By Meredith Colias
After projected savings from prison closures fell short, the Illinois Department of Corrections is asking for more funding for the current fiscal year.
The department is seeking $41.8 million in supplemental appropriations to cover its costs for FY 13, which ends June 30. According to Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget office, the department had to spend $30 million it had not included in its budget to keep the Dwight and Tamms Correctional Centers open through a legal fight with public employee unions. Agency officials estimate that running the two prisons cost the state about $62 million per year and that the department did not save the full amount projected from prison closures because court challenges delayed the closings for several months. Both prisons are now closed.
The department also prematurely estimated it could save $19.2 million by stopping guards from collecting 15 minutes of overtime while they stood through the morning roll call. Department officials said during a budget hearing today that they were unable to realize those savings, and they now need to reconcile how to cover that cost.
Other problems, such as overcrowding, continue to plague the prison system. Inmates at minimum-security prisons are being housed in bunks in prison gymnasiums. A department spokeswoman said the agency is doing the best it can under difficult circumstances.
“It’s a temporary dorm setting. Obviously, we have no control over the inmates that we receive into the system,” said Stacy Solano.
Anders Lindall, spokesmen for Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, said the prison closures only added to the problem, with 49,000 inmates in prisons built for 32,000.
“I don’t think from the beginning it was credible to claim that closures would save money,” he said.
“They didn’t turn those thousands of inmates loose. They transferred them to other facilities, and they had to transfer staff [and still pay] to safely incarcerate them,” he said.
Three inmates have been murdered in the Menard Correctional Facility this year. A report released today from the prison watchdog group the John Howard Association says that inmates complained about the dangers of putting multiple prisoners in one cell. “Several older inmates reported that they had trouble with younger and aggressive cellmates. Additionally, housing inmates with long-term sentences alongside inmates with short-term sentences can be problematic. This was the situation of the inmate who was allegedly murdered by his cellmate in January 2013,” said the report. The authors of the report noted some positive developments at Menard since the association’s 2011 monitoring visit. “Menard has made several improvements, including reducing its segregation population, notably of inmates suffering from mental illnesses; attempting to isolate and reduce lock downs by housing inmates by aggression levels; and working with staff to strengthen communication and accountability.”
“We take every assault as seriously, no matter to what degree, extremely seriously,” Solano said. The department has reviewed security procedures and is aiding prosecution efforts, she said. “That sends a message to staff and inmates that we are not going to stand for this.”
Showing posts with label FY13 budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FY13 budget. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
House approves additional funds for home health care for seniors
By Meredith Colias
The Illinois House approved a temporary fix in an attempt to solve a $173 million funding shortfall for a program that provides in-home services for the elderly.
The Community Care Program in the state Department of Aging administers services including adult day care and pays providers to help its elderly clients at home with everyday tasks such as errands, groceries and bathing. It is estimated the yearly costs to care for elderly in their homes are about one-fourth the cost of paying for someone living in a nursing home.
Pending the potential influx of money, Department of Aging Director John Holton confirmed that the agency does not have the funding in its budget to pay providers until next fiscal year’s budget funds become available on July 1. To cover that shortfall, the House approved a supplemental appropriation that will keep the program operating through the remainder of this fiscal year.
Jacquie Algee, director of relations for Service Employees International Union health care, said the House vote was a positive development, since 85,000 people depend on services paid for by the state. “We’re really pleased that [they] did the right thing, in our opinion,” she said. If the measure passes the Senate and is signed into law, she said, providers dependent on payments from the state “should be in a good place.” A similar issue could also arise in Fiscal Year 2014 because the department is scheduled to use about $142 million of that year’s budget to pay off expenses from FY 2013.
Rep. Patricia Bellock, a Hinsdale Republican, said dealing with unbudgeted expenses was less than ideal because the state was forced to divert money from a plan to pay past Medicaid bills that were matched by the federal government. “Those are all pressures above the line. How are you going to pay for that?”
Because demand for the Community Care Program is expected to grow in the years to come as the elderly population grows, other lawmakers are looking for ways for the program to cut its future costs. House Bill 2275, sponsored by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, a Chicago Democrat, hopes to avoid a similar situation in the future by prohibiting the department from pushing off bills onto the next year’s budget unless approved by the comptroller and governor.
The legislation would also restrict the amount of hours that employees are allowed to claim for tasks such as doing laundry and be subject to GPS tracking to make sure they are actually going to homes to take care of clients. “All of the levers in the bill need to be pulled in order for this to work,” she said of the efforts to cut costs. It is necessary to make sure the services can still be provided, she said. “If we don’t pay these bills, what is going to end up happening is the doors of community care providers around the state of Illinois are going to close, and seniors will have nowhere to go except for a nursing home,” she said.
The Illinois House approved a temporary fix in an attempt to solve a $173 million funding shortfall for a program that provides in-home services for the elderly.
The Community Care Program in the state Department of Aging administers services including adult day care and pays providers to help its elderly clients at home with everyday tasks such as errands, groceries and bathing. It is estimated the yearly costs to care for elderly in their homes are about one-fourth the cost of paying for someone living in a nursing home.
Pending the potential influx of money, Department of Aging Director John Holton confirmed that the agency does not have the funding in its budget to pay providers until next fiscal year’s budget funds become available on July 1. To cover that shortfall, the House approved a supplemental appropriation that will keep the program operating through the remainder of this fiscal year.
Jacquie Algee, director of relations for Service Employees International Union health care, said the House vote was a positive development, since 85,000 people depend on services paid for by the state. “We’re really pleased that [they] did the right thing, in our opinion,” she said. If the measure passes the Senate and is signed into law, she said, providers dependent on payments from the state “should be in a good place.” A similar issue could also arise in Fiscal Year 2014 because the department is scheduled to use about $142 million of that year’s budget to pay off expenses from FY 2013.
Rep. Patricia Bellock, a Hinsdale Republican, said dealing with unbudgeted expenses was less than ideal because the state was forced to divert money from a plan to pay past Medicaid bills that were matched by the federal government. “Those are all pressures above the line. How are you going to pay for that?”
Because demand for the Community Care Program is expected to grow in the years to come as the elderly population grows, other lawmakers are looking for ways for the program to cut its future costs. House Bill 2275, sponsored by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, a Chicago Democrat, hopes to avoid a similar situation in the future by prohibiting the department from pushing off bills onto the next year’s budget unless approved by the comptroller and governor.
The legislation would also restrict the amount of hours that employees are allowed to claim for tasks such as doing laundry and be subject to GPS tracking to make sure they are actually going to homes to take care of clients. “All of the levers in the bill need to be pulled in order for this to work,” she said of the efforts to cut costs. It is necessary to make sure the services can still be provided, she said. “If we don’t pay these bills, what is going to end up happening is the doors of community care providers around the state of Illinois are going to close, and seniors will have nowhere to go except for a nursing home,” she said.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Home health care providers lobby for funding to cover shortfall
By Meredith Colias
Social service advocates say agencies providing in-home care for seniors could be at risk if additional state money is not set aside to pay them.
The Illinois Department of Aging notified service providers in a letter March 7 that it would soon run out of money to fund the Community Care Program for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30. Providers say that $173 million is needed to properly fund service through the end of Fiscal Year 2013. Kimberly Parker, the Department of Aging's spokeswoman, said in an email it was “common knowledge” the legislature did not give the agency enough money to continue to pay providers through the entire fiscal year and that administrators are hopeful additional money could be found. She said that so far, providers have continued to administer services, but without more funding, payment would likely be delayed until the start of next fiscal year.
The program serves mainly lower-income seniors who apply for assistance through the state for home-based long-term care assistance, with everyday needs ranging from preparing meals and running errands to dressing and bathing, according to the agency's website. The program helps to care for an estimated 80,000 senior citizens in the state. Aside from at-home providers, it also helps to pay for background checks for at-home caregivers, adult day centers that watch elderly clients during the day and a program designed to preventing elderly spouses from being burdened by their spouses in-home care and falling into poverty. To qualify, Illinois residents must be at least 60 years old, the state must determine that they need long-term care and they must have less than $17,500 in assets aside from their home, car and furniture.
Helping senior citizens remain in their homes is preferable for the state from a financial standpoint, since the Department of Aging estimates the costs would be as much as four times higher to pay for an individual placed in round-the-clock care in a nursing home. The Department of Aging estimates 96 percent of the money it receives from the General Revenue Fund goes to the program. The department says the program was underfunded last fiscal year, as well. Part of the reason why the program is facing a shortfall is because it had to use some of the money it received this year to cover last year's costs.
Jacquie Algee, executive director of relations for Service Employees International Union health care, said smaller providers that primarily rely on the state for their operations are most at-risk if the additional funding is not found. “It’s been a problem because it happens every year,” she said. The Illinois Association of Community Care Program Homecare Providers estimates that one-third of its members depend heavily on funding from the Department of Aging and would not be able to continue operations for more than 30 days without it.
Abdon Pallasch, a spokesman for Gov. Pat Quinn, said the governor supports restoring the funds to the department, although Pallasch was unsure where money would be diverted from in the current budget to continue funding. “It’s up to the legislature,” he said.
Social service advocates say agencies providing in-home care for seniors could be at risk if additional state money is not set aside to pay them.
The Illinois Department of Aging notified service providers in a letter March 7 that it would soon run out of money to fund the Community Care Program for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30. Providers say that $173 million is needed to properly fund service through the end of Fiscal Year 2013. Kimberly Parker, the Department of Aging's spokeswoman, said in an email it was “common knowledge” the legislature did not give the agency enough money to continue to pay providers through the entire fiscal year and that administrators are hopeful additional money could be found. She said that so far, providers have continued to administer services, but without more funding, payment would likely be delayed until the start of next fiscal year.
The program serves mainly lower-income seniors who apply for assistance through the state for home-based long-term care assistance, with everyday needs ranging from preparing meals and running errands to dressing and bathing, according to the agency's website. The program helps to care for an estimated 80,000 senior citizens in the state. Aside from at-home providers, it also helps to pay for background checks for at-home caregivers, adult day centers that watch elderly clients during the day and a program designed to preventing elderly spouses from being burdened by their spouses in-home care and falling into poverty. To qualify, Illinois residents must be at least 60 years old, the state must determine that they need long-term care and they must have less than $17,500 in assets aside from their home, car and furniture.
Helping senior citizens remain in their homes is preferable for the state from a financial standpoint, since the Department of Aging estimates the costs would be as much as four times higher to pay for an individual placed in round-the-clock care in a nursing home. The Department of Aging estimates 96 percent of the money it receives from the General Revenue Fund goes to the program. The department says the program was underfunded last fiscal year, as well. Part of the reason why the program is facing a shortfall is because it had to use some of the money it received this year to cover last year's costs.
Jacquie Algee, executive director of relations for Service Employees International Union health care, said smaller providers that primarily rely on the state for their operations are most at-risk if the additional funding is not found. “It’s been a problem because it happens every year,” she said. The Illinois Association of Community Care Program Homecare Providers estimates that one-third of its members depend heavily on funding from the Department of Aging and would not be able to continue operations for more than 30 days without it.
Abdon Pallasch, a spokesman for Gov. Pat Quinn, said the governor supports restoring the funds to the department, although Pallasch was unsure where money would be diverted from in the current budget to continue funding. “It’s up to the legislature,” he said.
Friday, March 22, 2013
ISBE: More than half of Illinois school districts face budget deficits this year
By Jamey Dunn
More than half of Illinois school districts will spend more money than they have this fiscal year ,according to analysis from the Illinois State Board of Education.
According ISBE report, more than 570, or about 67 percent, of schools will deficit spend this fiscal year, which ends in June. That number has increased from 425 districts, or about 48 percent last fiscal year. The analysis ranks schools on their fiscal stability based on factors such as how much cash a district has on hand and its debt load. More than 100 school districts have dropped out of its highest ranking category since last year and the number of districts in the lowest category, called financial watch, has doubled, going from 17 districts to 45. But 13 percent of Illinois districts fell in the bottom two rankings, up from about 6 percent last year. The number of districts on the financial watch list decreased each year from 2004 to 2009. The number went up in 2010, declined in 2011 and 2012 and spiked under the current analysis. (Financial rankings for all of the state’s school districts can be found at ISBE’s website.) This is the 11th year that ISBE has done such an analysis.
The rankings have been changed to account for slow payments from the state to schools districts. The state currently owes schools more than $630 million. According to ISBE, no schools are put on financial watch based solely on late payments.
ISBE officials attribute the decline in districts’ financial stability to cuts in state funding. They say that K-12 education has been cut by almost $900 million since 2009. “It is no surprise that our analysis shows the harmful effects of multiple cuts to education funding by the legislature. School districts have already eliminated thousands of teaching positions, increased class sizes, delayed facility repairs and so on, all in an effort to reduce expenses,” ISBE Chairman Gery Chico said in a prepared statement. “We cannot expect Illinois to remain competitive in a global economy if we continue to shirk our responsibility to children as our schools struggle to make ends meet.”
The board has requested $875 million in additional funding for Fiscal Year 2014. “The Illinois State Board of Education is simply asking for what is required by law in fully funding General State Aid,” Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch said in a prepared statement. “While we understand that difficult decisions must be made and that there is a great deal of pressure on the state budget, we are asking the legislature to meet its constitutional commitment. This recommendation is aggressive but desperately needed to provide much-needed financial relief to districts.”
Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget proposal would cut K-12 education by $275 million from current fiscal year levels. Quinn said growing pensions costs necessitate cuts in education. “Skyrocketing pension obligations leave our state with no choice but to continue reductions to our core priorities,” Quinn said when he presented his budget plan. He is calling for early childhood education to be spared further cuts.
Thursday, February 07, 2013
Quinn signs spending bill
By Jamey Dunn
Gov. Pat Quinn signed a spending bill today that will avert layoffs in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and restore funding to mental health providers. But opponents said it is too costly and was rushed through the legislative process.
The Senate approved House Bill 190 today. The measure contains about $1.5 billion in spending. The Department of Children and Family Services will get $25 million. Without the money, DCFS says it would have to lay off two-thirds of its staff. The measure also restores $12 million that lawmakers said was supposed to go to mental health services but did not because of a budgeting error. “As a result of today’s action, hard-working employees at the Department of Children and Family Services will continue their critical work of protecting vulnerable children who have been abused and neglected,” Gov. Pat Quinn said in a prepared statement.
The law also calls for more than $700 million in capital construction funds for roads, bridges schools and other projects. Republicans were critical of some of that spending, calling it “pork.” They said that Democrats moved the bill through both legislative chambers too quickly. The House approved the measure on Tuesday. “One of the things we see around here on occasions is, when we rush ourselves, mistakes get made, and I think this is a classic example of that occurring. There are some pieces in here in this package that I think everybody in this chamber can support. But when we rush through ... we see mistakes made,” said Palatine Republican Sen. Matt Murphy. Republicans were also upset that money was taken from the Road Fund for costs other than construction, such as employee health insurance.
But sponsor Sen. Dan Kotowski, an Oak Park Democrat, said some of the funding, such as the money for DCFS, could not wait. He said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been meeting about the issue. “These discussions have been ongoing for the past few months.” He pointed out that the bill is not new spending and instead draws from the governor’s budget vetoes, previously budgeted construction projects and money in various state funds. Kotowski pointed to a fiscal analysis, known as a note, on the legislation, which says: “The bill provides for no new revenue sources, nor does the bill require any additional state spending. This bill does not directly have any significant fiscal impact. The supplemental appropriation to the Department of Central Management Services for group insurance was expected to be included in the Fiscal Year 2013. Therefore the fiscal impact to the General Revenue Fund is negligible. Supplemental appropriations provided from other state and federal funds are provided on the basis of the availability of moneys in those funds.”
Gov. Pat Quinn signed a spending bill today that will avert layoffs in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and restore funding to mental health providers. But opponents said it is too costly and was rushed through the legislative process.
The Senate approved House Bill 190 today. The measure contains about $1.5 billion in spending. The Department of Children and Family Services will get $25 million. Without the money, DCFS says it would have to lay off two-thirds of its staff. The measure also restores $12 million that lawmakers said was supposed to go to mental health services but did not because of a budgeting error. “As a result of today’s action, hard-working employees at the Department of Children and Family Services will continue their critical work of protecting vulnerable children who have been abused and neglected,” Gov. Pat Quinn said in a prepared statement.
The law also calls for more than $700 million in capital construction funds for roads, bridges schools and other projects. Republicans were critical of some of that spending, calling it “pork.” They said that Democrats moved the bill through both legislative chambers too quickly. The House approved the measure on Tuesday. “One of the things we see around here on occasions is, when we rush ourselves, mistakes get made, and I think this is a classic example of that occurring. There are some pieces in here in this package that I think everybody in this chamber can support. But when we rush through ... we see mistakes made,” said Palatine Republican Sen. Matt Murphy. Republicans were also upset that money was taken from the Road Fund for costs other than construction, such as employee health insurance.
But sponsor Sen. Dan Kotowski, an Oak Park Democrat, said some of the funding, such as the money for DCFS, could not wait. He said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been meeting about the issue. “These discussions have been ongoing for the past few months.” He pointed out that the bill is not new spending and instead draws from the governor’s budget vetoes, previously budgeted construction projects and money in various state funds. Kotowski pointed to a fiscal analysis, known as a note, on the legislation, which says: “The bill provides for no new revenue sources, nor does the bill require any additional state spending. This bill does not directly have any significant fiscal impact. The supplemental appropriation to the Department of Central Management Services for group insurance was expected to be included in the Fiscal Year 2013. Therefore the fiscal impact to the General Revenue Fund is negligible. Supplemental appropriations provided from other state and federal funds are provided on the basis of the availability of moneys in those funds.”
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
House OK's funds for DCFS, mental health, construction
By Jamey Dunn
The Illinois House approved new spending for the current fiscal year that would avert layoffs in the Department of Children and Family Services and restore funding to mental health providers.
House Bill 190 calls for about $53 million in spending from the General Revenue Fund. Sponsor Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat, said the money would come from Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes and revenues that exceeded estimates in the budget that lawmakers passed in the spring. Currie estimated about $58 million is available from those sources. DCFS would get $25 million, which would allow the agency to defer layoffs. Without the money, DCFS has claimed it would have to eliminate to two-thirds of its staff. The legislation also contains $12 million that lawmakers who worked on the human services budget say was accidentally cut from mental health funding.
“There’s nothing new, unusual, strange or odd about this bill. Those of you who care about mental health funding in the community, this is your chance to say, 'Yes, here is the $12 million we thought we already gave you.’ Those of you who want to see to it that there is staff in the Department of Children and Family Services to answer the hotline, $25 million goes into this budget for staff at DCFS,” Currie said. The bill also contains more than $700 million in capital construction funding, including money for bridges, roads and museums.
Some Republicans argued that unnecessary spending was attached to sympathetic causes, such as DCFS, in order to push it through. “I am so tired of the other side of this aisle telling me I don’t care about anything. I’m sick of it,” said Elmhurst Republican Rep. Dennis Reboletti. “What I care about are the people of the state of Illinois, and funding the things that we need to fund and prioritizing them. ... Just because I don’t vote for this bill doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
Hinsdale Republican Rep. Patti Bellock said she wanted to support the funding for DCFS and mental health. “A lot of us have concerns, especially about the mental health funding, because we realize that that was a mistake in the original budget process. A lot of us have concerns about DFCS because we don’t want to see children hurt by the programs that might be deleted.” But Bellock said she was worried that supporters of the plan may have overestimated what is available and that other costs might spring up as Quinn continues to close state facilities. “There are a lot of concerns that the numbers are not correct, even in the major portion of the bill in the general revenue fund.”
The Illinois House approved new spending for the current fiscal year that would avert layoffs in the Department of Children and Family Services and restore funding to mental health providers.
House Bill 190 calls for about $53 million in spending from the General Revenue Fund. Sponsor Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat, said the money would come from Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes and revenues that exceeded estimates in the budget that lawmakers passed in the spring. Currie estimated about $58 million is available from those sources. DCFS would get $25 million, which would allow the agency to defer layoffs. Without the money, DCFS has claimed it would have to eliminate to two-thirds of its staff. The legislation also contains $12 million that lawmakers who worked on the human services budget say was accidentally cut from mental health funding.
“There’s nothing new, unusual, strange or odd about this bill. Those of you who care about mental health funding in the community, this is your chance to say, 'Yes, here is the $12 million we thought we already gave you.’ Those of you who want to see to it that there is staff in the Department of Children and Family Services to answer the hotline, $25 million goes into this budget for staff at DCFS,” Currie said. The bill also contains more than $700 million in capital construction funding, including money for bridges, roads and museums.
Some Republicans argued that unnecessary spending was attached to sympathetic causes, such as DCFS, in order to push it through. “I am so tired of the other side of this aisle telling me I don’t care about anything. I’m sick of it,” said Elmhurst Republican Rep. Dennis Reboletti. “What I care about are the people of the state of Illinois, and funding the things that we need to fund and prioritizing them. ... Just because I don’t vote for this bill doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
Hinsdale Republican Rep. Patti Bellock said she wanted to support the funding for DCFS and mental health. “A lot of us have concerns, especially about the mental health funding, because we realize that that was a mistake in the original budget process. A lot of us have concerns about DFCS because we don’t want to see children hurt by the programs that might be deleted.” But Bellock said she was worried that supporters of the plan may have overestimated what is available and that other costs might spring up as Quinn continues to close state facilities. “There are a lot of concerns that the numbers are not correct, even in the major portion of the bill in the general revenue fund.”
Monday, February 04, 2013
House panel approves new spending for current fiscal year
Jamey Dunn
Layoffs at the Department of Children and Family Services and cuts to mental health providers would be avoided if a measure approved by a House committee today makes it to the governor’s desk.
House Bill 190 would spend about $53 million in general revenue funds during the current fiscal year. The money would come from Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes and revenues that exceeded estimates used to plan the budget lawmakers passed in the spring. “There may be as much as $58 million [in additional funds],” said Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, who sponsors the bill.
The proposal contains $25 million for the Department of Children and Family Services. The money would help take the sting out of a $90 million cut that lawmakers approved in the spring and would allow DCFS to avoid laying off thousands of workers. When Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed money for correctional facilities that his administration has since closed or is in the process of closing, he called on lawmakers to redirect the money into DCFS. Quinn supports HB 190. The measure also contains $12 million for mental health care providers. Legislators who worked on the human services budget in the spring say they intended for providers to get the money, but the funds were not available because of a budgeting error. “We’re strongly committed to this appropriation amount,” said Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the former chair of the human services budgeting committee in the House.
HB 190 also includes $675 million for capital construction projects. Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider said the state got more federal money than expected, and revenues were higher than IDOT projected when planning its budget. “We normally put that financial plan for our highway program together about 18 months in advance, and so revenues in Fiscal Year '12 came in higher than what we programmed on.” Rep. Louis Arroyo, chairman of the public safety budgeting committee in the House, said he was unhappy that money would be pulled from the road fund. “When we sit down in my committee, nobody wants to touch the road fund, nobody wants to talk about the road fund. It’s like a sacred cow. ... So now you’re saying there’s extra money there. I didn’t know there was extra money there. There a lot of avenues that I would like to spend that road fund money on or move it over to different avenues rather than take it for this project.” He said he was uncertain about the “last minute ... funding resources that are popping up somewhere” to support the supplemental appropriation.
The measure also contains $620 million for the group health program for state employees. Currie said that in the spring, lawmakers had only appropriated for half of the cost of the program because they hoped Quinn’s administration could achieve savings through negotiations with union leaders over a new contract for state workers. But an agreement has not been reached on a contract, and Currie said it is time to put the rest of the money into health care coverage so payments to providers are not further delayed. She said that health care providers are currently waiting up to a year to be paid for treating state workers. “That really is about half of what we expected to spend. We held it back because we were hopeful that there might be savings in the group health program. They haven’t materialized. We think it’s important to go ahead and pay the bill.”
Layoffs at the Department of Children and Family Services and cuts to mental health providers would be avoided if a measure approved by a House committee today makes it to the governor’s desk.
House Bill 190 would spend about $53 million in general revenue funds during the current fiscal year. The money would come from Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes and revenues that exceeded estimates used to plan the budget lawmakers passed in the spring. “There may be as much as $58 million [in additional funds],” said Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, who sponsors the bill.
The proposal contains $25 million for the Department of Children and Family Services. The money would help take the sting out of a $90 million cut that lawmakers approved in the spring and would allow DCFS to avoid laying off thousands of workers. When Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed money for correctional facilities that his administration has since closed or is in the process of closing, he called on lawmakers to redirect the money into DCFS. Quinn supports HB 190. The measure also contains $12 million for mental health care providers. Legislators who worked on the human services budget in the spring say they intended for providers to get the money, but the funds were not available because of a budgeting error. “We’re strongly committed to this appropriation amount,” said Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the former chair of the human services budgeting committee in the House.
HB 190 also includes $675 million for capital construction projects. Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider said the state got more federal money than expected, and revenues were higher than IDOT projected when planning its budget. “We normally put that financial plan for our highway program together about 18 months in advance, and so revenues in Fiscal Year '12 came in higher than what we programmed on.” Rep. Louis Arroyo, chairman of the public safety budgeting committee in the House, said he was unhappy that money would be pulled from the road fund. “When we sit down in my committee, nobody wants to touch the road fund, nobody wants to talk about the road fund. It’s like a sacred cow. ... So now you’re saying there’s extra money there. I didn’t know there was extra money there. There a lot of avenues that I would like to spend that road fund money on or move it over to different avenues rather than take it for this project.” He said he was uncertain about the “last minute ... funding resources that are popping up somewhere” to support the supplemental appropriation.
The measure also contains $620 million for the group health program for state employees. Currie said that in the spring, lawmakers had only appropriated for half of the cost of the program because they hoped Quinn’s administration could achieve savings through negotiations with union leaders over a new contract for state workers. But an agreement has not been reached on a contract, and Currie said it is time to put the rest of the money into health care coverage so payments to providers are not further delayed. She said that health care providers are currently waiting up to a year to be paid for treating state workers. “That really is about half of what we expected to spend. We held it back because we were hopeful that there might be savings in the group health program. They haven’t materialized. We think it’s important to go ahead and pay the bill.”
Friday, January 18, 2013
DCFS faces massive layoffs if additional funding is not approved
By Jamey Dunn
Lawmakers hope to get additional funding approved for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, but if they fail, the department will lay off two-thirds of its staff in a few months.
When Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed money for prisons and other state corrections facilities from the budget approved by the General Assembly, he called on lawmakers to put that money into DCFS to prevent hundreds of layoffs. The same budget cut nearly $90 million from DCFS. Legislation to put some of that money back never made it to a floor vote during the January lame-duck session. The measure up for consideration contained other budget items that met opposition. However, Chicago Democratic Sen. Heather Steans, who sponsored the bill, said she thinks there is support for passing an additional $25 million for the agency early in the new legislative session. “I do think there’s general agreement on the DCFS funding,” she said. Chicago Democratic Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the former chair of the House Human Services Budgeting Committee, agreed. “I think that there is a relatively strong commitment to do this.”
If the money does not come through, DCFS plans to lay off nearly 2,000 employees this spring. “The answer to the what-if questions is that if the budget cuts are not restored, that sometime in March or thereafter we will have to lay off about two-thirds of our staff statewide,” said Dave Clarkin, a spokesman for DCFS.
DCFS currently has about 600 investigators; Clarkin said the agency hopes to avoid laying off any of them. “It’s a primary responsibility of the department. It is something that by statute can’t be outsourced or done by anybody else,” he said of the investigators’ work. The department is restructuring its staff in an effort to put more than 100 additional investigators on the front line.
The possibility of mass layoffs comes after a year when DCFS saw in increase in abuse- and neglect-related deaths, and a spike in the number of downstate abuse cases. According to DCFS, neglect or abuse played a factor in 90 deaths last year. The department is still investigating 60 other cases. “Once those investigations are closed, we will have seen the highest number of deaths we have seen in Illinois in 32 years,” Clarkin said. “Child abuse generally and sex abuse in particular are both on the rise.” From July 2012 to October 2012, the department's abuse hotline received 25,348 reports of suspected abuse, compared with 24,053 during the same period in 2011. Last year, 35 downstate counties had abuse and neglect rates of more than double the statewide average. Cook County had rates just below the state average.
Suffocation by neglect was the leading cause of death in cases the department investigated in 2012. The second leading cause was abuse, and the third was inadequate supervision. “Most deaths occurred when parents, ignoring the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics and safety experts, slept with a newborn or infant in their bed, rolling over on the child in the night and smothering her or him. In other instances, parents ignored safety warnings and allowed a newborn or infant to sleep with a blanket, on an adult mattress or couch, or on their stomachs, suffocating the child,” a prepared statement from DCFS said. Clarkin said the department is making efforts to educate the public on the proper sleeping conditions for newborns, as well as ways to prevent child abuse and neglect in their communities.
Lawmakers hope to get additional funding approved for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, but if they fail, the department will lay off two-thirds of its staff in a few months.
When Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed money for prisons and other state corrections facilities from the budget approved by the General Assembly, he called on lawmakers to put that money into DCFS to prevent hundreds of layoffs. The same budget cut nearly $90 million from DCFS. Legislation to put some of that money back never made it to a floor vote during the January lame-duck session. The measure up for consideration contained other budget items that met opposition. However, Chicago Democratic Sen. Heather Steans, who sponsored the bill, said she thinks there is support for passing an additional $25 million for the agency early in the new legislative session. “I do think there’s general agreement on the DCFS funding,” she said. Chicago Democratic Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the former chair of the House Human Services Budgeting Committee, agreed. “I think that there is a relatively strong commitment to do this.”
If the money does not come through, DCFS plans to lay off nearly 2,000 employees this spring. “The answer to the what-if questions is that if the budget cuts are not restored, that sometime in March or thereafter we will have to lay off about two-thirds of our staff statewide,” said Dave Clarkin, a spokesman for DCFS.
DCFS currently has about 600 investigators; Clarkin said the agency hopes to avoid laying off any of them. “It’s a primary responsibility of the department. It is something that by statute can’t be outsourced or done by anybody else,” he said of the investigators’ work. The department is restructuring its staff in an effort to put more than 100 additional investigators on the front line.
The possibility of mass layoffs comes after a year when DCFS saw in increase in abuse- and neglect-related deaths, and a spike in the number of downstate abuse cases. According to DCFS, neglect or abuse played a factor in 90 deaths last year. The department is still investigating 60 other cases. “Once those investigations are closed, we will have seen the highest number of deaths we have seen in Illinois in 32 years,” Clarkin said. “Child abuse generally and sex abuse in particular are both on the rise.” From July 2012 to October 2012, the department's abuse hotline received 25,348 reports of suspected abuse, compared with 24,053 during the same period in 2011. Last year, 35 downstate counties had abuse and neglect rates of more than double the statewide average. Cook County had rates just below the state average.
Suffocation by neglect was the leading cause of death in cases the department investigated in 2012. The second leading cause was abuse, and the third was inadequate supervision. “Most deaths occurred when parents, ignoring the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics and safety experts, slept with a newborn or infant in their bed, rolling over on the child in the night and smothering her or him. In other instances, parents ignored safety warnings and allowed a newborn or infant to sleep with a blanket, on an adult mattress or couch, or on their stomachs, suffocating the child,” a prepared statement from DCFS said. Clarkin said the department is making efforts to educate the public on the proper sleeping conditions for newborns, as well as ways to prevent child abuse and neglect in their communities.
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Quinn's budget cuts stand
By Jamey Dunn
During the Illinois General Assembly's fall session, the House did not take up Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes, which eliminated funding for several state facilities he plans to close.
Quinn cut a total of $57 million from the budget that lawmakers sent to him, and most of the money was funding for prisons and other Illinois Department of Corrections facilities that the governor says he intends to shutter as part of a cost-savings plan.
He vetoed $19.4 million for the super-maximum security prison near Tamms and $21.2 million for the women’s prison in Dwight. In addition to the prisons, he plans to close three transition centers meant to help inmates reenter society. He also cut $8.9 million for a youth prison in Joliet and $6.6 million for a youth prison in Murphysboro. The Senate voted to override the vetoes last week, but the House did not take a vote on the issue, which all involved said was largely symbolic. Even if the House had voted to reject Quinn’s changes, he would not have been bound to spend the money to keep the facilities open.
Still, downstate legislators in support of keeping the prisons open wanted a chance to argue their case on the House floor before the House ended its veto session today. “I had the best speech ever,” said Rep. Brandon Phelps, a Harrisburg Democrat. He said the closures would hurt areas of Illinois that are already economically depressed. “Tamms is a huge economic engine for that little area down there. It’s just going to be devastating for that area and for my district. The governor always says he is the jobs governor, but he is not proving it right now.” Phelps said that today was the last day to vote on the vetoes.
Quinn had been lobbying hard against an override in both chambers. “Today is a victory for the taxpayers of Illinois. The Illinois House of Representatives sent a strong message about their serious commitment to reducing spending the state cannot afford,” a written statement from Quinn’s office said.
Critics of Tamms say that the prison's high staffing numbers and low number of inmates wastes money. They claim that its policy of extreme isolation for prisoners, who often spend only an hour outside of their cells each day, equates to torture. The treatment of inmates at the prison has been condemned by a number of international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. Those in favor of closing Tamms argue that it would help other woefully understaffed prisons reach required staffing levels because staff from the closed prisons would be transferred.
But those opposed say the closures will make the state’s already overcrowded prison system even more dangerous. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees sued to keep the prisons open on the basis that the closures would put their employees in danger. So far, one arbitrator has sided with the union, saying the closure violates its contract, and one sided with Quinn, saying that the prisons could be closed safely. It is likely that a court will make the final call.
A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, Steve Brown, said Madigan did not call the bill because it would have been “at best, a symbolic kind of vote” and that the House was unlikely to reject the cuts because Republicans were not on board. House Minority Leader Tom Cross said yesterday that he would not support an override vote because he believes Quinn plans to shut down the institutions no matter what. “We have a fiscal problem in this state, and we have to recognize that someday, that we don’t have a lot of extra money.”
Quinn is pushing lawmakers to use some of the money from his vetoes to fund the Department of Children and Family Services, which took an almost $90 million hit under the budget crafted by the House. Brown said negotiations over that spending, as well as facility closures, continue. “There’s pretty wide-ranging negotiations going on over changes in the budget,” he said. “The give and take that will continue to go on is probably the most important thing in that area.”
During the Illinois General Assembly's fall session, the House did not take up Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes, which eliminated funding for several state facilities he plans to close.
Quinn cut a total of $57 million from the budget that lawmakers sent to him, and most of the money was funding for prisons and other Illinois Department of Corrections facilities that the governor says he intends to shutter as part of a cost-savings plan.
He vetoed $19.4 million for the super-maximum security prison near Tamms and $21.2 million for the women’s prison in Dwight. In addition to the prisons, he plans to close three transition centers meant to help inmates reenter society. He also cut $8.9 million for a youth prison in Joliet and $6.6 million for a youth prison in Murphysboro. The Senate voted to override the vetoes last week, but the House did not take a vote on the issue, which all involved said was largely symbolic. Even if the House had voted to reject Quinn’s changes, he would not have been bound to spend the money to keep the facilities open.
Still, downstate legislators in support of keeping the prisons open wanted a chance to argue their case on the House floor before the House ended its veto session today. “I had the best speech ever,” said Rep. Brandon Phelps, a Harrisburg Democrat. He said the closures would hurt areas of Illinois that are already economically depressed. “Tamms is a huge economic engine for that little area down there. It’s just going to be devastating for that area and for my district. The governor always says he is the jobs governor, but he is not proving it right now.” Phelps said that today was the last day to vote on the vetoes.
Quinn had been lobbying hard against an override in both chambers. “Today is a victory for the taxpayers of Illinois. The Illinois House of Representatives sent a strong message about their serious commitment to reducing spending the state cannot afford,” a written statement from Quinn’s office said.
Critics of Tamms say that the prison's high staffing numbers and low number of inmates wastes money. They claim that its policy of extreme isolation for prisoners, who often spend only an hour outside of their cells each day, equates to torture. The treatment of inmates at the prison has been condemned by a number of international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. Those in favor of closing Tamms argue that it would help other woefully understaffed prisons reach required staffing levels because staff from the closed prisons would be transferred.
But those opposed say the closures will make the state’s already overcrowded prison system even more dangerous. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees sued to keep the prisons open on the basis that the closures would put their employees in danger. So far, one arbitrator has sided with the union, saying the closure violates its contract, and one sided with Quinn, saying that the prisons could be closed safely. It is likely that a court will make the final call.
A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, Steve Brown, said Madigan did not call the bill because it would have been “at best, a symbolic kind of vote” and that the House was unlikely to reject the cuts because Republicans were not on board. House Minority Leader Tom Cross said yesterday that he would not support an override vote because he believes Quinn plans to shut down the institutions no matter what. “We have a fiscal problem in this state, and we have to recognize that someday, that we don’t have a lot of extra money.”
Quinn is pushing lawmakers to use some of the money from his vetoes to fund the Department of Children and Family Services, which took an almost $90 million hit under the budget crafted by the House. Brown said negotiations over that spending, as well as facility closures, continue. “There’s pretty wide-ranging negotiations going on over changes in the budget,” he said. “The give and take that will continue to go on is probably the most important thing in that area.”
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Lawmakers keep busy on the second day of veto session
By Jamey Dunn
During a busy veto session day today, lawmakers voted to override Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes, approved a bill that would require publicly traded corporations to share some tax information with the public and passed a resolution that could bar the way for pay raises for public employees.
Budget vetoes
The Senate voted to override some of Quinn’s changes to the budget they approved in the spring. Quinn signed the budget sent to him by the General Assembly, but he vetoed $19.4 million that was included to run the state’s only super-maximum security prison, located near Tamms, and the $21.2 million included to operate a women’s prison in Dwight. In addition to the prisons, he plans to close three transition centers meant to help inmates reenter society. Quinn also cut $8.9 million for a youth prison in Joliet and $6.6 million for a youth prison in Murphysboro. The chamber approved putting funding back for the corrections facilities.
“Our prison population is at an all-time high, our prisons are severely overcrowded and our staffing levels are down,” Sen. Gary Forby, who called for the override, said in a prepared statement. Tamms is located in Forby's district. “I hope that today’s Senate vote sends a clear message to the governor that he needs to stop fighting us on this issue. He needs to use these funds to manage the overcrowding of our prison system and ensure the safety of employees and inmates.”
The governor has been lobbying lawmakers to uphold his changes. “I had to make those vetoes in order to have money for the Department of Children and Family Services, and also because we can’t be spending millions of taxpayer’s dollars on prisons and juvenile justice camps that are half empty and in one case totally empty,” Quinn said. “The concept that we’re going to keep open Murphysboro, which is a juvenile justice camp, at a cost of millions of bucks and then take away money from neglected and abused children is I think really upside down. So I hope we prevail. We have two [chambers], and we’re going to fight hard in both places to uphold my decision.” The bill will now go over to the House.
Quinn is under no obligation to spend the money even if the General Assembly votes to restore it. However, he cannot spend the money elsewhere, such as on DCFS costs, without the approval of lawmakers.
DNR funding
After a failed attempt at the end of the spring legislative session to approve revenue to fund the state’s struggling Department of Natural Resources, the bill passed in the Senate today. Senate Bill 1566 would increase vehicle registration fees by $2, which would bring the cost of registration for a standard passenger vehicle to $101 annually. The proposal would also allow the DNR to charge out-of-state visitors park entrance fees and charge all visitors access fees for certain park features, such as beaches and horse trails. A previous plan of charging entrance fees for all park visitors was scrapped in lieu of the proposed increased vehicle registration fee. “If you live in Illinois and you have an Illinois plate, it’s open season. Go to any park you want to,” Hutchinson said of the plan the last time it was up for a vote. The measure has already passed in the House, and a Quinn spokesperson said the governor plans to sign the bill.
Republicans who opposed the bill said that the Quinn administration chose to underfund DNR and spend the money on other programs.
Corporate tax info
The Senate approved Senate Bill 282, which would require publicly traded corporations doing business in Illinois make some tax information public.
Senate President John Cullerton, who sponsors the bill, says that the measure is meant to help legislators make more informed tax policy decisions. “It’s not a gotcha to the business community. It’s actually something that helps us have a better tax structure.”
Under the proposal, corporations would submit tax information such as their incomes, tax liability and tax credits they receive to the secretary of state. The information would not be made available to the public until two years after the information is filed. At that time, it would be available to the public through a searchable online database.
Leaders of business organizations have balked at the idea of having to release information they say is private. “I think tax information is proprietary and confidential and should not be publicly released,” said Mark Denzler, vice president and chief operating officer of the Illinois Manufacturers Association. “The reaction from the business community ... has been pretty reflexively negative,” said Palatine Republican Sen. Matt Murphy. He said that he recognizes that Cullerton is not trying to hurt businesses, but he said, “I think at its core it sends the wrong message.” Murphy called on Cullerton to compromise with businesses.
Cullerton said business groups have not come to him with any suggestions for compromise so far, but he said he hopes that might change. “Sometimes, people’s willingness to negotiate increases after it passes one chamber.” The bill has an influential House sponsor in Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie and also has the support of Quinn.
Cullerton said he is open to changes being made to the bill in the House. “If there is some reason why some of these things that we’re asking to be disclosed should not be, and there’s a rational basis for that, I can take it out.”
State workers pay raises
The House approved a resolution stating that it will not include money for state employee pay raises in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget, which takes effect in July. House Speaker Michael Madigan, who sponsors House Joint Resolution 45, said it is “a clear message from the House, to both the negotiators, both sides, that we don’t see room for salary increases. We just don’t see it.”
Quinn is currently negotiating a new contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Quinn said today that he told the union there is no money for raises under the new contract. “I honor the workers all the time. I have never said anything other than I really appreciate their public service. At the same time, if the state has these severe financial challenges, we’re all going to have to realize that that’s the reality and we’re not going to be able to have raises.” Union officials say the resolution undermines collective bargaining.
Anders Lindall, spokesman for AFSCME Council 31, said the union has offered to forgo pay increases in 2013 in exchange for concessions from the state. “In reality, state employees have voluntarily done more than anyone to help the state close its budget gap — agreeing in 2010 and 2011 to unpaid furlough days, wage deferrals, health plan changes and other concessions that saved the state more than $400 million, and offering in the current round of negotiations to accept no pay increase in 2013 as part of a comprehensive settlement,” Lindall said in prepared statement.
Assault weapons ban
The Senate also voted to override a veto that Quinn used to tack an assaults weapon to another bill.
SB681 would allow Illinois gun owners to purchase ammunition from in-state dealers through the mail. However, after a mass shooting in Colorado movie theater in July, Quinn used his veto pen to attach a ban on semi-automatic rifles, high-capacity magazines and .50-caliber guns onto the bill. Many lawmakers agreed that Quinn overstepped his authority by hijacking a bill that is at best tangentially related to the issue. “If the governor wants to do that, then he probably needs to find someone who introduces that bill and then we have a discussion about that bill,” said Okawville Republican David Luechtefeld, who sponsored SB 681. If the House also votes to override the veto, the underlying legislation would become law.
Quinn plans to keep pushing for a ban. “In the past six months, our nation experienced two violent shootings with an assault weapon in everyday settings: A gunman used a semi-automatic assault weapon to kill six worshipers at a Sikh temple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Illinois also lost one of its own, Petty Officer 3rd Class John Larimer, in the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater massacre with an assault weapon that left 12 dead. As the governor has said, there is no place in Illinois for weapons designed to rapidly fire at human targets at close range,” Brooke Anderson, a spokeswoman for Quinn, said in a prepared statement. “A statewide ban on assault weapons is good public safety policy, and we will vigorously pursue this cause.”
The House has canceled its session for tomorrow, but the Senate is scheduled to start its session at 10 a.m.
During a busy veto session day today, lawmakers voted to override Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget vetoes, approved a bill that would require publicly traded corporations to share some tax information with the public and passed a resolution that could bar the way for pay raises for public employees.
Budget vetoes
The Senate voted to override some of Quinn’s changes to the budget they approved in the spring. Quinn signed the budget sent to him by the General Assembly, but he vetoed $19.4 million that was included to run the state’s only super-maximum security prison, located near Tamms, and the $21.2 million included to operate a women’s prison in Dwight. In addition to the prisons, he plans to close three transition centers meant to help inmates reenter society. Quinn also cut $8.9 million for a youth prison in Joliet and $6.6 million for a youth prison in Murphysboro. The chamber approved putting funding back for the corrections facilities.
“Our prison population is at an all-time high, our prisons are severely overcrowded and our staffing levels are down,” Sen. Gary Forby, who called for the override, said in a prepared statement. Tamms is located in Forby's district. “I hope that today’s Senate vote sends a clear message to the governor that he needs to stop fighting us on this issue. He needs to use these funds to manage the overcrowding of our prison system and ensure the safety of employees and inmates.”
The governor has been lobbying lawmakers to uphold his changes. “I had to make those vetoes in order to have money for the Department of Children and Family Services, and also because we can’t be spending millions of taxpayer’s dollars on prisons and juvenile justice camps that are half empty and in one case totally empty,” Quinn said. “The concept that we’re going to keep open Murphysboro, which is a juvenile justice camp, at a cost of millions of bucks and then take away money from neglected and abused children is I think really upside down. So I hope we prevail. We have two [chambers], and we’re going to fight hard in both places to uphold my decision.” The bill will now go over to the House.
Quinn is under no obligation to spend the money even if the General Assembly votes to restore it. However, he cannot spend the money elsewhere, such as on DCFS costs, without the approval of lawmakers.
DNR funding
After a failed attempt at the end of the spring legislative session to approve revenue to fund the state’s struggling Department of Natural Resources, the bill passed in the Senate today. Senate Bill 1566 would increase vehicle registration fees by $2, which would bring the cost of registration for a standard passenger vehicle to $101 annually. The proposal would also allow the DNR to charge out-of-state visitors park entrance fees and charge all visitors access fees for certain park features, such as beaches and horse trails. A previous plan of charging entrance fees for all park visitors was scrapped in lieu of the proposed increased vehicle registration fee. “If you live in Illinois and you have an Illinois plate, it’s open season. Go to any park you want to,” Hutchinson said of the plan the last time it was up for a vote. The measure has already passed in the House, and a Quinn spokesperson said the governor plans to sign the bill.
Republicans who opposed the bill said that the Quinn administration chose to underfund DNR and spend the money on other programs.
Corporate tax info
The Senate approved Senate Bill 282, which would require publicly traded corporations doing business in Illinois make some tax information public.
Senate President John Cullerton, who sponsors the bill, says that the measure is meant to help legislators make more informed tax policy decisions. “It’s not a gotcha to the business community. It’s actually something that helps us have a better tax structure.”
Under the proposal, corporations would submit tax information such as their incomes, tax liability and tax credits they receive to the secretary of state. The information would not be made available to the public until two years after the information is filed. At that time, it would be available to the public through a searchable online database.
Leaders of business organizations have balked at the idea of having to release information they say is private. “I think tax information is proprietary and confidential and should not be publicly released,” said Mark Denzler, vice president and chief operating officer of the Illinois Manufacturers Association. “The reaction from the business community ... has been pretty reflexively negative,” said Palatine Republican Sen. Matt Murphy. He said that he recognizes that Cullerton is not trying to hurt businesses, but he said, “I think at its core it sends the wrong message.” Murphy called on Cullerton to compromise with businesses.
Cullerton said business groups have not come to him with any suggestions for compromise so far, but he said he hopes that might change. “Sometimes, people’s willingness to negotiate increases after it passes one chamber.” The bill has an influential House sponsor in Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie and also has the support of Quinn.
Cullerton said he is open to changes being made to the bill in the House. “If there is some reason why some of these things that we’re asking to be disclosed should not be, and there’s a rational basis for that, I can take it out.”
State workers pay raises
The House approved a resolution stating that it will not include money for state employee pay raises in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget, which takes effect in July. House Speaker Michael Madigan, who sponsors House Joint Resolution 45, said it is “a clear message from the House, to both the negotiators, both sides, that we don’t see room for salary increases. We just don’t see it.”
Quinn is currently negotiating a new contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Quinn said today that he told the union there is no money for raises under the new contract. “I honor the workers all the time. I have never said anything other than I really appreciate their public service. At the same time, if the state has these severe financial challenges, we’re all going to have to realize that that’s the reality and we’re not going to be able to have raises.” Union officials say the resolution undermines collective bargaining.
Anders Lindall, spokesman for AFSCME Council 31, said the union has offered to forgo pay increases in 2013 in exchange for concessions from the state. “In reality, state employees have voluntarily done more than anyone to help the state close its budget gap — agreeing in 2010 and 2011 to unpaid furlough days, wage deferrals, health plan changes and other concessions that saved the state more than $400 million, and offering in the current round of negotiations to accept no pay increase in 2013 as part of a comprehensive settlement,” Lindall said in prepared statement.
Assault weapons ban
The Senate also voted to override a veto that Quinn used to tack an assaults weapon to another bill.
SB681 would allow Illinois gun owners to purchase ammunition from in-state dealers through the mail. However, after a mass shooting in Colorado movie theater in July, Quinn used his veto pen to attach a ban on semi-automatic rifles, high-capacity magazines and .50-caliber guns onto the bill. Many lawmakers agreed that Quinn overstepped his authority by hijacking a bill that is at best tangentially related to the issue. “If the governor wants to do that, then he probably needs to find someone who introduces that bill and then we have a discussion about that bill,” said Okawville Republican David Luechtefeld, who sponsored SB 681. If the House also votes to override the veto, the underlying legislation would become law.
Quinn plans to keep pushing for a ban. “In the past six months, our nation experienced two violent shootings with an assault weapon in everyday settings: A gunman used a semi-automatic assault weapon to kill six worshipers at a Sikh temple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Illinois also lost one of its own, Petty Officer 3rd Class John Larimer, in the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater massacre with an assault weapon that left 12 dead. As the governor has said, there is no place in Illinois for weapons designed to rapidly fire at human targets at close range,” Brooke Anderson, a spokeswoman for Quinn, said in a prepared statement. “A statewide ban on assault weapons is good public safety policy, and we will vigorously pursue this cause.”
The House has canceled its session for tomorrow, but the Senate is scheduled to start its session at 10 a.m.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
House resolution could mean no pay raises for state workers
By Jamey Dunn
State workers may not get a raise next fiscal year if lawmakers stick to a resolution approved by a House committee today.
House Joint Resolution 45 says that the General Assembly will not approve funding in the fiscal year 2013 budget to pay for any raises that could come out of the collective bargaining talks currently being held between Gov. Pat Quinn and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees, the state’s largest public employee union.
The resolution does not legally bind Quinn from striking a deal to give workers a pay raise, but if passed, it would send a message that lawmakers are unlikely to include the money for a raise in next fiscal year’s budget. “It’s very straightforward. It simply expresses the opinion of the House concerning the amount of money that should be spent pending [a] collective bargaining contract,” said House Speaker Michael Madigan, who sponsors the amendment. The measure also states that it would be “policy of the state of Illinois” that the size of the state’s workforce will not be part of collective bargaining, meaning that promises to skip or lessen layoffs could not be used as bargaining chip in negotiations. Again, this provision would not legally bind Quinn or governors following him.
The legislature effectively blocked pay increases for AFSCME members last year by not including the money for them in the budget. Gov. Quinn canceled the raises, saying that his hands were tied by the budget approved by lawmakers. The issue is still playing out in court. Although resolutions are not legally binding, the House has also stuck to recent budget resolutions that capped general spending.
Lawmakers in favor of the resolution say that because the legislature approves the budget, the General Assembly should have some say in the spending associated with union contracts. “We’ve put our input in, which is we don’t have additional money. So if you make promises regarding additional money, the state does not have the ability to keep those promises,” said Rep. John Bradley, a Marion Democrat.
But union officials say that the legislature is undermining the collective bargaining process. “Our union has negotiated contracts with Democratic governors, with Republican governors, in good fiscal times and in bad fiscal times. And the current collective bargaining process, uninterrupted, has allowed for contracts that are fair both to the workforce and to taxpayers,” said Joanna Webb-Gauvin, legislative director for AFSCME Council 31.
She said that the resolution could “destabilize labor relations” in Illinois. It appears that negotiations over the contract are already on shaky ground. Quinn decided last week not to extend the contract, which expired in June. However, workers are staying on the job without a contract and the terms of the expired contract remain in place under state law.
“We are very much aware of the state’s fiscal condition. No one is more aware of the state’s fiscal crisis then our members who have been on the front lines suffering under shared sacrifice for the past decade,” said Webb-Gauvin. “Our members and their salaries did not cause the fiscal crisis, and passing this resolution won’t solve it.”
“This resolution does not attack state workers,” said Rep. David Harris, an Arlington Heights Republican. “We understand the job that they do. We understand the hard work that they do. I do not feel that it is an interference into the collective bargaining process.” He said that lawmakers, who are wrestling with difficult budgeting decisions, need to convey the reality of the state’s dire fiscal situation. “We should have a voice.”
The resolution passed out of committee with no opposition. Bradley said it could come up for a floor vote in the House as early as tomorrow.
State workers may not get a raise next fiscal year if lawmakers stick to a resolution approved by a House committee today.
House Joint Resolution 45 says that the General Assembly will not approve funding in the fiscal year 2013 budget to pay for any raises that could come out of the collective bargaining talks currently being held between Gov. Pat Quinn and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees, the state’s largest public employee union.
The resolution does not legally bind Quinn from striking a deal to give workers a pay raise, but if passed, it would send a message that lawmakers are unlikely to include the money for a raise in next fiscal year’s budget. “It’s very straightforward. It simply expresses the opinion of the House concerning the amount of money that should be spent pending [a] collective bargaining contract,” said House Speaker Michael Madigan, who sponsors the amendment. The measure also states that it would be “policy of the state of Illinois” that the size of the state’s workforce will not be part of collective bargaining, meaning that promises to skip or lessen layoffs could not be used as bargaining chip in negotiations. Again, this provision would not legally bind Quinn or governors following him.
The legislature effectively blocked pay increases for AFSCME members last year by not including the money for them in the budget. Gov. Quinn canceled the raises, saying that his hands were tied by the budget approved by lawmakers. The issue is still playing out in court. Although resolutions are not legally binding, the House has also stuck to recent budget resolutions that capped general spending.
Lawmakers in favor of the resolution say that because the legislature approves the budget, the General Assembly should have some say in the spending associated with union contracts. “We’ve put our input in, which is we don’t have additional money. So if you make promises regarding additional money, the state does not have the ability to keep those promises,” said Rep. John Bradley, a Marion Democrat.
But union officials say that the legislature is undermining the collective bargaining process. “Our union has negotiated contracts with Democratic governors, with Republican governors, in good fiscal times and in bad fiscal times. And the current collective bargaining process, uninterrupted, has allowed for contracts that are fair both to the workforce and to taxpayers,” said Joanna Webb-Gauvin, legislative director for AFSCME Council 31.
She said that the resolution could “destabilize labor relations” in Illinois. It appears that negotiations over the contract are already on shaky ground. Quinn decided last week not to extend the contract, which expired in June. However, workers are staying on the job without a contract and the terms of the expired contract remain in place under state law.
“We are very much aware of the state’s fiscal condition. No one is more aware of the state’s fiscal crisis then our members who have been on the front lines suffering under shared sacrifice for the past decade,” said Webb-Gauvin. “Our members and their salaries did not cause the fiscal crisis, and passing this resolution won’t solve it.”
“This resolution does not attack state workers,” said Rep. David Harris, an Arlington Heights Republican. “We understand the job that they do. We understand the hard work that they do. I do not feel that it is an interference into the collective bargaining process.” He said that lawmakers, who are wrestling with difficult budgeting decisions, need to convey the reality of the state’s dire fiscal situation. “We should have a voice.”
The resolution passed out of committee with no opposition. Bradley said it could come up for a floor vote in the House as early as tomorrow.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Comptroller: Money for some state programs will run out before the end of the fiscal year
By Jamey Dunn
A new report from the Illinois comptroller’s office predicts that the state budget will not cover costs through the end of the fiscal year.
In her quarterly report, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka predicts that lawmakers will likely feel compelled to increase spending before June 30, the end of Fiscal Year 2013. “As it stands, underfunding is likely to lead to pressure to increase appropriations later in the fiscal year, as it did last year to fund the state’s child care providers.” Lawmakers voted near the end of FY 2012 to increase spending on child care because money for the program ran out and most wanted to avoid abruptly cutting off funding to providers. The report forecasts that money for employee health insurance, as well as some programs in the Department of Aging, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Child and Family Services, would run out by spring. Topinka wrote that any supplemental funding approved from the General Revenue Fund would throw the budget out of whack, but she said that without additional spending, the amount of bills that would be pushed over into FY 2014 would grow significantly.
However, Topinka warns that if the money is spent without corresponding cuts or revenue increases, the state will not be able to speed up its payment of bills, either. “One thing is certain: Payment processing delays will continue for the foreseeable future,” the report said. “However, the magnitude of the delays and the overall outlook for the state’s fiscal condition will be contingent on the action of the state agencies and the General Assembly throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.” Topinka pegged the backlog of bills as of the end of October at $6.5 billion. Topinka said the state is on track to spend $5 billion in FY 2013 revenues to pay bills from the previous fiscal years.
She said that if no major budget changes occur, the backlog at the end of the current fiscal year would likely be larger than backlog at the end of FY 2012. Revenues from individual and corporate income taxes grew over the quarter, while money from sales tax dipped. But the report said that sales taxes were on the rebound at the end of October. Topinka also noted that more gambling revenue would be coming in the near future because Illinois has started granting video poker licenses to bars, restaurants and other approved establishments.
A new report from the Illinois comptroller’s office predicts that the state budget will not cover costs through the end of the fiscal year.
In her quarterly report, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka predicts that lawmakers will likely feel compelled to increase spending before June 30, the end of Fiscal Year 2013. “As it stands, underfunding is likely to lead to pressure to increase appropriations later in the fiscal year, as it did last year to fund the state’s child care providers.” Lawmakers voted near the end of FY 2012 to increase spending on child care because money for the program ran out and most wanted to avoid abruptly cutting off funding to providers. The report forecasts that money for employee health insurance, as well as some programs in the Department of Aging, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Child and Family Services, would run out by spring. Topinka wrote that any supplemental funding approved from the General Revenue Fund would throw the budget out of whack, but she said that without additional spending, the amount of bills that would be pushed over into FY 2014 would grow significantly.
However, Topinka warns that if the money is spent without corresponding cuts or revenue increases, the state will not be able to speed up its payment of bills, either. “One thing is certain: Payment processing delays will continue for the foreseeable future,” the report said. “However, the magnitude of the delays and the overall outlook for the state’s fiscal condition will be contingent on the action of the state agencies and the General Assembly throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.” Topinka pegged the backlog of bills as of the end of October at $6.5 billion. Topinka said the state is on track to spend $5 billion in FY 2013 revenues to pay bills from the previous fiscal years.
She said that if no major budget changes occur, the backlog at the end of the current fiscal year would likely be larger than backlog at the end of FY 2012. Revenues from individual and corporate income taxes grew over the quarter, while money from sales tax dipped. But the report said that sales taxes were on the rebound at the end of October. Topinka also noted that more gambling revenue would be coming in the near future because Illinois has started granting video poker licenses to bars, restaurants and other approved establishments.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
DCFS gamble on more funding could result in broader layoffs
By Jamey Dunn
By delaying layoffs, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is betting that lawmakers will restore some of the department’s funding when they return in November for their veto session. But if the money is not approved, personnel cuts could be even deeper.
DCFS announced last week that it would not move ahead with 375 layoffs that the department had previously said were necessary because of budget cuts. Instead DCFS plans to try its luck at getting legislators to restore some of the money during the veto session. In the meantime, those workers will be getting paid out of a budget that does not include the money to cover their wages. If lawmakers do not approve a supplemental appropriation when they return for the veto session, DCFS could face a major budget shortfall at the end of the calendar year. “In terms of the potential risk, having not laid off people at this point and if there is no supplemental, I will have spent $19,646,000 that I was not appropriated as of the end of this year. So that the position that I’ll be in is having to lay off in addition [to the previously announced layoffs] another 380 people because that’s a half a year [they worked], and I need to double their salaries in order to be able to make that up. ... That’s the reality that I’m faced with,” DCFS Director Richard Calica told lawmakers at a hearing earlier this month when asked about the potential risk of delaying layoffs.
The department announced in August that it would lay off hundreds of employees after the legislature slashed the DCFS budget. Gov. Pat Quinn had proposed a funding cut to the agency in his budget plan, but lawmakers tacked on more reductions, leaving DCFS with more than $85 million less than last fiscal year. The bulk of layoffs would have come from a preventative program known as intact family services. (For more on the cuts and layoffs, see this Illinois Issues blog post.) DCFS walked back the layoffs last week and is instead opting to continue with a restructuring plan that the Quinn administration proposed earlier this year. The plan would shift some management employees to front-line positions and is geared toward lowering the caseload volumes of front-line workers and investigators. The plan “still cuts the DCFS staff by 6 percent, compared to last year, and still reduces the budget of the agency by tens of million of dollars,” said DCFS spokesman Dave Clarkin.
But the department's actions are contingent on lawmakers voting to restore funding, as well as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees agreeing to waive some consideration for employee seniority. Clarkin said DCFS would need about $45 million to enact the restructuring and avoid the layoffs. “Both the director and the union-represented employees and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle understand that the state of Illinois has a primary purpose, both legal and moral to protect children.”
However, the supplemental appropriation seems to be far from a done deal. Chicago Democratic Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, who chairs the human services budgeting committee in the House, said her committee expects DCFS to justify every cent of what it is asking for. “I think the days of asking for round number budget increases or restorations are really done,” she said. The deep cuts to the agency’s budget came out of Feigenholtz's committee. “We want to make sure that when we restore money, that we are actually solving some looking problems that have not been resolved.”
“We’ve been working to build support for a supplemental appropriation since essentially the day the budget was passed. We knew that the cut to DCFS was unacceptable even before the budget was passed,” said Anders Lindall, spokesperson for AFSCME Council 31. Lindall said it is too soon to comment on whether the union would agree to the changes the agency is seeking in seniority policies. He said union members are relieved that DCFS did not move forward with the layoffs, and AFSCME is specifically pushing for restorations that would keep people in their jobs.
“We want to know exactly where those bodies are going and what they’re going to be doing. ... We want this money to make it to the street. We want those phones answered, and we want those children taken care of,” Feigenholtz said. She added that a clear source for the money would also have to emerge by the veto session. Quinn has proposed using money from shuttering prisons, but a judge has blocked the prison closures. Lindall suggested using money from the sale of Thomson prison to the federal government or the possibility that state revenues may be larger than previously expected. The union opposes using money from state facility closures to fund DCFS. “Forcing Illinois residents to choose between safe kids and safe prisons is wrong, and it’s not necessary.”
House Republicans have accused Quinn of dragging his feet on cost saving Medicaid reforms, and may be less than cooperative when it comes to putting “yes” votes on any supplemental appropriations bills during the veto session. “Until the Quinn administration gets serious about implementing our Medicaid reform laws, House Republicans will oppose attempts by the governor to spend additional money,” said a written statement from House Minority Leader Tom Cross’ office.
Chicago Democratic Sen. Heather Steans, who chairs one of two Senate budget committees, said she favors approving more funding for DCFS during the veto session. However, she voiced concerns over the gamble the department would be making by holding off on layoffs. “I would like to see us being able to re-sort dollars here,” Steans said. “There’s no guarantee [a] supplemental gets passed. I’m just me. I don’t know where the House is on this. I certainly don’t know where the Republicans are on it. So it think there’s a big risk potentially on how you go forward if we don’t get a supplemental passed. There’s a big risk to the department by not taking action now because there’s no guarantee that we’re going to get the supplemental.”
Clarkin declined to discuss the potential for more layoffs if the money does not come through, or whether the department has a plan B. “I think everybody is going to keep working together to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”
By delaying layoffs, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is betting that lawmakers will restore some of the department’s funding when they return in November for their veto session. But if the money is not approved, personnel cuts could be even deeper.
DCFS announced last week that it would not move ahead with 375 layoffs that the department had previously said were necessary because of budget cuts. Instead DCFS plans to try its luck at getting legislators to restore some of the money during the veto session. In the meantime, those workers will be getting paid out of a budget that does not include the money to cover their wages. If lawmakers do not approve a supplemental appropriation when they return for the veto session, DCFS could face a major budget shortfall at the end of the calendar year. “In terms of the potential risk, having not laid off people at this point and if there is no supplemental, I will have spent $19,646,000 that I was not appropriated as of the end of this year. So that the position that I’ll be in is having to lay off in addition [to the previously announced layoffs] another 380 people because that’s a half a year [they worked], and I need to double their salaries in order to be able to make that up. ... That’s the reality that I’m faced with,” DCFS Director Richard Calica told lawmakers at a hearing earlier this month when asked about the potential risk of delaying layoffs.
The department announced in August that it would lay off hundreds of employees after the legislature slashed the DCFS budget. Gov. Pat Quinn had proposed a funding cut to the agency in his budget plan, but lawmakers tacked on more reductions, leaving DCFS with more than $85 million less than last fiscal year. The bulk of layoffs would have come from a preventative program known as intact family services. (For more on the cuts and layoffs, see this Illinois Issues blog post.) DCFS walked back the layoffs last week and is instead opting to continue with a restructuring plan that the Quinn administration proposed earlier this year. The plan would shift some management employees to front-line positions and is geared toward lowering the caseload volumes of front-line workers and investigators. The plan “still cuts the DCFS staff by 6 percent, compared to last year, and still reduces the budget of the agency by tens of million of dollars,” said DCFS spokesman Dave Clarkin.
But the department's actions are contingent on lawmakers voting to restore funding, as well as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees agreeing to waive some consideration for employee seniority. Clarkin said DCFS would need about $45 million to enact the restructuring and avoid the layoffs. “Both the director and the union-represented employees and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle understand that the state of Illinois has a primary purpose, both legal and moral to protect children.”
However, the supplemental appropriation seems to be far from a done deal. Chicago Democratic Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, who chairs the human services budgeting committee in the House, said her committee expects DCFS to justify every cent of what it is asking for. “I think the days of asking for round number budget increases or restorations are really done,” she said. The deep cuts to the agency’s budget came out of Feigenholtz's committee. “We want to make sure that when we restore money, that we are actually solving some looking problems that have not been resolved.”
“We’ve been working to build support for a supplemental appropriation since essentially the day the budget was passed. We knew that the cut to DCFS was unacceptable even before the budget was passed,” said Anders Lindall, spokesperson for AFSCME Council 31. Lindall said it is too soon to comment on whether the union would agree to the changes the agency is seeking in seniority policies. He said union members are relieved that DCFS did not move forward with the layoffs, and AFSCME is specifically pushing for restorations that would keep people in their jobs.
“We want to know exactly where those bodies are going and what they’re going to be doing. ... We want this money to make it to the street. We want those phones answered, and we want those children taken care of,” Feigenholtz said. She added that a clear source for the money would also have to emerge by the veto session. Quinn has proposed using money from shuttering prisons, but a judge has blocked the prison closures. Lindall suggested using money from the sale of Thomson prison to the federal government or the possibility that state revenues may be larger than previously expected. The union opposes using money from state facility closures to fund DCFS. “Forcing Illinois residents to choose between safe kids and safe prisons is wrong, and it’s not necessary.”
House Republicans have accused Quinn of dragging his feet on cost saving Medicaid reforms, and may be less than cooperative when it comes to putting “yes” votes on any supplemental appropriations bills during the veto session. “Until the Quinn administration gets serious about implementing our Medicaid reform laws, House Republicans will oppose attempts by the governor to spend additional money,” said a written statement from House Minority Leader Tom Cross’ office.
Chicago Democratic Sen. Heather Steans, who chairs one of two Senate budget committees, said she favors approving more funding for DCFS during the veto session. However, she voiced concerns over the gamble the department would be making by holding off on layoffs. “I would like to see us being able to re-sort dollars here,” Steans said. “There’s no guarantee [a] supplemental gets passed. I’m just me. I don’t know where the House is on this. I certainly don’t know where the Republicans are on it. So it think there’s a big risk potentially on how you go forward if we don’t get a supplemental passed. There’s a big risk to the department by not taking action now because there’s no guarantee that we’re going to get the supplemental.”
Clarkin declined to discuss the potential for more layoffs if the money does not come through, or whether the department has a plan B. “I think everybody is going to keep working together to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Judge issues order halting prison closures
An Alexander County judge has issued a restraining order to block Gov. Pat Quinn’s plans to close several state corrections facilities.
According to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, Judge Charles Cavaness issued the order today in Alexander County Circuit Court.
Quinn had intended to shutter a super-maximum-security prison near Tamms, a women’s prison in Dwight, adult transition centers in Decatur, Carbondale and Chicago and youth prisons in Joliet and Murphysboro, but AFSCME sued to block the closures. The union argued that moving prisoners to other overcrowded facilities would create unsafe working conditions for its members. In his order, Cavaness wrote that the closures "have the potential to make the prisons that remain more dangerous for employees."
An arbitrator ruled Friday that the closures violate the union's contract with the state and ordered Quinn and AFSCME to resolve the issue through ongoing contract negotiations.
Last month, Quinn temporarily stopped layoffs and the transfer of inmates, saying he would hold off on implementing his plan while legal proceedings played out. However, Kelly Kraft, a Quinn spokeswoman, said the administration is not backing down from the closure plan. “We are examining options.” She said Quinn hopes to resolve the matter quickly.
According to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, Judge Charles Cavaness issued the order today in Alexander County Circuit Court.
Quinn had intended to shutter a super-maximum-security prison near Tamms, a women’s prison in Dwight, adult transition centers in Decatur, Carbondale and Chicago and youth prisons in Joliet and Murphysboro, but AFSCME sued to block the closures. The union argued that moving prisoners to other overcrowded facilities would create unsafe working conditions for its members. In his order, Cavaness wrote that the closures "have the potential to make the prisons that remain more dangerous for employees."
An arbitrator ruled Friday that the closures violate the union's contract with the state and ordered Quinn and AFSCME to resolve the issue through ongoing contract negotiations.
Last month, Quinn temporarily stopped layoffs and the transfer of inmates, saying he would hold off on implementing his plan while legal proceedings played out. However, Kelly Kraft, a Quinn spokeswoman, said the administration is not backing down from the closure plan. “We are examining options.” She said Quinn hopes to resolve the matter quickly.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
AFSCME sues to keep prisons open
By Jamey Dunn
The state’s largest public employee union is suing to block Gov. Pat Quinn’s plans to shut down several correctional facilities on the grounds that the closures would create unsafe working environments for its members.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 is seeking an injunction against the closure of seven facilities. Two of the facilities are prisons, a super-maximum-security prison near Tamms and a women’s prison in Dwight. The union is also suing to keep open adult transition centers in Decatur, Carbondale and Chicago and youth prisons in Joliet and Murphysboro. According to AFSCME, Quinn’s closure plan would result in the transfer of almost 5,000 prisoners, including youth offenders. “Many of the inmates that will be moved are those who have been intentionally segregated in the correctional system because of the danger they pose to guards and to other inmates. Almost a thousand maximum security female inmates will be moved, and several hundred maximum security youth will be moved as well. The insertion of these inmates into the overcrowded prisons of the state will inevitably foment unrest that will put employees, other inmates and the general community at risk,” said AFSCME’s complaint.
According to the complaint, AFSCME is suing to protect its members from the “risk of injury and death” that the group says they would face under Quinn’s plan. “Inmates are being sent to prisons that are too crowded, too short of staff or lacking appropriate security features to safely incarcerate them,” AFSCME Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer said in a prepared statement. “We’re asking the court for an injunction to prevent the state from moving forward with any closure until the related grievances have been resolved.”
Lawmakers approved a budget that contained money to keep facilities open for the current fiscal year, but Quinn used his veto pen to reject the money and has moved forward with closures. “They’re going to be closed. I do believe that we have to see our budget as what our priorities are,” Quinn said when he announced his changes to the budget. He called on lawmakers to instead use the money to defer other cuts that were in the budget, including an $86 million reduction to funding for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The State-Journal Register reported that the agency recently issued layoff notices to 600 employees as part of a restructuring plan that would result in a net reduction of 375 jobs. The department claimed that the layoffs were a direct result of the budget cut.
Legislators opposed to the closures have asked Quinn to hold off on shutting down the facilities until they have a chance to act on the governor’s vetoes. “Anyone who calls to keep these outdated, half-full, expensive facilities open is calling for the continual waste of taxpayer dollars on facilities the state no longer needs, ” Kelly Kraft, a spokesperson for Quinn, said in a prepared statement. “The overall population is down from last year, and female entries into the system are declining. Inmates will be safely and securely transitioned into appropriate facilities fully capable of securing offenders and resulting in costs savings to Illinois taxpayers. Some will say that money was provided in the budget to keep these facilities open, when in reality, legislators made a choice on how to spend taxpayer dollars: choosing outdated, half-full, expensive prisons over educating our children and keeping them safe.”
The state’s largest public employee union is suing to block Gov. Pat Quinn’s plans to shut down several correctional facilities on the grounds that the closures would create unsafe working environments for its members.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 is seeking an injunction against the closure of seven facilities. Two of the facilities are prisons, a super-maximum-security prison near Tamms and a women’s prison in Dwight. The union is also suing to keep open adult transition centers in Decatur, Carbondale and Chicago and youth prisons in Joliet and Murphysboro. According to AFSCME, Quinn’s closure plan would result in the transfer of almost 5,000 prisoners, including youth offenders. “Many of the inmates that will be moved are those who have been intentionally segregated in the correctional system because of the danger they pose to guards and to other inmates. Almost a thousand maximum security female inmates will be moved, and several hundred maximum security youth will be moved as well. The insertion of these inmates into the overcrowded prisons of the state will inevitably foment unrest that will put employees, other inmates and the general community at risk,” said AFSCME’s complaint.
According to the complaint, AFSCME is suing to protect its members from the “risk of injury and death” that the group says they would face under Quinn’s plan. “Inmates are being sent to prisons that are too crowded, too short of staff or lacking appropriate security features to safely incarcerate them,” AFSCME Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer said in a prepared statement. “We’re asking the court for an injunction to prevent the state from moving forward with any closure until the related grievances have been resolved.”
Lawmakers approved a budget that contained money to keep facilities open for the current fiscal year, but Quinn used his veto pen to reject the money and has moved forward with closures. “They’re going to be closed. I do believe that we have to see our budget as what our priorities are,” Quinn said when he announced his changes to the budget. He called on lawmakers to instead use the money to defer other cuts that were in the budget, including an $86 million reduction to funding for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The State-Journal Register reported that the agency recently issued layoff notices to 600 employees as part of a restructuring plan that would result in a net reduction of 375 jobs. The department claimed that the layoffs were a direct result of the budget cut.
Legislators opposed to the closures have asked Quinn to hold off on shutting down the facilities until they have a chance to act on the governor’s vetoes. “Anyone who calls to keep these outdated, half-full, expensive facilities open is calling for the continual waste of taxpayer dollars on facilities the state no longer needs, ” Kelly Kraft, a spokesperson for Quinn, said in a prepared statement. “The overall population is down from last year, and female entries into the system are declining. Inmates will be safely and securely transitioned into appropriate facilities fully capable of securing offenders and resulting in costs savings to Illinois taxpayers. Some will say that money was provided in the budget to keep these facilities open, when in reality, legislators made a choice on how to spend taxpayer dollars: choosing outdated, half-full, expensive prisons over educating our children and keeping them safe.”
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Report of assaults stirs new debate over prison closures
By Jamey Dunn
Lawmakers and unions officials are asking Gov. Pat Quinn to but the brakes on prison closures after reports of recent assaults have surfaced.
The Associated Press reported that a corrections officer was stabbed at the Stateville Correctional Center and another guard was stabbed at the Pontiac Correctional Center in the last six weeks. The AP also reported that more than a dozen weapons have been found during recent searches of inmates cells, and that two prisoners were found unresponsive in the cell they shared. Officials from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents prison guards, said that the two had overdosed on heroin. A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections said she could not comment on the incident because it is part of an ongoing investigation. According to the IDOC, both inmates survived.
Legislators and union leaders say the reports bolster their arguments against closing some of the state’s corrections facilities.
Last week, Gov. Pat Quinn made clear his intentions to move forward with the closures with a few strokes of his veto pen. Quinn signed the budget sent to him by the General Assembly, but he vetoed $19.4 million that was included to run the state’s only super-maximum security prison located near Tamms and the $21.2 million included to operate a women’s prison in Dwight. In addition to the prisons, he plans to close three transition centers meant to help inmates reenter society. The prisons and transition centers are scheduled to be closed on August 31. (For more on the debate surrounding the closure of Tamms, see Illinois Issues, June 2012.)
Quinn also cut $8.9 million for a youth prison in Joliet and $6.6 million for a youth prison in Murphysboro. The facility in Joliet is slated for closure on November 30, and the Murphysboro facility is scheduled for closure on August 31.
Quinn’s administration said that the assaults have nothing to do with the governor’s closure plans. “There is no evidence of an increase in weapons found or assaults within the facilities as a result of the closure plans,” Stacey Solano, a spokeswoman for the IDOC, said in a prepared statement. “As common practice, to ensure safety and security within the facilities, IDOC often searches for contraband and removes it. Inmates found to be in possession of contraband, or those who display negative behavior, are swiftly and appropriately disciplined.”
However, opponents today called for the governor to halt the closures until lawmakers return for their fall veto session scheduled for November. They said the legislature should have a chance to vote to override the governor’s vetoes before the facilities are shuttered. “They should be halted. The governor should halt them, and he should wait for the General Assembly. ... The General Assembly worked very hard on this budget. They did allocate money to keep these facilities open,” said Henry Bayer, executive director of AFSCME Council 31.
Lawmakers who oppose closing prisons argued that news of recent assaults undermines Quinn’s claims that the prisons will be safe after the closures. “Every prison now is overcrowded,” said Sen. Gary Forby, a Benton Democrat. “You’re going to hurt officers. You’re going to hurt prisoners. You’re going to hurt the state of Illinois.” Forby said that he and other opponents of the closures plan to lobby lawmakers to reject Quinn’s vetoes of corrections spending. “We’re going to try to override him. I’m going to stick to my guns.”
Republicans said Quinn should not have vetoed the money for prisons and then urged for spending elsewhere, such as the Department of Child and Family Services. Quinn also plans to close mental health centers and centers for the developmentally disabled as part of an effort to save money and move away from institutional care.
Sen. David Luechtefeld, an Okawville Republican, said Quinn rejected the money for facilities and “in the next breath, he doesn’t say to ‘pay some of our bills.’” He added, “It’s to simply spend the money someplace else.”
Rep. Mike Bost, a Murphysboro Republican, said: “We did our jobs. We put the money in the budget. We showed where our priorities were.”
Quinn argues that the facilities are a drain on the state’s budget, and money to fund them should instead be used to fund things that he sees as more pressing priorities. “Anyone who calls to keep these outdated, half-full, expensive facilities open is calling for the continual waste of taxpayer dollars on facilities the state no longer needs,” Kelly Kraft, a Quinn budget spokeswoman, said in a prepared statement. “The overall population is down from last year, and female entries into the system are declining. Inmates will be safely and securely transitioned into appropriate facilities fully capable of securing offenders and resulting in costs savings to Illinois taxpayers. Some will say that money was provided in the budget to keep these facilities open when in reality, legislators made a choice on how to spend taxpayer dollars: choosing outdated, half-full, expensive prisons over educating our children and keeping them safe,”
Frank Mautino, a budget point man for the House Democrats, said that the budget bills would not have had the support to clear appropriations committees and reach a floor vote in the House if they had not contained funding for the state facilities targeted for closure. “Facility closures were the linchpin of the budget. ... Amongst the committee negotiations is where it became the linchpin,” he said.
Mautino, from Spring Valley, said that while there were not explicit agreements that he knows of between lawmakers and Quinn’s office to trade votes on other issues for assurances of facilities remaining open, Quinn had staff at committee meetings, and he should know that the budget would have been shot down without the funding for state institutions. “That’s how you put a budget together,” Bayer said. “Now it’s like: ‘Heads I win; tails you lose.’ The governor got many of the things he wanted.”
He criticized Quinn for not making public all the details of his plans for closing facilities and moving staff and prisoners to new locations. “If the department has a plan, we think they have an obligation to present it, to show us that things aren’t going to be out of hand. They haven’t done that. I don’t think they can do it,” Bayer said. “They’re taking places that are already overcrowded and making them even more overcrowded and trying to lead us to believe that it won’t be any more dangerous.” But Solano said the governor’s staff met with union representatives last week, briefed them on the plan and answered their questions. “The closure of multiple facilities is an ongoing process, and the department continues to work with the union as it moves forward with responsibly carrying out the closures.”
Bayer said the union has not ruled out taking legal action if Quinn proceeds with the closures, which AFSCME maintains would create unsafe working environments for some of its members. “We’re exploring all options,” Bayer said. “We’re very concerned about the dangers that are going to be exacerbated by this move.”
Lawmakers and unions officials are asking Gov. Pat Quinn to but the brakes on prison closures after reports of recent assaults have surfaced.
The Associated Press reported that a corrections officer was stabbed at the Stateville Correctional Center and another guard was stabbed at the Pontiac Correctional Center in the last six weeks. The AP also reported that more than a dozen weapons have been found during recent searches of inmates cells, and that two prisoners were found unresponsive in the cell they shared. Officials from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents prison guards, said that the two had overdosed on heroin. A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections said she could not comment on the incident because it is part of an ongoing investigation. According to the IDOC, both inmates survived.
Legislators and union leaders say the reports bolster their arguments against closing some of the state’s corrections facilities.
Last week, Gov. Pat Quinn made clear his intentions to move forward with the closures with a few strokes of his veto pen. Quinn signed the budget sent to him by the General Assembly, but he vetoed $19.4 million that was included to run the state’s only super-maximum security prison located near Tamms and the $21.2 million included to operate a women’s prison in Dwight. In addition to the prisons, he plans to close three transition centers meant to help inmates reenter society. The prisons and transition centers are scheduled to be closed on August 31. (For more on the debate surrounding the closure of Tamms, see Illinois Issues, June 2012.)
Quinn also cut $8.9 million for a youth prison in Joliet and $6.6 million for a youth prison in Murphysboro. The facility in Joliet is slated for closure on November 30, and the Murphysboro facility is scheduled for closure on August 31.
Quinn’s administration said that the assaults have nothing to do with the governor’s closure plans. “There is no evidence of an increase in weapons found or assaults within the facilities as a result of the closure plans,” Stacey Solano, a spokeswoman for the IDOC, said in a prepared statement. “As common practice, to ensure safety and security within the facilities, IDOC often searches for contraband and removes it. Inmates found to be in possession of contraband, or those who display negative behavior, are swiftly and appropriately disciplined.”
However, opponents today called for the governor to halt the closures until lawmakers return for their fall veto session scheduled for November. They said the legislature should have a chance to vote to override the governor’s vetoes before the facilities are shuttered. “They should be halted. The governor should halt them, and he should wait for the General Assembly. ... The General Assembly worked very hard on this budget. They did allocate money to keep these facilities open,” said Henry Bayer, executive director of AFSCME Council 31.
Lawmakers who oppose closing prisons argued that news of recent assaults undermines Quinn’s claims that the prisons will be safe after the closures. “Every prison now is overcrowded,” said Sen. Gary Forby, a Benton Democrat. “You’re going to hurt officers. You’re going to hurt prisoners. You’re going to hurt the state of Illinois.” Forby said that he and other opponents of the closures plan to lobby lawmakers to reject Quinn’s vetoes of corrections spending. “We’re going to try to override him. I’m going to stick to my guns.”
Republicans said Quinn should not have vetoed the money for prisons and then urged for spending elsewhere, such as the Department of Child and Family Services. Quinn also plans to close mental health centers and centers for the developmentally disabled as part of an effort to save money and move away from institutional care.
Sen. David Luechtefeld, an Okawville Republican, said Quinn rejected the money for facilities and “in the next breath, he doesn’t say to ‘pay some of our bills.’” He added, “It’s to simply spend the money someplace else.”
Rep. Mike Bost, a Murphysboro Republican, said: “We did our jobs. We put the money in the budget. We showed where our priorities were.”
Quinn argues that the facilities are a drain on the state’s budget, and money to fund them should instead be used to fund things that he sees as more pressing priorities. “Anyone who calls to keep these outdated, half-full, expensive facilities open is calling for the continual waste of taxpayer dollars on facilities the state no longer needs,” Kelly Kraft, a Quinn budget spokeswoman, said in a prepared statement. “The overall population is down from last year, and female entries into the system are declining. Inmates will be safely and securely transitioned into appropriate facilities fully capable of securing offenders and resulting in costs savings to Illinois taxpayers. Some will say that money was provided in the budget to keep these facilities open when in reality, legislators made a choice on how to spend taxpayer dollars: choosing outdated, half-full, expensive prisons over educating our children and keeping them safe,”
Frank Mautino, a budget point man for the House Democrats, said that the budget bills would not have had the support to clear appropriations committees and reach a floor vote in the House if they had not contained funding for the state facilities targeted for closure. “Facility closures were the linchpin of the budget. ... Amongst the committee negotiations is where it became the linchpin,” he said.
Mautino, from Spring Valley, said that while there were not explicit agreements that he knows of between lawmakers and Quinn’s office to trade votes on other issues for assurances of facilities remaining open, Quinn had staff at committee meetings, and he should know that the budget would have been shot down without the funding for state institutions. “That’s how you put a budget together,” Bayer said. “Now it’s like: ‘Heads I win; tails you lose.’ The governor got many of the things he wanted.”
He criticized Quinn for not making public all the details of his plans for closing facilities and moving staff and prisoners to new locations. “If the department has a plan, we think they have an obligation to present it, to show us that things aren’t going to be out of hand. They haven’t done that. I don’t think they can do it,” Bayer said. “They’re taking places that are already overcrowded and making them even more overcrowded and trying to lead us to believe that it won’t be any more dangerous.” But Solano said the governor’s staff met with union representatives last week, briefed them on the plan and answered their questions. “The closure of multiple facilities is an ongoing process, and the department continues to work with the union as it moves forward with responsibly carrying out the closures.”
Bayer said the union has not ruled out taking legal action if Quinn proceeds with the closures, which AFSCME maintains would create unsafe working environments for some of its members. “We’re exploring all options,” Bayer said. “We’re very concerned about the dangers that are going to be exacerbated by this move.”
Monday, June 18, 2012
No middle ground found in pension talks
By Jamey Dunn
Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation today that will add a level of oversight to the state’s pension systems, but it seems as if little progress has been made in negotiations over comprehensive pension reform.
Quinn signed Senate Bill 179, which creates the position of a state actuary within the auditor general’s office. The actuary will review estimates that each pension system makes about its returns on investments. “It’s an independent person who has that authority to make sure that the actuarial assumptions of each retirement system are correct. We want that not to be higher than it should be or lower than it should be. We want a second set of eyes to make sure that it’s accurate,” Quinn told reporters in Chicago today.
Supporters said the actuary will give lawmakers another source of information to draw upon when making decisions related to the pension systems or pension benefits. Lawmakers compared it to the budgeting process, where they have access to information from both the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the legislative Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. “[The actuary is] not going to go back to ground zero and redo the estimates. It really is a second look over the shoulder from the actuaries of the systems from the systems themselves.. … This really is just a second pair of eyes,’ said Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a sponsor of the bill. “We do the same thing in budget making. You can’t be sure what the next fiscal year is going to bring, so you make some kind of judgment call. And we just want to make sure that the judgment calls that we’re getting from the systems are as close to reality as the human mind can make them.”
At today’s news conference, Quinn leaned hard on Republicans today to accept a cost shift that would ultimately result in school districts paying the retirement costs for their employees. “We need to kind of close that discussion so we can put that final plan into the bill,” Quinn said.
Republicans called the provision a “poison pill” when it was included in a pension reform bill, and it was the issue that caused a stalemate on pension reform in the closing days of the spring legislative session. Republicans say that reform can be achieved without the cost shift. “We are, and obviously have been, committed to pension reform — the cost shift is not a vital component to this package that will save tens of billions of dollars in our unfunded liability,” Sarah Wojcicki Jimenez, a spokeswoman for House Minority leader Tom Cross, said in a written statement.
Republicans say the shift to local districts would result in property tax increases across the state as cash strapped schools try to find the money to cover the costs. But Quinn said the cost shift is needed so that school districts are accountable for the pension benefits their employees earn based on their salaries, which are decided by the districts. He said a shift that is phased in over as many as 15 years would not result in property tax increases. “When you look at the facts, it’s pretty clear that if you phase in a requirement that local school districts have to pay the future retirement costs of those who work for them — for those who they negotiate contracts with over a period of time — if you phase in that requirement of having to pay for their future retirement costs say over 12 years to 15 years, there is, I think, to my mind an imperceptible impact on property taxes. There is no impact on property taxes. And that’s just a fact.”
In the closing days of the session, Quinn backed a bill that did not have the cost shift and said the issue could be revisited later. But the measure did not find enough support in the House to pass. Quinn now seems to have lost patience with the negotiations that have been going on since lawmakers left Springfield at the end of the regular session. “All four leaders believe in the fundamental principle of accountability and responsibility. That’s just public finance 101, and I think everybody agrees with that. It’s implementing this phase in — that seems to be the key point,” Quinn said. “It’s beyond me how you could let this one issue hold up a fundamental overhaul of our public pension system that has been in the waiting for three decades. …We have a reasonable plan that, frankly, a lot of folks have worked so hard on this year, and it’s got one last provision to work on [and to] negotiate.”
Patty Schuh, a spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, said that Republicans are not the holdup when it comes to pension reform passing. “We are and have been committed to pension reform in the state of Illinois. We’ve pushed it. We’ve been for a variety of proposals that are out there.” She said that Quinn has changed his tune about the importance of the cost shift. She noted that it was an “afterthought” in the governor’s own pension reform framework, which mentioned the cost shift but did not provide details on how it would be implemented.
“The cost shift is not an integral part of this pension reform discussion. We have $60 billion to $80 billion in pension savings, true savings, on the table, and we ought to be capturing those savings and making the reforms that are necessary. Then at the appropriate time, we can have the discussion on school funding, and that’s where the cost shift discussion needs to be,” Schuh said. Both spokeswomen said that legislative leaders plan to meet with Quinn’s staff again on Thursday.
Quinn today also said he is not pleased with cuts to human services in the budget lawmakers approved last month. He is particularly upset about reductions to the Department of Children and Family Services that he called “just not acceptable.” “I’m not happy with the work of the General Assembly in this area,” he said. “We will have more to say about that when we lay out our decisions on the budget, but we have to make sure that children come first in Illinois all the time.” Quinn said he plans to make his decisions regarding the budget before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. He can sign off on it, veto it outright or make reductions using a line item veto.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation today that will add a level of oversight to the state’s pension systems, but it seems as if little progress has been made in negotiations over comprehensive pension reform.
Quinn signed Senate Bill 179, which creates the position of a state actuary within the auditor general’s office. The actuary will review estimates that each pension system makes about its returns on investments. “It’s an independent person who has that authority to make sure that the actuarial assumptions of each retirement system are correct. We want that not to be higher than it should be or lower than it should be. We want a second set of eyes to make sure that it’s accurate,” Quinn told reporters in Chicago today.
Supporters said the actuary will give lawmakers another source of information to draw upon when making decisions related to the pension systems or pension benefits. Lawmakers compared it to the budgeting process, where they have access to information from both the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the legislative Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. “[The actuary is] not going to go back to ground zero and redo the estimates. It really is a second look over the shoulder from the actuaries of the systems from the systems themselves.. … This really is just a second pair of eyes,’ said Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a sponsor of the bill. “We do the same thing in budget making. You can’t be sure what the next fiscal year is going to bring, so you make some kind of judgment call. And we just want to make sure that the judgment calls that we’re getting from the systems are as close to reality as the human mind can make them.”
At today’s news conference, Quinn leaned hard on Republicans today to accept a cost shift that would ultimately result in school districts paying the retirement costs for their employees. “We need to kind of close that discussion so we can put that final plan into the bill,” Quinn said.
Republicans called the provision a “poison pill” when it was included in a pension reform bill, and it was the issue that caused a stalemate on pension reform in the closing days of the spring legislative session. Republicans say that reform can be achieved without the cost shift. “We are, and obviously have been, committed to pension reform — the cost shift is not a vital component to this package that will save tens of billions of dollars in our unfunded liability,” Sarah Wojcicki Jimenez, a spokeswoman for House Minority leader Tom Cross, said in a written statement.
Republicans say the shift to local districts would result in property tax increases across the state as cash strapped schools try to find the money to cover the costs. But Quinn said the cost shift is needed so that school districts are accountable for the pension benefits their employees earn based on their salaries, which are decided by the districts. He said a shift that is phased in over as many as 15 years would not result in property tax increases. “When you look at the facts, it’s pretty clear that if you phase in a requirement that local school districts have to pay the future retirement costs of those who work for them — for those who they negotiate contracts with over a period of time — if you phase in that requirement of having to pay for their future retirement costs say over 12 years to 15 years, there is, I think, to my mind an imperceptible impact on property taxes. There is no impact on property taxes. And that’s just a fact.”
In the closing days of the session, Quinn backed a bill that did not have the cost shift and said the issue could be revisited later. But the measure did not find enough support in the House to pass. Quinn now seems to have lost patience with the negotiations that have been going on since lawmakers left Springfield at the end of the regular session. “All four leaders believe in the fundamental principle of accountability and responsibility. That’s just public finance 101, and I think everybody agrees with that. It’s implementing this phase in — that seems to be the key point,” Quinn said. “It’s beyond me how you could let this one issue hold up a fundamental overhaul of our public pension system that has been in the waiting for three decades. …We have a reasonable plan that, frankly, a lot of folks have worked so hard on this year, and it’s got one last provision to work on [and to] negotiate.”
Patty Schuh, a spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, said that Republicans are not the holdup when it comes to pension reform passing. “We are and have been committed to pension reform in the state of Illinois. We’ve pushed it. We’ve been for a variety of proposals that are out there.” She said that Quinn has changed his tune about the importance of the cost shift. She noted that it was an “afterthought” in the governor’s own pension reform framework, which mentioned the cost shift but did not provide details on how it would be implemented.
“The cost shift is not an integral part of this pension reform discussion. We have $60 billion to $80 billion in pension savings, true savings, on the table, and we ought to be capturing those savings and making the reforms that are necessary. Then at the appropriate time, we can have the discussion on school funding, and that’s where the cost shift discussion needs to be,” Schuh said. Both spokeswomen said that legislative leaders plan to meet with Quinn’s staff again on Thursday.
Quinn today also said he is not pleased with cuts to human services in the budget lawmakers approved last month. He is particularly upset about reductions to the Department of Children and Family Services that he called “just not acceptable.” “I’m not happy with the work of the General Assembly in this area,” he said. “We will have more to say about that when we lay out our decisions on the budget, but we have to make sure that children come first in Illinois all the time.” Quinn said he plans to make his decisions regarding the budget before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. He can sign off on it, veto it outright or make reductions using a line item veto.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Quinn continues to push for pension reform
By Jamey Dunn
After lawmakers failed to approve a pension reform plan during their regular session, Gov. Pat Quinn said today that he plans to meet with legislative leaders next week to hammer out a plan that can pass in both chambers.
"The epic reform of all the most important things we have to do, and really the reform of our lifetimes as far as I'm concerned, is pension reform, and we still have work to do on that," Quinn said. "I think it's important that everyone know that we're racing the clock, that we must get this done as soon as possible. The [bond] rating agencies are poised to decide upon our work, and we must get to work."
Quinn and legislative leaders have voiced concern that bond rating agencies will downgrade the state's credit rating if a change to the pension systems is not accomplished soon. "What's clear from the legislative action yesterday, there's not a majority in either [chamber] yet for a comprehensive solution," Quinn said. "I think we have the elements. We are very close, but we're not there yet. And so, my mission is to focus on that issue so we can get the job done for the people of Illinois. It will make our state a much stronger state."
Quinn said he thinks that Democrats and Republicans both agree with the "core principle" that local school districts, universities and community colleges have a stake in the cost of retirement benefits for their employees. "It's how to implement that principle that we're still having the negotiations on. Democrats proposed that the schools assume the cost of the pension systems gradually over multiple years.The state would be responsible for the more than $80 billion unfunded liability, but schools would pick up any future liability that might occur. Republicans said the move would result in property tax increases across the state. House Minority Leader Tom Cross had proposed that districts instead cover the retirement costs incurred from raises given to employees in the last years of work. "They can't be able to negotiate the contracts and then hand the bill off to someone else," the governor said.
Quinn would not say whether he plans to sign a gaming expansion bill that may be headed to his desk. The measure has passed in both legislative chambers, but Quinn has voiced concerns about the bill. "I believe in a strong ethical framework of oversight and integrity. No campaign from gambling interests. Those are things I have said over and over again. I'll keep saying them." Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat, said he plans to introduce another bill that would bar people working at the top of the gaming industry from donating to state political campaigns.
Quinn said he now needs to review the state budget that passed yesterday. He said he is moving forward on facility closures, even though lawmakers put money in the budget to keep facilities open. "I've already made my position clear on that," he said.
He also would not indicate whether he plans to sign a bill that would reinstate a revamped an early release program that would allow prisoners to earn time off their sentences for good behavior. Quinn previously shut down the state's early release program. The Department of Corrections had waived a waiting period for applying the credit, and some inmates got out after serving just weeks of their sentences. The Associated Press revealed the policy, and it resulted in a scandal for Quinn that followed him into the 2010 gubernatorial race. He has not reinstated the policy since, and critics say it has led to dangerous overcrowding in the state's medium security prisons. "I want to read the bill. A lot of things happen in a flurry here in the last couple of weeks. Before you make judgments on those bills, you have to really look at them with your staff, go over it with a fine-tooth comb," Quinn said.
After lawmakers failed to approve a pension reform plan during their regular session, Gov. Pat Quinn said today that he plans to meet with legislative leaders next week to hammer out a plan that can pass in both chambers.
"The epic reform of all the most important things we have to do, and really the reform of our lifetimes as far as I'm concerned, is pension reform, and we still have work to do on that," Quinn said. "I think it's important that everyone know that we're racing the clock, that we must get this done as soon as possible. The [bond] rating agencies are poised to decide upon our work, and we must get to work."
Quinn and legislative leaders have voiced concern that bond rating agencies will downgrade the state's credit rating if a change to the pension systems is not accomplished soon. "What's clear from the legislative action yesterday, there's not a majority in either [chamber] yet for a comprehensive solution," Quinn said. "I think we have the elements. We are very close, but we're not there yet. And so, my mission is to focus on that issue so we can get the job done for the people of Illinois. It will make our state a much stronger state."
Quinn said he thinks that Democrats and Republicans both agree with the "core principle" that local school districts, universities and community colleges have a stake in the cost of retirement benefits for their employees. "It's how to implement that principle that we're still having the negotiations on. Democrats proposed that the schools assume the cost of the pension systems gradually over multiple years.The state would be responsible for the more than $80 billion unfunded liability, but schools would pick up any future liability that might occur. Republicans said the move would result in property tax increases across the state. House Minority Leader Tom Cross had proposed that districts instead cover the retirement costs incurred from raises given to employees in the last years of work. "They can't be able to negotiate the contracts and then hand the bill off to someone else," the governor said.
Quinn would not say whether he plans to sign a gaming expansion bill that may be headed to his desk. The measure has passed in both legislative chambers, but Quinn has voiced concerns about the bill. "I believe in a strong ethical framework of oversight and integrity. No campaign from gambling interests. Those are things I have said over and over again. I'll keep saying them." Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat, said he plans to introduce another bill that would bar people working at the top of the gaming industry from donating to state political campaigns.
Quinn said he now needs to review the state budget that passed yesterday. He said he is moving forward on facility closures, even though lawmakers put money in the budget to keep facilities open. "I've already made my position clear on that," he said.
He also would not indicate whether he plans to sign a bill that would reinstate a revamped an early release program that would allow prisoners to earn time off their sentences for good behavior. Quinn previously shut down the state's early release program. The Department of Corrections had waived a waiting period for applying the credit, and some inmates got out after serving just weeks of their sentences. The Associated Press revealed the policy, and it resulted in a scandal for Quinn that followed him into the 2010 gubernatorial race. He has not reinstated the policy since, and critics say it has led to dangerous overcrowding in the state's medium security prisons. "I want to read the bill. A lot of things happen in a flurry here in the last couple of weeks. Before you make judgments on those bills, you have to really look at them with your staff, go over it with a fine-tooth comb," Quinn said.
Senate approves House budget after adding education spending
By Jamey Dunn and Ashley Griffin
The Illinois Senate approved the House's budget legislation Thursday after some Democrats demanded additional education spending.
The Senate signed off on the House budget after the House ignored budget bills passed by Senate Democrats. Senate Republicans objected to the spending levels in both bills.
The budget contains funding for state facilities that Gov. Pat Quinn had targeted for closure in his budget proposal in February. Quinn called for shutting down several state institutions, including centers for the developmentally disabled, a mental health center and some correctional facilities. The current legislation also contains funding to retool the state’s controversial supermax prison — where prisoners are kept in isolation for up to 23 hours a day — into a less restrictive system.
Laurie Jo Reynolds, an organizer for Tamms Year Ten, a group pushing for the closure of Tamms, said it is unclear whether the plan would allow prisoners to have enough communal time outside of their cells. “We sort of need to know what they’re talking about when they are talking about refurbishing the prison and retooling it,” she said. Reynolds said that adding a yard and a cafeteria would not be enough to make Tamms a workable medium-security prison. She said other changes would be needed, such as the addition of a common day-room area and classrooms where education and rehabilitation programs could be held.
She noted that Tamms was built for isolation, so it would be difficult to move prisoners around in the way that they are moved in a medium- or low-security prison. “There's so many doors between the wing and the pods [where inmates are kept],” she said. “It’s just not as easy of a facility to let people in the yard or take them out to the cafeteria. It doesn’t seem very cost-efficient to rework it into a medium-security [prison].”
Reynolds said it is an important step that those in favor of keeping Tamms open support the idea of it no longer being a super maximum security prison. “The fundamental premise of [the state] needing a supermax has been destroyed. That admission is a victory in itself. Now we need to have a conversation about: ‘Do we need a new medium-security prison, and can we afford a new medium-security prison?’”
Some Senate Democrats said money should not be spent to keep facilities open when the state is cutting human services and education. “We cannot afford to go backwards, and we don’t have to go backwards. This is all called priorities, and I think the Senate has a better grasp on what the priorities are,” said Sen. Donne Trotter, a budget point man on the Democratic side. “In my mind and many down here, keeping facilities open isn’t a priority.”
Some Senate Democrats refused to vote for the House's K-12 education budget the first time the legislation was called for a vote, and the measure failed. “We should be voting no on this bill because the House sent us a budget with further cuts to education. The House sent us a budget that only added back $50 million more in general state aid,” said Sen. Kimberly Lightford, a Democrat from Maywood. “We put a whole a lot of burden on the local school districts and at the same time continuously underfunded them.” (For more on the spending levels in the House budget, see yesterday's blog.)
“Maybe some members did not get the memo that we don’t have any money,” said Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Democrat from Park Ridge “We are out of money.” But Senate President John Cullerton proposed some ways to find new revenue for education spending. House Bill 5440 would add a 5 percent tax to the gross profits of satellite television providers such as Dish Network and Direct TV. Cullerton said cable providers already pay the fee and that the legislation would bring in about $75 million. He also sponsored House Bill 5342, which would close some corporate tax loopholes for oil companies. He estimated that legislation could bring in $100 million. “Closing loopholes is definitely fair, and I think targeting certain tax credits is appropriate,” Cullerton said during a committee hearing on the legislation.
Senate Bill 2365 would dole out the new revenues According to an analysis from the Democrats:
Republicans said the budget would set the state up for financial peril when the recently enacted income tax increase starts to roll back in 2015, and they said the spending could prompt a vote to stop the increase from phasing out. “This is yet another brick in the wall of the permanent tax increase,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican.
They accused Democrats of running counter to the state’s relatively new Budgeting for Results law by funneling money into programs that do not have proven success. The law is supposed to give preference to programs that can document some level of success at meeting in-house goals. “Either apply this new law in a way that is understandable and explainable, or please stop telling us that it has changed the budgeting process at all,” Murphy said.
The additional education spending would still have to be approved in the House. Trotter said that there is time to get it passed when lawmakers return for session during Fiscal Year 2013, which begins July 1. “Those individuals over there represent the same people we do,” Trotter said. “They’re going to go home, like we are. … And they are going to hear from their constituents that say, 'How could we not fund education?' And I think it’s that kind of pressure that’s going to be put on the [House Speaker Michael Madigan]. The good thing about this legislative process is that we get more than one bite at the apple.”
The strategy is similar to one employed by the Senate last year to get additional human services spending. “Last year, we got a sad, sad budget from the House. They gave us the budget and left town. The Senate felt we had a more responsible budget. We presented it, and it didn’t go anywhere. We came back in the fall in veto session and put in all those things that we said we should have put in in June,” Trotter said.
The Illinois Senate approved the House's budget legislation Thursday after some Democrats demanded additional education spending.
The Senate signed off on the House budget after the House ignored budget bills passed by Senate Democrats. Senate Republicans objected to the spending levels in both bills.
The budget contains funding for state facilities that Gov. Pat Quinn had targeted for closure in his budget proposal in February. Quinn called for shutting down several state institutions, including centers for the developmentally disabled, a mental health center and some correctional facilities. The current legislation also contains funding to retool the state’s controversial supermax prison — where prisoners are kept in isolation for up to 23 hours a day — into a less restrictive system.
Laurie Jo Reynolds, an organizer for Tamms Year Ten, a group pushing for the closure of Tamms, said it is unclear whether the plan would allow prisoners to have enough communal time outside of their cells. “We sort of need to know what they’re talking about when they are talking about refurbishing the prison and retooling it,” she said. Reynolds said that adding a yard and a cafeteria would not be enough to make Tamms a workable medium-security prison. She said other changes would be needed, such as the addition of a common day-room area and classrooms where education and rehabilitation programs could be held.
She noted that Tamms was built for isolation, so it would be difficult to move prisoners around in the way that they are moved in a medium- or low-security prison. “There's so many doors between the wing and the pods [where inmates are kept],” she said. “It’s just not as easy of a facility to let people in the yard or take them out to the cafeteria. It doesn’t seem very cost-efficient to rework it into a medium-security [prison].”
Reynolds said it is an important step that those in favor of keeping Tamms open support the idea of it no longer being a super maximum security prison. “The fundamental premise of [the state] needing a supermax has been destroyed. That admission is a victory in itself. Now we need to have a conversation about: ‘Do we need a new medium-security prison, and can we afford a new medium-security prison?’”
Some Senate Democrats said money should not be spent to keep facilities open when the state is cutting human services and education. “We cannot afford to go backwards, and we don’t have to go backwards. This is all called priorities, and I think the Senate has a better grasp on what the priorities are,” said Sen. Donne Trotter, a budget point man on the Democratic side. “In my mind and many down here, keeping facilities open isn’t a priority.”
Some Senate Democrats refused to vote for the House's K-12 education budget the first time the legislation was called for a vote, and the measure failed. “We should be voting no on this bill because the House sent us a budget with further cuts to education. The House sent us a budget that only added back $50 million more in general state aid,” said Sen. Kimberly Lightford, a Democrat from Maywood. “We put a whole a lot of burden on the local school districts and at the same time continuously underfunded them.” (For more on the spending levels in the House budget, see yesterday's blog.)
“Maybe some members did not get the memo that we don’t have any money,” said Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Democrat from Park Ridge “We are out of money.” But Senate President John Cullerton proposed some ways to find new revenue for education spending. House Bill 5440 would add a 5 percent tax to the gross profits of satellite television providers such as Dish Network and Direct TV. Cullerton said cable providers already pay the fee and that the legislation would bring in about $75 million. He also sponsored House Bill 5342, which would close some corporate tax loopholes for oil companies. He estimated that legislation could bring in $100 million. “Closing loopholes is definitely fair, and I think targeting certain tax credits is appropriate,” Cullerton said during a committee hearing on the legislation.
Senate Bill 2365 would dole out the new revenues According to an analysis from the Democrats:
- $24.9 million would go toward early childhood education.
- $134.7 million would go into general state aid for schools.
- $15.4 million would go to the Monetary Assistance Program for college students.
- $24 million would go into the Circuit Breaker program, which provides assistance for the elderly.
Republicans said the budget would set the state up for financial peril when the recently enacted income tax increase starts to roll back in 2015, and they said the spending could prompt a vote to stop the increase from phasing out. “This is yet another brick in the wall of the permanent tax increase,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican.
They accused Democrats of running counter to the state’s relatively new Budgeting for Results law by funneling money into programs that do not have proven success. The law is supposed to give preference to programs that can document some level of success at meeting in-house goals. “Either apply this new law in a way that is understandable and explainable, or please stop telling us that it has changed the budgeting process at all,” Murphy said.
The additional education spending would still have to be approved in the House. Trotter said that there is time to get it passed when lawmakers return for session during Fiscal Year 2013, which begins July 1. “Those individuals over there represent the same people we do,” Trotter said. “They’re going to go home, like we are. … And they are going to hear from their constituents that say, 'How could we not fund education?' And I think it’s that kind of pressure that’s going to be put on the [House Speaker Michael Madigan]. The good thing about this legislative process is that we get more than one bite at the apple.”
The strategy is similar to one employed by the Senate last year to get additional human services spending. “Last year, we got a sad, sad budget from the House. They gave us the budget and left town. The Senate felt we had a more responsible budget. We presented it, and it didn’t go anywhere. We came back in the fall in veto session and put in all those things that we said we should have put in in June,” Trotter said.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Bipartisan budget efforts dissolve in the House
By Jamey Dunn
Republicans pulled their support from House budget bills today after pension negotiations fell apart, but it appears that House Republican leadership will get another shot at passing pension reform Thursday morning.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross said Republicans made it clear that their bipartisan efforts on the budget were contingent on several things, including pension reform.
“We’ve attempted to work with the other side of the aisle on the budget process because of the problems we have as a state, and one of the things we talked about with our budget mess is that it’s a puzzle, and pieces need to fit together to show the road map out of here. And one of those pieces is the need to do pension reform,” Cross said on the House floor. “The condition, so to speak, or part of the puzzle was — we said to [House Speaker Michael Madigan] and all of you — is that we’ve got to get Medicaid done, we’ve got to do [reductions to] retiree health care [costs] and we’ve got to get pensions done.”
Cross said that once it became clear that Democrats would not back off a portion of the reform that would shift pension costs to schools, community colleges and universities, Republicans pulled back from budget negotiations. Republicans say the measure, which would shift the responsibility of paying for pensions to schools gradually over years, would result in spikes in local property taxes as schools struggled to cover the cost.
“It made it very difficult for us to continue down the road of working on the budget,” Cross said.
With Republicans refusing to support the budget, Democrats took license to make some changes from bills that had been negotiated by House budget committees. And as those bills came up for floor votes, Republicans did all they could to object to and stall the process. They filed several motions trying to keep bills from coming up for a vote and even tried to adjourn the legislative session at one point. None of their efforts at obstruction worked, and after more than three hours of debate, the House budget passed with almost no Republican support. Some Republicans did vote in favor of Senate Bill 2474, which would fund corrections facilities that Gov. Pat Quinn has targeted for closure.
“The adjustments today occurred because there was an interest on the part of both Democrats and Republicans. Mr. Cross and I worked through to provide an appropriation for all of the facilities where the governor is proposing to lose the facilities,” Madigan said. Quinn proposed closing state institutions throughout Illinois, including prisons, youth detention centers, centers for the developmentally disabled and a mental health center. Madigan emphasized that Quinn could still opt to close the facilities, even though there is money in the budget to keep them open.
Madigan said that the funds to keep the facilities open came from money that will be left over from the current fiscal year. Rep. Frank Mautino, a Democrat from Spring Valley, said money left over from Quinn’s budget vetoes during the current fiscal year was used to pay for transfers that automatically come out of the General Revenue Fund. He said that freed up $88 million to keep the facilities open.
Mautino gave credit to Republicans for negotiating the budget that passed this evening, even though few voted in supported of any part of it.
“In a really bad time, bad numbers, it’s amazing what just happened. Even though the roll calls don’t show it that way,” he said.
But Republicans gnashed their teeth over other spending that Democrats added to the negotiated budget bills. “You can’t control yourselves. You need to spend. You have an appetite you can’t control,” Cross said to Democrats.
Under the version of the budget the House was working off of before today, general state aid to schools would have been cut by $211 million. The budget that passed tonight put back about $50 million of that cut. Madigan said that money would come from savings the state created from a recent refinancing of some of its debts.
Madigan said the budget the House passed would still come in at $4.4 million under the $33.719 billion spending cap the House set for itself.
Republicans were also unhappy about some changes made to the human services budget. Funding for transportation for mental health patients was taken out, and instead, more money went to the Department of Children and Family Services. Money for drug addiction prevention and youth in transition programs also fell under the Democratic budget ax.
“It was a good budget before you started whacking away at it,” said Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, a Republican from Des Plaines. “Now you’ve cut things that everyone at the table agreed to, Democrat and Republican.”
Republicans were especially outraged at the zeroing out of money for a juvenile diabetes research program. Members of House Republican leadership, including Cross, have children with the disease. Republicans called the changes “punitive.”
Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the chair of the House Human Services Committee, said research was cut in many areas to direct more money to services. “We have systematically removed all funding for research.”
Feigenholtz, a Chicago Democrat, said: “These are gut wrenching decisions that we make.”
After the budget passed, Madigan announced that he would transfer sponsorship of the House pension reform legislation, SB 1673, to Cross and let him take a shot at running the bill without the cost shift provisions.
“I think that there ought to be a shift in responsibility in the normal cost so that going forward ... the people making the spending decisions will be called upon to pay the bills. Today it’s very simple. Spending decisions are made. The bill is sent down to the Teachers Retirement System. The state pays the bill. I think that ought to change,” Madigan said. However, he said that Quinn told him this morning that the cost shift should be pulled from the bill.
“I disagree with the governor,” Madigan said. “But he is the governor. This is his request.”
Quinn has voiced support for the shift multiple times, and it was included in his own pension reform proposal. However, a spokeswoman for the governor said that it became clear the issue was sending reform into a deadlock. “The governor has kept his eye on the prize here, and that’s the achieving the big [pension] savings … and putting Illinois on the path to fiscal stability,” said Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.
The bill, with amendments from Cross that would strip out the cost shift, is scheduled for a hearing tomorrow morning in a House pension committee.
“Leader Cross is looking forward to presenting the amendments in committee, and he’s looking forward to passing it through the House,” said his spokeswoman, Sara Wojcicki Jimenez. She said Cross did not know the move was coming until Madigan announced it on the House floor.
Republicans pulled their support from House budget bills today after pension negotiations fell apart, but it appears that House Republican leadership will get another shot at passing pension reform Thursday morning.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross said Republicans made it clear that their bipartisan efforts on the budget were contingent on several things, including pension reform.
“We’ve attempted to work with the other side of the aisle on the budget process because of the problems we have as a state, and one of the things we talked about with our budget mess is that it’s a puzzle, and pieces need to fit together to show the road map out of here. And one of those pieces is the need to do pension reform,” Cross said on the House floor. “The condition, so to speak, or part of the puzzle was — we said to [House Speaker Michael Madigan] and all of you — is that we’ve got to get Medicaid done, we’ve got to do [reductions to] retiree health care [costs] and we’ve got to get pensions done.”
Cross said that once it became clear that Democrats would not back off a portion of the reform that would shift pension costs to schools, community colleges and universities, Republicans pulled back from budget negotiations. Republicans say the measure, which would shift the responsibility of paying for pensions to schools gradually over years, would result in spikes in local property taxes as schools struggled to cover the cost.
“It made it very difficult for us to continue down the road of working on the budget,” Cross said.
With Republicans refusing to support the budget, Democrats took license to make some changes from bills that had been negotiated by House budget committees. And as those bills came up for floor votes, Republicans did all they could to object to and stall the process. They filed several motions trying to keep bills from coming up for a vote and even tried to adjourn the legislative session at one point. None of their efforts at obstruction worked, and after more than three hours of debate, the House budget passed with almost no Republican support. Some Republicans did vote in favor of Senate Bill 2474, which would fund corrections facilities that Gov. Pat Quinn has targeted for closure.
“The adjustments today occurred because there was an interest on the part of both Democrats and Republicans. Mr. Cross and I worked through to provide an appropriation for all of the facilities where the governor is proposing to lose the facilities,” Madigan said. Quinn proposed closing state institutions throughout Illinois, including prisons, youth detention centers, centers for the developmentally disabled and a mental health center. Madigan emphasized that Quinn could still opt to close the facilities, even though there is money in the budget to keep them open.
Madigan said that the funds to keep the facilities open came from money that will be left over from the current fiscal year. Rep. Frank Mautino, a Democrat from Spring Valley, said money left over from Quinn’s budget vetoes during the current fiscal year was used to pay for transfers that automatically come out of the General Revenue Fund. He said that freed up $88 million to keep the facilities open.
Mautino gave credit to Republicans for negotiating the budget that passed this evening, even though few voted in supported of any part of it.
“In a really bad time, bad numbers, it’s amazing what just happened. Even though the roll calls don’t show it that way,” he said.
But Republicans gnashed their teeth over other spending that Democrats added to the negotiated budget bills. “You can’t control yourselves. You need to spend. You have an appetite you can’t control,” Cross said to Democrats.
Under the version of the budget the House was working off of before today, general state aid to schools would have been cut by $211 million. The budget that passed tonight put back about $50 million of that cut. Madigan said that money would come from savings the state created from a recent refinancing of some of its debts.
Madigan said the budget the House passed would still come in at $4.4 million under the $33.719 billion spending cap the House set for itself.
Republicans were also unhappy about some changes made to the human services budget. Funding for transportation for mental health patients was taken out, and instead, more money went to the Department of Children and Family Services. Money for drug addiction prevention and youth in transition programs also fell under the Democratic budget ax.
“It was a good budget before you started whacking away at it,” said Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, a Republican from Des Plaines. “Now you’ve cut things that everyone at the table agreed to, Democrat and Republican.”
Republicans were especially outraged at the zeroing out of money for a juvenile diabetes research program. Members of House Republican leadership, including Cross, have children with the disease. Republicans called the changes “punitive.”
Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the chair of the House Human Services Committee, said research was cut in many areas to direct more money to services. “We have systematically removed all funding for research.”
Feigenholtz, a Chicago Democrat, said: “These are gut wrenching decisions that we make.”
After the budget passed, Madigan announced that he would transfer sponsorship of the House pension reform legislation, SB 1673, to Cross and let him take a shot at running the bill without the cost shift provisions.
“I think that there ought to be a shift in responsibility in the normal cost so that going forward ... the people making the spending decisions will be called upon to pay the bills. Today it’s very simple. Spending decisions are made. The bill is sent down to the Teachers Retirement System. The state pays the bill. I think that ought to change,” Madigan said. However, he said that Quinn told him this morning that the cost shift should be pulled from the bill.
“I disagree with the governor,” Madigan said. “But he is the governor. This is his request.”
Quinn has voiced support for the shift multiple times, and it was included in his own pension reform proposal. However, a spokeswoman for the governor said that it became clear the issue was sending reform into a deadlock. “The governor has kept his eye on the prize here, and that’s the achieving the big [pension] savings … and putting Illinois on the path to fiscal stability,” said Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.
The bill, with amendments from Cross that would strip out the cost shift, is scheduled for a hearing tomorrow morning in a House pension committee.
“Leader Cross is looking forward to presenting the amendments in committee, and he’s looking forward to passing it through the House,” said his spokeswoman, Sara Wojcicki Jimenez. She said Cross did not know the move was coming until Madigan announced it on the House floor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
