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He can’t do it right away

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Illinois

* Riopell rightly notes that Gov. Rauner can’t immediately close two state youth prisons…

Under state law, the move toward closure would trigger a two-month review process to let local workers, community members and others weigh in. It’s a process that has been seen downstate several times in recent years as governors have targeted prisons.

The process typically peaks with a lengthy public hearing that can turn emotional.

“It can be a difficult process,” said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat and member of the commission that would hold the hearing. “But it’s very important.”

In the end, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability issues an opinion about whether a facility should close, but a governor can proceed either way, no matter the opinion.

The same would apply to the Downstate prison he wants to close.

* In other news, AARP responded today to the governor’s cuts…

“Governor Rauner’s decision to file emergency rules creating a means test for the Department on Aging’s Community Care Program (CCP) is in effect a harsh cut that endangers the lives of thousands of older Illinoisans, and the communities in which they live.

Nearly 39,000 older Illinoisans who receive CCP services in their own homes and communities are at great risk of losing those services and have no alternative other than costly and often unnecessary institutional care.

The cuts affect not just the individuals receiving the programs and services – the community agencies providing those services will also be gravely hit. They may have to lay workers off or shut down altogether, creating a negative ripple effect in countless local economies across Illinois.

Additionally, those individuals who are caregivers for CCP clients will also be hurt – many will have to cut hours from work or leave their jobs altogether to care for Mom and Dad, further compounding the drastic effect on local economies.

These cuts are not the right way to proceed in order to fix a budget gap.

The Community Care Program saves taxpayers’ money. National and state studies have consistently demonstrated that caring for an individual in a nursing home environment costs triple to taxpayers what it costs to care for the same individual at home and in the community.

Cutting CCP does not correct the budget imbalance – actually, it makes it even worse down the road. Any immediate savings will be eliminated in the future and taxpayers will have to foot a significantly larger bill.

On behalf of our 1.7 million Illinois members, we strongly oppose the Governor’s decision and we urge him to cancel the emergency rule and protect a service that is critical to thousands of older citizens and to the communities where they live.”

* And Greg Hinz points to some possible areas of agreement…

Speaker Mike Madigan’s House is scheduled to take up [the workers’ comp] issue tomorrow. I don’t know whether this will be a serious effort at compromise or another extended middle finger back at the governor. But, in earlier conversations, some progress has been made. I’m not going to relate all the details, but there are ways to cut costs that both sides should be able to agree on because, compared with other industrial states, Illinois remains an outlier. And there are ways to further lean on insurance companies to pass on the savings to employers in the form of reduced premiums.

Another issue on which there is surprising agreement on both sides of the aisle is the need for an at least temporary property tax freeze, primarily for public school districts. The teachers unions won’t like it and will seek a big hike in state aid. But such a property tax freeze plan fared very well in an earlier test vote in Madigan’s House. That tells me suburban Democrats want something done. So does Rauner. So do it, and declare victory.

Tort reform is on a lot of people’s lists. That’s a tougher issue, but not impossible if both sides focus on things such as venue shopping. As Illinois Chamber of Commerce chief Todd Maisch puts it, there’s no reason that half of the asbestos cases in America should be filed in Madison County in Illinois.

* The asbestos thing is a bit overblown because plaintiffs and defendants have established a sort of specialty court in Madison County. That’s happened elsewhere with other types of cases. Subscribers know more about the workers’ comp stuff, but that property tax freeze on school districts would be vigorously opposed by the City, for obvious reasons. Tribune…

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday declined to say whether Chicago Public Schools will be able to make a $634 million teacher pension payment due at the end of the month. […]

While CPS officials have declined to offer specifics, the district could be in a cash-flow crunch. The budget the Chicago Board of Education cobbled together last year relied on counting 14 months of revenue for its 12-month spending plan. Those two additional months are July and August. Historically, CPS has made the payment in a lump sum at the very last minute: June 30, the last day of the financial year.

CPS owes $634 million to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund by month’s end. It’s unclear what would happen if the cash-strapped school district did not make that deadline, however, because state law does not specify.

“If they don’t follow the letter of the law, we have the option to sue,” said Charles Burbridge, executive director of the teachers’ pension fund, who noted the district had included the payment in its annual budget. “We are expecting to get that payment. We have not had any sign from anyone that that payment is not coming.”

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 2:00 pm

Comments

The hornet’s nests have been kicked.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 2:07 pm
While non-binding, the COGFA hearings on the closures will be fun to watch. When Blago and PQ were proposing closures the GOP members of committee would vote No. They are about to be put in some new positions.

Comment by Give Me A Break Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 2:11 pm
They will exempt the city of chicago from the property tax freeze.

Comment by Juvenal Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 2:18 pm
Rauner’s staff were not worried about the details when they announced the closures. They wanted people to scream about the cuts. Researching do-ability comes when they have to put up when asked.

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 2:33 pm
These were public relations statements, not policy decisions.

Governing can be hard.

Comment by walker Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 3:13 pm
It’s just Bad Opera until everyone gets real on the billions short in tneir budget proposals.

Since we learned last week that the governor was not aware that the budget he proposed in February was short by at least $3 billion, he’s got the most catching up to do.

Comment by Wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 3:33 pm
Badly played pep rally with dept heads…most looked barely awake…wonder how many told him his “contingency plans” are a hoax?

Comment by Anonin' Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 3:41 pm
AARP makes a flawed assumption when discussing the Governor’s proposed cuts to CCP. That is if the seniors don’t get these services they will end up in more expensive nursing homes. Maybe not from the Governor”s logic, they may end up at their children’s home regardless of the burden, or they may not survive at all in the long run even with limited charity care and neighbors. Both of those rather unpalatable alternatives are far less expensive than CCP.

Comment by Rod Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 4:35 pm
Seems we need to look at the true villians here. The legislators who now have passed an unconstitutional budget and those same legislators that produced sham budgets of decades.

There will be many people hurt by this return to spending what the state has, but the people who make our roadways the most expensive per mile (compared to the surrounding States) and others whose checkbooks fatten from State expenditure will be sure to get theirs before the truly needy get what they need.

Comment by plutocrat03 Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 4:58 pm
This is the governor who is happy to challenge the law and order implementation of his plans in spite if it.

Comment by Anon Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 4:59 pm