How about you spend some of those precious moments making absolutely sure DCFS is doing this right? And if they’re not, then put this thing on hold.
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Arlington’s racing license in jeopardy
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
State regulators suggested Tuesday they might refuse to allow horse racing next year at Arlington International Racecourse if the track’s corporate owner doesn’t reconsider a decision to pass on adding a casino. […]
Board member Thomas McCauley peppered Arlington Park President Tony Petrillo with questions he said he could not answer about the decision-making of Churchill Downs executives in Louisville, Kentucky. Racetracks have been lobbying for casino licenses for years, McCauley said, and now that they have access to them, Arlington is balking.
“I don’t get it. This wasn’t a big surprise when this gaming act passed. It was a cause for a celebration,” McCauley told Petrillo. Other track owners and regulators “were all thrilled with what we anticipated what was going to happen … up to now, where’s the flagship in all of this. I want to know what’s an acceptable financial return.”
Petrillo noted that Arlington had voiced opposition to the gambling expansion law as legislators wrote it in the spring. The track preferred that legalizing sports betting be kept separate from an expansion of casino licenses.
Arlington was the number one proponent of slots at tracks for decades. And then its parent company bought Rivers Casino just down the road.
* Sun-Times…
[Racing Board member Thomas McCauley] suggested Churchill is trying to gain leverage over Springfield lawmakers in negotiations for more a more favorable tax structure during the fall veto session — and that the company is seeking to protect their other major Illinois gambling operation: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the highest-grossing casino in Illinois. […]
But the board opted to delay their vote on the licenses and dates for one week, instead passing a resolution to give Churchill time “to duly discern whether to maintain its current position going forward” and “reject the very activity it has pleaded for for so many years” — and to decide if it “really wants to signal to the world at once and for all it’s only a gaming software company, and no longer a horse racing enterprise,” McCauley said. […]
Churchill has said it will apply for a sports betting license — which Petrillo said will allow Arlington “to be sustainable for more years to come” — while otherwise exploring “longer-term alternatives.” They’ve refused to commit to live horse racing beyond 2021 and suggested they could move their racing license, a threat flatly rejected by Racing Board commissioners.
“I’ve never read a more preposterous statement in my life,” McCauley said. “Does Churchill think that it owns this license? Because if they do, I’d encourage you to call them up and let them know that the state of Illinois owns that license, and we as the agents of the state of Illinois have the authority and responsibility to grant a privilege to those who earn it.”
* Blood Horse…
McCauley said the one-week window gives CDI an opportunity to show “whether it really wants to signal to the world, once and for all, that it’s only a gaming and software company and no longer a horse racing enterprise, whether it wants to jeopardize its racing license and all the revenue which the privilege associated with that license will generate. That will be up to Churchill …
“However, if there is no modification of the Churchill-Arlington position on gaming during the adjournment period, it may be that there will be no organization license for Arlington and, hence, no racing. That will cause disruption. But it’s the protection of Rivers and the bottom line that will have caused that disruption,” McCauley added.
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Money stuff
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We discussed this last month…
Even though the 2020 primaries and general elections are months away, some big political donations are being made and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has blown the statutory limit off of his campaign.
Madigan filed a “notification of self funding” on Aug. 23, indicating that the $100,001 donation he had made to himself removed the state limitations on campaign contributions in what is so far an uncontested race. Madigan, who also serves as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, has faced election challenges in the past, but has never been defeated in his own district, which he has represented continuously since 1971. So far, no candidate has announced plans to challenge Madigan in the 22nd District. […]
The self-funding rules in Illinois’ campaign finance laws are rooted in freedom of speech, but some point to potential pitfalls of the practice.
“You can take campaign donations, in an unlimited way, from anyone,” said Aaron McKean, legal counsel for the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center. “When I’m a candidate and I take a large contribution from someone, that’s where that appearance of corruption really starts to take hold.”
Illinois’ self-funding law was originally rooted in self-protection. The courts say rich people can spend as much of their own money as they want on campaigns, so the Illinois law automatically allows their opponents to compete by letting them raise unlimited amounts.
Madigan, however, has taken it to the next level by proactively busting the caps on his own fund and then raising as much money as humanly possible. The caps aren’t automatically lifted for the House Republican Leader when the House Speaker does this, so the GOP is put at an even worse disadvantage.
* Meanwhile, remember this splashy story from last week?…
Lawyer Daniel Epstein is the first out of the gate with a TV ad set to begin airing Wednesday in the hotly contested race for a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, six months before the candidates face off in the March primary.
The 30-second TV spot is an effort to make sure people recognize the former Jenner & Block attorney as the candidate “who wants to fix the system and who has ideas to fix it” — and to build name recognition, he said.
The ad is here if you missed it.
Anyway, Comcast usually sends out political buys as they come in, but the guy in charge was out of town and didn’t get a chance to send the deets until yesterday afternoon. The total Epstein buy from September 11 through September 22 was a grand total of just $7,572.50. I kid you not.
* Related…
* House Speaker Madigan to visit Decatur for political fundraiser: Madigan will be guest of honor at a luncheon hosted by the Macon County Democrats at The Beach House from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
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Trying to look on the bright side
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Recreational marijuana dispensaries would be blocked from opening in parts of downtown Chicago, including the Magnificent Mile, under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed zoning rules for when the sale of the plant becomes legal next year.
Lightfoot on Tuesday unveiled proposed zoning rules for recreational marijuana dispensaries in the city that would create seven zones across the city. Each zone would have a cap on the number of dispensaries allowed in each. […]
The reason for excluding downtown’s central business district is due to the area’s density and number of tourists, Mayekar said.
“From a public safety standpoint as the industry develops, it was best to exclude that from operations,” Mayekar said. “But there’s plenty of areas within a short walk of the area.”
Trying. To. Stay. Positive. 😬😬😬
* Boundaries from the mayor’s press release…
Oak Street to the north, Lake Michigan to the east, Ida B. Wells Drive to the south and LaSalle in River North and Chicago River in the Loop to the west.
OK, well, there’s plenty of stuff happening west of LaSalle in River North and west of the river further south. And they can even put a shop near the Viagra Triangle north of Oak. There are all sorts of opportunities south of Ida B. Wells as well. So, yeah, not having something handy for the downtown tourists is a bit of a bummer, but I’m really trying to look on the bright side these days. 😐😐😐
* The area’s alderman, however, wants dispensaries downtown, with some limits…
😀😀😀
* On to the Sun-Times…
Because public consumption will still be prohibited and most hotels will likely ban it as well, the new rules will leave tourists in the Loop searching for an acceptable place to spark up their legal weed next year.
* I asked the mayor’s office specifically about “social use” provisions and was told this…
In the coming weeks, we will work with the City Council to develop clear guidelines around enforcement as well as onsite consumption.
Mayor Lightfoot’s Sun-Times op-ed references her “licensing for consumption sites” plan, so onsite consumption appears to be a go. That’s a good thing because banning public use means people need places to consume their legal products. 🙂🙂🙂
* Also from the mayor’s op-ed…
Furthermore, we are working with the Chicago Police Department to deter overly aggressive enforcement of minor cannabis possession violations, preventing an increase in tickets, fines and arrests.
Let’s hope that works, but I’m not holding my breath. 😶😶😶
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