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Reading between the lines

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Illinois

* It’s a start…

Several suburban Republican senators say they’ve found ways to cut $3.4 billion from the state’s $11.6 billion hole and avert an income tax increase.

But it ain’t enough, especially since the budget hole is bigger than $11.6 billion, as I’ve been telling subscribers for days now…

As the national economy takes a turn for the worse, Illinois government is hemorrhaging money.

Economists paid by a bipartisan legislative commission said state revenues are estimated to drop $2.3 billion, a 7.8 percent plunge compared to last budget year.

The revenue loss, combined with unpaid bills from this year and increased budget pressures — leave the state with a $12.4 billion deficit for the next budget year. [emphasis added]

* The Senate Repubs believe the state can grow out of the deficit over time and apparently believe it can ignore the constitution’s balanced budget requirement…

“We didn’t get into to this problem overnight, and we don’t have to solve it all at once in one year,” said Sen. Carole Pankau, an Itasca Republican.

What they don’t say is that if we don’t solve this problem soon, then the budget will continue to be balanced on the backs of Medicaid providers and other state vendors via late payments.

* The basics…

About one-third of the savings would come from cutting back on health insurance for retired state employees.

That’ll be beloved by already furious state employee unions, I’m sure.

More…

Another third involves cuts and management changes in the Medicaid program.

The rests of the cuts would be in state purchasing, retirement programs and unspecified state programs.

* Some of these ideas seem pretty good on their face…

According to the report, the most significant Medicaid cut could come from applying for a federal waiver for Medicaid-eligible programs to capture as much as $435 million more in federal matching funds. Another suggestion is the creation of a private-public partnership, which would transfer decisions regarding benefit eligibility to private partners. That, in turn, would help to decrease the opportunity for fraudulent claims. And, while all of the savings weren’t specified, the report suggests that a new way to manage pharmaceutical benefits and higher co-pays could save $110 million in one year and $730 million over five years.

* The press release is here. The full report is here.

* Some of the skepticism…

Democrats offer several reasons for opposing such cuts.

Some are seen as unfair to needy people, for instance. And others might conflict with federal regulations.

* On a semi-related note, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is quite pleased with the way Illinois is handling its transportation stimulus program…

“Illinois is far ahead … as far as having their projects certified and ready to go,” LaHood said.

* Meanwhile…

An increase in the fee for Firearm Owner Identification cards could help the state process applications for them more quickly, the acting state police director said Wednesday.

Now, a FOID card costs people $10 for 10 years. Previously, though, a card cost $5 for five years. Acting Illinois State Police director Jon Monken said it cost the Illinois State Police $6.25 to process each application.

That’s all well and good until the governor and the General Assembly decide to raid the special fund.

* Related…

* Mini-capital plan coming Thursday

* State police head nominee could be called up for military duty

* Medical problem has kept state’s prison chief out for more than a month

* Zorn: Two of the more intriguing candidates to replace Illinois Dept. of Corrections director Roger E. Walker Jr. are women. One is Dee Battaglia, 56, the former warden at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, who became the first woman to head an all-male maximum-security prison in Illinois when she took over that institution in May 2005. The other is the department’s assistant director Deanne Benos, 38, who became the first woman in that post when former Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed her in November 2003. The top job in the prison systems has never been held by a woman, and Walker is widely expected to be stepping down soon due to health problems that currently have him off the job.

* Editorial: [Gov. Quinn’s] recent budget proposal included too few cuts to go along with a significant tax increase. But don’t look at state parks and historic sites.

* Editorial: Let’s move crime labs up budget priority list

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 10:52 am

Comments

it cost the Illinois State Police $6.25 to process each application

Or just save the whole 6.25 by repealing the requirement and be like 45 other states…..

Comment by Pat collins Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 10:59 am
“According to the report, the most significant Medicaid cut could come from applying for a federal waiver for Medicaid-eligible programs to capture as much as $435 million more in federal matching funds.”

Yes, by agreeing to a cap on Medicaid dollars and by installing waiting lists & cutting benefits to stay under that cap (and in doing so losing out on federal stimulus dollars).

Comment by George Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:04 am
–assistant director Deanne Benos, 38, who became the first woman in that post…–

yea, the first woman or man b/c blago created the job for her. she has worked for blago for years. doesn’t quinn have any of his own people???

Comment by nick Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:09 am
A thought (not a proposal): State’s can’t declare bankruptcy but municipalities can. So, states should dump as much on municipalities as possible, this way employee unions won’t be able to extort huge pension obligations that can be pushed off into the future without risking losing all of them.

Comment by lake county democrat Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:11 am
How long has the federal Medicaid waiver been available and what prevented state government officials for applying in the past.Or did they and was the application rejected.

We shouldn’t discourage efforts to think up ways to save money but those proffering possible solutions should also offer a balanced assessment of the likelihood of implementation including historical background. Otherwise, it’s just politics as usual (”we offered, but the Dems wouldn’t do anything.”)

Someone (other than the insurees) is likely profiting from the Medicaid system as it currently run. The bureacracy? Contractors? Physicians? Hospitals?

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:11 am
Generally, these ideas are pretty much worth the electricity they use on my computer monitor.

I looked hard in their “full report”, but there aren’t really any details or numbers to back up their claims of savings. They seem to be just using the numbers provided by the various constituents who testified, without doing any of their own work.

A lot is MISLEADING, like the Medicaid Global Waiver referenced above. You would think if all we had to do to get extra federal money would be to just apply for one new waiver, it would have been done by now. What they don’t tell you is that you give up future federal matching funds for healthcare enrollees in exchange for a flat block grant of sorts. When enrollment and costs continue to increase, and they will, you still only get that flat amount. The only way to stay within budget, then, is to start cutting people off healthcare or cutting benefit or cutting reimbursement rates. That is what they are really talking about.

And some items are just NOT BELIEVABLE. I would really like to see how they say the state could save $400 million a year by improving vendor and contract management for purchasing. To get to $400 million, you would have to reduce purchasing, not overhead, so tell us where you are going to do that.

And then saving $120 million on the determination of eligibility for Medicaid by contracting with an external party? I don’t think the State even spends that much to determine eligibility. And I thought the state already did that through its “Application Agents” program. You don’t have to go into a DHS office anymore for anything.

Show the Lucas report details if you really want this to be taken seriously.

Comment by George Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:18 am
That “for anything” should have been “for everything”

Comment by George Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:22 am
I would be quite surprised if any private vendor could process Medicaid eligibility as cheaply as the state now does.

Comment by steve schnorf Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:29 am
What about pensions? What is their relations to this budget crisis?

Comment by Levois Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:32 am
I think pensions are protected by the constitution for current employees and retirees.

Retiree health benefits are not. I suppose they could save money by increasing the costs of these benefits to retirees on an income-based scale but how much I’m not sure, nor am I sure how much would really be saved overall.

The feds are working hard on a health care plan. I think our esteemed pols should postpone any major changes until we know what the federal plan will be. I am virtually certain there will be one, soon, although it may not be as comprehensive as many would wish.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 11:43 am
Benos as Director of IDOC??? Too much history with Blago; The Sheridan re-entry program was a good idea but anyone can tell you the books were cooked & parole violations were ignored to make the recidivism rates appear lower than they really are…Dee Battaglia would be exceptional and would provide some much needed leadership to the agency.

Comment by Recently Retired DOC Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 12:05 pm
I read that report yesterday, between retiree health and additional contributions for pensions was, as stated, a 1/3 of the savings in the suggested cuts. Frankly, one could have cut and pasted the testimony and suggested cutting/saving from one committee report to another and saved time and travel. In fact, we might as well just roll back time and pretend no contract was signed a few months ago. So much for ’sharing pain’.

Comment by Princess Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 12:06 pm
Rich, Those articles show that Mr Forehlich is spending tax dollars foolishly and he needs to be uncovered. I sent this to several Chicago News stations. You can be the first on the block to get this news.

Comment by Deeda Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 12:17 pm
Do the cuts to the health insurance of retirees include retired GA mambers, judges, and constitutional officers? I’ll bet not. So we will cut the health insurance of state workers, a lot of who worked 30+ years for paltry pay and we will not touch the benefits of retired GA members who only have to get elected once to reap their generous LIFETIME benefit package.
Now why is it we hold these people in contempt?

Comment by Irish Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 12:37 pm
I have to echo “Recently Retired DOC” that if Quinn appoints Benos, it would be a huge mistake. Too much history with Blago is a huge understatement. Like Walker she was Blago yes man. Although she’s one bright individual, she hitched her wagon to the wrong star. She’s pushed for several reform ideas, but provided little follow through/implementation plans. I think Quinn’s already had 2 curious appointment choices in Dan Grant and Jon Monken, both are exceptional individals, especially Monken. However, if Benos is appointed over Battaglia, it would be a travesty. Battaglia is exactly what DOC needs. She is well respected within the Department and even the inmates. Plus, Quinn’s previous appointments lack diversity.

Comment by The Kid 6 Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 1:39 pm
$10.00 Foid with $6.25 in costs…
Tell me again how that leads to a deficit?

Tell me how to justify a process that takes 90 days to fulfill a 30 day requirement…

Tell me why the card cannot be delivered more quickly… drivers would never put up with 30 days or 90 days to receive a new card to replace on that expired, was lost, or stolen…
…and driving is not an enumerated right like the right to keep and bear arms.

Comment by borzoi Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 3:58 pm
To 3:58……$10.00 Foid with $6.25 in costs…
Tell me again how that leads to a deficit?

Because IDNR gets $6 of the $10 for every FOID card. ISP does operate in a deficit.

Comment by Bullseye Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 4:10 pm
What the IDOC needs is an outside appointment as director. Both females mentioned have experience within the department. Benos is a total Blago partisan and she must go along with several other deputy directors and political hacks.

Battaglia may be ready to move up to a higher level position in the department but not director. She could be a tremendous asset to a new person in regards to identifying current problems.

The reason the IDOC needs new leadership is that the current administration has been totally committed to Blago and his philosphy of more with less. They have cut staff to dangerous levels and are directly responsible for creating the WORST staff morale in many years.

An outsider would not be a part of the previous admins travesty and could gain the respect of staff. There is much work to be done, but how long would a new director be in the job before another governor comes along and replaces them?

Comment by southern illinoisan Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 4:29 pm
Benos has been with Blago since he was a Congressman. She’s not respected within IDOC. I think it’s a joke that she’s a potential candidate to take over as director. She needs to be fired, not considered for Director!

Comment by Pie-in-the-sky Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 6:17 pm
Southern illinoisan while I don’t disagree with your premise of an outside appointment to head the department that was the rationale I heard from the blago-ites when they appointed Roger Walker. We all know how that worked out.

Dee Battaglia is retired from the department and the speculation at the time of her retirement was that she was forced out by the blago-ites because she wasn’t their yes (wo)man.

This could be a perfect scenario….someone with the brains and experience to run the department in a professional manner who in not beholden to the current administration.

Comment by Recently Retired DOC Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 6:36 pm
First: Fix pay to play before spending over $25B
Second: Fix overly generous pensions and benefits
Third: Cut things we want but don’t need

Last: Raise one-time funds to fix pensions by leasing highways and toll roads.

To fix operating shortfalls legalize video gambling games and slots across the state, use sin taxes for pollution, junk food/soda, etc. Offer schools, government bodies, and non-profit service providers matching funds for any money raised, especially from wealthy residents.

Why force everyone, including those struggling in this economy to pay more if the wealthy would trade millions for names on buildings/plaques/newpapers? Every university and non-profit has professional fundraisers…why not government? Is anything more valuable to the local communities than essential service providers like police, fire departments, schools, libraries, etc.?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 7:55 pm
M Madigan’s proposal to add a third pension reform of switching new employees to defined contributions instead of defined benefits would be very wise.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 7:57 pm
Benos is part of commissioning crew. Goes way back….and her assistant is a liability.
watch

Comment by Hank Thursday, Apr 2, 09 @ 8:46 pm