* I didn’t want to open up comments this morning on the Mayor Tim Davlin post because we didn’t really know what was going on and I didn’t want any speculation here.
However, I think people in our community would probably like an opportunity to express their thoughts and remembrances. So, I’m going to open up comments here.
I know I don’t have to say this, but, please, be respectful. A man is dead. He was a father, a grandfather, a son and a brother. Keep that in mind.
Remember to explain your votes or they won’t be counted.
* And here are our winners from yesterday. Julie Hamos wins best state agency director…
Julie Hamos, for preventing her agency from completely disintegrating. All the agency directors deserve credit for working with duct tape and WD40 to keep things running, but Hamos has one of the biggest agencies.
Gary Hannig wins honorable mention…
I think Gary Hannig does a great job as agency director. He’s a former legislator who knows everyone, is well-liked and gets things done.
* Best Illinois congresscritter is, once again, Sen. Dick Durbin…
In Congress, Dick Durbin remains above the pack. He has constantly fought to bring home federal resources. Politically, where the state Democratic Party has often had a narrower, more local focus (ahem), Durbin has filled the void, helping congressional candidates and building the larger party.
Honorable mention goes to Peter Roskam for this nomination…
Roskam shows the best promise for the future, while doing a very good job for his district. Remember his days in the GA. He is very smart without being cocky, and this has been recognized by colleagues and leaders in DC (out there they are not threatened by that kind of talent). He goes to all the key meeting when Boehner needs 3 or 4 sharp people to do the bargaining. He has been selected chief deputy whip for next congress, which is a huge deal in DC. Makes him #5 among House GOPrs — what Hastert was when he stepped-up. He will essentially recommend what bills get called. He is also great for the district. Every call is returned promptly, and he will never suffer from forgetting what “the people back home” expect. 5 years from now the talk will all be about what Roakam has achieved for Illinois in Congress
* Best Illinois statewide elected official goes to Comptroller Dan Hynes. Here’s what I wrote…
A hostile comptroller can shut down a government by just paying a few state bills on time. Hynes lost the primary, but hasn’t played politics with Quinn on the budget this year. He could’ve completely undercut the guv and didn’t. He also runs a very solid shop. Topinka may wish she had run for treasurer again once she takes office. A thankless nightmare of an office run by a class guy.
I don’t think Hynes gets nearly enough credit for the way he’s run his office during our fiscal crisis. He’s done the best possible job in an impossible situation. And he’ll be missed.
I should’ve said “constitutional officers” instead of statewide elected officials. However, Auditor General Bill Holland qualifies as both, since he is elected by the Legislature. He wins honorable mention…
For Const. Officer I’ll go with Bill Holland if he qualifies. Very respected by both sides and doesn’t play favorites.
* The media reaction to Jack Lavin’s elevation to chief of staff has been wholly predictable. Tribune…
Quinn raised eyebrows when he first brought Lavin into his administration following the arrest and impeachment of Blagojevich due to Lavin’s ties with convicted fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
Lavin served as Blagojevich’s director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity after Rezko recommended him for the post. Lavin once worked as the chief financial officer for Rezko’s food-related business, and took more than $12,000 in donations from Rezko’s firm while considering a run for elected office in 2001.
Despite those connections, Quinn spokeswoman Ashley Cross said Lavin has the governor’s “full confidence.” Lavin previously worked for Quinn in the state treasurer’s office.
Lavin, who has known Quinn for years and worked for him when Quinn was state treasurer, used to run the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity under Blagojevich. Lavin also has ties to convicted Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.” Rezko had recommended Lavin for the DCEO job and Lavin previously worked as a financial officer for a Rezko company.
* The Blagojevich and Rezko stuff is just left to hang out there without any real explanation. Zorn did much the same thing yesterday.
But, here’s how I look at this, and have since Quinn first elevated Lavin after Quinn became governor. Lavin worked for Rezko and Blagojevich and came through clean. He wasn’t dragged into either man’s trial. As far as I know, he’s never been the target of any probe. He went to work for Rezko when there were no concerns about the man’s criminality. Quinn actually recommended him for that job. He took over DCEO when tons of Democrats flocked to the first Democratic governor in 26 years. If there was a place to get in trouble working for Rod, it was DCEO, and he didn’t.
* My real problem here is that Gov. Quinn replaced Jerry Stermer with Michelle Saddler in August. At the time, Quinn was still having trouble with women and minority voters. Now that the election is over, Saddler goes back to running DHS and the white male is promoted. Also, because of the expected media reaction over Rezko/Blagojevich, Quinn probably couldn’t have appointed Lavin to the spot during the campaign. Saddler is a decent person, but I can’t help but feel that she was used.
* Every time there’s a recession in this country, Medicaid spending becomes a major issue for the states. Back in the early 1990s, it was said that Medicaid was eating states’ budgets alive. Now, the Associated Press refers to the program as a budgetary “monster”….
In Illinois, Medicaid sucks up more money than elementary, secondary and higher education combined.
“Medicaid is such a large, complicated part of our budget problem, that to get our hands around it is very difficult. It’s that big. It’s that bad,” said Illinois Sen. Dale Righter, a Republican and co-chairman of a bipartisan panel to reform Medicaid in Illinois, where nearly 30 percent of total spending goes to the program.
* Some stats…
During the Great Recession, millions of people relied on the Medicaid safety net. Between 2007 and 2009, the number of uninsured Americans grew by more than 5 million as workers lost jobs with employer-based insurance. Another 7 million signed up for Medicaid.
Just when caseloads hit their highest point, the nation’s new health care law required states not to change the rules on who’s eligible for Medicaid. That means states can’t roll up the welcome mat by tightening Medicaid’s income requirements.
* And a bit of perspective…
Contrary to stereotype, it’s the elderly and disabled who cost nearly 70 cents of every Medicaid dollar, not the single mother and her children.
That’s a very good point. While over half of the recipients are children, it’s the elderly and the disabled who cost the most, even though they represent only 20 percent of the recipient population.
* There are a handful of ways to cut medical costs. Cut payments to providers, like doctors and hospitals, cut benefit levels to recipients, kick people off the programs, reform the way payments are made.
Providers in Illinois are already receiving fairly low levels of disbursement and Illinois has one of the lowest costs per patient ratios of any Medicaid program in the nation. So, moving on those two items just isn’t very realistic, although some tweaks can be made.
That leaves things like managed care, which the Republicans have been pushing and the state is already doing to some extent, and kicking people off Medicaid. They aint’ gonna kick old people off because they vote, so that leaves everyone else. One area being looked at hard is undocumented immigrant children…
One area some committee members were concerned about was the practice of the state paying for health insurance for more than 50,000 undocumented immigrant children. Unlike other sections of the state-funded children’s health care program, the care for undocumented children doesn’t receive any federal match. All of the funds must come from the state’s general revenue fund, according to Julie Hamos, director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and a former Democratic state legislator.
“We see the issue of serving undocumented (immigrant) children as a policy issue, one that we’re proud of and one this governor supports, so we are not proposing changes in reducing eligibility for undocumented children,” Hamos said.
However, advocates have noted that health care for children is relatively inexpensive when compared to adult needs.
* Another thing being looked at is requiring recipients to more regularly prove their income levels qualify them for benefits…
One pay stub annually is all a family needs to provide right now to show annual income.
State Rep. Patti Bellock, R-Westmont, who co-chairs the committee, has introduced legislation that would change that requirement to proof of a month’s worth of income. This provides a better sense of what a family makes over the course of a year, proponents claim.
Not everyone wants to see these changes, however. State Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, said that it’s a waste of state resources to chase after people whose income is likely constantly in flux.
“Income varies from week to week, or it could be from day to day … you’re really complicating the situation, making it a lot worse, and you’re clogging up the system chasing after the cheats as opposed to providing the services which you are suppose to be providing,” Flowers said.
Making any changes that might bump people out of Medicaid could be tricky. A clause in the federal health care overhaul act says that states can’t make “eligibility standards, methodologies, or procedures” more restrictive than what was in place as of March 23, 2010, without federal approval.
Both the House and the Senate have bipartisan committees set up to look at all these issues and more. The Senate’s committee is meeting this morning.
* 10:15 am - The SJ-R’s website is down, but this is what is appearing on Bing News…
Springfield police are at a reported shooting at 2604 Apple Creek Drive. Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin lives at 2604 Apple Creek Drive. He did not show up for a court-ordered appearance this morning in a pending estate case involving his late cousin.
The judge overseeing a probate case involving the estate of Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin’s cousin this morning removed Davlin as administrator of the estate after he failed to show up for a court hearing.
I’m told the mayor apparently committed suicide.
* 10:35 am - SJ-R…
Sources have confirmed that Davlin was found dead of a gunshot wound this morning.
It was reported at 9:10 a.m.
A news conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the office of Police Chief Rob Williams.
* 10:41 am - The Springfield police are not commenting on anything other than that Mayor Davlin is dead. The Illinois State Police have been asked to take control of the investigation.
Bolinski has also confirmed that Mayor Davlin shot himself.
* Mayor pro tempore Ward 3 Ald. Frank Kunz will take over as acting mayor until a new mayor is named within 60 days.
* From the governor…
“Today’s news of the death of Mayor Tim Davlin is truly a tragedy. Tim was a great public servant who loved Springfield and its people. The city of Springfield is a better place because of his leadership. As Mayor, Tim led the community through some of its most difficult times and worked hard to revitalize the city. He was not only a champion for Springfield, but also for the entire state, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him. My thoughts and prayers are with the Davlin family during this most difficult time.”
* 9:47 am - If you care, Rahm Emanuel is testifying at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners about his residency case. Click here to watch. Live-blog in comments if you’d like.
* 11:13 am - The hearing has reconvened.
* From Carol Moseley Braun’s campaign…
“Rahm Emanuel has a long history of personally benefitting from special deals. From his patronage appointment to the Freddie Mac Board, to his election to Congress on the back of illegal city hiring, to making 20 million dollars in just two years greasing deals for investment bankers, it’s always a special deal for Rahm. Now Rahm wants a special deal from the Board of Elections. The reports of Rahm changing his tax returns raise many questions that he needs to answer. The main question is: was Rahm lying then, or is he lying now? Police and firemen must be residents of Chicago and they don’t get special deals. They live by the law, either they reside in Chicago or they are fired. Why should Rahm Emanuel be any different? It’s time for Rahm to quit asking for another special deal and start answering questions about his privileged past.”
* 2:07 pm - We’re into the weirdos now. The current person just asked Emanuel how often he worked at the White House “as a Senator… as a state Representative.” Sheesh.
Governor Pat Quinn today named Jack Lavin as his Chief of Staff. Lavin previously served as the state’s Chief Operating Officer. Current Chief of Staff Michelle Saddler will resume her position as the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS).
“Jack Lavin has helped my administration accomplish many of our top priorities and I have full confidence that he has the vision and ability to lead my office into a successful new term and will tackle the many serious issues facing our state,” said Governor Quinn. “Michelle Saddler has done an excellent job as Chief of Staff. However, I wish to honor her preference to return to the work she began at the Department of Human Services. She is a key leader in my administration.”
Lavin has served as Governor Quinn’s Chief Operating Officer since February 2009, where he has led implementation of the Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program and directed the state’s federal stimulus program. Lavin, who also leads Governor Quinn’s job creation efforts, worked to keep Ford, Navistar and Chrysler in Illinois. […]
“It has been a privilege to serve as Governor Quinn’s Chief of Staff,” said Saddler. “Returning to the Department of Human Services will allow me to pursue my truest passion and continue to address the immense challenges and needs facing human services in Illinois.”
Mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel’s wife will not have to appear to testify at tomorrow’s election board hearing challenging Emanuel’s Chicago residency, a hearing officer said today.
Burt Odelson, the lead attorney in the challenge, has dropped his bid to bring Amy Rule to Chicago, and hearing officer Joseph A. Morris said he had he heard nothing from other objectors that showed Rule had to be called.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Rahm Emanuel’s campaign just released its own poll, which shows that Emanuel may be within sight of avoiding a runoff…
43 percent Emanuel
11 percent Carol Moseley Braun
10 percent Danny Davis
9 percent Gery Chico
8 percent Miguel Del Valle
7 percent James Meeks
1 percent Roland Burris
2 percent Other
7 percent Undecided
The poll was conducted December 1-8 of 1,020 likely voters and the MoE is 3.07 percent.
Among blacks polled, Emanuel was at 39 percent to 21 percent for Davis, to 14 percent for Meeks, to 13 percent for Moseley Braun, to 3 percent for Chico, 2 percent for Burris and 7 percent at undecided.
Chicago City Clerk Miguel Del Valle is the top candidate of Hispanics surveyed, getting 37 percent of the Hispanic vote to 32 percent for Emanuel, 9 percent for Chico, 5 percent for Moseley Braun and everyone else under 4 percent. […]
From the Greenberg Quinlan memo: Emanuel’s “lead is built upon a very positive profile, with Emanuel by 91 percent of the voters, 54 percent offering warm or positive ratings and just 22 percent cool or negative ratings. Voters are much more mixed in their views of the other well known candidates including Moseley Braun, who garners net negative ratings (34 percent, 39 percent cool, 90 percent name identification), and Chico (25 percent warm, 22 percent cool, 65 percent name identification).”
* Meanwhile, Gery Chico claims his campaign raised $100,000 a day for three days straight…
“He’s about as good as anyone I’ve worked with, fund-raising,” said Ken Snyder, senior strategist for the campaign, who has helped with campaigns across the country and locally for Toni Preckwinkle and John Stroger. “He just works his heart out. There’s no easy way to do it. It’s just elbow grease. It can be a humble and humiliating experience even, but candidates have to do it. He works hard at it. He’s on the phone hours and hours and hours every day.”
Chico didn’t do a bad fundraising job when he ran for Senate, but he finished way out of the money when it came to actual votes. However, he’s definitely running the scrappiest campaign of all the others so far.
* Related…
* Q&A with the Rev. James Meeks: I’m going to give the Chicago Teachers Union one year to create a policy of establishing what is an effective teacher, what is an ineffective teacher, and how do we dismiss an ineffective teacher. If they don’t come up with a policy in a year, then I would ask the General Assembly for that policy. I think all teachers get a bum rap because of bad teachers. Teachers don’t want bad teachers either.
* The old Sun-Times website was clunky, slow and cluttered. I hated it. But I made the mistake of thinking it couldn’t get any worse with the rumored redesign.
The Sun-Times is and always has been a columnist’s newspaper. It has a long history of columnists breaking news and wielding enormous influence on the city’s life, whether in politics, sports, culture or business. But the only way to discover which columnist is in the paper today is to either click on each and every columnist’s name or actually pick up the dead tree edition and then use that as a guide. That’s totally ridiculous.
Yes, I’m a Sun-Times columnist. And, yes, I have a blog that regularly depends on Sun-Times columns for content. But I’m also an avid column reader, and not just political columns. I like to know what’s going on in other topics as well. And this redesign just makes it practically impossible to figure that out. What the heck were they thinking?
Today’s columnists should be on the site’s front page, with a headline, a pic and an excerpt. The list of columnists should also have an indication of who has published a recent piece. The same goes for the blog page. This isn’t brain surgery here. It’s common freaking sense. You push your most recent entries to the fore. That’s pretty standard stuff.
The site’s front page went from being overly cluttered to having not nearly enough information. The redesign is a needless overreaction and it will cost that paper dearly. Why have all that content which nobody can see without Herculean effort? What a stupid, stupid move. Whatever they paid for that redesign, it was way too much.
After you’ve voted and have explained all your votes, you can suggest a couple more categories. I may extend the contest another day.
* Now, on to our winners which I didn’t announce last week…
* Best Statehouse contract lobbyist goes to former state Sen. Dave Sullivan, who helped pass the civil unions bill…
He’s been representing Equality Illinois for many years. Well before the public polling finally reflected the changing attitude… Dave also played a large role in AT&T deregulation.
Honorable mention goes to Mike Kasper…
Has he ever not delivered for a client? And he does his job without most people even knowing he is working a bill. To me, that is what every client wants, success and anonymity.
* Best in-house lobbyist was a hands-down victory for Eileen Mitchell of AT&T…
59-0 and 118-0 for the biggest telecommunications bill in Il since 85 - in an election year, and in a Demcratic state speaks for itself.
Pat Devaney with the firefighters wins honorable mention…
Pat Devaney is extremely effective. Got his guys pulled out of the original two-tier [pension] bill. Everyone on the labor side of the debate followed Pat’s lead in negotitaing their reform bill and it was quite reasonable in the end.
* Best “do-gooder” lobster is Jonathan Goldman…
Jonathan Goldman led push in Springfield for education funding. Outside though, he tipped public and legislator opinion on TIF reform, which is pretty significant and did not go unnoticed in the capitol.
Dick Lockhart got a lot of votes, so he wins honorable mention…
His years of service alone should give him the award.
* Once again, the best Statehouse “insider” was no contest. Mike McClain…
Even if he isn’t lobbying the issue, Mike McClain knows more about how things are shaking out that the next 10 guys combined.
I think we may just name this award after McClain next year so somebody else can win it. The man can’t be topped.
Honorable mention goes to Bill Luking…
He won best lobbyist last year but he should definitely also be considered for Best Insider. All information flows through Bill. The first question he asks anyone he runs in to is “What do you know?”. All he does is collect information.
* Best state legislative secretary/admin assistant is Nancy Beaty in the Senate…
Hardworking, always pleasant no matter the circumstance, 4o years of dedicated service, which most of us will never come close to says it all!
Robin Gragg gets honorable mention…
She’s frank with you, but never mean (in fact, always in a good mood). She has a personality and warmth of a mother — but the toughness too.
And in the House, we may have to name this award after Beth Hamilton…
I know she’s won before, but I still have to go with Beth Hamilton. Efficient, super friendly and always tells you what you need to know. She’s so good, sometimes talking to her is even more effective than talking to Rep. Lang.
Honorable mention goes to Kristin Milligin…
She is the center of the whirlwind in Skip’s office and always knows what the real story is.
* We have a tie for best state Representative between Bill Black and Greg Harris. They both win…
This nomination is a “career” recognition, instead of a snapshot of this year, like Scorsese winning the Oscar for The Departed and not for Raging Bull, Goodfellas, etc. Black knew his job on the floor, knew his job for his district, and with all the drama, real or fake, no one can do it the way Black did. When you leave a void for the body, the caucus, and the district, you win.
And…
This year has to go to Greg Harris, for successfully spearheading the most significant bipartisan legislation of the year.
* Best state Senator is Don Harmon…
He has become THE mover and shaker in the Senate. Incredibly smart, hardworking and prolific. Has his fingers in every important issue moving through the Senate.
Gary Dahl wins honorable mention…
Senator Everyman. Didn’t need the Senate. The Senate needed him. Doesn’t take the pay and doesn’t have an ego.
* More and more people are saying privately that they believe Danny Davis will do what he usually does and pull the plug on his mayoral race, even though he was picked as the so-called “consensus” candidate by a large group of African-American leaders. ABC7’s Charles Thomas is so far unimpressed…
Pols began whispering doubts about Davis’ mayoral ambitions as long ago as his mid-November announcement. Many of the prominent Coalition members who named him their “consensus” candidate did not bother to show up.
And Davis’ Congressional colleague Rep. Bobby Rush–who was one of the original movers in the effort to rally financial and political backing around a single black candidate–announced his support for Carol Moseley Braun.
There is also whispered concern that Davis has not been able to raise enough cash for a campaign.
What Danny Davis does have is great name recognition, an admirable record serving Chicago in Washington and a voter base that stretches from the lakefront to the city limits on the west side.
What I’m sure he does not have is a lot of time between now and the February 22nd city election.
If he’s serious about running for mayor…he’d be advised to begin acting like it.
When Rahm Emanuel originally filed his 2009 Illinois tax return, he indicated he was only a “part-year resident’’ of the state that year, since he had moved to Washington D.C. to serve as President Obama’s chief of staff.
But after he decided to return to Chicago to run for mayor this fall — and after several people challenged whether he was eligible to run based on the fact that he hadn’t lived in the city for a full-year prior to the Feb. 2 election — he filed an amended return.
“The original return’s statements regarding part-year residency were not accurate and were inconsistent with our continued payments of Illinois estimated tax, both in the original 2009 return and subsequently,” the form reads. “The amended return makes clear that we were full year residents of Illinois in 2009 and it reports all of our income.”
Washington D.C. law requires payment of local income tax by individuals present in Washington for 183 or more days even if they are residents of another state, according to a statement from Emanuel spokesman Ben LaBolt. “Rahm’s tax return makes clear that he always remained a Chicago resident and continued to pay income taxes in Chicago in 2010, in addition to property taxes, maintaining car and voter registration in Chicago and being clear that he intended to return to Chicago once his service to President Obama was complete,” the statement said.
* Emanuel submitted hundreds of pages of documents for Tuesday’s hearing. I have a few of them. You can click here to browse through them. An e-mail exchange between Emanuel’s wife and the couple’s realtor makes it pretty darned clear that the two fully intended to return to Chicago to live.
* Speaking of his wife, the objectors want to call Amy Rule, Emanuel’s wife. Emanuel’s attorney objected, but it wasn’t his finest moment, to say the least…
We object strenuously, she is a mother of three young children,” said Michael Kasper, one of Emanuel’s attorneys. “It’s no secret they are in Washington D. C.”
That response brought catcalls from the room. “Where she lives!” one man shouted.
Objector Alice Coffey said it’s pertinent that Rule would have to fly from Washington to testify the family lives in Chicago. “Am I missing something?” Coffey said.
Morris warned Emanuel’s lawyers that the stipulation needs to cover all issues that might relate to Rule’s testimony.
“You’re going to have to comprehensively pursuade me” that Rule doesn’t need to be called, Morris said.
Morris said he would hold another status hearing at 9 a.m. Monday to address the stipulations.
Odelson responded Sunday with his own exhibits, including electric and gas bills for the house, which are in the name of the tenant, Robert Halpin, who briefly joined the race for mayor himself.
* Using video trackers is standard procedure in campaigns. But Rahm Emanuel’s trackers are going too far. For instance, one showed up at a private meeting between not-for-profit groups and rival candidate Gery Chico. When asked who he was, the tracker said he was just a private citizen interested in learning about Chico’s positions. Others, when confronted, denied at first that they were with Emanuel’s campaign. These are apparently college kids, so they’re really not at fault here. The Emanuel campaign is training them to deceive, and that’s just wrong…
Chico spokesperson Brooke Anderson responded to the Emanuel campaign’s claim that it was merely “attending a public event to see what is said about the campaign.”
“We would welcome Team Rahm to attend our public events,” Anderson said, “but they shouldn’t lie about who they are. And I would also point out that one of those was not a public event. It was a private meeting with nonprofit leaders. They [Rahm’s campaign] were not invited. They came anyway, and they misrepresented themselves.”
* The governor apparently wasn’t telling the truth earlier this month when he said he had asked for the resignations of all his cabinet members. He now admits he hasn’t…
Since winning election last month, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has said numerous times that he has asked top cabinet members to submit their resignations so he can review their work to see if they should stay on.
But on Friday, the governor acknowledged that he has yet to actually do so, saying he has been busy dealing with the state budget and plans to make personnel decisions “very shortly.”
“Every director is accountable, just like I am, and there will be a process this month of December and into January where we take a look at each director and visit with them, and we’ll have announcements to make as we go through this next couple of months,” Quinn said.
That’s a change from what the governor said last week after the Illinois Senate approved a measure aimed at ridding the state of hundreds of appointees put in place by his predecessor, disgraced ex- Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Quinn said then that he had already requested the resignations.
Oy.
* And after twice finding cash to keep it alive, Gov. Quinn will soon end the controversial Put Illinois to Work program…
Gov. Pat Quinn has poured $122 million in taxpayer money to keep afloat a temporary jobs program, but the investment has led to full-time work for less than 10 percent of the people taking part.
The governor made Put Illinois to Work a campaign centerpiece while seeking election, but now says he plans to shut it down in mid-January. Instead, Quinn said, he’ll focus on passing legislation to provide more incentives for businesses to hire new workers. […]
According to figures provided by the Illinois Department of Human Services, 26,000 people were able to land $10-an-hour jobs under Put Illinois to Work. But most of those positions lasted for just six months, and only 2,500 workers either got or have been promised full-time jobs — a less than 10 percent placement rate.
* Roundup…
* Proft’s perspective: One of the hats that former GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft now wears is that of a senior fellow/public policy with the officially nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute.
* My syndicated newspaper column is, in a word, glum…
I’ve been saying for the past couple of years that Illinois government is one of the biggest drags on our state’s economy. Now, a new survey shows just how true that is.
The survey was conducted in October and November by Illinois Partners for Human Service. It found that almost half - 49 percent - of private human service providers have laid off staff. Why? Because the groups are at least partially funded by the state and the state is a total deadbeat when it comes to paying its bills.
The group sent out its survey to 1,000 organizations, of which 282 replied. And just for those 282 respondents, 1,167 staff had been laid off. Even more frightening, those 282 providers were serving 118,000 fewer clients because of the state’s budget crisis.
Extrapolate those numbers out and the totals are truly gruesome. The survey found that the average human service provider laid off 13 percent of its staff. According to the organization, there are 400,000 human service workers in Illinois. If those layoff numbers hold up statewide, that’s about 52,000 people. Heck, even if it’s only half that, it’s still 26,000 people without jobs.
Imagine, for a moment, the reaction we’d see if an Illinois company announced it was laying off more than 20,000 people. It would be the greatest crisis ever. Except, it’s already happened and hardly anybody has noticed because it’s been done in dribs and drabs throughout the state without press releases or fanfare.
Of course, the object of these providers is to provide their clients with services like alcohol and substance abuse treatment, or caring for delinquent teens, or helping single moms find jobs, or the hundreds of other things these groups do to prevent Illinois from spiraling into Third World hell. According to Illinois Partners for Human Service, about 2 million Illinoisans receive services from private providers. That means we’re looking at hundreds of thousands of people who either cannot get services or are getting reduced services because of the state’s late payments.
The comptroller expects to pay off Fiscal Year 2010’s past-due bills in the coming days because of the tobacco bond proceeds. Fiscal Year 2010 ended in June. And Illinois Statehouse News reported last week that the state already has accumulated $5.3 billion in past-due bills from the current fiscal year, which isn’t even six months old.
Like any business, these service providers crave certainty above all else. But there’s no certainty in this environment. Far from it. Nobody knows when they’re going to get paid or when this all will end.
The larger providers have taken out loans to make payroll and purchase supplies, but even that lasts only so long. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, one of the largest providers in the state, exhausted its reserves and its credit line just before Thanksgiving because of overdue state bills. Only a late government intervention prevented mass layoffs and program shutdowns.
The smaller providers have no such reserves and can’t tap major lines of credit. These smaller providers reported to the human services partnership that they’ve even skipped payrolls to avoid layoffs and program closures. But they can do only so much. And even some of the large providers are not sure they can keep going much longer.
For a while, at least, some of the financial strain caused by the state might have weeded out the weaker or even less committed providers. Some providers have learned to cooperate with each other, rather than compete. They squeezed out the waste and the excess. They learned how to raise more private funds.
But in talking to those left standing, you get the distinct impression that the system is in real danger of collapse. So far, it’s pretty obvious that nobody in Springfield has been willing of late to make the tough choices.
Instead of cutting programs and/or raising taxes, they’ve exported the problem to these providers and other recipients of state money - schools, local governments, etc. Those recipients have then had to perform a sort of triage at the ground level and then hope for the best. That can only last so long. Triage is for emergencies, not chronic, yearslong treatment.
By refusing to inject any kind of certainty into the system, the state has created chaos and has endangered its entire network.
We’re spiraling down fast, and it’s our own fault.
* Chuck Sweeny’s latest column supports the idea of running a new Amtrak line through Rockford. That isn’t really a surprise. Chuck writes for the Rockford paper, after all. But he tries to put things in perspective for all those who constantly scream that rail spending is an extravagant waste of cash…
Let’s put that $26.2 million [to upgrade tracks for Chicago-to-Rockford passenger rail] in perspective: The state will spend $30 million in 2011 to remake just one mile of Illinois 2 into a four-lane, divided highway.
Seems pretty darned prudent.
* Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s Governor-elect Scott Walker continues to get hammered by his state’s media for giving up $810 million in high-speed rail money. Some of that cash is going to Illinois, and nothing peeves the cheeseheads more than when we get something and they don’t. From the LaCrosse Tribune…
Even you, Illinois, our cursed neighbors to the south: You’re getting $42.3 million from Wisconsin.
Scott Walker is thoroughly pleased to hand you this money, courtesy of the taxpayers of Wisconsin.
Walker wouldn’t listen to the feds. He wouldn’t listen to business leaders. He wouldn’t listen to transportation experts. He didn’t even have the courtesy to respond to repeated efforts by Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz to discuss the matter because, of course, Cieslewicz is a Democrat and mayor of the state’s capitol and second-largest city. Why bother.
When Walker promised during his campaign to create 250,000 jobs, we absurdly assumed that he meant to create them in Wisconsin. We didn’t realize he would provide such an economic boost for other states.
* By the way, the cash we’re getting from Wisconsin will go at least partly to upgrade capacity on the rail line between Dwight and Joliet…
“We are still working with USDOT to finalize details, but we hope to be able to put the funding toward capacity enhancements to the Dwight-Joliet portion of the Chicago-St. Louis corridor,” Josh Kauffman, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said Friday.
* I attended Hanover High School for a year back in the 1970s. The school, located in the northwestern corner of the state, had an unofficial fight song which we’d sing at every basketball game (the school killed off football right after I got there because of budget cuts). The ditty was sung to the Notre Dame fight song and when a class’ name was uttered, all those in attendance from that class would stand up and shout “Freshmen!” or “Seniors!” or whatever. Even the teachers got into the act…
Beer, beer for Hanover High
You bring the whiskey, I’ll bring the rye
Send the freshmen out for gin
And don’t let a sober sophomore in
Juniors never stagger
Seniors never fall
Teachers sober up on wood alcohol
Send the royal faculty right back to the bar for more
[Repeat]
The high school band even played it when they were at the games.
Times sure have changed. Kids would probably get expelled for singing that song today, and no way would any teachers join in.
* Anyway, I told you that story as a prelude to sharing this must-watch video made by students at Oak Park and River Forest High School. The kids have produced what can only be described as the best high school booster video ever…
In my opinion, it’s better than the original, but I do have to wonder what Gov. Pat Quinn would think of the repeated disses of his cherished alma mater Fenwick High.
