* It appears the governor’s Monday meeting with the credit ratings agencies went OK. From S&P Global…
The stable outlook reflects our view that Illinois’ likelihood of experiencing a liquidity crisis in the near term has subsided and therefore, so have the odds of its rating falling below investment grade.
So, no junk bond status anytime soon. At least not from S&P.
* Back to the report…
Outlook
Despite the current bill backlog and estimated deficit to end fiscal 2019, we anticipate that the state will retain sufficient cash flow to provide coverage of all core payments. In our view, the proposed seven-year extension of the pension plans’ amortization alone weakens the state’s pension funding. However, it remains possible that an asset transfer or passage of an income tax increase within the outlook horizon could offset what we would otherwise view as weak budgetary practices proposed in the fiscal 2020 budget. Additionally, we do not expect see a re-emergence of heightened political dysfunction but rather anticipate that the budget process will be more timely and constructive. The state’s strong bond payment provisions also offer some downside insulation to the state ratings. The current GO rating incorporates our view of the state’s longer-term vulnerabilities and remains the lowest possible rating within the investment-grade categories.
We’re just one notch above junk.
* With that in mind…
Illinois’ liquidity position is paramount to the rating. Downward rating pressure would likely ensue if Illinois’ bill backlog continues to climb or its liquidity position weakens to a level that jeopardizes its ability to timely finance core government services. Particularly given the state’s high fixed costs, depleted reserves, and prioritization of government services, we believe it has minimal cushion to weather a recession or other unrealized budget assumptions. If unaddressed, we expect that wider-than-currently forecasted budget gaps would likely exacerbate the state’s already strained liquidity. Given its tenuous fiscal position, near-term progress toward resolving its ongoing structural imbalance is critical to maintaining our investment-grade rating. If Illinois is unwilling or unable to pass a revenue increase within the next two years, absent significant expenditures cuts, we would likely lower the rating. Other key sources of potential downward rating pressure include further measures to reduce annual pension contributions, recognition of asset transfers in a way that undermines pension funding, and substantial growth in the state’s debt burden.
* Overall, though, if we’re all good little boys and girls, we may even see an increase in our credit score…
That said, Illinois’ credit rating is uncommonly low among the states, reflecting a confluence of its daunting long-term liability profile and persistent crisis-like budget environment in recent years. Any upside to its credit quality, however, remains constrained by its poorly funded pension systems and other outsized liabilities. But even with these, the state’s economic base could support a higher rating pending improvement in its fiscal operations and overall budget management.
If Illinois were to make sustainable progress toward structural balance, reducing its bill backlog, and growing reserves, we could raise the rating.
Discuss.
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* Gov. Pritzker was in Quincy today and was asked about whether he supports giving Western Illinois University some emergency state funding, above and beyond what’s in the current budget and what he’s asked to be appropriated next fiscal year. As you know, WIU announced 132 layoffs earlier this month…
We need to look at the availability of funds. As you know I’ve been crusading, in a way, to make sure that we are bringing the right amount of revenue to the state and that we’re finding proper cuts in state government so that we can meet our obligations. We now have a $3.2 billion budget deficit that we’re facing for the coming year. And I’m trying to not only get past that $3.2 billion, but also put us on firm fiscal footing forever and that’s why I put forward a plan for a fair tax for the state to make sure that the wealthiest pay more and 97 percent of the people will pay less.
He’s got his rap down for sure. But, um, what cuts is he talking about? He hasn’t really announced any.
The governor said he’s spoken with Western’s president since the layoffs were announced. He said no decisions were made during the meeting, but that he now has a better understanding of what’s going on there.
He also said he is “very close” to naming new trustees for the university. A majority of the board is vacant.
*** UPDATE *** Yeah, it’s not looking good for WIU…
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Question of the day
Thursday, Mar 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* SJ-R…
Country music legend Reba McEntire will close the Illinois State Fair with a Sunday night Grandstand show Aug. 18.
McEntire, who will be joined by singer-songwriter Rachel Wammack, has sold more than 56 million albums worldwide, is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and is one of only four entertainers to receive the National Artistic Achievement Award from the U.S. Congress. Her new album, “Stronger than the Truth,” will be available April 5.
* The Question: If you could pick one musical artist/band to perform at the Illinois State Fair, who would it be? Explain.
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PBMs Help Lower Prescription Drug Costs
Thursday, Mar 14, 2019 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are the primary advocate for consumers and health plans in the fight to keep prescription drugs accessible and affordable. By leveraging competition among drug-makers and drugstores, PBMs help 266 million Americans every year access needed medications. PBMs will save patients and payers $123 per brand prescription, help prevent 100 million medication errors, and negotiate prescription costs down nearly $26 billion in Illinois. That means better care for more people at a lower cost.
Think of PBMs as your advocates—they’re in your corner, clamping down on prescription drug hikes because your health is non-negotiable. Learn more at http://OnYourRxSide.org
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Tobacco 21 bill will head to governor’s desk
Thursday, Mar 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The rollcall is here. Senate Democrats…
Hoping a new governor results in a better outcome, the Illinois Senate overwhelmingly approved raising to 21 the legal age to buy cigarettes and alternative nicotine products, clearing the way for the proposal to go to Gov. JB Pritzker and become state law.
The 39-16 vote Thursday comes less than a year after the Senate approved an identical proposal only to have it vetoed by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner. Since then, the proposal has steadily picked up support.
“Everyone knows this should already be the law. Thankfully, we’ve got a new governor and a new chance to right past wrongs and make Illinois a healthier state,” said Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, a public health advocate and supporter of the Tobacco 21 legislation.
The key issue, Cullerton said, is preventing young adults from buying cigarettes for younger teenagers, who then become addicted and face a lifetime of increased health problems.
More than 30 Illinois communities have these restrictions in place. Evanston was first nearly five years ago. Others include Chicago, Normal, Barrington and Hoffman Estates.
“We’ve seen this work in Chicago and other numerous communities. I want to thank Mayor Rahm Emanuel for his work to not only improve public health in the city but to support our efforts here to do the same statewide,” Cullerton said. “It’s time for the state to step up and protect our children from this known danger.”
Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California and most recently Virginia have all enacted Tobacco 21 legislation. In Virginia, the bipartisan proposal was even backed by one of the nation’s largest tobacco companies.
The Illinois proposal, HB 345, is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Julie Morrison, a suburban Deerfield Democrat. Lawmakers have 30 days to send the paperwork to Gov. Pritzker’s office. He then has 60 days to sign or veto it.
…Adding… Tribune…
Pritzker’s spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1 includes $65 million in new revenue from proposals to increase the $1.98-per-pack cigarette tax by 32 cents and apply the state’s wholesale tobacco tax to e-cigarettes. The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment on how raising the legal purchasing age would affect those revenue estimates.
…Adding… From yesterday…
The soonest the Senate could vote on the legislation, House Bill 345, is Tuesday.
Normally, that would be the case. This time was different.
So, how did the House pass a House bill on Tuesday and the Senate pass it in two days when three days of reading are required? Well, it was three days. The Senate read the bill into the record late Tuesday, then immediately referred it to the Assignments Committee, which referred it directly to the floor the next day for 2nd Reading. The Senate skipped a substantive committee hearing because a Senate committee had already passed an identical bill. The legislation was then advanced to 3rd Reading and voted on today.
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Reproductive Health Act roundup
Thursday, Mar 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Public Radio’s Maureen Foertsch McKinney…
The new Illinois bill would cover reproductive health care, in addition to abortion, including pregnancy, miscarriage, contraception, sterilization, preconception care and any related services. It would repeal a mid ‘90s ban on partial birth abortion and require private health insurers to cover abortions.
Like New York’s law, the Illinois plan would lift a requirement that doctors be the only ones to perform abortions. It would allow other kinds of qualified health care providers, like nurse practitioners, to do the procedure. It would also bring up-to-date the 1975 Illinois abortion law that contained criminal penalties for doctors performing abortions. That could come into play should a conservative U.S. Supreme Court decide to overturn Roe v. Wade, the federal case that removed state prohibitions on abortion.
“People everywhere should have access to the full range of reproductive health and have that available without barriers. This is a healthcare procedure. This is about what the patient and the doctor decide is best for them, and, you know, if that’s considered a progressive notion, so be it,’’ said state Representative Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat and the bill sponsor.
She says laws on the books about abortion need to be modernized. “The very idea that a health care procedure is discussed and regulated under the criminal code is ridiculous.”
* Rebecca Anzel at Capitol News Illinois…
Illinois’ current abortion statute was passed into law in 1975. Legislators wrote their objective was to “reasonably regulate” abortion procedures to adhere with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.
Since then, though, courts have struck down several aspects of the Abortion Law, such as a ban on fetal experimentation, a prohibition on sex-selective abortion procedures, and a provision allowing the husband of a woman seeking the procedure to receive a court order barring her from doing so.
Illinois’ chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has also pointed out that the state’s law includes a provision allowing doctors to be jailed for performing an abortion procedure.
According to a memo prepared by the Thomas More Society, the Reproductive Health Act goes much further than bringing the state’s law up-to-date.
“A bill intended to repeal only unconstitutional provisions of Illinois law would have been half a page long, not 120 pages,” the memo’s author wrote.
* Rewire…
Another key provision of the Reproductive Health Act would allow advanced practice nurses and clinicians to provide in-clinic abortions. Current law only allows for physicians to provide these procedures while advanced practice nurses are limited to providing medication abortion. Allowing nurse practitioners to provide in-clinic abortions will increase the number of providers in the state, potentially meeting an increased demand should patients from surrounding areas continue to seek care in Illinois, said Liz Higgins, associate medical director of Planned Parenthood of Illinois.
“Adding in-clinic abortions for nurse practitioners would be a huge benefit of this bill,” Higgins said, noting that nurse practitioners already provide a range of reproductive health care, including IUD insertion and other gynecological procedures. “Limiting in-clinic abortions for advanced practice nurses is really just harming our patients by limiting access to health care in a timely manner.”
* In 1995, 4,853 girls under the age of 18 had abortions in Illinois. But with the passage of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995, that number is now 79 percent lower. That’s a much larger decrease than the 25 percent overall reduction of all abortions from 1995 to 2017…
According to the [1995] law, “Parental consultation is usually in the best interest of the minor and is desirable since the capacity to become pregnant and the capacity for mature judgment concerning the wisdom of an abortion are not necessarily related.”
But the sponsors of this legislation argued Tuesday the state should not legislate “the details of family life.”
“It never made sense to me that a minor can make other decisions — about carrying a pregnancy to term, about adoption, about sophisticated health care — without parental notification, but only if she seeks an abortion do we require this communication,” [Rep. Chris Welch] said. “We cannot pretend as elected officials that we can force ourselves into these situations because some disagree with a minor’s decision about their life.” […]
“It is unbelievable that the ACLU is joining Planned Parenthood in advocating to allow a child to make an irrevocable decision to kill another child without even a consultation with her parents,” [March for Life Chicago Board of Directors President Dawn Fitzpatrick ] said in an email.
* More on that angle…
As for the bill related to the parental notification, [Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville] asks what happens in a situation where a teenager goes through the process of having an abortion performed all alone and it leads to other complications.
“It is a medical procedure, and I think a parent or a guardian needs to know just in case something isn’t right,” he said. “I mean, something like depression wouldn’t be too surprising.”
* Protests are being held and a Statehouse rally is planned for next Wednesday…
About 500 people packed the Effingham Event Center Tuesday to oppose two bills that would provide greater access to abortion procedures in Illinois. […]
Attendee Michelle Delhaute McGowan, President of In His Hands Orphan Outreach. She said she attended because the proposed legislation greatly affects an orphan and adoption agency she runs.
“We’ve had women who were eight months pregnant when they came to us and both said they would have had an abortion but it was too late,” she said. “If these bills go through, other women in that situation will be able to abort these children that can survive outside of the womb.”
* Elizabeth Bauer at the Federalist…
To begin with, it wholly repeals IL 720, the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975. This law has been amended multiple times, including in 2017 (HB 40), but some minimal protections remained, so that current Illinois law permits post-viability abortions but requires that an attending or referring physician determine that it was “necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother,” in which case the doctor was required to document the particular medical indications for the abortion. It also requires that, if the baby would be capable of survival, the doctor use the abortion method “most likely to preserve the life and health of the fetus” and a second physician be available to provide medical care for any child born alive. These provisions would be entirely removed.
* Zorn…
The House bill, known as the Reproductive Health Act, “would basically enshrine abortion as a positive good in Illinois law,” says a critical memorandum released Feb. 21 by the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based conservative law firm.
No. It would enshrine access to abortion — abortion rights — as a positive good in Illinois law. It would enshrine female bodily autonomy as a positive good. It would enshrine the idea that the best person to solve the moral dilemmas associated with unwanted or seriously compromised pregnancies is the pregnant woman herself.
I’m thrilled about this legislation because I believe in reproductive choice. I believe it’s none of my business what a woman decides to do after she becomes pregnant. I believe that the very suggestion that women are casually obtaining late-term abortions because — whoops! — they just got around to making the appointment or have decided they really want to fit into that bridesmaid’s dress is offensively misleading and belies the wrenching, usually tragic circumstances.
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Because… Chicago!
Thursday, Mar 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the governor’s proposed budget…
Waste plastic in our environment is a serious concern posing a grave risk to fish and other wildlife in our water and other natural habitats. An excise tax on plastic bags, as suggested by the Governor’s budget transition committee, is one way Illinois can help to reduce the risk to wildlife. The state can reduce the use of plastic bags in check-out lanes and generate $19 million to $23 million in new revenue with a five-cent-per-bag tax depending on whether or not the City of Chicago, which already has a plastic bag tax, is exempted.
So, the object here is not necessarily to raise revenue (which is a rounding error on a rounding error), but to reduce the use of plastic bags. And because of that, the governor left open the possibility of exempting Chicago because it already has a bag tax and usage is already down.
* Both bills introduced in the House and the Senate exempt the city. And that, predictably, is not going over too well with some folks…
Chicago approved a seven-cent tax on plastic bags that went into effect in early 2017. Under [Sen. Terry Link’s] proposal, cities like Chicago, Oak Park and Evanston, that already enacted a bag tax, would remain exempt from any new state bag fees, and would not have to pay any portion of the current city tax to the state’s General Revenue Fund, essentially forfeiting the state’s potential to collect tax revenue from roughly a quarter of the state’s consumers.
“That’s bullsh*t,” Senator Chapin Rose responded. The Mahomet Republican called the plan “typical for the Democrats.”
“Exempt Chicago and let everyone else pay,” Rose said sarcastically. “Why not when you have supermajorities like this? Make downstate and the suburbs pay so Chicago can take their skim off the top.”
Also…
* And then there’s this…
The retail merchants also want a state bag tax to pre-empt any local ordinances — at least outside Chicago. […]
[Rob Karr of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association] says with so many companies operating in multiple jurisdictions, a patchwork of local rules would be a logistical and accounting nightmare.
In the end, this bag tax might very well turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth.
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* Illinois Policy Institute…
Persistent income tax hikes for decades have not been able to fix the state’s finances […]
Given the state’s income tax history, it is especially concerning that Pritzker’s proposed “fair tax” does not include any protection against future tax hikes for middle-class Illinoisans
A history of persistent income tax hikes? The income tax was increased in 2011, partially rolled back in 2015 and partially restored in 2017. The last time the General Assembly voted to raise the state’s income tax before all that was in 1989.
That’s thirty years ago, folks. In three decades, the income tax was raised once to 5 percent and it’s now at 4.95 percent.
It’s rare because it’s so darned difficult to do. Those who think it’s so easy must’ve missed that excruciating two-year fight over tax rates which ended with a bunch of House Republicans quitting. I mean, it was in all the papers.
* More…
The last state to implement a plan similar to Pritzker’s was Connecticut in 1996. State lawmakers made the same promises of middle-class tax cuts, property tax relief and increased spending on social services. But those promises were broken. The typical Connecticut family saw a 13 percent hike in their income tax rates, property tax burdens increased 35 percent, and the poverty rate increased 47 percent.
What they don’t tell you is that the marginal income tax rate on a typical Connecticut family rose from 4.5 percent all the way up to a totally ridiculous 5 percent in 23 years. Whew. Those poor, put-upon Connecticutans (Connecticutites? Connecticutians?).
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PBM oversight pushed as small pharmacists fume
Thursday, Mar 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release from yesterday…
Majority Leader Greg Harris, D-Chicago, is joining state Sen. Andy Manar to announce their efforts to rein in unfair insurance programs and regulate pharmacy benefit managers that dramatically increase out-of-pocket costs for patients at a press conference and rally on Wednesday March 13 at 2 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda.
“We need to put access to quality, affordable care over the bottom line of corporations,” Harris said. “The status quo is clearly broken when patients are seeing the out-of-pocket cost of their lifesaving medications more than double, simply due to unfair practices that help boost profits at the expense of patients.”
Harris introduced an amendment to House Bill 465, which makes various reforms aimed at lowering prescription drug costs for patients in Illinois. Harris’ measure defines and regulates pharmacy benefit manager (“PBMs”) practices within the State of Illinois; requires pharmacists to inform customers of a less expensive drug product for their prescription; protects consumers entering the emergency room from having coverage of treatment rejected; and prohibits insurers from adopting “copay accumulator programs,” that prevent manufacturer copay cards from reducing out-of-pocket expenses for patients.
“PBMs are billion dollar corporations that are currently operating with no oversight in Illinois,” Harris said. “Over 25 states have begun regulating PBMs including Indiana, Kentucky and Texas. It’s time for us to do the same in Illinois and create protections that will level the playing field and help reduce drug costs for patients.”
* Peter Hancock with Capitol News Illinois…
PBMs generally work on behalf of health insurance plans to negotiate drug prices and develop what are called “formularies” — rules that determine what drugs will be covered for particular conditions, and in some instances, under what conditions those drugs will be covered.
In addition, in the case of high-cost drugs, PBMs will often set a “maximum allowable cost” that limits how much pharmacies will be reimbursed for a particular drug.
Independent pharmacies complain those maximum allowable costs are often less than the wholesale price they pay to manufacturers to obtain the drug. They also allege that certain PBMs have direct ties to large, retail chain pharmacies, such as CVS Health, which operates the nation’s largest chain of retail pharmacies and provides pharmacy benefit management services. […]
“We agree with … Harris that more can be done to address rising drug prices,” [an association that represents PBMs, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association] said in a statement. “However, legislation HB 465, promotes the special interest agenda of the independent drugstore lobby while having adverse effects on drug costs for Illinois consumers.”
The association has also argued that it is not to blame for the closure of small, independent pharmacies. Those pharmacies, it said, are at a natural competitive disadvantage because they do not have the purchasing power to negotiate the same kind of prices with wholesalers that PBMs can negotiate.
More here.
* WAND TV…
Independent pharmacies in Illinois argue they are paid very little in dispensing fees for prescription drugs and often prices and fees eat up their profits. They warn that unless the legislature takes action many independent pharmacies will disappear which has happened in Lincoln and Logan County.
“If they are allowed to continue this practice, and allowed to stamp out competition, and drive prices up we should only expect that there are going to be fewer pharmacies as time goes on,” said Senator Manar.
In the past year independent pharmacies have closed in Lincoln, Taylorville and Mt. Zion.
* More context…
The Springfield-based Illinois Pharmacists Association says many owners of the state’s more than 500 independent pharmacies and smaller chains are being paid less than the “acquisition cost,” or wholesale cost, of the medicines they dispense to Medicaid patients.
Garth Reynolds, executive director of the association, says pharmacies also have seen their per-prescription “dispensing fee” from Medicaid, a fee designed to cover professional services, drop from $5.50 for generics and $2.40 for name-brand drugs under the previous “fee-for-service” system to the current 45 cents per prescription.
Advocates for managed-care organizations and PBMs say the managers save states money in their Medicaid systems. But advocates for pharmacy owners say Illinois’ less-than-transparent managed-care contracts conceal what may be unfairly high profits by PBMs that are being earned at the expense of independent pharmacies.
And because at least one PBM, CVS Caremark, is owned by the huge chain that operates CVS pharmacies, independent pharmacies say Caremark’s rate cuts may be designed to put independents out of business.
That CVS Caremark issue is huge.
* And this talking point from the PBM industry is probably not helping the industry deal with the lobbying by independent pharmacies…
Repeal any willing pharmacy provisions. Requirements that all pharmacies be included in Part D networks drives up costs and are unnecessary, given the network adequacy requirements. Congress should repeal the provision. A recent study showed that greater use of limited network pharmacies in Part D could generate $35 billion in savings over 10 years.
Everybody has pharmacies in their legislative districts. And many constituents love their local pharmacists. They are a potent force, but they’re rapidly declining.
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It’s just a bill
Thursday, Mar 14, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m wondering if he’d be open to amending this to include statewide candidates and legislative leaders…
A bill making its way through the Illinois Senate would prevent any presidential or vice-presidential candidate from appearing on state election ballots if they do not release their previous five years of tax return documents.
The Executive Committee passed state Sen. Tony Munoz’s Senate Bill 145 on a 13-4 partisan-line vote Wednesday after a brief discussion as to whether the bill runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution.
For Sen. Dale Righter, a Mattoon Republican, the answer was obvious.
“In my 22 years in the General Assembly, this might be the most clearly unconstitutional legislative proposal I have ever voted on,” he said.
But Jeff Radue, of the progressive advocacy group Indivisible Chicago, read from a statement made by Harvard Constitutional law scholar Lawrence Tribe, who said the mandated release of tax returns would not be unconstitutional.
* The Illinois Municipal League is opposed to this bill…
It started with a suburban homeowner’s desire to keep growing food in her Elmhurst backyard throughout the winter but has blossomed into a thorny battle pitting residents and advocacy groups against local government leaders — all haggling over whether Illinois residents have “the right to garden.”
The three-year fight between the Elmhurst homeowner and the city’s government made its way to the Illinois Senate Wednesday as the local government committee mulled a statewide solution to the underlying dispute.
Sponsored by state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, Senate Bill 1675 would allow Illinoisans, no matter in what municipality they reside, to construct temporary structures for gardening throughout the colder months, often referred to as “hoop houses.”
Hoop houses come in many shapes and sizes, but are generally foundationless structures enclosed by an opaque plastic membrane to keep in warmth and sunlight.
* SJ-R…
The head of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation would be appointed by the governor and approved by the Illinois Senate under a bill approved Wednesday by the Senate Executive Committee.
The legislation takes aim at the private foundation that has come under fire for spending millions of dollars on a collection of Lincoln artifacts, including a hat that purportedly belonged to Lincoln but whose authenticity has never been proven.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said Senate Bill 481 is intended to “reset” the relationship between the foundation and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. […]
Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, voted against the bill. He’s concerned about setting a precedent of the legislature getting involved with appointing people to lead private foundations.
“I’m not even sure where we have the authority to do that,” he said.
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* Yikes…
* What the heck is going on? Here’s Elyssa Cherney in the Tribune…
Most of the crashes occurred when it was dark outside, between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to the police agency. Injuries were reported in nine cases, besides Lambert’s, though state police could not specify who was injured in every instance. Previous years saw far fewer cases, with eight in 2018, 12 in 2017 and five in 2016.
“It is difficult to speculate what may be driving the surge of crashes,” state police Sgt. Delila Garcia said in an emailed statement. It could be a combination of factors, she said, including driving under the influence and driving too fast for conditions. […]
Since Lambert’s death, state police have seemingly stepped up enforcement of Scott’s Law and have sought to raise awareness through social media.
Between Jan. 1 and March, troopers issued 366 tickets for violations, compared with 138 for the same period last year. For all of 2018, troopers issued 881 citations, according to data provided by the agency. In many cases, troopers were parked and doing paperwork after a stop when vehicles whizzed past them, so the officers followed those drivers to write the tickets, said Garcia, the state police sergeant.
Go read the rest.
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