* From the Executive Inspector General…
The Executive Ethics Commission (EEC) recently issued a decision in which it fined former Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) employee Mark Doyle $154,056.10 for violating the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act’s revolving door prohibition. This is the largest fine ever assessed by the EEC for a violation of the Ethics Act.
Mr. Doyle had been responsible for overseeing the closure of State-operated developmental disability and psychiatric care centers and for moving the residents of these centers to community-based settings. To assist with these closures and transitions, IDHS had contracted with Community Resource Associates, Inc. (CRA). CRA was controlled by the same person as CRA Consulting (CRA-C), which had entered into a contract with the State of Georgia to perform similar services.
CRA-C offered Mr. Doyle an opportunity to work on the Georgia contract, but the OEIG restricted Mr. Doyle from accepting that job opportunity in a revolving door determination. The EEC affirmed the OEIG’s restricted determination based on Mr. Doyle’s personal and substantial participation in the award of the contract to CRA, which the EEC determined was essentially the same entity as CRA-C. In re: Mark Doyle (15-EEC-007).
About a month later, Mr. Doyle submitted a revolving door determination request to the OEIG to provide consulting work for another different entity called BennBrook, Inc. However, he did not disclose to the OEIG that BennBrook was contracting with CRA-C to do the same work in Georgia that the OEIG and EEC had previously found to be restricted. In this latest case, the EEC found that BennBrook was acting merely as a “pass through” organization or conduit for the improper compensation from CRA-C to Mr. Doyle, and thus violated the revolving door prohibition.
The $154,056 fine represents the amount Mr. Doyle billed to BennBrook for the year after he left State service. The Ethics Act provides that an employee may be fined up to 3 times the total annual compensation that was or would have been obtained in violation of the revolving door prohibition. The prior largest financial outcome in a case before the EEC also involved a revolving door case in which the former director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services agreed to pay $100,000 to settle the matter.
Doyle started working for IDHS in 2011, but he was detailed to Gov. Quinn’s staff via an intergovernmental agreement. He left in 2015. The EEC decision is here.
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Question of the day
Friday, May 10, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times editorial…
As part of an effort to build political support for a graduated income tax in Illinois, state Senate President John Cullerton has proposed repealing the state’s estate tax. His hope is that some Republicans and Downstate and suburban Democrats —who loathe a graduated income tax because it taxes wealthier people at higher rates — might warm to it in return for ending the estate tax, which they also loathe.
We think this is a bad idea.
At a time when our state and nation are threatened by historical levels of inequality, where the richest 1 percent hold 40 percent of the wealth, we can’t see the wisdom in eliminating one of the few direct ways to check this dangerously un-American trend.
There’s an argument for revising Illinois’ estate tax to make it less of a burden on, say, family farmers, by increasing the threshold at which it kicks in and pegging it to the rate of inflation. Since 2013, the graduated tax has been levied on estates valued at $4 million more. The first $40,000 to $90,000 is taxed at .8 percent, while values above $10.04 million are taxed at the highest rate, 16 percent.
Some Chicago Democrats also pushed for the bill after feedback from their constituents.
* The Question: Abolish, modify or keep the estate tax as it is? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
online polls
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Unclear on the concept
Friday, May 10, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Her dear friends would know how to spell Baar…
Also, her dear friends might’ve thought to invite some of her former staff to the ceremony.
…Adding… They deleted the tweet, but I figured they would so I saved it.
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* Illinois Policy Institute…
A small county in southwest Illinois is facing big pension obligations and the possibility that it won’t make payroll in late May.
Perry County faces a $1 million shortfall that is threatening its employees’ second payday in May. County leaders May 13 will consider recommendations to hike property taxes and fees, to curb spending, to lay off employees and to shorten their workweek.
“We basically need $1 million in the month of May just to meet payroll and to pay what bills we have left,” Perry County Treasurer Mary Jane Craft told WPSD-TV. “If we just meet payroll and not our bills, we still need $400,000.”
How did the county fall into crisis? Shrinking revenue and growing pension demands appear to be at the heart of the crisis.
Maybe we could address some of these problems by consolidating some of Illinois’ 102 counties. We talk about eliminating townships all the time, but counties spend real money and they’re all required by law to elect their own state’s attorneys, clerks, etc.
Tiny little Perry County has only 22,350 residents. That’s not even half a Chicago ward. Putnam County, the state’s smallest, has just 6,006 people.
The General Assembly could step in and redraw boundaries, but there is another way.
* From the Illinois Counties Code…
Sec. 1-4001. Petition to unite counties. Whenever any number of legal voters, not less than two hundred, one-half of such number being owners or life tenants of real estate, residing in any county in this State, shall petition the county board of their own county, for leave to have their own county united and annexed to any adjoining county, and shall also petition the county board of the adjoining county, to which they desire their county to be united and annexed, for leave to have their own county united and annexed to such adjoining county, it shall be the duty of the several county boards so petitioned, to order that the propositions provided for in this Division shall be submitted to the legal voters of their respective counties. The several county boards shall certify the propositions to the proper election officials who shall submit the question at a general election in accordance with the general election law. … Provided, that such proposition shall not be submitted or voted upon more often than once in 5 years.
Life tenants are defined here. The procedure for handling the mergers if approved by voters is here.
If nothing else, it would be fun to watch the hostile takeover attempts.
…Adding… The land-owning requirement probably isn’t constitutional for obvious reasons, but somebody ought to see if this could work.
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* Tim Novak…
A diamond engagement ring that former Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign manager bought for Quinn’s press secretary has become part of the federal investigation that’s resulted in extortion charges against longtime Chicago Teamsters boss John Coli Sr., the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
The FBI is trying to determine who paid for the ring, which former Quinn press secretary Brooke Anderson got nearly four years ago from her husband Lou Bertuca, the governor’s 2014 campaign manager.
The key witness against Coli, Alexander S. Pissios, whose Cinespace Chicago Film Studios got millions of dollars in state grants under Quinn’s administration, has told the FBI he contributed $500 towards the purchase of the ring.
Pissios, president of the West Side studio where TV shows including “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Fire” are shot, secretly agreed to cooperate with federal investigators to avoid being charged with bankruptcy fraud. He has an unusual “non-prosecution” deal in return for his cooperation.
Pissios told the FBI that he helped pay for the ring at the suggestion of his lobbyist Frank Cortese, who helped convince the Quinn administration to award Cinespace state grants totaling $27.3 million. […]
But the new governor forced Pissios to give back the [last $10 million grant] after the Sun-Times reported that the land Cinespace said in its grant application it needed the money to buy wasn’t for sale. […]
The federal grand jury that indicted Coli issued subpoenas to the governor’s office last August, seeking personnel files for Bertuca, Anderson and John D’Alessandro, another former Quinn official. Pissios has told authorities D’Alessandro was helpful in securing the state grants.
Gov. Quinn denies any knowledge of the alleged gift and nobody else would talk. Background on some of these characters from four years ago is here.
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* Press release…
After conducting a national search to continue building a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointment:
Rob Jeffreys will serve as Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). Jeffreys is a nationally-recognized criminal justice expert with correctional experience spanning more than two decades. He spent 21 of his 24 years in corrections management at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
Jeffreys currently serves as the agency’s chief of staff and directs its Information Technology and Strategic Initiatives bureaus as well as the Office of Human Resources that supports more than 12,000 employees. Previously as ODRC’s Regional Director, he managed the operations of eight adult prisons and the Adult Parole Authority across 20 counties, oversaw 25,000 offenders and 3700 staff and managed an annual budget of $340 million.
As Bureau Chief of Classification and Reception at ODRC, Jeffreys provided population management for over 50,000 offenders based on trends, research, and data analysis variables. From 2007 to 2010, he was sent on a special assignment under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) as a National Prison Security Program Coordinator with the National Institute of Corrections in Washington D.C., developing programs and assessments for over 26 federal and state agencies in the areas of security operations, security audit training, staffing analysis, emergency preparedness, prison management, and technical assistance.
He also served as Warden for correctional institutions in Chillicothe and Marion, Deputy Warden in Toledo and in various positions at ODRC’s St. Clairsville facility. He began his career as a corrections class specialist in ODRC’s Bureau of Research. Jeffreys received both his Master of Science and Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
His LinkedIn page is here. Impressive.
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* Grant Morgan…
If the state of Illinois wants more revenue from video gambling, one gaming industry executive said Thursday, lawmakers should loosen betting restrictions rather than raise video gambling tax rates.
Ivan Hernandez, who heads the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association, offered that proposal to the state House Executive Committee, which is considering several alternatives for increasing state revenue from video gambling. […]
Video gambling machines are taxed at 30%, with the remaining money split evenly between the machine operator and the establishment housing the machines. Pritzker’s plan would increase the state’s tax rate to 50%, resulting in more than $100 million in new revenue for state and local governments. […]
Elements of Hernandez’s proposal include raising the bet limit on single plays from $2 to $4, increasing the maximum winnings on a single play from $500 to $1,199, allowing games with higher jackpots, and increasing the number of gambling terminals allowed at one location from five to six.
Those measures, Hernandez said, would create $210 million in new tax revenue the first two years, without changing the tax rates.
I dunno. Maybe they can combine the two ideas somehow, while exempting small establishments from an increase and then give local governments a bigger share of the take for property tax relief or something.
As with sports betting, cannabis, etc. I think the more they’re talking about details, the better the prospects are. But only up to a certain point. May 31st is three weeks from today. That’s almost an eternity in General Assembly World, but it’s still just 21 days away.
…Adding… It’s Ivan Fernandez, not Ivan Hernandez. Hannah Meisel got the name right and has this context…
Along with the revenue enhancements, video gaming operators also floated the idea of allowing the state to use additional revenues to plug budget holes for the first two years, and assuming a progressive income tax passes — Pritzker’s number one priority — the money could then be funneled to “vertical” infrastructure projects, like building and maintenance of new construction projects around the state.
Those vertical projects are being pushed hard by colleges and universities, who point to old buildings as evidence the state hasn’t properly invested in every aspect of higher education.
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Garbage in, garbage out
Friday, May 10, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Anybody see any problems with this question in a poll sponsored by an anti-legalization group?…
QUESTION: Currently, possessing 10 grams of marijuana – enough for about 30 joints - is not a crime in Illinois. Instead, it is a civil violation like a traffic ticket. Many people call this policy “decriminalization.” Medical marijuana use is also legal in Illinois. Knowing that personal marijuana possession is already decriminalized in Illinois, which one of the following marijuana policies do you prefer:
- Keep the current policy of decriminalization and medical marijuana
-Keep the current policy of decriminalization and medical marijuana but also allow for past misdemeanor marijuana convictions to be expunged
-Change the current policy of decriminalization by legalizing commercial production, use and sale of marijuana for recreational use
-Make all marijuana use illegal
Allow me to try.
1) Thirty “joints” in ten grams (about three-eighths of an ounce)? I haven’t rolled one of those in a very long time, but that seems like a lot. I checked the Google and California retail establishments sell pre-rolled joints of 1 gram each. So 10 grams would produce 10 California pre-rolls. I did see some articles about how joints are as small as .33 grams, but I think those would be what are commonly known as “pinners.”
2) That’s a pretty darned detailed setup question, but it doesn’t mention that decriminalization leaves the current criminal growing and distribution network in place. Maybe I’m just asking too much on this one, though.
3) Decrim and medical are explained in the setup, but not legalization. This is truly a classic push question.
4) As far as I know, nobody has introduced a stand-alone exoneration bill, so I’m not sure why that was even tossed in there.
5) Exonerations are included in the legalization bill, but that isn’t mentioned for some mysterious reasons only known by the pollster and its anti-legalization sponsor. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And no mention of tax and fee income and new jobs from legalization even though everybody knows the state needs more revenue and employment?
Yeah. Totally reliable. The pollster is good, the question is most definitely not.
Also, they didn’t release their other questions, so we don’t know what came before that one. Some polls intended for media consumption ask highly leading questions before dropping the big one on respondents.
Also too, collar county respondents were more in favor of legalization than Cook County respondents? I have difficulty believing that.
And support has suddenly plunged?…
Just under half (47%) of those under 50 favored legalization, while a little over a third (36%) of those over 50 supported it. Both Democrats and independents were more likely to favor legalization than Republicans. The favorability was almost evenly split between white and African-American respondents, with 41% of white voters saying they support it, and 44% of black voters saying they support it. But there were more white respondents polled than African American — 74% to 16%.
The favorability rating is down from a poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted in March by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. In that poll, the highest level of support for legalizing marijuana came from Chicago, where 75% favored it, and 24% were opposed. Statewide, 66% of respondents favored or strongly favored legalization, while 32% opposed it, the Simon institute poll found.
Different pollster, much different questions, hugely different reasons for the two polls, so you cannot compare the two.
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Vaccinate your kids!
Friday, May 10, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Researchers who in 2015 correctly predicted where the Zika outbreak would strike in the U.S. say they think the country’s next big measles outbreak is most likely to happen in Cook County.
A research project spearheaded by Sahotra Sarkar, a University of Chicago-educated professor at the University of Texas at Austin, revealed the 25 counties most at-risk for a widespread measles outbreak, like those seen in Washington, Oregon and New York. Sarkar and his former student, Lauren Gardner of Johns Hopkins University, determined Cook County was the most at-risk for an outbreak. That’s based largely on the number of airplane flights to Chicago from global destinations where parents increasingly don’t have their children vaccinated, he said.
“Cook County turns out to be as important as it is, mainly because of the presence of O’Hare Airport,” Sarkar said.
The study was published Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The research took about six months to complete, using risk assessment models similar to one Sarkar and Gardner used when they determined Zika, a mosquito-carried virus that can cause serious birth defects, would first affect Texas and Florida when it emerged as a global threat to pregnant women.
Rachel Rubin, a senior medical officer with the Cook County Health Department, wasn’t surprised by the study’s findings. The seven measles cases reported in Illinois this year likely stemmed from one person who was infected overseas and traveled back to Illinois, she said.
The top 25 counties are here. The study is here.
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* The governor’s decision to use all of the projected FY20 revenue growth resulting from the unexpected April revenue spike to make the state’s full statutory pension payment and not short it by $900 million is going over well in New York, reports Karen Pierog at Reuters…
Carol Spain, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings, which rates Illinois BBB-minus, said the stronger revenue projections and the decision not to extend the pension amortization period “increases the likelihood of near-term credit stability.”
“However, the state still faces rising pension costs beyond fiscal 2020, and we expect that the state will continue to struggle to structurally balance its budget while making progress on its bill backlog absent any significant revenue increase or cuts,” she added.
Ted Hampton, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, which rates Illinois Baa3, said, “putting more money into Illinois’ pensions sooner, in our view, would prove better for the state’s credit than any form of financial engineering that reduces near-term contributions.”
Eric Kim, an analyst at Fitch Ratings, which rates Illinois BBB with a negative outlook, said that lowering or delaying payments under the current inadequate pension schedule “was going to be negative from our perspective.” Suspending the plan for at least a year “is a good step,” he added. He also welcomed news that the higher April revenue will help address a $1.6 billion deficit in the state’s current budget.
Illinois is nowhere near out of the woods yet. But credit where credit is due (pun intended).
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