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Bean counters

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Illinois

* This is the sort of thing that happens when you let the Blagojevich bean counters - who never really appreciated the actual impact of their cuts - continue to run the show….

The proposed state budget zeros out $3.5 million that goes to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. That shortfall could get even bigger because CMAP uses the money to get $11 million more in federal matching funds.

Executive Director Randy Blankenhorn says that’s important because federal law requires CMAP to sign off on federal transportation projects.

BLANKENHORN: If there’s federal money coming in through stimulus, if there’s federal money coming in through a new transportation bill, if there’s state money coming in through a new capital program, all those improvements that we all think are vitally important are in some jeopardy. [emphasis added]

Great.

Anything else going out in the agencies that we should know about? Please, try to keep personalities out of this. I’m interested in the proposed budget or current budget cuts, not your boss.

* Related…

* State cuts costly, planning group says : A $5 million cost-saving measure in Gov. Quinn’s 2010 budget may deprive the Chicago area of billions of dollars in federal transportation funds, according to a regional planning agency.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 2:49 am

Comments

Agencies could almost get a better deal from Rent-A-Center than CMS…Hard to see how providing CMS with a revenue source is a prudent use of federal match cash.

Comment by The PC Lease Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 3:30 am
Strange that this continues to come up. Certainly there has to be a simple way to flag what line items leverage federal money.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 6:18 am
word, there used to be a mechanism for tracking fed funds match by agency. Schnorf could provide more detail, but AA worked in an agency with several Fed funding sources and we carefully tracked those lines for both internal (to get our share of the indirect cost match) and external (to keep the BoB aware of current/outyear Fed match issues.) Nothing approaching rocket science.

Another stink pickle out there that will add to the FY 09 deficit: Filan used the wrong numbers for the State pension approps when he prepared the FY 10 budget for Quinn. The enacted FY09 budget for pensions was around $200-250 million less than the funds’ certified requests; they will get the difference by using the continuing authority approp language, adding that much more to the 09 shortfall. This amount is in addition to the $362 million in 4th quarter 09 pension contributions Quinn/Filan tried to grab before break, but couldn’t get the job done.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 7:09 am
Rich, not calling anyone a liar, but…what federal law REQUIRES CMAP to “sign off” on federal transportation projects? Call me skeptical, but this may be some posturing by people who don’t want their funds cut off.

Speaking of transportation and federal funds, however, Illinois is in imminent danger of losing previously earmarked funds (from SAFETY-LU) because we haven’t found local matches for them. That’s about $7-9 billion (depending on how you do the math) that Illinois would leave on the table. Figuring the entire road and bridge stimulus for Illinois was less than $1 billion, you’d think there would be more interest in getting these earmarked funds secured before they expire this year.

Comment by phocion Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 7:20 am
Can anybody explain why Quinn refuses to send Filan packing? Why would Quinn keep someone with such close ties to the last administration who had much to do with the budget disaster that played out over the last five years?

If it is so clear to the participants on this blog that Filan should go, what are we missing with the connection to Quinn?

Comment by Stooges Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 7:32 am
As phocion said, I also would like to see the statutory reference that says CMAP has to approve or sign-off on federal funding. Sounds a little suspect to me.

Comment by shermans ghost Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 8:32 am
I agree with wordslinger.

I especially agree with phocion!

My take:
Our governments are so big and wasteful, they can’t even keep tract of who does what for what amount.

Voters think governments know one another and function together. Nope. Not anymore. We have so many bureaucracies and politicians, they don’t even know what they are doing.

But they all agree they want more of our money in order to do it.

And some of you folks think governments don’t have waste that could be cut? Look at the chaos! We have a lot of streamlining that can be done. Not by centralizing, but by eliminating governmental overlapping.

If the CMAP is needed, then change the damn law and save us all millions.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 9:13 am
The article does not say what CMAP’s total budget is. Maybe it was determined their budget could be reduced by 3.5 million without impacting what they need to do.

Comment by Reality is Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 9:16 am
CMAP sees its role as the “decider” in allocating fed/state funds for infrastructure maintenance and improvement projects, with GA and IDOT having subordinate roles at best. Planners over politicians. The agency has a serious entitlement mindset. There is little if any accountability there.

Comment by CMAP The Great Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 9:37 am
remove every single CMS charge to the agencies from the state budget. it is ludicrous that the State agencies are paying the state for inhouse work.

if CMS need to increase thier budget then let them justify the expense. Right now CMS collects somthing like over 100 million from the various state agencies. Cut this finacial shell game so we can see the real cost of CMS.

Comment by Ghost Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 9:47 am
The idea we send our tax dollars to DC and those tax dollars can only come back if they’re matched by state or local monies seems like a process developed by an attorney[ies] and accountants as a scam

Comment by bugs Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 10:01 am
Since the 1960s, Metropolitan Planning Agencies like CMAP have been required to develop and approve all transportation projects in their areas. There are 14 such agencies in Illinois and the State finally is providing them some financial help like most neighboring states do. The MPOs must include the projects through a Plan and then Program the funds following the Coordinated, Comprehensive, and Continuous (3-C)Federal planning process. It’s a long established system and one of the few planning processes supported very modestly by the State in Illinois. It coordinates transportation with land use, economic development, housing, etc.

Comment by romeosatan Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 10:05 am
Okay, here is a citrizen’s experience with the impacts of the insane bean counting mentality. Filan and Co. came up with a scheme whereby many commodities (light bulbs, toilet paper, printing ink, etc) and some services (maintenance, for instance) had to be provided by CMS. So last year we camped a night at Ft. Massac State Park, and paid the newly increased fees to do so. There were no lights in the men’s restroom and shower! When I complained to the ranger, I was reminded that IDNR is no longer allowed to replace light bulbs. That is a CMS function, and CMS as it existed in the Mtropolis area was a political appointee who simply had not been responsive to the park’s request that he come out and change burned out light bulbs. The ranger said things could be worse: There were some parks, he said, that were reportedly out of toilet paper for months. This is where Filan and his sort have taken this state.

Comment by Skirmisher Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 10:07 am
The CMS “charges” are to remove funds from dedicated funds that the Guv tried to take and lost in court. These “charges” should cease.

Comment by wizard Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 10:11 am
Rich, with all due respect, this has nothing to do with matching funds and everything to do with a long powerstruggle between CMAP and the State.

Regardless of where you come down on the issue, it’s an important policy dispute, not an oversight. This is the kind of red-flag signal that savvy observers like you should dig into, not sensationalize.

Comment by There's beans, and then there's BEANS Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 10:29 am
As someone who is familiar with the important regioanl planning that CMAP does, this money is not fluff…this agency must coordinate land and transportation planning in the entire Chicagoland area…want seamless use of PACE and CTA? Want better raods and less gridlock? more greenspace?
better planned communities? States like Mayland and Washington use their MPO’s to the benefit of of many for a relatively small financial investment…Randy is advocating for a substancial
amount of federal money to do this important quality of life work for a small investment in State dollars…Beansy and I beg to differ with most of the folks on this blog that have no idea what MPOs do…

Comment by Anonymous45 Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 11:02 am
The real issue here is the bean counters. Kudos to the current Governor’s administration for their tireless efforts in keeping Illinois running through the administrative transition. I can only imagine what met them on their first day……..

Having said that, yes there may be a few bean counters from the previous administration responsible for crafting this budget. Did they have the time to fully identify Governor Quinn’s priorities? Probably not. Do a few of these bean counters need to go? Probably. But is it a wise decision to let staff go in the middle of a budget process? Probably not.

It is my hope that the Governor’s office will reinstate the full amount according to Public Act 95-0677. The entire seven county region encompassing northeastern Illinois cannot afford for CMAP to close their doors.

Comment by Marta Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 11:05 am
Some of the people making comments (The PC Lease, Ghost, wizard)don’t know the difference between CMS and CMAP. If you are one of them, then please be quite!

Comment by Anon13 Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 11:32 am
===what federal law ===

It’s a state law. Two of them.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 11:46 am
Romeosatan and others are correct. The money being cut is the only state money provided to the planning agancies. While CMAP gets largest share, this reduction affects all the others as well. The problems this creates can cause even more problems “downstream” as municipalities and counties can’t get access to available funds because they can’t afford to meet federal planning requirements that these funds may help underwrite.

Comment by Cogito Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 11:49 am
This is the budget game. You have to take something off the table so you can give it back down the line in exchange for funding of your own priorities. Its just a game. If everybody acted in an open way from the start, negotiating tactics like this wouldn’t be necessary.

Comment by anon Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 12:19 pm
CMAP is in the Regional Planning Act, 70 ILCS 1707/1

Comment by Lefty Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 12:28 pm
The recent federal stimulus dollars required the local planning agencies (like CMAP) to include the stimulus projects in their regional Transportation Improvement Plans, or else they would be ineligible. CMAP and others did a remarkable job in getting these approved on time, allowing IL to walk away with (so far) the most dollars of any state. They should not be shortchanged in some pennywise but pound foolish budget game.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 12:32 pm
I hold a position similar to Blankenhorn’s (MPO Director) in a downstate community, so my input should be viewed in that light. I think a healthy skepticism about things in government is a good thing, but don’t doubt that the feds will not approve the expenditure of federal transportation funds for a project if the MPO has not done what federal law and regulations require. I spent two days last week with federal reviewers going over everything we do as an MPO to be sure that our “sign off” procedures comply. Like it or not, the work of MPO’s is made necessary by federal law.

Comment by Terry Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 12:34 pm
Its a state law required by federal law

Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 1:33 pm
There seems to be some confusion here. I think that some folks are commenting on Rich’s request for anything else going on in the Agencies and not on the CMAP.

This is what you get when you allow John Filan to continue to make budget calls. I guess we will never have to ask the question of what would have happened in the budget process if Blago would have stayed. Filan might be a wizard but he has no clue as to what state employees or their agencies do.
Speaking of the budget and cuts what has anyone heard on the furlough days? I have heard the latest thought is four days per year for the next four years. This would reduce annual salaries to also lower pension benefits for the large group of employees who are nearing retirement age.

Comment by Irish Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 1:40 pm
Skirmisher “When I complained to the ranger, I was reminded that IDNR is no longer allowed to replace light bulbs”

Psst, Skirmisher, I don’t know what’s going on down in region 5 but if you come camping up this way lights and paper are checked and changed/refilled by our own people, no special job description here for such things.

Comment by Princess Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 2:17 pm
I think these cmap funds were cut by the gov Qs people

Comment by Anon again Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 2:32 pm
Through six-year federal transportation legislation, the fed gov’t requires metropolitan planning organizations to fulfill a whole host of planning, programming and consultation responsibilities. The list of responsibilities was expanded in SAFETEA-LU. The State also has federal obligations itself to meet under SAFTEA-LU and it designates the MPOs for urbanized areas. The designated MPO must be certified by the feds and maintain that certification.

When the State created CMAP by combining what was previously CATS (the “old” MPO) with NIPC (the former regional land use planning), CMAP assumed both the federal MPO responsibilities for transportation, as well as non-federal, non-transportation related requirements in other areas of urban planning (water resources, environmental, etc.).

The feds require CMAP to perform many specific technical duties for the region, including maintaining an air-quality tested and regionally approved “program” of projects using federal funds. That list then goes into a statewide “program”.

Bottom line, if CMAP doesn’t have the resources to properly and efficiently maintain and model the project lists, then local, county, IDOT and transit projects in the Chicago region simply will not be allowed to use federal funds. And if CMAP doesn’t have the resources to perform their non-transportation urban planning duties, they are out of compliance with the State law that created the entity to begin with.

I don’t know, maybe its a strategy to cut the funds first, in order to force everyone to quickly agree to cut (or spin out) some of CMAPs duties.

Comment by Keep Smiling Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 3:03 pm
Some time ago, Rich suggested that the Feds could help out Illinois — a “donor state” — by waiving the state and local match on the SAFETEA-LU projects. I still think that’s a good idea.

Comment by soccermom Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 3:16 pm
Princess - I do believe someone was making excuses to Skirmisher instead of doing their job. I too have never heard of this. Too bad because it is this type of stuff that gives state employees bad names. This guy would be replacing every lightbulb and toilet paper roll that was out himself for the next two months if he worked for me.

Comment by Irish Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 3:45 pm
The US dept of ed has approved Illinois’ funding proposal for education. The 25-page document can be downloaded at this site:

http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/resources.html

Comment by Nearly Normal Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 5:51 pm
===5. - Stooges - Monday, Apr 20, 09 @ 7:32 am:

Can anybody explain why Quinn refuses to send Filan packing? Why would Quinn keep someone with such close ties to the last administration who had much to do with the budget disaster that played out over the last five years? If it is so clear to the participants on this blog that Filan should go, what are we missing with the connection to Quinn?===

The answer: Filan was Quinn’s guy long, long before he was ever Blago’s guy. The crucial, KEY difference is that under Blago the bean counter ran the government because Blago was so totally disengaged. Now the bean counter still crunches numbers but he no longer runs anything. Filan proposes and Gov. Quinn, at minimum a total policy wonk if not an actual micromanager, always disposes.

And THAT is a huge difference.

Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Tuesday, Apr 21, 09 @ 1:48 am
Mighty Mouse, interesting argument but nonsensical.

First of all, if Filan is “thisclose” to Quinn, why doesn’t Quinn return him to the office and the job he’s obviously doing, Budget Director, instead of having him lurk in the shadows on the budget while possibly ingoring his fiducuary duty to the bondholders of the IFA? At the very least, why hasn’t Quinn said a word in support of his longtime friend?

Secondly, if your assertion is to be believed and Filan “no longer runs anything,” who exactly owns that distaser of a budget? Quinn? Is Filan no longer running the IFA? According to revelations in Quinn’s running mate’s 75-page indictment, Filan had guilty knowledge of corruption in the ginormous pension bond issue and did nothing about it to this day. By the standard Quinn has set, Filan appears to have a date with the fumigators coming up in the near future.

That is, unless your hero Quinn is a two-faced, hypocritical weasel. What say you?

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Apr 21, 09 @ 8:00 am
anon13-iknow the difference, was just trying to clarify another poster’s comment regarding the cms sweeps (er, “charges”) as far as being quiet, when Rich requests that I will comply. It is not your site.

Comment by wizard Tuesday, Apr 21, 09 @ 8:08 am
AA - On the spot commentary - Thank you

Comment by Irish Tuesday, Apr 21, 09 @ 9:15 am
Arthur Andersen, you have answered your own question. I find your arguments interesting but nonsensical. And if you want to know “why” ask the Man, not me. It is Quinn’s budget, of course, and if you want me to treat you seriously try getting out of the gutter first. The language you used to describe our current governor, who happens to be a decent, honest and honorable person, suggests to me that you are, simply put, a blindly partisan, thimble-brained nitwit.

Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Tuesday, Apr 21, 09 @ 9:44 am
I think it should say:

* State cuts costly, planning group says : A $5 million cost-saving measure in Gov. Quinn’s 2010 budget may deprive the Chicago area of MILLIONS (not billions) of dollars in federal transportation funds, according to a regional planning agency.

Isn’t is $11 million in federal matching?

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Apr 21, 09 @ 10:53 am