Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Morning Shorts

Posted in:

Illinois

* Governorâ€™s business tax defended as a way to cope with state debt:

In a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, John Filan said debt is the second highest in the country, and the governor’s proposed gross receipts tax would bring in $7 billion a year in new tax revenue.

* Roskam blasts governorâ€™s tax plan

* Ameren customers to Governor: Whereâ€™s the relief?

“My opinion of the governor’s leadership is that he has just ignored the massive hue and cry, particularly from southern Illinois, about this crisis,” Landon said in advance of the Democratic governor’s scheduled visit here Wednesday to stump for $8.6 billion in proposed business taxes.

* Blagojevich gets heat about electric rates

* Quinn pushes electric rate action

* Editorial: Camera van good tool to catch work-zone speeders

* Lt. Governor says Blagojevich should focus on electric rates

* Editorial: $2 toll on I-355 extension is too steep

The toll authority was considering a toll as high as $5, according to state Rep. Brent Hassert (R-Romeoville), but settled for $2. Gee, thanks. The fact is, the per-mile rate on I-355 is twice as much as it is on the Tri-State Tollway.

* Editorial: Thumbs up to licensing illegals

* Sun-Times Editorial: Student loan savings plan should yield interest

* Court: Gaming board had right to revoke Emerald Casino license

* More govs boost stem cell research

* State repays cash in sales tax goof

* Daley: CTAâ€™s plight not on stateâ€™s radar screen

Daley said the Legislature “needs to reform the 1983 RTA Act to address present day realities.” But he’s not optimistic with the governor’s health care plan and gross receipts tax on the agenda.

* Lynn Sweet: Union leader, mayor could benefit from joining forces

* Sun-Times Editorial: Limit union contributions in elections

* Wal-Mart helping aldermen

* 32nd ward race all about change

* Dispute over big election signs

* Duo square off for Pekin mayor

posted by Paul Richardson
Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 7:33 am

Comments

But wait. I thought the GRT was supposed to provide revenues for additional health insurance monies (to insure the remaining uninsured) and for additional monies for schools, over and above what they are getting, with perhaps some property tax relief statewide. Additional being the operational word.

This raises questions about displacement…will GRT revenues, instead of adding to, say, school and health care funding, merely displace existing allotments, at least in part, freeing up gadzillions for Blago and Filan to spend on whatever they like…paying down state debt, yes, but also paying for lots more patronage, more seven percent raises for state employees, Emil’s Earmarks, and other questionable expenses.

Blago and Filan need to get their stories together, whatever tax they come up with. I thought the lottery sale was supposed to help pay down pension debt, coupled with some more smoke and mirrors refinancing strategies.

Blago and our feckless legislators sitting next to a pile of unrestricted cash makes me very unesasy.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 7:49 am
All of the whining to state government by Ameren customers is becoming very tiresome. A friend of mine in rural Macoupin County recently pointed out to me that the new Ameren rates merely catch their customers up to the cost for electric service that customers in his rural coop had already been paying for some time. Ameren customers, in his opinion, are simply belly-aching because with the demise of the rate freeze, their semi-free ride was over and they finally have to pay market rates. I agree with him. If these people don’t like their electric bills, the solution is to cut electrical usage, not demand government intervention or subsidies. Pat Quinn and others like him are way off base on this issue.

Comment by Skirmisher Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 10:15 am
You know, I’ve come to agree to an extent with Skirmisher. The fact is Amaren customers are paying no more than ComEd customers are and I don’t hear ComEd customers whining nearly as loudly. It’s grown somewhat tiresome. Don’t like paying high energy rates? Conserve or put solar panels on your roof (or erect a few windmills).

Now, the legal matters are different. If Amaren promoted their all-electric plan while knowing they planned to yank it and dramatically up rates, that should be a legal matter. And if the auctions were done illegally, then that should also be addressed.

Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 10:31 am
The toll on I-355 will be $1, not $2, with I-Pass (which most regular tollway users have and which all should have). I think a dollar is a reasonable alternative to going all the way to west of Joliet to get from I-80 to I-55, or the torturous local system of US 45 or IL 53 where traffic lights and traffic jams abound. If you don’t find a dollar reasonable, there are plenty of “free” alternatives available.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 10:43 am
I am an Ameren customer that can pay his bill. I have a home so energy efficient it is embarrassing. My energy bills are laughably low.

But I do not agree with these guys who just want to pass off our problem as just a bunch of greedy geezers, or poor trailer trash hit by reality.

Anyone who claims that government should care, should care when government fails to meet it’s claims. When government fails, they don’t give you a refund. When their grand designs collapse, they expect you to bail them out. We have been seeing our taxes rise every year, yet NO ONE seems to be able to do what they are required to do - regulate energy rates.

As Blagojevich bloviates across the state about how he cares - his on-the-job actions show he doesn’t give a fig. Lights are going out across Illinois due to a rigged energy marketing scheme, and although he is empowered to demonstrate his caring - does NOTHING.

When energy costs in Central Illinois raise to the same level as costs in Chicagoland, these costs are taking a larger hit in Peoria than Lake Bluff because folks in Central Illinois do not need the same income as folks in Chicagoland to live. Snicker all you want about how much money you earn - you need to. We don’t. So when energy costs are the same across the state - we get screwed.

If your energy bills jumped as high as ours have, you would be demanding that Blagojevich do what he promised to do. To look down your noses at us and sniff like we stink says more about your bigotries and ignorance than it says about any shortcoming we have.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 11:40 am
When will the elected officials in this state give the citizens, the voters, of this state as much freedom and concern as they do criminals and illegal immigrants. If my extended family were not so settled here, I would surely be moving out. 99% of our problems are caused by having to maintain the health and safety of a bunch of scofflaws.

Comment by i d Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 11:59 am
Part of Toll System rate increase was to pay for the I-355 extension. The traffic count wasn’t projected to be high enough to pay for the road. So they’re setting pricing as high on the curve as possible to minimize the fiscal load on the rest of the system.

Comment by HappyToaster Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 12:41 pm
does blagojevich have his name on the rate increase? “This increase in toll fees brought to you by Governor Rod Blagojevich.” just wondering…

Comment by bored now Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 1:03 pm
Bernie had a nice little piece about the ethics of the Governor’s campaign for the GRT. The response from the Inspector General’s office seems to reinforce my concerns about their integrity that were initially raised by the testimony at the DeFraties hearing.

Comment by Norseman Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 1:05 pm
Vanilla Man raises a very valid point that I should have included in my comments on the Ameren electricity bills issue. The people who really created this mess are the legislators who thought they could manipulate the energy market. Their grand experiment and rate freeze was a dismal failure which is now causing a considerable sticker shock downstate. Remember that the next time you vote.

Comment by Skirmisher Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 4:27 pm
===The people who really created this mess are the legislators who thought they could manipulate the energy market. Their grand experiment and rate freeze was a dismal failure which is now causing a considerable sticker shock downstate. Remember that the next time you vote.

No, the reason for the sticker shock is not the rate freeze. The reverse auction is to blame–it does not provide power at the lowest rates available. You can blame the ICC and it’s willingness to bow to Comed and Ameren and thus the Governor, but the Lege had nothing to do with that decision.

Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 4:53 pm
I don’t think people in Central and Southern IL smell, but I do think they need to be realistic about the prices they pay and the fact that prices go up. You don’t expect your shoes to cost $5 or your milk to be $0.50. If electric rates are close to the same cost in Chicago and Galesburg, that doesn’t mean the cost of living has dramatically increased for Galesburgers. After all, they still have a lower cost of produce (usually), shorter commutes, lower local taxes, lower car insurance and lower property prices.

Like I said, if there are legal issues, those need to be addressed in the legal arena. If there aren’t legal issues needing to be addressed, I don’t see what good an ill-fated freeze plan is going to do. I would much rather see the higher prices attract green energy companies to compete in our energy markets.

Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 5:16 pm
Cermak,

residential property tax rates are much higher in much of downstate than they are in Chicago.

Comment by steve schnorf Thursday, Apr 5, 07 @ 7:48 pm
The rates may be higher but the bill is lower; also, I believe downstaters dedicate a lower proportion of their property tax bill to education than many Cook and collar districts.

My property tax bill is over $15,000 for a fairly ordinary house. I doubt many Downstaters in similar housing pay that much.

And no, it’s not worth a fortune when we sell, not to mention that we are all subject to the vagaries of the estate market.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Apr 6, 07 @ 2:53 am
In respnse to Lynn Sweet’s column:
http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2007/04/seiu-is-threat-to-american-standard-of.html

Comment by Pat Hickey Friday, Apr 6, 07 @ 10:26 am
If our public transportation system is so important, why are we whining to the state to “please tax us” and “send most of it back to us.” Maybe we should tax ourselves and keep all the money here, and have 100% control over how it is spent? Or that is too much work and the politicians think funding infrastructure is important, but not important enough to put in the work to solve it locally.

Comment by NoGiftsPlease Friday, Apr 6, 07 @ 6:10 pm