Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Rating the Democrats’ cuts

Posted in:

Illinois

* I allowed commenters to rate the state spending cut proposals from the Democratic gubernatorial candidates last week.

* Here’s Juice on Ald. Ameya Pawar’s proposal to get rid of the state subsidy for Sox Park…

If the hotel/motel tax revenue is not sufficient to meet the debt service, the City of Chicago then becomes on the hook for the payments (which many on here are probably fine with, but a Chicago Alderman probably shouldn’t be).

Nice talking point, but not likely doable.

* Evanstonian on Sen. Daniel Biss’s long soliloquy …

Definitely laughed at Biss’ bold plan to save the taxpayers $138,000/year. Nice work, progressive champ.

Also, I asked for “one state spending program that you/your candidate would cut or reduce if elected,” and Leslie Munger’s salary isn’t exactly a spending program, unless you lump it in with patronage hiring.

* Arthur Andersen on Superintendent Bob Daiber’s proposal to abolish CMS…

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, CMS manages a handful of the more difficult programs in State Government. So, when we abolish it, does every agency procure their own healthcare? Will we see “streamlined procurement” like DHS and the empty warehouse? Let every agency decide what kind of vehicles they like without the advantage of buying in bulk?

Good point, but as another commenter mentioned, CMS charges agencies huge fees to do their purchasing, which artificially inflates agency costs in order to subsidize CMS’ operations.

* Chris Kennedy wants to merge the comptroller and treasurer’s office, so that qualifies as a cut, albeit a tiny one.

* Nobody really weighed in on Pritzker’s actual proposal, which was basically an “ounce of prevention” type thing. He wants to spend more money on certain programs in order to save money. There is a growing body of evidence to support his claims (click here for an informative NYT article on this very topic), but I asked for a specific programmatic cut. So, he didn’t answer the question.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 12:45 pm

Comments

Still waiting on Rauners proposed cuts.

Comment by Ok Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 12:50 pm
According to AP’s great John O’Connor, Rauner did propose cuts - $242 million worth, of which 1/2 came from higher ed. Only 6.75 BILLION more to go.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 12:54 pm
== Good point, but as another commenter mentioned, CMS charges agencies huge fees to do their purchasing, which artificially inflates agency costs in order to subsidize CMS’ operations. ==

Yes, CMS does charge the agencies fees, but that happens for a couple of reasons.

(1) The State / Governor’s office / whoever is unwilling to fully fund CMS’ operational costs for providing whatever, so the money has to come from somewhere. If it’s not coming from GRF through the budget, the only place to get it is the agencies.

(2) A lot of that “somewhere” money comes from the big agencies that have federal reimbursement / administrative program matches; so if you can get the Feds to pick up more of the tab, great from a state budget perspective.

I will agree the whole procurement process could be improved but that requires trust of the people actually working the process, which will never happen, because the people at the top will never cede enough authority to lower levels. Government is supposed to be accountable to the citizens / taxpayers, and providing that accountability without any political blow back or scandal, has a often high cost which includes limited approval authority and slowed down procurement processes.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:08 pm
This comments on this site are more and more a sad perching spot for those afflicted with Rauner Derangement Syndrome. Folks, this post is about the absolute paucity of ideas from Democrats on finding anywhere in the State budget to cut. Rauner is not the subject of this post. Read. Capiche? Now, loyal readers. Do you want to elect any Democrat who will continue this state down the road of fiscal ruin by doing things they way they’ve always been done. Just say so. But please just express your anti Rauner sentiment in those terms. Because that’s the only way you’ll be intellectually honest in your hostility to t;he Governor.

Comment by Bored Chairman Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:10 pm
- Bored Chairman -

Rauner, his budget director, his agency heads all refuse to list cuts, even in hearings.

Your attempt to try to make this about “not understanding” or, my favorite…

===…continue this state down the road of fiscal ruin…===

When you purposely ignore Rauner’s continuation of that “tradition” with 3 consecutive “phony, grossly unbalanced, sham budgets”… welp, that’s just priceless, lol

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:14 pm
“Everyone’s a critic”

I am excited you took on my criticisms and decided to make an argument against them, and not just skip that and go after me… lol

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:19 pm
Lay off all state workers immediately and rehire at lower cost and benefit schedules.

Comment by Ron Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:25 pm
Some days the weatherman is wrong, but it’s always on the days when Rainer is governor. Coincidence. I think not.

Comment by Puddintaine Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:27 pm
===Lay off all state workers immediately and rehire at lower cost and benefit schedules.===

You think that’s legal? Hmm.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:27 pm
I want just one candidate to say:

No, I refuse to play Radagno and Rauner’s game of a race to the bottom. The state has already cut discretionary spending in huge ways over the last several years. We shouldn’t be having a conversation about what to cut. We should be having a conversation about what we as a state can and should invest in, and how we fund those investments adequately.

Comment by JoeMaddon Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:32 pm
== Lay off all state workers immediately and rehire at lower cost and benefit schedules. ==

Speaking strictly to the pension benefits, even with an interruption in service, if they are Tier 1 members now, they will be Tier 1 members after rehiring. And even if you manage to legally fire and re-hire at a lower salary, for most of them their FAC for the pension will be the same as today for at least the next two years.

So much for that scheme …

Comment by RNUG Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:34 pm
Bored Chairman. Apparently you lumped old Blue into a bad category. The Dem cuts are a joke. But, Rauners are a bigger joke considering (a) he ran as a conservative (b) he has increased K-12 spending and (c) he is touting a multi-billion $ capitol plan. So far, all candidates are free spending liberals.

Comment by blue dog dem Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 1:54 pm
Rich, if we merged the Comptroller and Treasurer’s offices would the state still have checks and balances on how the money is being spent?

Comment by Mama Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 2:06 pm
The state procurement system is a computer program.
It has “master contracts” on it that say if you want to buy that item it comes from that vendor and costs this much, a desk, a vehicle, a copy machine, a computer etc.
if its not a “standard issue” item, then the agency does paperwork with specs and maps or whatever,;and vendors in the computer system can bid on supplyjng that thing or service.
ive said since before Blago was elected we should dissolve Cee-The-Mess. They charge agencies “overhead” on something the agencies do anyway. Makes no sense. Never did.

Comment by Team Warwick Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 2:45 pm
The one thing I’ll say about Biss and I’m pretty sure he’s the only one who can lay credit to this claim: he’s the only candidate in the race who can truthfully say he abolished a local government. OK, it was just the Evanston Township. But still. It saved tax dollars, it consolidated services, I’m sure it had tradeoffs but it was fundamentally a good-government move by a self-styled progressive. IL has way too many layers of government for a modern state.

Biss had to struggle mightily just to do that, mind, which suggests we might not be in for a revolutionary cost-cutting era from any of these candidates. But it suggests to me at least that his heart is in the right place.

Comment by ZC Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 2:51 pm
Of course Senator Biss wants to get rid of Leslie Munger’s salary- she has opted out of the pension plan and by that measure alone is a bargain.

He knows the Governor does not take a salary or pension.

Of course being the fierce partisan that he is, he has no problem with the Speaker’s high priced spokesman who is avoiding the media like the plague

Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 2:51 pm
===Of course Senator Biss wants to get rid of Leslie Munger’s salary- she has opted out of the pension plan and by that measure alone is a bargain===

I’m confused, Munger herself said she didn’t need a job, so why does she need a salary or contract at all?

See how ridiculous your argument is?

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 2:55 pm
===Of course being the fierce partisan that he is===

You really said that? You?

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 2:55 pm
How about every single elected official in this state NOT get a pension.

Comment by Ron Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 4:34 pm
You clearly don’t understand CMS, or CDB and IDOT, Procurement if you think it’s a computer program. No computer writes the detailed specifications for master contract items, (a smart computer could probably make a good case for itself in having a fleet of State Tesla’s.) resolves vendor problems, and arbitrates disputes with agencies over wants vs. needs.

Waaay back in the day, a new State Supt. of Education arrived and didn’t like his assigned State car. At first, he wanted the same car as Gov. Thompson-when he was told that wasn’t happening, he said he could get along with a Buick Electra 225, gray in color. He didn’t ask for anything else, so that’s what he got. Gray Deuce and a Quarter with black wall tires, dog dish hubcaps, AM radio, and wind-up windows. Thompson thought it was hilarious. Wanted to see a picture.

Comment by Team Warwick Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 5:20 pm
The above post is mine, not Team Warwick’s. Blogging on a phone stinks.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 5:22 pm
==Lay off all state workers immediately and rehire at lower cost and benefit schedules.==

Or freeze all Tier 1 salaries.

Comment by City Zen Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 6:10 pm
== Or freeze all Tier 1 salaries. ==

If you’re non-union / MC and not politically connected, you’ve been pretty much frozen the last 15 years.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 8:30 pm
-who will continue this state down the road of fiscal ruin by doing things they way they’ve always been done.

Remind me: when was that time that the state income tax was based on ability to pay instead of flat? Or that time that the school funding formula was anything but a mess? I’m sure everything will be different once we have term limits, though.

Comment by Liberal Elite Monday, Apr 17, 17 @ 11:26 pm