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Talking past each other

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Senate President John Cullerton said Monday it’s time for Gov. Bruce Rauner to focus on budget talks and spend less time promoting his “turnaround agenda.”

Speaking to The State Journal-Register editorial board, Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, repeated his belief that the spending plan the Republican governor submitted to lawmakers is wildly out of balance and could result in significant cuts to education and human services unless he opens a discussion for bringing in additional state revenue. […]

“It seems ever since the governor proposed his budget, there was an assumption he actually had a budget that was balanced,” Cullerton said. “That’s not even close. There’s his take-it-or-leave it turnaround agenda, which has nothing to do with the state budget. Let’s refocus on the budget.”

* But the governor believes the Turnaround Agenda is an integral part of balancing the budget…

“The governor is committed to reforming the broken structure of state government so taxpayers get value for their money,” Rauner spokesman Mike Schrimpf said Monday. “Absent reform, the governor is prepared to implement a balanced budget without new revenue. Major reforms are essential or whatever balanced budget we craft this year will be undone by special interests and insider deals. The structural reforms outlined in the Turnaround Agenda are absolutely necessary.”

Reneging on the $26 million “Good Friday Massacre” cuts probably undercut the governor’s threat to “implement a balanced budget without new revenue.” If he can’t stand the heat from $26 million, how’s he gonna deal with the massive meltdown caused by a $6 billion cut?

I get a bunch of press releases every day about the governor’s proposed FY 16 budget, which, as Cullerton rightly points out, is full of gimmicks and holes. But, even so, there are some astonishing programmatic slashes…

Advocates and state lawmakers will hold a press conference on Wednesday, May 6, to call on the full legislature to reject Governor Bruce Rauner’s FY 2016 budget plan to eliminate pre-school, medical care, and other specialized services at the Chicago-based Children’s Place Association.

The pre-school, located in Humboldt Park, serves 73 Chicago-area toddlers struggling with HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, autism, spina bifida, and other medical conditions.

Yeah, let’s kick autistic HIV-positive toddlers off the public dole. Why don’t they just “Get a job”?

* Then again, one reason he backed off those cuts is because it was obvious that legislators believed he had broken a deal. He’d damaged his ability to negotiate a FY 16 deal, so it was walked back.

* But, back to the problem described in the headline. Rauner is right that addressing the state’s budget problems involves more than just working out appropriation line items. The state absolutely needs some structural changes. The state and the City of Chicago spend a fortune on workers’ comp, for instance. Some reforms there could most definitely ease their fiscal burdens.

And growth is another issue where Rauner is right. If we want revenues to grow, the state’s economy has to grow at a much faster rate. Again, let’s look at workers’ comp…

In all, the [2011 workers’ comp reform law] saved Illinois employers $315 million during the first few years they were in effect, according to the state workers’ compensation commission. Employers say that’s nowhere close to the minimum $500 million a year in savings billed by then-Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn when he signed the measure into law.

That’s $315 million in total savings versus a promised $2 billion.

* I’ve made no bones about the fact that the governor’s “right to work” idea is stupid and harmful and I told that to the governor’s face (using as many f-bombs as I could muster, btw). And while he may go too far with some of his workers’ comp ideas, he’s not wrong about everything. Our workers’ comp system is a disaster.

From the governor’s office…

Illinois currently has the 7th highest workers’ compensation costs in the country, more than double neighboring Indiana:

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:03 am

Comments

The thing about workers’ comp is, any reforms to the compensation side of the system need to be balanced by reforms to the insurance side to make sure the savings actually get passed along to the employers. The goal isn’t just to make State Farm more profitable.

Fortunately, I think the Governor would agree to such a balanced package.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:12 am
=Major reforms are essential or whatever balanced budget we craft this year will be undone by special interests and insider deals=

What does this even mean? I understand this is a talking point of the Governor’s but atleast use it in a context that makes sense. Geez.

Comment by Get a Job! Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:13 am
Is it true that there are disparate medical reimbursement rates between workers comp and general health insurance?

For example, I’ve heard that the amounts paid to medical providers for a knee replacement are much higher if a knee is wrecked on the loading dock compared with a knee wrecked on the ski slope.

If true, wouldn’t aligning those costs reduce workers comp insurance premiums?

Does anyone have solid data on this?

Comment by Bill White Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:15 am
===* Then again, one reason he backed off those cuts is because it was obvious that legislators believed he had broken a deal. He’d damaged his ability to negotiate a FY 16 deal, so it was walked back.===

I totally understand the politics of the ignorance of the Rauner Crew hiding the Rauner Cuts with the Good Friday Massacre. I do. I also understand that Rauner and his Crew aren’t very good at handling a backlash of a Rauner Cut, and owning it, like every governor before him, and every governor long after his time is through.

Rauner showed cowardly weakness, while trying to be tough about $26 million in cuts.

I get it.

But, the paragraph I grabbed above is more damaging in governing;

The legislators believed Rauner went back on his word. The legislators thought they had a deal, and Rauner turned on them.

Rauner’s credibility was lost at the cost far greater than $26 million.

Rauner needs 23 Democrats to be “green lights”. Everything else, the Rauner Cuts, the budget gimmicks, the Union bashing, the posturing, the $60+ million to destroy legislators, any of it, all of it, they all mean nothing…

…when trust is lost in yourself by your co-equal partner.

Rauner should worry more about trust than the 23 votes he’s trying to secure. Secret working groups or not, trust isn’t earned with threats of $60+ million to Democrats or Republicans. In reality, secret working groups tell me Rauner’s bullying needs darkness, because cooperation seen in the daylight is called good governing. Threats, bullying, intimidation, is only helpful when silent.

Dangerous times. Be careful.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:18 am
= = Illinois currently has the 7th highest workers’ compensation costs in the country, more than double neighboring Indiana = =

To follow up on Arsenal’s point, where do those additional premium dollars go?

Injured workers?
Health care providers?
Insurer profit?

Comment by Bill White Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:19 am
Rich, I wholeheartedly disagree that our worker’s compensation system is a disaster. Award values are down by 30 to 40% and case filings are down. Where is the regulation on premiums because the changes from 2011 are certainly affecting workers

Comment by Heavy heart Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:21 am
=== Where is the regulation on premiums===

Tbat’s part of what makes the program a disaster.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:24 am
See, Heavy Heart makes a good point. Awards are dropping, as are claims (though claims always drop in times of macroeconomic stress). If costs are still too high, we need to look at bringing down some of the other factors.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:25 am
That $315 million ins savings figure is predicated upon insurance companies adopting the rates that were recommended by NCCI. They have not done that. Therein lies the problem. Of course employers are still upset, they were promised savings. Insurers should deliver the savings to the employers, but they won’t until they are are forced to do so.

Comment by out of touch Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:25 am
Rich,

You are right. Illinois’ workers comp system is a mess. Here is Bruce’s problem as I see it.

If the Gov. would have worked, on a bi-partisan basis, to address the structural issues with the workers comp problems. Then, gotten a deal and saved the money, he would have built some credibility. He could have then moved on to the next issue and work the same way. As it stands right now, Bruce’s credibility is being damaged every day with one group of people or another. He doesn’t seem like a person other people want to work with to solve problems. He’s governing by ideology, not results. That’s a bad plan.

I’ve worked with a great number of politicians. Every one of them develop a terrible disease called “voter-itis”. The symptoms are easy to see. Step one— Win an election. Step two– think to yourself “Look at all of these people who think I’m great, I must be great”. Step three — Stop listening to everyone else because, “they didn’t get those votes, I got them”. Step four — Isolate yourself from anyone who doesn’t make you feel like you did right after the election, when you knew that everyone thought you were great.

Bruce’s problem is he has had people telling him he’s great for a long time. His case may be irreversible.

As a Cub fan, I don’t spend a lot of my days thinking about the White Sox (do they still have a team on the south side?) But I am a great admirer of Frank Thomas. I’ll let Dr. Frank prescribe the cure for voter-itis.

Dr. Frank - “What’s seems to be wrong with the patient”?

Nurse - “Voter-itis, Dr. A very bad case”.

Dr. Frank - “Get him a million CC’s of ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ STAT!!!”

Comment by Try-4-Truth Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:29 am
Rauner is starting to feel a lot like Pat Quinn to me. We’re going to do these cuts. Oh wait, we’re not. We’re not going to raise taxes. Oh wait, we might have to. We haven’t heard about any layoffs yet, but that’s probably coming. We’re going to lay off 2500 employees (Quinn). Oh wait, we’re not.We’re actually going to lay off about 2? 10?

Hang on to our wallets.

Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:31 am
In 2010, the index rate for Illinois was 3.05. Then the law was changed, and we’ve gotten down to 2.35, which sounds like pretty significant progress. That’s not to say more can’t be done. We could definitely use some rate review, and I would really be interested in hearing what proportion of our costs are related to medical versus direct payments to injured workers, but just comparing us to Indiana ain’t gonna cut it.

Comment by Juice Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:32 am
My goodness we just lowered taxes when we had a huge structural deficit. The whole pension debt issue is a direct result of not honestly dealing with the structural deficit. The cost of government rises over time as all our costs do and the issue is our taxing system does not keep pace with a corresponding increase in revenue. We need more revenue and spending constraint.

Comment by facts are stubborn things Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:35 am
Bill wrote the following:

To follow up on Arsenal’s point, where do those additional premium dollars go?

Injured workers?

Pretty hard to have an intelligent discussion of this issue without answering the points Mr. White outlined.

And then compare those factors (perhaps others as I am not expert in this field) with these other states.

Are Madigan, Cullerton, Rauner willing to do this and present the case to the Ga and the public in general?
Health care providers?
Insurer profit?

Comment by Federalist Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:37 am
As w/ pensions, so too w/ WC–the workers are being blamed and told to shoulder the burden when it is the insurance companies/bond houses are to blame for the dollar disasters. WC Insurers failed to adjust rates, despite legal changes that reduced liability. Pension/big banks/financial advisers told the GA they didn’t need to make pension contributions because the market was so good there was no need, but saw no bubble or market cycle. And we still listen to these failed experts who offer remedies that are just as flawed and ignorant of the facts. Alleged pension crises is an accounting crisis; WC is insurance company profit gouging. If Brucie wants to address the problems at the root, he needs to look realistically and ideologically.

Comment by D.P.Gumby Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:40 am
– Absent reform, the governor is prepared to implement a balanced budget without new revenue.–

“Prepared” is a strong word. It doesn’t mean what Schrimpf apparently thinks it does.

Aren’t there a few steps before the governor can “implement” a budget?

I think the first step was supposed to be the governor proposing a balanced budget with projected revenues under current law. That didn’t happen, as Schrimpf admits. So we’re not yet to square one.

But taking Schrimpf at his word, we’re supposed to believe the governor is willing to take his ball and go home and live with $6 billion in cuts if he doesn’t get his way on his reactionary pipe dreams?

If that’s the case, the governor sure sent the wrong signals in resolving the FY15 shortfall.

That $1.6 billion hole was largely resolved with $1.3 billion in new revenue — and Rauner said he wanted more new revenue.

Then, the governor couldn’t take the heat for $26 million in cuts. But tough guy Schrimpf says he can stand up to $6 billion in cuts?

Schrimpf, here’s a visual aid for you:

$26,000,000

$6,000,000,000

If you don’t understand the significance of those three extra zeroes, ask around.

Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:41 am
Indiana’s system merely shifts the costs for workplace injuries off of the employers and on to the taxpayers via public assistance.

Somebody always pays, the question is, when a worker is permanently disabled on the job, should his employer pay for that through an insurance system that rewards employers for improving work place safety, or should Joe Taxpayer foot the bill?

Because if we are going to expect Joe Taxpayer to foot the bill, we are going to have to raise income taxes to restore Rauner’s proposed funding cuts to health care and human services.

Comment by Juvenal Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:43 am
Wordslinger, I disagree with your visual aid

$6,000,000,000 is approximately 230 times larger that $26,000,000 and therefore a better visual aid would be:

X

versus

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Comment by Bill White Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 10:49 am
This governor’s first 100 days were a flaming Hindenburg of a disaster. Illinoisans discovered that their new governor was an extreme political hack, incapable of being realistic in the face of numerous fiscal problems. His personal hatred of their work within unions is shocking. His campaign was exposed as a series of appalling lies.

After 100 days into his term, Bruce Rauner is lucky to have avoided being ran out of Illinois. I have rarely seen such an amazing series of bone-headed political steps. Today, Bruce Rauner would be lucky to get 40% in an election. He eviscerated his own gubernatorial honeymoon.

“Absent reform, the governor is prepared to implement a balanced budget without new revenue. Major reforms are essential or whatever balanced budget we craft this year will be undone by special interests and insider deals. The structural reforms outlined in the Turnaround Agenda are absolutely necessary.”

Did anyone get a clue over the past 100 days that this new guy’s reform package is about as popular as bourbon at a Temperance meeting? He isn’t going to get the reforms he wants. His RTW campaign as a trial balloon, exploded bigger than the Hindenburg.

How did this new governor ever think he had a political mandate strong enough to drop any bipartisan mask he wore during the campaign?

The Governor and the GA can talk past each other, but only one of them has the ability to get anything done - and it isn’t the new governor. If he thinks he can just refuse to do his job, we have a way to get it done.

After Ryan, Blagojevich and Quinn, the Illinois General Assembly has become comfortable working without governors. Working around a silly governor from a comatose and irrelevant political party would be a piece of cake.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:01 am
If Governor Rauner is “prepared” to live with $6B in cuts, does that mean he can specify where they are?

Or is he just so confident that he will be able to claim turnaround success, that he didn’t even bother.

Comment by walker Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:03 am
Rauner is stuck on his absolutist all or nothing position.

Gotta move to the best he can get.

I was hopeful when i heard about the dceo movement–that he was making progress where it was available. Pare down the list. Now it seems like an aberration. Oops– just heard about a house meeting of the whole on workers comp. act two: public.

Ultimatums and threats don’t generate trust.

Comment by Langhorne Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:03 am
Aren’t WC costs partly tied to wages? If so, maybe Rauner’s plan to drive down wages has an unexpected bonus.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:09 am
VM, you really miss the mark when you imply that the GA ignored or worked around Gov Ryan

Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:25 am
Rich’s charts don’t lie. Our surrounding states are kicking our butts. Their are things we can change. Causation and tort reform. Just read any of the other state’s law and go from there.

Comment by Mokenavince Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:27 am
When people are talking past each other, there needs to be an adult to step up and bring focus to the discussions. Our problem is finding an adult.

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:32 am
I mean:

“…and it’s proof of a LACK of an intellectual and moral compass.”

Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:34 am
Is it me or does the problem seem to be, Governor Rauner does not work on a bi-partisan basis because businessman Rauner always got what he wanted and was never told no?

Comment by NewWestSuburbanGop'er Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:38 am
…And he needs to be truthful with Speaker Madigan and Senate President Cullerton?

Comment by NewWestSuburbanGop'er Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:40 am
WC compensation is absolutely tied to the wages of the injured employee. Illinois is 7th or 8th in average hourly wages. Indiana is way down the list, I think mid-low 30’s. If an employee making $45 an hour is off work for 6 weeks it costs more than an employee making $18 an hour. If our state attracts higher hourly wages our comp costs are higher. If we could only pay people a dollar an hour things for the “job creators” would be just peachy!

Comment by lib dem67 Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:41 am
VM, you really miss the mark when you imply that the GA ignored or worked around Gov Ryan

I didn’t want to come off partisan, so I included him.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 12:05 pm
lol

Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 1:02 pm
Vanilla Man, You Nailed it!

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 1:30 pm
I’ve been around CapFax long enough to know you can win more arguments being wrong and non-partisan than by being right and partisan.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 1:32 pm
==Illinois currently has the 7th highest workers’ compensation costs in the country, more than double neighboring Indiana==
Then why does the “superstar” graph show it looks like they are paying pennies on the dollar as compared to Illinois? Oh….they wanted it to look that way…

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 5:03 pm
Mokenavince:

Democrats offered to implement a fault-based system last time around, the GOP balked at that, so I don’t know why folks are bringing up “causation” again.

Lawmakers have agreed that work comp is going to go through the agreed bill process. I presume that causation won’t be a part of the bill, nor will a reduction in health care fees.

As for neighboring states “kicking our butts”, I think that the rate of workplace fatalities tells a different story.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 5:23 pm
VMan: you nailed the public’s mindset regarding PQ during the campaign, and were criticized by knowledgeable insiders because some claims about his faults were false. Now it appears you are reacting as a knowledgeable insider, while the public is so far giving Rauner props for trying to fix something. They might catch up to your position, but no signs of it so far.

Always with respect.

Comment by walker Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 6:50 pm
All the money “saved” through those workman’s comp “reforms” didn’t go to the state deficit - it largely went into insurance company profit margins and their shareholder’s payouts. Why should anybody believe more of this “reform” will be any different? Fool me once…

Comment by Newsclown Tuesday, May 5, 15 @ 11:17 pm