Concurrence, with reservations
Friday, Nov 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I agree with much of this Tribune editorial…
The solution to CPS’ crisis is the same as the solution to the state’s budget crisis: a deal among Madigan, Cullerton, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the man who would sign it into law: Gov. Bruce Rauner. What should be on the table? Deeper central-office spending cuts at CPS. The closing of half-empty schools. Teachers should agree to pay their share of pension contributions, so CPS no longer has to pay its share and most of the teachers’ share.
Rauner has offered to help. If the state is to somehow come up with more money for CPS, or extend the terrible practice of delaying pension contributions, Chicago Democrats have to start making concessions on his political and economic reform agenda. He’s determined to reduce the structural costs of government and boost the economic climate in this state. Rauner is ready to deal.
But he’s not ready to cave. On Monday, Rauner reminded Democrats that “misguided state policies” caused CPS’ plight. These are policies they championed, policies for which they voted.
Does that sound like a governor about to crack because Democrats in Chicago and Springfield refuse to cut a deal with him? We don’t think so either.
Democrats have to deal with Rauner. They have to — eek! — compromise with him if they hope state taxpayers will rescue CPS.
You want something? Give something. If you don’t like what the governor is offering, make another suggestion.
The Democrats do need to start making some politically doable counter proposals rather than just allowing the governor to constantly negotiate against himself. It’s the only way we’re ever going to find out if Gov. Rauner really does want to make a deal, as the Tribune believes, or whether, as many Democrats believe, he’s only interested in busting unions.
* On the other hand, the Democrats are right to be wary of what could happen to them if they start negotiating before the candidate filing period concludes at the end of this month. They could wind up with primary opponents and a union base that’s so angry at them for caving that they wouldn’t be able to adequately defend themselves.
I also highly doubt that very many legislators of either party would be willing to agree to a tax hike before that filing period ends - and make no mistake, a tax hike is almost assuredly at the end of this ugly highway.
We’re gonna be stuck in the muck for a while longer, campers.
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* Expect numerous updates to this press release…
Governor Bruce Rauner issued an amendatory veto today of House Bill 2482.
Similar to Senate Bill 570, the proposed legislation concerning the Child Care Assistance Program, HB 2482 would have unintended consequences that would negatively impact the state’s long-term ability to serve individuals in need.
“These bills may be well-intentioned, but they are ultimately harmful to the programs they are trying to help,” Rauner spokesman Lance Trover said. “The governor understands and shares the frustration of members who want to fund these programs, but the appropriate way to do so is in the context of a truly balanced budget. As drafted, both pieces of legislation would create serious problems that jeopardize the future of the Child Care Assistance Program as well as services for the elderly.”
House Bill 2482 would lock into statute that an individual who qualifies for assistance is entitled to institutional care. Additionally, the approach contemplated by this legislation puts the state’s compliance with Medicaid waiver regulations and ability to maximize federal match funds at serious risk.
As noted in the governor’s veto message House Bill 2482 “takes a step in the wrong direction… For too long, Illinois has over-prescribed institutional care to lower-need individuals when less expensive and more appropriate care options are available. In order to provide the best particular care for each individual, to ensure that our support services remain affordable, and to maximize the number of individuals served, we must rebalance the services being provided with greater precision. Prescribing institutional care for individuals who do not need it is wrong for the individual and wrong for taxpayers. Moreover, over-prescribing institutional care is inconsistent with the direction being taken across the country.”
Bill No.: HB 2482
An Act Concerning Public Aid
Action: Amendatory Veto
Note: Veto Message Below
Veto Message
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate,
99th General Assembly:
Today I return House Bill 2482 with specific recommendations for change.
The State of Illinois provides important support services to elderly and disabled individuals through the Community Care Program, the Home Services Program, and State-funded nursing care. At a time when the State is struggling to afford its past promises, we have an obligation to make the economic and government reforms needed to continue providing these services to the neediest among us.
Unfortunately, while well-intentioned, House Bill 2482 takes a step in the wrong direction. The bill would lock into statute that an individual with a particular threshold score on the Determination of Need (DON) assessment tool would be eligible for both institutional and home and community-based long term care services. Instead, an individual with the threshold score should be entitled to institutional or home and community-based care. Retaining flexibility to determine whether an individual is eligible for institutional or home and community-based care – as opposed to both – will ensure that the State is compliant with Medicaid waiver regulations and protocols and maximize federal matching funds.
For too long, Illinois has over-prescribed institutional care to lower-need individuals when less expensive and more appropriate care options are available. In order to provide the best particular care for each individual, to ensure that our support services remain affordable, and to maximize the number of individuals served, we must rebalance the services being provided with greater precision. Prescribing institutional care for individuals who do not need it is wrong for the individual and wrong for taxpayers. Moreover, over-prescribing institutional care is inconsistent with the direction being taken across the country.
Therefore, pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 2482, entitled “AN ACT concerning public aid”, with the following specific recommendations for change:
On page 10, line 17, by replacing “institutional and” with “institutional or”; and
On page 21, line 5, by replacing “institutional and” with “institutional or”; and
On page 50, line 21, by replacing “institutional and” with “institutional or”; and
On page 55, line 17, by replacing “institutional and” with “institutional or”.
With these changes, House Bill 2482 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR
…Adding… The bill received 74 votes in the House, including Republicans Batinick, Bryant, Hammond, Jesiel, McAuliffe and Unes.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Rep. Batinick just said that in his opinion, an amendatory veto is better than a total veto, but he won’t make a decision until he talks with supporters about how far-reaching Rauner’s change of “and” to “or” will be.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Chief House sponsor Rep. Greg Harris via text…
The Rules Committee will first have to determine if the Amendatory Veto is compliant with constitutional requirements. I will carefully review the language to see if the changes protect the needs of all of our seniors and persons with disabilities in community based, supportive living, nursing homes and other care settings. It is critically important that fragile and vulnerable people are not put at risk.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From Denise Gaines, legislative director, SEIU Healthcare Illinois…
“Bruce Rauner’s own history of abuse and neglect when it comes to nursing homes under his control should strike fear in the hearts of anyone affected by these changes, which ultimately limit choice for Illinois seniors and preserve Rauner’s own power to arbitrarily kick people off the program.
“Once again, Rauner is taking vulnerable Illinoisans hostage in pursuit of his extreme, non-budgetary political agenda. Today, it’s nursing home residents. This amendatory veto is unacceptable and we call on legislators to override it when they convene on Nov. 10th.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Sen. Daniel Biss via text…
HB2482, which passed with strong support in both chambers, is provided needed protections to seniors and people with disabilities. While we are still reviewing Governor Rauner’s language, I will be watching closely to ensure that we protect the ability of those who most need long term care to choose the most appropriate services.
…Adding More… So, here is what the original bill said…
Individuals with a score of 29 or higher based on the determination of need (DON) assessment tool shall be eligible to receive institutional and home and community-based long term care services until such time that the State receives federal approval and implements an updated assessment tool.
So, under this AV, people would be eligible to receive institutional or home and community-based long term care services.
The trouble is, lots of seniors bounce around between those services. They’re receiving home care, they fall and break their hip, they go to the hospital and are released to a nursing home, then they eventually head back home.
How can you make this a purely “or” situation? Do they have to reapply? Do they just get one and not the other?
I have a call into the governor’s office to explain this. I’ll let you know what they’re saying.
*** UPDATE 5 *** So, according to the governor’s office, the example I used above wouldn’t be covered by their AV. This is for permanent care, not temporary bouncing around, I’m told. They also claim to have the support of several advocates for home and community-based care, which might explain the muted response so far from Democrats.
*** UPDATE 6 *** From the Health Care Council of Illinois (nursing home lobby)…
Governor Rauner’s Amendatory Veto of House Bill 2482 eliminates medical care for Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens. Rauner’s view of the future of long term care for people who cannot dress themselves or manage their own medication is to keep them isolated in an apartment with assistance of a part-time housekeeper.
Rauner’s amendatory veto strips away 24-hour skilled medical care and replaces it with a few hours a week of housekeeping chores. This move is strictly about money and politics, and not about the care needs of elderly people. With one pen stroke, elderly people and their families lost the right to choose the best health care setting based on their individual health care needs and family circumstances.
The Health Care Council of Illinois calls on members of the General Assembly to override this Amendatory Veto and uphold dignified medical care for our most vulnerable citizens.
Pat Comstock
Executive Director
Health Care Council of Illinois
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Our childish, cartoon world
Friday, Nov 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* David Rutter…
(T)he original “GI Joe” was manufactured, a Faux Joe character designed to sell comic books and toys.
He was never real.
And neither was Joe Gliniewicz.
Too much about our society isn’t real. Our public discourse is too often based on way too little information and way too much ideology, all intensified by our too-quick reactions in an age when everybody has access to their own online megaphones.
Many of us in this Statehouse business got a close look at how this works when Barack Obama ran for President. He was quickly turned into a cartoon character that few of us recognized. Hero or villain, that just wasn’t the person we knew.
Cartoon versions of reality abound. Just read any newspaper comment section for two minutes (or more than a few newspaper opinion pages), or browse your Facebook feed. It’s not only disappointing, but downright dangerous that so many people choose to live in their own black and white fantasy worlds and forcefully believe that everyone else should, too.
* Greg Tejeda…
Now I’m not about to tag “crooked cop” all over Gliniewicz’s name. Personally, I think anybody who is obsessed with doing so is missing the point. They’re definitely wasting their time.
Although I do find some contempt for those people who got all bent out of shape by those who initially challenged the image of a “heroic cop” for Gliniewicz. Those were the people so eager to constantly deify police officers that they can’t accept the reality I came to a long time ago when it came to my dealings as a reporter-type person with law enforcement officials.
They’re human beings! Just like everybody else.
We are, indeed, all just human beings. We’re all a little different and strange in our own dark little corners. Even so, most of us try to do good things. For all his many faults, Gliniewicz was locally beloved for his good works before he killed himself because of his bad works.
Human beings are not gods. We shouldn’t declare our “faith” in them. We should recognize that, once we’ve grown into adulthood, everybody will occasionally disappoint, some much more than others. It’s simply the reality of being an adult and part of the oftentimes puzzling beauty of living on this planet.
/rant
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All over the place
Friday, Nov 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP at 8:09 am on October 30th…
A spokeswoman for Gov. Bruce Rauner says Illinois environmental officials are working to abide by new federal power plant limits that are being challenged by more than two dozen other states.
Rauner responded cautiously after the early August unveiling of President Barack Obama’s much-anticipated Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from domestic power plants.
Spokeswoman Catherine Kelly tells The Associated Press the Illinois EPA “is still reviewing the rule and determining potential compliance pathways.”
* Greg Hinz on October 30th…
After months of holding fire, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Rep. Tammy Duckworth is ripping GOP incumbent Mark Kirk on what has been one of his traditional strengths in this left-leaning state: the environment.
In a statement, Duckworth spokesman Matt McGrath accused the incumbent of “gestures (that) do not get emptier than this” and charged Kirk with trying to kill a needed clean-power plan.
But Team Kirk suggested Duckworth is trying to curry favor with green groups that are helping finance her campaign and described the senator as an “aggressive” advocate of cleaning up the Great Lakes.
At issue is Kirk’s decision earlier in the week to formally oppose the limits on power plants proposed by President Barack Obama. The president says the limits are needed to curb greenhouse gases and carbon pollution, but conservatives say there would be a big economic cost, with Kirk citing the potential impact on Illinois’ coal industry.
* AP at 1:07 pm on October 30th…
A spokeswoman for Gov. Bruce Rauner says Illinois officials are still reviewing their options regarding federal power plant limits being challenged by more than two dozen other states.
Rauner responded cautiously after the August unveiling of President Barack Obama’s much-anticipated Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from domestic power plants.
Spokeswoman Catherine Kelly says the Illinois EPA “is still reviewing the rule and determining potential compliance pathways.”
The governor’s office says the AP made a mistake with its original report and the second story is the accurate one. An AP employee didn’t respond to an e-mail asking for clarification, but the quote remained the same, so I’m betting it was an error. Either way, the governor can take action without legislative authority here and he is one of just a tiny number of governors who won’t say where they stand.
* Hinz on November 4th…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today joined attorneys general from 17 other states in seeking to intervene in a case pending before a U.S. Court of Appeals that could block proposed anti-carbon pollution rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The rules have been bitterly attacked as an over-reach by much of the power industry, with attorneys general from other states moving to overturn them in court.
* The usually staunchly pro-coal Southern Illinoisan on October 31st…
Thumbs up to the Rauner administration for its willingness to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency clean air standards.
More than two dozen states are suing the federal agency, looking to upend the limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Illinois, however, is researching ways to comply, according to Rauner’s staff.
Climate change is real. And policies such as the EPA’s are an appropriate response.
* Kurt Erickson today…
Lawmakers who represent Illinois coal country are bristling at Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s decision to support the Obama administration’s new clean energy rules.
With the rules expected to impact coal production and coal-burning power plants, members of the Illinois House and Senate say jobs in their downstate districts could be lost if the administration beats back a challenge from states that oppose the regulations.
“It does strike a chord with me. I don’t appreciate that,” state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said Thursday. “I want Lisa Madigan to be attorney general for the whole state. We are one big state. We cannot live without these coal jobs.”
Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in coal production, with nearly 5,000 miners earning an average salary of about $85,000 per year. The number of miners has been reduced by more than half over the past 20 years because of increased regulation and mechanization.
Phelps represents Saline County, one of the top coal producing counties in Illinois.
* Meanwhile, in a seemingly unrelated development…
Dynegy says it’s closing its Wood River [coal-fired] Power Station in southern Illinois because of economic reasons.
The company said in a news release Wednesday it’s closing the 465-megawatt facility in Alton because of its “uneconomic operation” in a “poorly designed wholesale capacity market” in central and southern Illinois. That system, the company said, doesn’t allow generators to recover costs.
The facility has to compete in capacity auctions, Dynegy said, with plants in other states with regulated markets and higher guaranteed compensation.
“Mixing these two regulatory regimes together in the same capacity auction puts all generating units in central and southern Illinois at financial risk regardless of fuel type, shifting jobs and the economic benefits of hosting generating plants from central and southern Illinois to neighboring states,” Dynegy said.
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Paper makes exception to its impasse support
Friday, Nov 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Southern Illinoisan’s editorial board appears to be having an identity crisis.
This is from an October 30th editorial blasting former Gov. Jim Edgar for publicly advising Gov. Bruce Rauner to focus on a “doable” solution to the impasse…
But Illinois can’t continue running up massive debts and spending billions more than it brings in. Taxpayers need relief. Union power must be brought under control. Widespread inefficiency throughout state government must be streamlined.
Reimagining what’s “doable” will cause strife throughout Illinois in the short term. Any paradigm shift causes a tremor or two.
Edgar’s shot at his fellow Republican shows, yet again, just how pervasive the dogma that brought Illinois to its knees is within the old guard.
Rauner has no choice but ignore what Edgar considers “doable.” He’s instead operating with “what must be done.”
* Fast-forward to today and they’re no longer all-in on the impasse. They want local Republican state Rep. Terri Bryant to vote for the child care funding bill, regardless of the impact on the state’s fiscal position…
We’ve supported much of Rauner’s controversial “Turn Around Agenda.” Worker’s Compensation Insurance is too costly to businesses in Illinois. A freeze on property taxes would force constantly expanding local governments to right-size. But Rauner’s CCAP cuts, essentially locking out 90 percent of would-be participants, would drive single mothers out of the workforce. It would expand the welfare rolls. It would, ultimately, cost Illinois more than it saves. […]
(W)hen asked Thursday whether she’ll support the bill already approved by the Senate, Bryant tap-danced around an answer.
“If the state doesn’t have the money, how genuine is it to cast a vote to fund it?” Bryant queried, leaving us with the sense that she’s leaning against the Democratic legislation. […]
Growing pains are required. Illinois cannot continue to trod on as it has for decades, amassing debt and pumping cash into a failing pension system. We get it, governor.
But gutting CCAP is a master class in counterproductivity. Terri Bryant should do all she can to assure Illinois’s women get a fair shake.
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* From the Daily Chronicle…
There are approximately 490 nonprofit organizations in DeKalb County, according to information Dawn Littlefield, executive director of Kishwaukee United Way, presented. Not only do some of them provide social services or other aid to thousands of residents, collectively, they employ about 7,000 people.
But Littlefield said many agencies are in financial distress. Her parent agency, United Way, reports that more than 60 percent of the county’s nonprofit organizations, which do such things as provide services to working families and battered women, aid seniors in independent living, and serve as resources for low-income individuals and families, have enough cash to last no more than three months. Another 20 percent have less than a month’s cash on hand. Program, service and staff cuts have been made at nearly half of the service agencies and at least 1 in 8 have closed programs altogether.
“I can’t stand here and say to you tonight that Safe Passage is going to be able to go on after January or February,” said Mary Ellen Schaid, executive director of the domestic and sexual abuse advocacy organization.
* From the Telegraph…
Francis Gonzales, an Alton senior, said he relies on SSP’s Meals on Wheels programs to deliver hot meals to his home. Since the budget impasse, SSP has had to cut drivers from the program and drop the meal deliveries from five days a week to only two. The organization currently serves 630 seniors in 22 townships and has a waiting list of 110 people.
…Adding… McDonough County Voice…
Delays in Medicaid payments due to the state budget impasse are negatively impacting access to mental health services, said Kenny Boyd, president and CEO of the McDonough District Hospital. Boyd said North Central Behavioral Health services in Macomb has had to cut back to “bare bones” due to Medicaid payment delays, so MDH is experiencing a large influx of new patients. The hospital has had 100 new clients apply for its Behavioral Health Services this month, and cannot take new ones for at least another month. He said the behavioral health unit is struggling to even handle its emergency services.
Boyd said MDH has worked with Macomb Police Chief Curt Barker and Sheriff Rick Van Brooker for the past six to eight months to try to manage an increasing number of people with mental health issues getting jailed. Boyd said the Medicaid payment problems have caused patients who need services to “ping-pong” between the mental health system, jail and the community.
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The McCarter plot thickens
Friday, Nov 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Uh-oh…
In the months leading up to his announcement that he’s seeking a congressional seat, state Sen. Kyle McCarter spent more than $33,000 from his state campaign fund on a political consultant.
He used that state account to pay the consultant even though he wouldn’t be facing re-election as a state senator until 2016.
That same consultant — Elizabeth Van Holt, owner of Isaiah Consulting in Downers Grove — showed up with McCarter when he announced his congressional candidacy on Oct. 7 in Highland.
Here’s the rub: Money from a state campaign fund isn’t supposed to be used for a federal campaign. […]
“This is an attempt by those opposing me to make something of nothing,” said McCarter, a Republican from Lebanon. “If there was anything wrong, I wouldn’t have done it. This was an eight-month contract that I had with Isaiah, and it pertained to my position in the state.”
He’s challenging an incumbent (John Shimkus) in a primary, so things are gonna get brutal. And he doesn’t have a whole lot of friends in Illinois politics, so it’s not like allies will be streaming to his side.
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Illinois’ “most unusual” ancestry
Friday, Nov 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I know quite a lot of Assyrians, so this popped out at me…
Based on Census data, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the percentage of state residents who identify as one of 158 different ethnicities — the most common answers to the ancestry question. Survey respondents were not given a list of options. The largest percentage relative to the comparable national proportion is a state’s most unusual ancestry.
A state’s most unusual ethnic group is not necessarily the state’s largest demographic. In fact, the most unique heritage group in only three states made up more than 10% of that state’s population. In every other case, members of the most unusually concentrated demography accounted for less than 1% of state residents. However, that demographic accounts for an even — and often much smaller — share of the U.S. population. […]
Illinois
Most unique ancestry: Assyrian
> Percentage of state residents identifying as Assyrian: 0.1%
> Share of U.S. Assyrian population living in state: 27.8%
Although just 0.1% of Illinois residents identify as Assyrian, it is 10 times the 0.01% of Americans who do, making Assyrian the most unique heritage in the state. America is home to just 38,626 Assyrians, and 27.8% of them live in Illinois. Assyrian immigrants came to the United States in two large waves — the first concurrent with start of World War I and the second with turmoil in the Middle East during the 1970s. Assyrian refugees relocated mostly to Chicago, Detroit, and Northern California, where some Assyrian American settlers and sojourners had established communities before WWI. Today, Chicago is home to the largest Assyrian population in the country, and the second largest in the world after Iraq. Illinois is also home to high relative concentrations of residents with Luxemburger, Palestinian, and Jordanian ancestry.
I had no idea we had a lot of Luxemburgers here.
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Today’s number: $2.05 billion
Friday, Nov 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* COGFA…
As Illinois continues operations without an enacted budget, the State Employee Group Insurance Program (SEGIP) has built up significant claims to be paid out.
As of the end of October, approximately $2.05 billion in claims are being held by the state from various insurers, organizations, and companies.
Of this total, the largest portion is approximately $1.08 billion of Managed Care claims. The second largest line, Prescription, OAP, and Mental Health claims, totals $598 million. The third largest portion of the overall claims hold comes from CIGNA, which has $291 million in claims currently held by the state. Concurrently, the estimated time for claims to be held is 360 days for Managed Care, 293 days for CIGNA, and 271-357 days for Prescriptions/OAPs/Mental Health.
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* Liz Goodwin…
I had been talking to Alexander Nix, the CEO of the data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, for only a few minutes before he noticed my leopard-print shoes, and complimented them.
“I’ll put it in your personality file,” Nix joked.
“Does this mean you can already predict my personality?” I asked warily.
“Oh, yes,” Nix said, brushing imaginary dust off his slacks. “We’ve modeled every personality of every voter in the United States.”
If one were to try to imagine the person who claims to know every single American personality, one would probably not think of Nix, an Eton-educated Englishman in a tweed coat who speaks in fluid, grammatically correct paragraphs of his company’s microtargeting strategy. But presidential candidates from Sen. Ted Cruz to Ben Carson are turning to Nix’s massive database and algorithm so they can reach voters likely to support them with specific messages tailored not to their age, race or gender — but to their fundamental natures.
Go read the rest.
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