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Ives’ state budget solution: Slash CPS funding and repeal Obamacare expansion

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Illinois

Even if she wins in November, the conservative lawmaker running against incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner in the March Republican primary says the income tax hike that was enacted on his watch will have to remain in place for at least two more years. And Chicago and Cook County taxpayers should be prepared to dig deeper if her state budget plans pan out. […]

[Rep. Jeanne Ives] Ives said she’d start by working to repeal the income tax hike that was approved over Rauner’s veto. But “I wouldn’t do that immediately,” she said. “I suspect that, within two years, we could set that out as a goal.” […]

On her list for axing are hundreds of millions of dollars of year in new state funding that CPS got under terms of the fiscal 2018 state budget. Chicago, for purposes of the new aid formula, is considered a poor, Tier IV district, even though in reality the city economy is doing so well that Chicago actually is Tier 1, she said. […]

Ives would save another big chunk in the budget by eliminating the Obamacare expansion and making other cuts in Medicaid, even though the former has shifted hundreds of millions of dollars a year from Cook County taxpayers to the state and federal governments. “Chicago’s got a lot more state support than they should,” she said. And if that means local taxpayers will pay more to give relief to taxpayers outside of the city, “I don’t have to win (Chicago and Cook County) to be elected, she said. “This is a 50-percent-plus-one race.” […]

New workers need to be shifted from a defined-benefit pension to a 401(k)-style defined-contribution model, perhaps with a “generous” inducement, she said. Old pension debt, roughly $120 billion just in the state retirement system, can be “renegotiated” with employee unions that have rejected such actions so far, but may come to the table as they realize some of the pension funds are “one (economic) downturn away from failing.”

Yeah, that’ll pass. Right.

Ives’ scenario is as pie in the sky as Rauner’s.

Taking away all of CPS’ new state money ($450 million) and canceling the Medicaid expansion (which is mostly funded by the federal government) won’t balance the state’s budget.

Also, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that pension benefits are individual contracts. Unions can’t negotiate any benefit reductions without all individuals signing off on them one by one.

The full editorial board meeting video is here.

* Meanwhile, the governor confirmed yesterday during an event that he and Ives will appear together before the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:07 am

Comments

Did I miss it? Was the state capital moved to Fantasyland?

Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:14 am
I admit to not understanding why anyone thought ignoring the pension crisis was a good idea. I also admit I don’t know why anyone would think anything she’s said is actually going to work either.

Comment by Cheryl44 Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:16 am
Sounds like Jeanne didn’t wait for the legalization of marijuana. She’s been smoking it big time.

Comment by SSL Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:16 am
–[Rep. Jeanne Ives] Ives said she’d start by working to repeal the income tax hike that was approved over Rauner’s veto. But “I wouldn’t do that immediately,” she said. “I suspect that, within two years, we could set that out as a goal.”–

Well, if you wouldn’t do it “immediately,” then you’re really not “starting” with it.

Just like Rauner, Ives sure does want a shot at spending the money raised from that tax increase she allegedly opposed.

Strange political position for the underdog. I would have assumed she’d have made immediate repeal a cornerstone of her campaign.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:19 am
Rich, it’s not $450 million for CPS. Around $125 million of the $450 million is increased property taxes.

The estimated net state cost for ACA in FY 2018 is around $140 mil to provide coverage for 675,000 people (about $200/person). Real game changer in budget math with that one.

Comment by Juice Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:20 am
The GOP is not a reality based group. And sticking it to Chicago is right out of the national playbook of red states sticking it to blue states. We’re coming apart as a nation, and at the State level… She makes Rauner seem reasonable

Comment by Anotherretiree Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:20 am
*She makes Rauner seem reasonable*

THIS

Comment by Just Visiting Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:22 am
So that’s her campaign slogan: “screw Chicago and Cook County”

Comment by a drop in Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:23 am
===…She makes Rauner seem reasonable===

That’s why Ives’ run helps Rauner.

Every. Day.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:25 am
So Ives is going to run a campaign that pits Chicago and Cook County against the rest of the state. I guess the racist dog whistles and undocumented residents’ scapegoating is stage 2 of the election strategy.

Comment by TominChicago Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:25 am
“The GOP is not a reality based group. And sticking it to Chicago is right out of the national playbook of red states sticking it to blue states. We’re coming apart as a nation, and at the State level…”

Thankfully, Illinois does not have an electoral college that picks its governor.

Comment by TominChicago Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:29 am
“Chicago, for purposes of the new aid formula, is considered a poor, Tier IV district, even though in reality the city economy is doing so well that Chicago actually is Tier 1, she said. […]”

Is that backwards? I thought the higher the tier assignment, the wealthier the district. For example, New Trier is Tier 4.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:29 am
@ City Zen: You are correct.

“Chicago Public Schools (CPS) places every part of the city into one of four socio-economic “tiers.” On average, people from Tier 1 areas make less money and have less education, and people from Tier 4 areas make more money and have more education.”

Source: http://cpstiers.opencityapps.org/

I looked it up; why can’t Jeanne?

Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:37 am
Sure, she doesn’t have to win cook county to be governor, but once she’s governor she has a duty to govern cook county!! Have to stop this state divisive rhetoric

Comment by Northside Southerner Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:40 am
The Medicaid expansion pickup costs will be a real bummer.

Comment by Blue dog dem Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:40 am
Ives has a point about CPS’ tier placement. CPS is in the same tier as poor south suburban school districts such as Posen-Robbins and bankrupt Harvey. Just because CPS’ population doesn’t reflect the districts’ overall population doesn’t mean it should be treated the same.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:41 am
“Did I miss it? Was the state capital moved to Fantasyland?” - you mean that same Fantasyland that for at least a couple decades passed Fake balanced budget? That didn’t pay what was required into the State pension or thought that not investing into retiree healthcare was sound financial planning?

Comment by Stand Tall Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:45 am
To the Ives campaign. Run on the platform that you are going to DC to beg for state bankruptcy. You,soon-to-be ex gov Rauner, Pritzker,Kennedy,Biss all deep down know this is the only answer. We want honesty. Not empty promises.

Comment by Blue dog dem Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:47 am
===Ives has a point about CPS’ tier placement.===

Because Chicago as a whole has many wealthy residents (who go to private or magnet schools), the tens of thousands of poverty-stricken kids in the public school system deserve less money? She’s right about that?

Comment by PJ Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:50 am
- Blue dog dem - Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:47 am:

To the Ives campaign. Run on the platform that you are going to DC to beg for state bankruptcy. You,soon-to-be ex gov Rauner, Pritzker,Kennedy,Biss all deep down know this is the only answer. We want honesty. Not empty promises.

Allowing state’s to declare bankruptcy would likely violate the 14th amendment.

Comment by TominChicago Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 11:55 am
@Joan P. The site you are using as a reference to “Tiers” has nothing to do with state funding for education. You can find better/correct information about state funding Tiers on the ISBE website. Just saying…

Comment by no name Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 12:06 pm
“Ives would save another big chunk in the budget by eliminating the Obamacare expansion and making other cuts in Medicaid”

Full Republican Christian values on display. Taking health insurance away from the poorest while slashing taxes on the wealthiest. Just like Jesus would have wanted (not).

Rauner didn’t want Medicaid expansion. He may not say it now because he’s too politically calculating. Before we get giddy with the prospect that Rauner is more of a moderate than Ives, we should envision a political environment in which Rauner could pass his agenda.

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 12:41 pm
==I don’t have to win (Chicago and Cook County) to be elected==

She’s basically saying she doesn’t care a bit about Chicago or Cook County and that as Governor she’ll tell them to go fly a kite. She’s not “their” Governor. Nice.

Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 12:51 pm
Now that the cadillac tax has been pusjed back to 2025. The whole expansion.idea is ridiculous.

Comment by Blue dog dem Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 12:52 pm
==Because Chicago as a whole has many wealthy residents (who go to private or magnet schools), the tens of thousands of poverty-stricken kids in the public school system deserve less money?==

Nope, just that Chicago should source that locally. Where those wealthy kids go to school is irrelevant.

Chicago is not Harvey.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 12:57 pm
==I don’t have to win (Chicago and Cook County) to be elected==

You’re going to need to pick up some votes in that area. Maybe attacking them isn’t the best strategy?

Then again, Ives isn’t really attached to reality anyway. In her fundamentalist fever dream, she probably thinks that downstate will turnout in droves to anoint her Queen of Illinois.

Comment by TaylorvilleTornado Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 1:08 pm
You may not need to win Chicago and Cook County to win a statewide election, but there’s too many votes there to write it off entirely. The further your numbers dip below 20% in Chicago, it starts to become virtually impossible to make up the numbers elsewhere.

Policy isn’t the only area where Ives is living in fantasyland.

Comment by Nacho Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 1:12 pm
==Old pension debt, roughly $120 billion just in the state retirement system, can be “renegotiated” with employee unions==

It is my understanding that the unions never negotiated pension benefits in the first place. And that they certainly don’t have the right to negotiate away individual’s pension benefits.

I don’t believe pensions are part of union contracts of state employees or state university employees. There is nothing in my union contract about pensions! Besides, there are all kinds of state and state university employees who do not even belong to a union.

Politicians need to study the issues in more detail before they start throwing out wild ideas.

Comment by Joe M Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 2:10 pm
One point that she missed about Cook County and Chicago, is their residential properties are accessed at way lower amounts then every other county in the state. DuPage and the other collar counties give new meaning to the term “high taxes”.

Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 2:27 pm
There is literally no reason for Ives not to shoot for the moon. Promise zero pension debt in less than a term. Promise zero gun deaths in Chicago. Promise everything.

Trump may have taught us to “never say never.” But I think we can be comfortable answering the question “Will Jeanne Ives be governor?” with “Probably never.”

Comment by Bill F. Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 3:29 pm
So will Ives be the one to promise to build the wall between Chicago and the rest of Illinois?

Comment by HangingOn Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 3:58 pm
Wait a minite Bill. If Jeanne promises the moon, how would we differentiate her from the Drm candidates?

Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 4:12 pm
Jeanne- like Bruce’s proposal, that dont work either.

Look up the interview w UK Labour MP Diane Abbott from last year’s snap election in which she repeatedly failed to get basic arithmetic correct. You sound like her.

Comment by Low level Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 5:12 pm
Zen you are correct, Harvey is broke and corrupt it didn’t used to be that way.

Comment by NorthsideNoMore Tuesday, Jan 23, 18 @ 5:30 pm