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A severe case of whiplash

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Illinois

* Over a week ago, Gov. Pat Quinn said he believed he had “three or four” Republican votes to pass the pension borrowing plan in the Senate. As you know already, the House passed the bill last month with two GOP votes, but it stalled in the Senate when two Dems expressed opposition.

A couple of days later, Quinn said that Senate President Cullerton had enough Democratic votes to pass the borrowing bill on his own. Cullerton has 37 Democrats and the bill requires a super-majority of 36. Cullerton’s office said Quinn was dreaming.

Yesterday, Quinn again said he believed the Senate had enough votes to pass the borrowing bill and said the chamber would return at the end of this month…

“They want to do it on the last day of the month, so be it.”

Trouble is, the Senate has no plans to return at the end of this month because the votes are still not there…

But a spokeswoman for the Senate President says there’s no plan to make lawmakers return to the capitol.

I’m getting whiplash from all this back and forth.

* And this sort of inflammatory, Blagojevich-like language won’t help his cause with the Senate President…

“They have to get their vacations and all this and that in order. But I expect them by the end of the month to come together. I mean this is what government is about. If you get sworn into office to protect the common good and carry out the public interest, then you have to be there when it counts.”

Like Blagojevich before him, Quinn is trying to deflect his problems onto the General Assembly. And like Blagojevich, Quinn may not fully realize that the governor always wears the jacket…

The executive director of the Elgin-based Community Crisis Center would rather help victims of domestic abuse than side with a party or endorse a specific agenda.

But Tuesday, crisis center supporters unfurled a large banner saying that the state owes the center $327,928 and people should call Gov. Pat Quinn’s office at (800) 642-3112 to protest.

It was a last resort move by Vapnar who, like many social service agency heads, has been pushed to the brink by the state budget mess.

“It’s like dominoes,” she said. “If one of us goes down, all of us are affected.”

Fair or not, the buck stops at the governor’s desk. And that goes for school funding as well…

Faced with a deficit projected to be at least $427 million, Board of Education members gave unanimous approval at an emergency meeting on Tuesday to resolutions that will allow CEO Ron Huberman to raise class sizes to 35 students and still pay teacher raises promised in the union contract. […]

Huberman stressed that he doesn’t know exactly how much he will have to cut because Gov. Pat Quinn has yet to sign the state budget. Also, the Legislature gave Quinn the power to make changes in the budget.

“This could be good for us or not so good,” Huberman said. Quinn could decide to keep education funding level, which would reduce CPS’ budget gap by $127 million, or make cuts.

Another big question mark is whether and when the state will pay out what it already owes CPS for this year. That amount now stands at more than $400 million, prompting Huberman to ask the board for the power to borrow $800 million. He explained it as a short-term loan that the district will pay back as soon as they get the money from the state.

* Related…

* Teachers to picket School Board vote

* CPS and Unions Face Off in Budget Showdown

Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman and the city’s teachers union are in a tug of war over how to close an estimated $427 million deficit.

* Chicago School Board opens door to 35 in a class

* Huberman gets authority to lay off teachers, boost class sizes

* Chicago teachers must give up 4% wage hike

* Illinois is broke. Who’s gonna fix it?

* Pension crisis scares off businesses: group

* Village still reaping tax revenue for residents who left: A new state law could determine how much shared tax revenue the new village of Campton Hills is entitled to collect from the state. The county says it’s collecting part of the county’s share.

* Illinois applies for high-speed rail funding

* State DNA database is more than 20,000 samples behind

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 11:43 am

Comments

Quinn is out of his depth. He Doesn’t have enough dem votes to pass more borrowing. It is time to take the credit card away from Quinn. The state is broke and he just wants to keep borrowing more and more.

Comment by Fed up Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 12:51 pm
Pat can’t fight the legislature an inch at a time and try to make them look bad. He lacks the resources or the time for a long drawn out bit by bit battle. His only hope is to veto the whole budget and force them back to do their jobs.

Comment by the Patriot Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 1:06 pm
- The state is broke and he just wants to keep borrowing more and more. -

Haven’t we beat this issue to death? If they don’t borrow to fund the pension its going to cost billions more in the long run. How is this so hard for you to grasp?

Comment by Small Town Liberal Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 1:15 pm
This isn’t the first time Quinn’s arithmetic has been off. Counting ain’t all that tough.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 1:29 pm
Rich, here’s one for you. This is from zerohedge.com which is sort of the “industry insider” for hedge funds - all sorts of stuff. But I’d pay real attention to this one.

61% Underfunded Illinois Teachers Pension Fund Goes For Broke, Becomes Next AIG-In-Waiting By Selling Billions In CDS

Note: CDS = Credit Default Swaps.

Here’s the link:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/61-underfunded-illinois-teachers-pension-fund-goes-broke-becomes-next-aig-waiting-selling-bi

If these guys are on the money about this, talk about a land mine primed to blow…

Comment by Judgment Day Is On The Way Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 2:12 pm
Judgment Day: Yep, the next domino in the long emergency. The states have been going for broke with very risky investments in trying to catch up on those pension funds. Pensioners, like those of us who have been counting on social security, will need to fall back on their own savings if they were so inclined to save. If not, the taxpayers sure won’t be bailing them out.

Comment by Vole Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 3:12 pm
They have to get their vacations in order? Excuse me, but the state is BROKE guys and gals! IL pols, always putting the people first….

Comment by Loop Lady Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 5:16 pm
I hesitate to wade into this thicket, but my brief review tells me that 7/1/08-6/30/09 the TRS total performance just about paralleled the broad markets.
Perhaps the commenter above didn’t note that the fund’s fiscal year is thru 6/30, not thru all of ‘09. The markets obviously improved considerably in the latter half or ‘09, but not part of the period covered by the audit.

Comment by steve schnorf Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 6:08 pm
Unfortunately, the Director at the Elgin Crisis Center did not take the time to learn the difference between the capital budget and operating budget. Too bad she didn’t do her homework or direct her rage at the leadership in the General Assembly who cares more about protecting their memebers or playing partisan games than doing what is right.

Comment by anon Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 6:35 pm
Can someone explain to me why Cullerton is blocking the borrowing vote? I have many theories but am at a loss?

Comment by anon Wednesday, Jun 16, 10 @ 7:39 pm