By Jamey Dunn
An Illinois House committee passed a workers’ compensation reform package this evening, but most of the committee members voiced reservations about the bill.
The measure is the result of the efforts of a Special Workers’ Compensation Reform Committee, which held hearings in December. The short timeline was the reason some legislators gave for their concerns with Senate Bill 1066.
Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano, an Elmwood Park Republican, said he thought the reforms were being rushed for political reasons, as part of an effort to get a tax increase passed by offering reforms long sought after by Republicans. He voted against the bill, and called for the process to be slowed down. He said the committee’s efforts were a good start. But he added, “I don’t want that start [of workers’ compensation reform] to be flawed out of the gate.”
The bill would allow employers to choose the doctor who would check out and treat an employee making an injury claim. If an employee is not satisfied with the doctor, he or she could visit another doctor and get referrals to other specialists from that doctor, and the employer would cover the cost. However, if the employee wants a second opinion beyond that doctor or the referrals, the employer would not have to pay for it.
Fees paid to doctors for medical procedures would be cut. Loss of wages awards, which may be required of an employer if a work injury causes long-term problems that impair an employee's ability to work and earn the wage he or she was earning at the time of the accident, would be cut off at age 67.
The bill also calls for the creation of a workers' compensation advisory board, with members named by the governor and the four legislative leaders. The board would also include directors of state executive agencies.
Opponents of the bill said it does nothing to help injured workers receive better care or rein in the high premium costs paid by businesses for workers’ compensation insurance.
“What labor wants is what labor has always wanted on any day or any month of the year. We want good benefits for injured workers. We want injured workers to have rights under the act. And we want … access to good quality health care,” said Michael Carrigan, president of the Illinois American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
However, Michael McRaith, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, said Illinois is not a highly profitable state for workers’ compensation insurers. McRaith , who is often a vocal critic of health insurance providers in the state, said: “In this case, it is not an insurance industry problem.”
McRaith said employers would see different levels of savings depending on their unique situations. He said they could save anywhere from 5 percent of their current workers’ compensation costs up to 12 percent. He said the state could save $10 million to $15 million.
Opponents representing labor and health care interests said they had been cut out of talks on the final version of the bill and called on lawmakers to return to the usual process for workers’ compensation legislation, which involves all stakeholders negotiating a bill they can agree upon.
“There were discussions. There were tentative agreements about: ‘Well we could live with this section of the agreement, or we could live with that section of the agreement.’ But they were all contingent upon a deal, a bill,” Carrigan said. “And so, there is no agreement.”
Bloomington Republican Rep. Dan Brady, co-chair of the Medicaid reform committee, was skeptical of the odds of reaching an agreement that also contained substantial reforms. “I’m not sure you’re ever going to get an agreement.” Brady’s fellow Republicans — Ed Sullivan from Mundelein and Michael Tryon from Crystal Lake — voted against the final bill.
Marion Democratic Rep. John Bradley, the sponsor of the legislation, said the fact that all the major interest groups we’re unhappy with the bill is an indication that it contains substantial reforms. “It’s not a perfect system. And we could come up with anecdotes all day, and we could come up with examples to scare people all day. … Something has to change. And so, none of us want to make all these groups mad. But let’s be honest about what we’re doing. … At the end of the day, something needs to be done. … I’m telling you, we’ve done the best we could do under the circumstances.”
The House is expected to take up the issues tomorrow morning.
The committee also approved a bill that would limit which state employees can join unions. Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the sponsor of SB3644, said the percentage of state employees who are union members went from below 80 percent in 2002 to currently almost 96 percent.
Currie said having supervisors and the workers they manage in the same union causes problems when the supervisors must mete out discipline.
“I think there need to be managers. I think there need be supervisors. I think there need to be people who are in charge at any particular workplace.”
The bill would move about 200 jobs from being a part of collective bargaining contracts to management positions that would not be eligible for union membership.
Opponents said more state workers have joined unions after seeing nonunion workers targeted for cost saving measures, such as furlough days, pay cuts and layoffs under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration. They also argued that fewer workers are supervising others as part of their primary duties because the state workforce has shrunk in recent years.
“Many of the people who have in recent years chose to be represented by a union, was because of the horrible horrible treatment they received from the prior administration. Their work was not valued. They not only didn’t get pay increases, they got pay cuts. And they came flocking to the union seeking representation,” said Henry Bayer, executive director of Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Friday, January 07, 2011
Hynes: Lawmakers must act to prevent fiscal slide
By Jamey Dunn
If lawmakers fail to act on budget solutions, the state could face $7 billion to $10 billion in unpaid bills by the end of the current fiscal year, according to a quarterly fiscal report issued today by Comptroller Dan Hynes.
At the midpoint of this fiscal year, the backlog of unpaid bills is higher than it was at this time last year.
The total is greater in part because the General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn have not yet put a plan in place for making this fiscal year’s payment into the public employee pension system. More than $6 billion in bills from fiscal year 2011 have yet to be paid, including $1.8 billion unpaid pension obligations. The oldest bill dates back to the middle of last July, the first month of the current fiscal year.
The state did manage to pay off all its late bills from fiscal year 2010 by the end of last calendar year with some one-time cash infusions. The sale of bonds against some of state’s portion of a national tobacco settlement brought in $1.25 billion. A tax amnesty program raised $392 million, and $354 million came from inter-fund borrowing. “While the almost $2 billion in revenues helped reduce the overall backlog of unpaid bills, the state’s fiscal condition has not improved,” Hynes said in his report.
Paying off the $1.3 billion in short-term borrowing — made last July — by next June will result in more than $4 billion in fiscal year 2011 funds going toward fiscal year 2010 obligations.
On the revenue side, the personal income tax brought in $129 million more during the last six months, an increase of 3.4 percent. The corporate tax generated $235 million in growth over six months, an increase of 45.8 percent. Much of the growth came from delinquent tax payments paid during the tax amnesty period. Sales tax revenues went up 3.5 percent, not counting the portion paid under the amnesty, indicating some economic recovery.
Since legislators are considering several pieces of budget-related legislation while also mulling a possible tax increase package, Hynes’ future projections are not specific. The reports notes that a borrowing plan to make pension payments would prevent the need to take the money out of this fiscal year’s general revenues. Hynes cautions that borrowing would also limit future budget flexibility. According to Senate President John Cullerton, a tax package would also likely include borrowing almost $4 billion for the pension payment and more than twice that amount to pay down the unpaid bills for this fiscal year.
“Any use of bonds to deal with the state’s fiscal condition will continue to impact the state’s cash management practices in the future, as the state must adjust to those higher debt service obligations,” Hynes said.
However, Hynes warned that if legislators do not move some combination of new revenues, bonding and “budget restructuring,” the situation will only decline. Illinois received $600 million in federal funds for education in FY2010, which will not be coming again this year. The feds are also ramping down an elevated Medicaid match that was part of the stimulus package.
“Absent any significant budgetary developments, such as the initiatives currently under discussion in the General Assembly, the outlook for the state’s fiscal condition does not look to show any improvement and in fact is expected to weaken further,” Hynes said.
He added if that happens, legislators likely would have to extend the lapse period when the state is allowed to pay obligations from the previous fiscal year out of funds from the current year.
If lawmakers fail to act on budget solutions, the state could face $7 billion to $10 billion in unpaid bills by the end of the current fiscal year, according to a quarterly fiscal report issued today by Comptroller Dan Hynes.
At the midpoint of this fiscal year, the backlog of unpaid bills is higher than it was at this time last year.
The total is greater in part because the General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn have not yet put a plan in place for making this fiscal year’s payment into the public employee pension system. More than $6 billion in bills from fiscal year 2011 have yet to be paid, including $1.8 billion unpaid pension obligations. The oldest bill dates back to the middle of last July, the first month of the current fiscal year.
The state did manage to pay off all its late bills from fiscal year 2010 by the end of last calendar year with some one-time cash infusions. The sale of bonds against some of state’s portion of a national tobacco settlement brought in $1.25 billion. A tax amnesty program raised $392 million, and $354 million came from inter-fund borrowing. “While the almost $2 billion in revenues helped reduce the overall backlog of unpaid bills, the state’s fiscal condition has not improved,” Hynes said in his report.
Paying off the $1.3 billion in short-term borrowing — made last July — by next June will result in more than $4 billion in fiscal year 2011 funds going toward fiscal year 2010 obligations.
On the revenue side, the personal income tax brought in $129 million more during the last six months, an increase of 3.4 percent. The corporate tax generated $235 million in growth over six months, an increase of 45.8 percent. Much of the growth came from delinquent tax payments paid during the tax amnesty period. Sales tax revenues went up 3.5 percent, not counting the portion paid under the amnesty, indicating some economic recovery.
Since legislators are considering several pieces of budget-related legislation while also mulling a possible tax increase package, Hynes’ future projections are not specific. The reports notes that a borrowing plan to make pension payments would prevent the need to take the money out of this fiscal year’s general revenues. Hynes cautions that borrowing would also limit future budget flexibility. According to Senate President John Cullerton, a tax package would also likely include borrowing almost $4 billion for the pension payment and more than twice that amount to pay down the unpaid bills for this fiscal year.
“Any use of bonds to deal with the state’s fiscal condition will continue to impact the state’s cash management practices in the future, as the state must adjust to those higher debt service obligations,” Hynes said.
However, Hynes warned that if legislators do not move some combination of new revenues, bonding and “budget restructuring,” the situation will only decline. Illinois received $600 million in federal funds for education in FY2010, which will not be coming again this year. The feds are also ramping down an elevated Medicaid match that was part of the stimulus package.
“Absent any significant budgetary developments, such as the initiatives currently under discussion in the General Assembly, the outlook for the state’s fiscal condition does not look to show any improvement and in fact is expected to weaken further,” Hynes said.
He added if that happens, legislators likely would have to extend the lapse period when the state is allowed to pay obligations from the previous fiscal year out of funds from the current year.
Controversial budgeting reforms head to the governor
By Jamey Dunn
A bill headed to Gov. Pat Quinn would limit his power to bargain with unions on public employee contracts.
The House passed House Bill 5424, today, which would change how state government approaches budgeting. Under the measure, the state would be required to pay its debt obligations and annual required pension payments before allocating general revenue funds to any other area of the budget. Spending also could not exceed projected revenues for the year. The estimate would be based on revenue sources approved by legislators when the budget is presented.
Under the plan, a number of grants administered by state agencies would be suspended as of July 1, 2012, unless the General Assembly enacts legislation to keep them in place. After 2012, legislators would have to approve grants every five years to keep them from expiring.
The bill also would require the governor to name an advisory board to help him create an annual list of budget priorities.
“We are looking here at major budget reform — a way to control our spending, a way to get our pension payments made and our debt obligations before we divide up the budget,” said Rep. Carol Sente, the House sponsor of the bill.
Social service providers are concerned about the potential for grants being canceled not because recipients were not worthy but because the legislature might not get around to assessing programs before the grants would automatically expire. They raised the issue that lenders may not want to float providers loans — something that has become a necessity in the face of the states overdue payments — if grants are set to expire. They say lawmakers should evaluate programs when they decide whether to delegate funds.
“There is a review process already in place, and it is the appropriations process,” said Nancy Nyman, vice president of Illinois Action for Children
Perhaps the most controversial section of the bill would prevent any executive officer from entering into a labor contract that would extend past his or her elected term.
Union opponents said contract negotiations can take as long as two years, which could mean that they could potentially start talks with one governor and then reach an agreement with another.
The bill comes on the heels of a controversial deal that Quinn made with Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) near the end of his first term while he was campaigning for election. Sente said the legislation is a direct reaction to that deal, although Senate sponsor Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat, said it is not. He characterized the provision as a sensible budgeting decision that would prevent a governor from locking a future administration into a pricey union contract.
Union representatives also argued that the state enters into several types of long-term contracts, and it is unfair to target labor. They added that a new administration would likely be overwhelmed by the logistics of negotiating contracts as soon as it enters office.
Kotowski said that in light of the budget crisis, the state is also reevaluating many contracts with vendors.
“[The] budget address [is] due in eight weeks, and then on top of all the things that have to be done — new directors, new administration, all the things that need to be done — the new chief executive is going to be worrying about a collective bargaining agreement as well,” said Timothy Drea, secretary treasurer of Illinois American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). “This is bigger than AFSCME. This is bigger than AFL-CIO. This includes the trade unions. This includes a lot of people statewide from Chicago, from Waukegan to Cairo. It creates a lot of havoc.”
A spokesperson for the governor said he plans to review the bill when he receives it. It is unlikely, however, that he would approve it with a provision that limits his negotiating powers with unions.
A bill headed to Gov. Pat Quinn would limit his power to bargain with unions on public employee contracts.
The House passed House Bill 5424, today, which would change how state government approaches budgeting. Under the measure, the state would be required to pay its debt obligations and annual required pension payments before allocating general revenue funds to any other area of the budget. Spending also could not exceed projected revenues for the year. The estimate would be based on revenue sources approved by legislators when the budget is presented.
Under the plan, a number of grants administered by state agencies would be suspended as of July 1, 2012, unless the General Assembly enacts legislation to keep them in place. After 2012, legislators would have to approve grants every five years to keep them from expiring.
The bill also would require the governor to name an advisory board to help him create an annual list of budget priorities.
“We are looking here at major budget reform — a way to control our spending, a way to get our pension payments made and our debt obligations before we divide up the budget,” said Rep. Carol Sente, the House sponsor of the bill.
Social service providers are concerned about the potential for grants being canceled not because recipients were not worthy but because the legislature might not get around to assessing programs before the grants would automatically expire. They raised the issue that lenders may not want to float providers loans — something that has become a necessity in the face of the states overdue payments — if grants are set to expire. They say lawmakers should evaluate programs when they decide whether to delegate funds.
“There is a review process already in place, and it is the appropriations process,” said Nancy Nyman, vice president of Illinois Action for Children
Perhaps the most controversial section of the bill would prevent any executive officer from entering into a labor contract that would extend past his or her elected term.
Union opponents said contract negotiations can take as long as two years, which could mean that they could potentially start talks with one governor and then reach an agreement with another.
The bill comes on the heels of a controversial deal that Quinn made with Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) near the end of his first term while he was campaigning for election. Sente said the legislation is a direct reaction to that deal, although Senate sponsor Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat, said it is not. He characterized the provision as a sensible budgeting decision that would prevent a governor from locking a future administration into a pricey union contract.
Union representatives also argued that the state enters into several types of long-term contracts, and it is unfair to target labor. They added that a new administration would likely be overwhelmed by the logistics of negotiating contracts as soon as it enters office.
Kotowski said that in light of the budget crisis, the state is also reevaluating many contracts with vendors.
“[The] budget address [is] due in eight weeks, and then on top of all the things that have to be done — new directors, new administration, all the things that need to be done — the new chief executive is going to be worrying about a collective bargaining agreement as well,” said Timothy Drea, secretary treasurer of Illinois American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). “This is bigger than AFSCME. This is bigger than AFL-CIO. This includes the trade unions. This includes a lot of people statewide from Chicago, from Waukegan to Cairo. It creates a lot of havoc.”
A spokesperson for the governor said he plans to review the bill when he receives it. It is unlikely, however, that he would approve it with a provision that limits his negotiating powers with unions.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Cullerton outlines a tax plan
By Jamey Dunn
According to a member of Democratic leadership, legislators may be close to reaching a deal on a tax increase and borrowing plan that would pay off the state’s late bills.
The personal income tax would increase from 3 percent to 5.25 percent. Corporate income tax would go up from 4.8 percent to 8.4 percent. The state would borrow about $8.5 billion to pay off the state’s backlog of bills, using some of the revenue from the tax increase to pay off the bonds.
The personal income tax increase would bring in an estimated $6.1 billion, and the corporate increase would bring in about $1 billion.
After four years, the personal income tax rate would drop to 3.75 percent, operating under the assumption that the state would have paid off the $8.5 billion in borrowing by then. Senate President John Cullerton said the corporate income tax rate would drop along with the personal tax rate.
Local governments would not get any of the new funds, but they would not see a reduction in the portion they currently receive. There have been recent proposals to take away all of the money given to local governments out of income tax revenues.
“We’re going to pay our bills on time. We’ll pay all of our backlog bills in the first months of 2011. And we’re going to stay current going forward,” Cullerton said.
The proposal included property tax relief for property owners — there is no component for renters in the plan — which would come in the form of a tax credit this year. Next year and every year following, a check for $325 dollars would go to all who are eligible. Cullerton said. If the plan passes, checks would go out in early January of 2012.
Cullerton said legislators still plan to borrow nearly $4 billion to make the required payment to public employee pensions for the current fiscal year, but going forward, the payment would have to come out of the new revenue from the tax increase.
The plan would also include $377 million in revenue for an education fund from a $1-a-pack cigarette tax increase, which has already passed in the Senate. Cullerton said the fund would be used for “growth” in education but would not give any specifics.
The proposal would include some spending restraints. Cullerton said there would be a moratorium on new programs for the next three years.
“Just think about how we’re going to be after we pass this. We would have all our bills, all these people that are owed money — $8 billion dollars will go back into the economy — people will be paid on time. Our credit rating will be dramatically improved. We will then have a balanced budget with virtually no growth,” Cullerton said.
Some Republicans say a tax increase, in any form, is not the solution to the state’s budget woes. “At some point, the Illinois economy can’t sustain continuing to take more and more money out of it to filter it through the halls of state government. … A tax increase, even one this size, will work for a while, but it won’t work forever because at some point, if you keep spending more, there’s not enough money left in government coffers. The way to deal with that is to go into the areas where you’re spending and change those," said Mattoon Republican Sen. Dale Righter.
Cullerton said House Speaker Michael Madigan and Gov. Pat Quinn are on board with the plan, though he said it may see “tweaks” in the coming days. He said the House could take up a bill as soon as Sunday. Spokespeople for Madigan and Quinn would not confirm Cullerton’s statement.
The House passed another tax-related plan today backed by Cullerton. House Bill 3659 would require Internet vendors without brick-and-mortar locations in the state to collect sales tax on purchases made in Illinois. Cullerton said it is a way to bring in tax revenues that many Illinoisans already owe the state without even knowing it.
Milan Democratic Rep. Patrick Verschoore, the House sponsor of the bill, said the measure could bring in an estimated $70 million of lost revenue.
Opponents said the measure will just spur lawsuits, and it could be years before the state sees any money, if it ever does. Similar plans in other states, such as New York, have spurred lawsuits.
But Verschoore seemed to think the plan was worth a try if it could capture lost tax dollars for the state. “We’ll just have to see if it holds up,” he said in response to critics.
According to a member of Democratic leadership, legislators may be close to reaching a deal on a tax increase and borrowing plan that would pay off the state’s late bills.
The personal income tax would increase from 3 percent to 5.25 percent. Corporate income tax would go up from 4.8 percent to 8.4 percent. The state would borrow about $8.5 billion to pay off the state’s backlog of bills, using some of the revenue from the tax increase to pay off the bonds.
The personal income tax increase would bring in an estimated $6.1 billion, and the corporate increase would bring in about $1 billion.
After four years, the personal income tax rate would drop to 3.75 percent, operating under the assumption that the state would have paid off the $8.5 billion in borrowing by then. Senate President John Cullerton said the corporate income tax rate would drop along with the personal tax rate.
Local governments would not get any of the new funds, but they would not see a reduction in the portion they currently receive. There have been recent proposals to take away all of the money given to local governments out of income tax revenues.
“We’re going to pay our bills on time. We’ll pay all of our backlog bills in the first months of 2011. And we’re going to stay current going forward,” Cullerton said.
The proposal included property tax relief for property owners — there is no component for renters in the plan — which would come in the form of a tax credit this year. Next year and every year following, a check for $325 dollars would go to all who are eligible. Cullerton said. If the plan passes, checks would go out in early January of 2012.
Cullerton said legislators still plan to borrow nearly $4 billion to make the required payment to public employee pensions for the current fiscal year, but going forward, the payment would have to come out of the new revenue from the tax increase.
The plan would also include $377 million in revenue for an education fund from a $1-a-pack cigarette tax increase, which has already passed in the Senate. Cullerton said the fund would be used for “growth” in education but would not give any specifics.
The proposal would include some spending restraints. Cullerton said there would be a moratorium on new programs for the next three years.
“Just think about how we’re going to be after we pass this. We would have all our bills, all these people that are owed money — $8 billion dollars will go back into the economy — people will be paid on time. Our credit rating will be dramatically improved. We will then have a balanced budget with virtually no growth,” Cullerton said.
Some Republicans say a tax increase, in any form, is not the solution to the state’s budget woes. “At some point, the Illinois economy can’t sustain continuing to take more and more money out of it to filter it through the halls of state government. … A tax increase, even one this size, will work for a while, but it won’t work forever because at some point, if you keep spending more, there’s not enough money left in government coffers. The way to deal with that is to go into the areas where you’re spending and change those," said Mattoon Republican Sen. Dale Righter.
Cullerton said House Speaker Michael Madigan and Gov. Pat Quinn are on board with the plan, though he said it may see “tweaks” in the coming days. He said the House could take up a bill as soon as Sunday. Spokespeople for Madigan and Quinn would not confirm Cullerton’s statement.
The House passed another tax-related plan today backed by Cullerton. House Bill 3659 would require Internet vendors without brick-and-mortar locations in the state to collect sales tax on purchases made in Illinois. Cullerton said it is a way to bring in tax revenues that many Illinoisans already owe the state without even knowing it.
Milan Democratic Rep. Patrick Verschoore, the House sponsor of the bill, said the measure could bring in an estimated $70 million of lost revenue.
Opponents said the measure will just spur lawsuits, and it could be years before the state sees any money, if it ever does. Similar plans in other states, such as New York, have spurred lawsuits.
But Verschoore seemed to think the plan was worth a try if it could capture lost tax dollars for the state. “We’ll just have to see if it holds up,” he said in response to critics.
Medical marijuana fails in the House
By Jamey Dunn
An attempt to make medical marijuana available to residents with serious or chronic illnesses fell short in the Illinois House today.
The bill failed on a previous House vote in November (scroll down), when the ‘yes’ votes climbed as high as 56 before settling out at 53. Today’s count was 56 ‘yes’ votes, 60 ‘no’ votes and a single ‘present’ vote.
Opponents said that marijuana use can lead to addiction to harder drugs, such as heroin. They also voiced concerns that the plan would lead to the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.
“This … goes way beyond medical use, medical treatment. This is about the legalization of marijuana. … We’re sending the wrong message to our children,” Rep. David Reis, a Willow Hill Republican, said before the previous House vote.
Skokie Democratic Rep. Lou Lang, the sponsor of Senate Bill 1381, said conventional prescription pain treatments can be draining and even dangerous. He added that over the long term, they often stop being as effective after individuals in chronic pain develop a tolerance to them.
“Sometimes, they take the narcotic and it lays them flat in their bed and they can’t function and sometimes they overdose and die,” Lang said. “It’s not a quality of life. They can’t function. They can’t do laundry. They can’t take care of their children.”
Lang said he plans to introduce a similar bill in the next legislative session, which starts next week. He said he plans to keep pressing to make medical marijuana available as a treatment option until a bill eventually passes.
An attempt to make medical marijuana available to residents with serious or chronic illnesses fell short in the Illinois House today.
The bill failed on a previous House vote in November (scroll down), when the ‘yes’ votes climbed as high as 56 before settling out at 53. Today’s count was 56 ‘yes’ votes, 60 ‘no’ votes and a single ‘present’ vote.
Opponents said that marijuana use can lead to addiction to harder drugs, such as heroin. They also voiced concerns that the plan would lead to the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.
“This … goes way beyond medical use, medical treatment. This is about the legalization of marijuana. … We’re sending the wrong message to our children,” Rep. David Reis, a Willow Hill Republican, said before the previous House vote.
Skokie Democratic Rep. Lou Lang, the sponsor of Senate Bill 1381, said conventional prescription pain treatments can be draining and even dangerous. He added that over the long term, they often stop being as effective after individuals in chronic pain develop a tolerance to them.
“Sometimes, they take the narcotic and it lays them flat in their bed and they can’t function and sometimes they overdose and die,” Lang said. “It’s not a quality of life. They can’t function. They can’t do laundry. They can’t take care of their children.”
Lang said he plans to introduce a similar bill in the next legislative session, which starts next week. He said he plans to keep pressing to make medical marijuana available as a treatment option until a bill eventually passes.
House votes to abolish death penalty
By Lauren Johnson with Jamey Dunn contributing
A bill that would abolish the death penalty in Illinois passed in the Illinois House tonight after coming up one vote short earlier this afternoon.
Maywood Democratic Rep. Karen Yarbrough, sponsor of the legislation, said the state spends at least $20 million a year on capital cases, with no executions performed in the 10 years since former Gov. George Ryan placed a moratorium on capital punishment.
In addition to abolishing the death penalty, Senate Bill 3539 would require the money from the capital litigation fund, which is used to aid defendants in building their cases when prosecutors seek the death penalty, to go to services for homicide victims' families and additional police training.
“Let's send a message to people across the state and the nation that Illinois is not the laughing stock anymore,” said Yarbrough, noting the 10-year absence of enforced capital punishment and Illinois' history of exonerations of death row inmates. “Now is the time to finish the job [of ending the death penalty]."
Rep. Jim Sacia, a Pecatonica Republican, recounted gruesome details of heinous crimes committed in Illinois and said police need the threat of the death penalty to press for confessions and obtain information.
Sacia added, “There are untold numbers, in Chicago and throughout Illinois, of successfully resolved crimes because law enforcement had the tool to say, ‘This is an opportunity for you to face the death penalty, or if you talk to us, maybe we can give you a lengthy prison sentence.’”
Proponents say the passage of the measure will lead to cost savings and prevent wrongful executions.
Rep. Robert Pritchard said punishment, should be shifted to a “swift justice” alternatives -- such as life in prison without parole -- instead of the long appeals process associated with capital cases.
Opponents argued the importance of having the death penalty option for individuals who commit heinous crimes and said legislators should be sensitive to the possibility of victims’ families being left without a sense of closure.
Rep. Patrick Verschoore, who voted against the bill when it was called the first time and voted for it the second time around, told reporters he has gone back and forth on the issue. Verschoore, a Milan Democrat, said he couldn’t ignore the possible cost savings.
Senate President John Cullerton, who supports abolishing the death penalty, said the bill will be called in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
A bill that would abolish the death penalty in Illinois passed in the Illinois House tonight after coming up one vote short earlier this afternoon.
Maywood Democratic Rep. Karen Yarbrough, sponsor of the legislation, said the state spends at least $20 million a year on capital cases, with no executions performed in the 10 years since former Gov. George Ryan placed a moratorium on capital punishment.
In addition to abolishing the death penalty, Senate Bill 3539 would require the money from the capital litigation fund, which is used to aid defendants in building their cases when prosecutors seek the death penalty, to go to services for homicide victims' families and additional police training.
“Let's send a message to people across the state and the nation that Illinois is not the laughing stock anymore,” said Yarbrough, noting the 10-year absence of enforced capital punishment and Illinois' history of exonerations of death row inmates. “Now is the time to finish the job [of ending the death penalty]."
Rep. Jim Sacia, a Pecatonica Republican, recounted gruesome details of heinous crimes committed in Illinois and said police need the threat of the death penalty to press for confessions and obtain information.
Sacia added, “There are untold numbers, in Chicago and throughout Illinois, of successfully resolved crimes because law enforcement had the tool to say, ‘This is an opportunity for you to face the death penalty, or if you talk to us, maybe we can give you a lengthy prison sentence.’”
Proponents say the passage of the measure will lead to cost savings and prevent wrongful executions.
Rep. Robert Pritchard said punishment, should be shifted to a “swift justice” alternatives -- such as life in prison without parole -- instead of the long appeals process associated with capital cases.
Opponents argued the importance of having the death penalty option for individuals who commit heinous crimes and said legislators should be sensitive to the possibility of victims’ families being left without a sense of closure.
Rep. Patrick Verschoore, who voted against the bill when it was called the first time and voted for it the second time around, told reporters he has gone back and forth on the issue. Verschoore, a Milan Democrat, said he couldn’t ignore the possible cost savings.
Senate President John Cullerton, who supports abolishing the death penalty, said the bill will be called in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
Medicaid reform heads to the governor
By Lauren Johnson and Jamey Dunn
A substantial Medicaid reform package is headed to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
According to Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie — a sponsor of House Bill 5420 — it could save the state an estimated $775 million over five years.
Co-sponsor Patti Bellock, a Hinsdale Republican, said she was pleased with efforts of legislators on both sides of the aisle, as well as stakeholders.
“Even though they thought there was a little bit of a poison pill with every interested group … they were ready to live with it because they realized that the system needed a lot of reorganization to protect the integrity of the Medicaid system in Illinois,” Bellock said on the House floor before legislators voted to approve the measure.
Opponents say disappointment surrounded the measure that would limit the income eligibility requirement for Illinois families under the AllKids program to at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or an income of $66,000 for a household of four.
John Bouman, president of the president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Policy Law, said, “We don’t think it’s the best practice.” He said the provision could cost the state more money than it could save.
Bouman added, “The research-based policy of the federal government is to promote enrollment of children in health care, to connect them quickly to primary care and to maintain their care not interrupted with administrative reasons.”
Quinn has been working with the legislature on the bill, and it is likely he will sign it.
“Today we are following through with legislation that will help stabilize our budget and rebuild the foundations of our economy. This bill will streamline services and eliminate inefficiencies, saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition, it will improve efficiency in the program to ensure that Medicaid patients in Illinois are receiving the highest quality of care,” Quinn said in a written statement. “This is a powerful example of the reforms Illinois needs to stabilize its budget and the kind of legislation I will continue to work with the General Assembly to pass. I look forward to receiving this bill from the legislature and acting on it soon.”
If Quinn signs the bill, it would:
A substantial Medicaid reform package is headed to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
According to Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie — a sponsor of House Bill 5420 — it could save the state an estimated $775 million over five years.
Co-sponsor Patti Bellock, a Hinsdale Republican, said she was pleased with efforts of legislators on both sides of the aisle, as well as stakeholders.
“Even though they thought there was a little bit of a poison pill with every interested group … they were ready to live with it because they realized that the system needed a lot of reorganization to protect the integrity of the Medicaid system in Illinois,” Bellock said on the House floor before legislators voted to approve the measure.
Opponents say disappointment surrounded the measure that would limit the income eligibility requirement for Illinois families under the AllKids program to at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or an income of $66,000 for a household of four.
John Bouman, president of the president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Policy Law, said, “We don’t think it’s the best practice.” He said the provision could cost the state more money than it could save.
Bouman added, “The research-based policy of the federal government is to promote enrollment of children in health care, to connect them quickly to primary care and to maintain their care not interrupted with administrative reasons.”
Quinn has been working with the legislature on the bill, and it is likely he will sign it.
“Today we are following through with legislation that will help stabilize our budget and rebuild the foundations of our economy. This bill will streamline services and eliminate inefficiencies, saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition, it will improve efficiency in the program to ensure that Medicaid patients in Illinois are receiving the highest quality of care,” Quinn said in a written statement. “This is a powerful example of the reforms Illinois needs to stabilize its budget and the kind of legislation I will continue to work with the General Assembly to pass. I look forward to receiving this bill from the legislature and acting on it soon.”
If Quinn signs the bill, it would:
- Allow the governor to transfer up to 4 percent of funds from long-term care facilities to community-based alternatives as part of a shift to more in-home care.
- Allow the state to recoup payments gained through fraud, as well as a 5 percent interest charge. It would also create a $2,000 civil penalty for Medicaid fraud.
- Require patients to prove residency and provide a month’s worth of income information to verify eligibility. It would also require patients to prove they are eligible each year. Pregnant women would be exempt from the annual verification.
- Create a moratorium on expanding who is eligible for Medicaid.
- Extend the AllKids program, which is slated to expire this year, to 2016 and cap the eligibility level at 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or a $66,000 household income for a family of four. Those above that level, who are currently covered on AllKids could keep their coverage until July 1, 2012.
- Require that half of Medicaid patients receive so-called coordinated care — which is administered in a network of health care providers and focuses on preventative treatment and connecting patients to a primary care doctor—by 2015.
- Allow for 90-day supplies of some non-narcotic drugs, which will cut down on dispensing costs paid by the state to pharmacies.
- Cut the interest on overdue payments to pharmacies from 2 percent to 1 percent.
- Upgrade the state's electronic medical records systems. The funds spent on upgrades are eligible for a 90 percent federal match.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Senate approves Medicaid reform package
By Lauren Johnson with Jamey Dunn contributing
The Illinois Senate today passed a major reform package to the Medicaid system, which provides health care to low-income individuals in Illinois.
House Bill 5420 would require Medicaid patients to provide proof of Illinois state residency and a month’s income as part of a stepped-up verification system that would be implemented by Department of Health and Family Services.
At present, individuals who initially meet eligibility requirements are presumed eligible each year regardless of verification.
House Bill 5420 would also lower the eligibility ceiling for the AllKids program to at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or an income of $66,000 for a household of four.
The legislation extends the program, which would’ have expired in July, to 2016. Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services, said capping the eligibility for AllKids was a difficult decision but a necessary one to keep the program viable.
“This will be more of a program for low-income and middle-income families,” Hamos said.
Under the measure, at least 50 percent of Medicaid enrollees must be part of a so-called coordinated care system, which is similar to managed care, by January 1, 2015. Much of the coordinated care — which focuses on preventative care and directing patients to a primary doctor for basic treatment — would be contracted to private companies.
“Now, we have 2.8 million people in the Medicaid program," said Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat. "Out of that, there are 160,000 that are in managed care, so this is huge change, turning a very large ship in the state into some sort of reshaping kind of environment."
Also included in the package is a new way to combat Medicaid fraud by recovering state and federal payments for benefits received by ineligible individuals and charging them interest and penalties. Offenders would be subject to a civil penalty of $2,000 for Medicaid fraud.
Steans said the committee’s short timetable made it nearly impossible to address all areas of potential Medicaid reform in Illinois. “This is clearly a start,” she said.
Both Steans and Hamos characterized the changes as substantial and said they would take time and a coordinated effort among several state agencies to implement.
If the measure becomes law, the Department of Health and Family Services will come before the Senate Medicaid Reform Committee for an evaluation on the larger aspects of the bill, such as the shift to coordinated care, next spring.
Steans said the push for the measure has been a collaborative process, with bipartisan support from each chamber as well as Gov. Pat Quinn's office. Hamos said the bill could be up for a vote in the House as soon as tomorrow.
Internet sales tax
By Jamey Dunn
The Senate also approved a plan that would allow Illinois to collect sales tax on online purchases from companies that do not have a brick-and-mortar location in the state — one of the most well-known examples being Amazon.com.
When Illinois residents buy goods on the Internet, they are supposed to pay the state a sales tax if the company does not charge them. But few are even aware they owe the state. Senate President John Cullerton characterized House Bill 3659 as an attempt to bring in the money by making the vendor collect it.
Opponents to the bill said they agreed with the idea but were concerned about the potential for lawsuits, uneven execution — which may not treat all business equally — and possible complications with potential plans to pass a national solution. “[The U.S.] Congress has got to be responsible and act on this,” said Sen. Dave Syverson, a Rockford Republican.
He added that large companies such as Amazon.com would find ways around collecting the tax, and that the legislation might hurt sales at smaller businesses.
The Illinois Senate today passed a major reform package to the Medicaid system, which provides health care to low-income individuals in Illinois.
House Bill 5420 would require Medicaid patients to provide proof of Illinois state residency and a month’s income as part of a stepped-up verification system that would be implemented by Department of Health and Family Services.
At present, individuals who initially meet eligibility requirements are presumed eligible each year regardless of verification.
House Bill 5420 would also lower the eligibility ceiling for the AllKids program to at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or an income of $66,000 for a household of four.
The legislation extends the program, which would’ have expired in July, to 2016. Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services, said capping the eligibility for AllKids was a difficult decision but a necessary one to keep the program viable.
“This will be more of a program for low-income and middle-income families,” Hamos said.
Under the measure, at least 50 percent of Medicaid enrollees must be part of a so-called coordinated care system, which is similar to managed care, by January 1, 2015. Much of the coordinated care — which focuses on preventative care and directing patients to a primary doctor for basic treatment — would be contracted to private companies.
“Now, we have 2.8 million people in the Medicaid program," said Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat. "Out of that, there are 160,000 that are in managed care, so this is huge change, turning a very large ship in the state into some sort of reshaping kind of environment."
Also included in the package is a new way to combat Medicaid fraud by recovering state and federal payments for benefits received by ineligible individuals and charging them interest and penalties. Offenders would be subject to a civil penalty of $2,000 for Medicaid fraud.
Steans said the committee’s short timetable made it nearly impossible to address all areas of potential Medicaid reform in Illinois. “This is clearly a start,” she said.
Both Steans and Hamos characterized the changes as substantial and said they would take time and a coordinated effort among several state agencies to implement.
If the measure becomes law, the Department of Health and Family Services will come before the Senate Medicaid Reform Committee for an evaluation on the larger aspects of the bill, such as the shift to coordinated care, next spring.
Steans said the push for the measure has been a collaborative process, with bipartisan support from each chamber as well as Gov. Pat Quinn's office. Hamos said the bill could be up for a vote in the House as soon as tomorrow.
Internet sales tax
By Jamey Dunn
The Senate also approved a plan that would allow Illinois to collect sales tax on online purchases from companies that do not have a brick-and-mortar location in the state — one of the most well-known examples being Amazon.com.
When Illinois residents buy goods on the Internet, they are supposed to pay the state a sales tax if the company does not charge them. But few are even aware they owe the state. Senate President John Cullerton characterized House Bill 3659 as an attempt to bring in the money by making the vendor collect it.
Opponents to the bill said they agreed with the idea but were concerned about the potential for lawsuits, uneven execution — which may not treat all business equally — and possible complications with potential plans to pass a national solution. “[The U.S.] Congress has got to be responsible and act on this,” said Sen. Dave Syverson, a Rockford Republican.
He added that large companies such as Amazon.com would find ways around collecting the tax, and that the legislation might hurt sales at smaller businesses.
New version of gaming expansion headed to House floor
By Jamey Dunn
The Illinois House's version of a whopping gambling expansion measure passed through a legislative committee today.
The Senate Bill 737 calls for a casino owned by the city of Chicago. The city would choose who would run the daily operations. New casinos would also be slated for construction in Park City, Rockford, Danville and an unnamed location in the southern suburbs of Chicago. The Illinois Gaming Board would chose the final location through a bidding process.
The measure also allows slot machines and video poker at horse racing tracks. Unlike the Senate version of the bill, it also allows slots at airports beyond security checkpoints. Sponsor Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, said the slots would target travelers with time to kill, and locating them past security would prevent airports from becoming gambling destinations.
Lang said the measure would bring in $1.3 billion in upfront licensing fees — three quarters of which would go to pay down the state’s overdue bills. The other quarter would be spent on capital construction projects. The expansion would also bring in $1 billion a year in revenue. He added that it would also create jobs, bring new revenue to economically depressed areas and help to grow agribusiness in Illinois by encouraging the horse racing and horse breeding industries.
Lang said he is concerned that if the gambling expansion passes, the state gaming board might skip over the stalled implementation of video gaming in bars, restaurants and truck stops throughout the state and begin licensing new casinos. The capital bill is supposed to be funded, in part, with revenues brought in from expanding video poker to those new locations. The bill now calls for 2,000 operating video gaming terminals in Illinois — 1,000 in Chicago and the collar counties and 1,000 throughout the rest of the state — before the gaming board can authorize any new casino licenses, existing casino expansions or slots at racetracks.
Lang pulled the bill from a committee hearing Monday, saying it needed work and that he hoped to make it more amenable to casino owners.
The new “sweeteners” include a chance to relocate casinos, various tax cuts and a $200 million tax credit for renovations.
However, Lang correctly predicted earlier this week that the new version of the bill would not get backing from casino owners, who say the expansion would over-saturate Illinois’ gambling market.
Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, said casinos are already facing dropping profits, and the expansion would likely lead to layoffs. He added that Lang is overestimating the potential revenue that could come from luring gamblers across state lines to new facilities.
“The revenue that this bill would generate is based on the assumption that the new northern venues would bring back business from Indiana. … Almost every person gambling in the state of Indiana is going to have to come over to the state of Illinois,” Swoik said.
Robert Molaro, a former Illinois House member and current lobbyist for the horse racing industry, said horse tracks need the money from slots to offer bigger purses for races. He said other states are offering larger prizes, and horse breeders are leaving Illinois. “We have no choice. This is all about our survival.”
Anti-gambling groups say the expansion will create many more gambling addicts throughout Illinois and cost the state millions on social services and addiction treatment as a result. “People who have never gambled before will start to gamble when it’s in their community, when it’s accessible,” said Anita Bedell president of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems.
Lang said he plans to call the bill on the House floor as soon as tomorrow.
The Illinois House's version of a whopping gambling expansion measure passed through a legislative committee today.
The Senate Bill 737 calls for a casino owned by the city of Chicago. The city would choose who would run the daily operations. New casinos would also be slated for construction in Park City, Rockford, Danville and an unnamed location in the southern suburbs of Chicago. The Illinois Gaming Board would chose the final location through a bidding process.
The measure also allows slot machines and video poker at horse racing tracks. Unlike the Senate version of the bill, it also allows slots at airports beyond security checkpoints. Sponsor Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, said the slots would target travelers with time to kill, and locating them past security would prevent airports from becoming gambling destinations.
Lang said the measure would bring in $1.3 billion in upfront licensing fees — three quarters of which would go to pay down the state’s overdue bills. The other quarter would be spent on capital construction projects. The expansion would also bring in $1 billion a year in revenue. He added that it would also create jobs, bring new revenue to economically depressed areas and help to grow agribusiness in Illinois by encouraging the horse racing and horse breeding industries.
Lang said he is concerned that if the gambling expansion passes, the state gaming board might skip over the stalled implementation of video gaming in bars, restaurants and truck stops throughout the state and begin licensing new casinos. The capital bill is supposed to be funded, in part, with revenues brought in from expanding video poker to those new locations. The bill now calls for 2,000 operating video gaming terminals in Illinois — 1,000 in Chicago and the collar counties and 1,000 throughout the rest of the state — before the gaming board can authorize any new casino licenses, existing casino expansions or slots at racetracks.
Lang pulled the bill from a committee hearing Monday, saying it needed work and that he hoped to make it more amenable to casino owners.
The new “sweeteners” include a chance to relocate casinos, various tax cuts and a $200 million tax credit for renovations.
However, Lang correctly predicted earlier this week that the new version of the bill would not get backing from casino owners, who say the expansion would over-saturate Illinois’ gambling market.
Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, said casinos are already facing dropping profits, and the expansion would likely lead to layoffs. He added that Lang is overestimating the potential revenue that could come from luring gamblers across state lines to new facilities.
“The revenue that this bill would generate is based on the assumption that the new northern venues would bring back business from Indiana. … Almost every person gambling in the state of Indiana is going to have to come over to the state of Illinois,” Swoik said.
Robert Molaro, a former Illinois House member and current lobbyist for the horse racing industry, said horse tracks need the money from slots to offer bigger purses for races. He said other states are offering larger prizes, and horse breeders are leaving Illinois. “We have no choice. This is all about our survival.”
Anti-gambling groups say the expansion will create many more gambling addicts throughout Illinois and cost the state millions on social services and addiction treatment as a result. “People who have never gambled before will start to gamble when it’s in their community, when it’s accessible,” said Anita Bedell president of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems.
Lang said he plans to call the bill on the House floor as soon as tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Redistricting tweaks head to the governor
By Jamey Dunn
Illinois lawmakers approved changes today to the method they will use to draw legislative districts for future elections. Meanwhile, other reform efforts planned for the last days of the General Assembly's session have not yet taken shape.
If signed by Gov. Quinn, the redistricting measure would add provisions to the process to protect minority voters. Democrats say the measure is an attempt to avoid watering down the influence of a bloc of minority voters by splitting them up into multiple districts.
However, Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the House sponsor of the Senate Bill 3976 , said that “all the constitutional, federal statutory [and] state constitutional requirements” that those drawing districts are tasked to consider, such as making each district as equal in population as possible, would take priority. Once those requirements are met, she said, those drawing the map “ought to, where possible, protect the rights of minority voters by creating crossover districts, coalition districts or influence districts where it is possible.”
The bill also requires four public redistricting hearings throughout the state. Republican opponents said hearings were not enough to give the public input. They said some hearings should be required after proposed maps are drawn, so voters can provide the legislature with specific feedback.
Chicago Democratic Sen. Kwame Raoul, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, said there will likely be more than four redistricting hearings, and Currie agrees. Raoul called House Republicans hypocritical for complaining about the bill when they voted against a constitutional amendment he proposed last spring that would have changed the entire process and included more public hearings.
“It’s not a ceiling. It’s a floor. It says we have to have at least four hearings in separate parts of the state, so the people of the state of Illinois, in separate parts of the state, can have a voice in this process.”
Currie said: “The four is the floor. We can have many more, and 10 years ago [when the current map was drawn], we did.”
Republicans were critical what they see as Democrats rolling back transparency provisions in their most recent plan. “This [bill] doesn’t mandate hearings on the proposed map, such as was done in the proposed [constitutional] resolution. So it seems to me it moves backwards in transparency,” said Rep. Jil Tracy, a Mt. Sterling Republican.
Pensions
A $4 billion borrowing plan to make the state’s pension payment for this fiscal year emerged from a Senate committee today without Republican support. Senate Bill 3514 passed as a piece of the budget plan in the House in May after contentious debate. Senate President John Cullerton said the measure would keep the state from missing this year’s payment, which he said would cost the state billions in the long run.
Cullerton has been holding the bill in committee, saying it would need bipartisan support to pass in his chamber. Democrats have enough members to pass the bill, which requires a three fifths majority, but according to Cullerton, not the votes. UPDATE: Cullerton told reporters he now has the support for the borrowing plan, and he intends to call it for a floor vote this week.
Republicans said they would not vote for borrowing plan unless it was part of a comprehensive plan, which included reforms such as changes to the state’s Medicaid and worker’s compensation programs.
“Our position is the same as it was last spring … while at some point in the context of a comprehensive financial plan, we are willing to consider some form of borrowing. We aren’t to that point just yet.”
Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said she thinks both parties are working well together. However, she wants to see some results of the recent reform efforts, which have been under way for the last few weeks in both chambers, before any Republicans will vote for borrowing.
House Speaker Michael Madigan is backing a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for legislators to increase public employee pension benefits in the future. If the legislature, governor and voters approved the amendment, lawmakers would have to get backing from three-fifths of the members of both chambers to pass any expansion of pension benefits.
Opponents said current legislators should not tie the hands of future lawmakers when it comes to pension benefits for state workers. The measure passed through committee with only Democratic support.
Illinois lawmakers approved changes today to the method they will use to draw legislative districts for future elections. Meanwhile, other reform efforts planned for the last days of the General Assembly's session have not yet taken shape.
If signed by Gov. Quinn, the redistricting measure would add provisions to the process to protect minority voters. Democrats say the measure is an attempt to avoid watering down the influence of a bloc of minority voters by splitting them up into multiple districts.
However, Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the House sponsor of the Senate Bill 3976 , said that “all the constitutional, federal statutory [and] state constitutional requirements” that those drawing districts are tasked to consider, such as making each district as equal in population as possible, would take priority. Once those requirements are met, she said, those drawing the map “ought to, where possible, protect the rights of minority voters by creating crossover districts, coalition districts or influence districts where it is possible.”
The bill also requires four public redistricting hearings throughout the state. Republican opponents said hearings were not enough to give the public input. They said some hearings should be required after proposed maps are drawn, so voters can provide the legislature with specific feedback.
Chicago Democratic Sen. Kwame Raoul, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, said there will likely be more than four redistricting hearings, and Currie agrees. Raoul called House Republicans hypocritical for complaining about the bill when they voted against a constitutional amendment he proposed last spring that would have changed the entire process and included more public hearings.
“It’s not a ceiling. It’s a floor. It says we have to have at least four hearings in separate parts of the state, so the people of the state of Illinois, in separate parts of the state, can have a voice in this process.”
Currie said: “The four is the floor. We can have many more, and 10 years ago [when the current map was drawn], we did.”
Republicans were critical what they see as Democrats rolling back transparency provisions in their most recent plan. “This [bill] doesn’t mandate hearings on the proposed map, such as was done in the proposed [constitutional] resolution. So it seems to me it moves backwards in transparency,” said Rep. Jil Tracy, a Mt. Sterling Republican.
Pensions
A $4 billion borrowing plan to make the state’s pension payment for this fiscal year emerged from a Senate committee today without Republican support. Senate Bill 3514 passed as a piece of the budget plan in the House in May after contentious debate. Senate President John Cullerton said the measure would keep the state from missing this year’s payment, which he said would cost the state billions in the long run.
Cullerton has been holding the bill in committee, saying it would need bipartisan support to pass in his chamber. Democrats have enough members to pass the bill, which requires a three fifths majority, but according to Cullerton, not the votes. UPDATE: Cullerton told reporters he now has the support for the borrowing plan, and he intends to call it for a floor vote this week.
Republicans said they would not vote for borrowing plan unless it was part of a comprehensive plan, which included reforms such as changes to the state’s Medicaid and worker’s compensation programs.
“Our position is the same as it was last spring … while at some point in the context of a comprehensive financial plan, we are willing to consider some form of borrowing. We aren’t to that point just yet.”
Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said she thinks both parties are working well together. However, she wants to see some results of the recent reform efforts, which have been under way for the last few weeks in both chambers, before any Republicans will vote for borrowing.
House Speaker Michael Madigan is backing a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for legislators to increase public employee pension benefits in the future. If the legislature, governor and voters approved the amendment, lawmakers would have to get backing from three-fifths of the members of both chambers to pass any expansion of pension benefits.
Opponents said current legislators should not tie the hands of future lawmakers when it comes to pension benefits for state workers. The measure passed through committee with only Democratic support.
Death penalty opponents renew push for abolition
By Lauren Johnson
Those in favor of abolishing the death penalty believe they have enough support to make another push during the lame-duck session.
Former Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2000 after more than a dozen inmates on death row were exonerated. While courts continue to hand out death sentences, Illinois is not currently executing prisoners.
Senate Bill 3539 would permanently abolish the death penalty. It would also require money from the capital litigation fund, which is used to aid defendants in building their cases when prosecutors seek the death penalty, to be spent on support for homicide victim’s families and for additional police training.
A House committee approved the measure in November(scroll down), but supporters said it lacked the votes needed to pass. After having more time to lobby lawmakers, they now think the support exists to pass the bill through both chambers.
Proponents of the bill argue that the cash-strapped state is spending millions of dollars on what have been empty death sentences for the past 10 years. They say as long as the governor has the power to reinstate the death penalty, Illinois runs the risk of executing of the innocent.
“People who are in opposition to the death penalty want [Illinois] to catch us to the civilized world,” said Sen. Kwame Raoul, the bill’s sponsor. He said the debate needs to be confronted head on because the “imperfect” system, which will always be subject to human error, has seen a number of people exonerated from death row because of mistakes.
“The moratorium is just an artificial hold that can be removed with the decision of one individual,” said Raoul. The senator added, “To the extent it could lead to somebody who’s innocent being put to death under state sanction, I don’t think we can continue to support something like that.”
Some states, most recently New Jersey and New Mexico, have already abolished the death penalty. Opponents continue attempts to block the bill from being called for a vote during the lame-duck session. They argue it is being rushed without properly considering the voices of Illinois citizens.
Prosecutors and families of murder victims who oppose abolition of the death penalty say the issue is not a matter of funding but one of county officials and homicide victim’s families seeking justice in Illinois.
Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Alex McGimpsey said the legislature should consider critical reforms, such as mandatory recording of murder suspects’ confessions, before eliminating the death penalty as an option.
“There are cases, yes, I agree, that people need to spend life in prison. There are other cases that life in prison is not enough punishment. This is one of those cases, and I pray to God that [the legislature] never abolish the death penalty in the state of Illinois,” said Bill Sloop, whose two daughters, Rachel and Lonna, were murdered. The convicted killer, Daniel Ramsey, is on death row.
The measure awaits a floor vote in the House. If it does not pass in the coming days SB 3539, would not be viable in the new legislative session, which begins next Wednesday.
Those in favor of abolishing the death penalty believe they have enough support to make another push during the lame-duck session.
Former Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2000 after more than a dozen inmates on death row were exonerated. While courts continue to hand out death sentences, Illinois is not currently executing prisoners.
Senate Bill 3539 would permanently abolish the death penalty. It would also require money from the capital litigation fund, which is used to aid defendants in building their cases when prosecutors seek the death penalty, to be spent on support for homicide victim’s families and for additional police training.
A House committee approved the measure in November(scroll down), but supporters said it lacked the votes needed to pass. After having more time to lobby lawmakers, they now think the support exists to pass the bill through both chambers.
Proponents of the bill argue that the cash-strapped state is spending millions of dollars on what have been empty death sentences for the past 10 years. They say as long as the governor has the power to reinstate the death penalty, Illinois runs the risk of executing of the innocent.
“People who are in opposition to the death penalty want [Illinois] to catch us to the civilized world,” said Sen. Kwame Raoul, the bill’s sponsor. He said the debate needs to be confronted head on because the “imperfect” system, which will always be subject to human error, has seen a number of people exonerated from death row because of mistakes.
“The moratorium is just an artificial hold that can be removed with the decision of one individual,” said Raoul. The senator added, “To the extent it could lead to somebody who’s innocent being put to death under state sanction, I don’t think we can continue to support something like that.”
Some states, most recently New Jersey and New Mexico, have already abolished the death penalty. Opponents continue attempts to block the bill from being called for a vote during the lame-duck session. They argue it is being rushed without properly considering the voices of Illinois citizens.
Prosecutors and families of murder victims who oppose abolition of the death penalty say the issue is not a matter of funding but one of county officials and homicide victim’s families seeking justice in Illinois.
Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Alex McGimpsey said the legislature should consider critical reforms, such as mandatory recording of murder suspects’ confessions, before eliminating the death penalty as an option.
“There are cases, yes, I agree, that people need to spend life in prison. There are other cases that life in prison is not enough punishment. This is one of those cases, and I pray to God that [the legislature] never abolish the death penalty in the state of Illinois,” said Bill Sloop, whose two daughters, Rachel and Lonna, were murdered. The convicted killer, Daniel Ramsey, is on death row.
The measure awaits a floor vote in the House. If it does not pass in the coming days SB 3539, would not be viable in the new legislative session, which begins next Wednesday.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Lame-duck plans still coming together
By Jamey Dunn
While Illinois legislators are considering substantial legislation during the final days of their lame-duck session, they are still hammering out the details.
A large gaming expansion that passed in the Senate in November is undergoing some changes in the House. When the Senate passed Senate Bill 737, there was some disagreement between Senate sponsor Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat, and House sponsor Rep. Lou Lang, a Democrat from Skokie. Link said he expected the bill to pass in the House, while Lang said it needed some tweaks.
Casino owners oppose the measure, which would allow five new casinos in the state and slot machines at horse racing tracks, saying the expansion would cut down on their already shrinking profits. A recent report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability found that Illinois gambling revenues are at a 10-year low.
The measure, as passed in the Senate, would allow operating casinos to increase the number of gaming positions to 1,600 each immediately and 2,000 each in 2013.
Instead of presenting the bill to a House committee today, Lang called on stakeholders to come to his office and discuss changes. He told members of the casino industry to come forward with suggestions over the next 24 hours.
“This bill was not designed to hurt [casino owners,] but because the original drafting of the bill in the Senate does provide a certain competitive disadvantage … the amendments we are going to propose will provide certain relief to [casino owners] in some areas.”
Lang said he planned to offer casinos tax credits and the chance for expansion, among other perks. For this bill to succeed, Lang will have to get his new version of the measure passed in the House and the changes approved by the Senate before January 12, when the new legislative session begins and the bill — if not approved by both chambers — would die.
In other legislative action today, the chairwoman of a special Senate committee to reform education said she plans to put the brakes on proposed changes, that would give less credence to teacher seniority and make it more difficult for teacher's unions to strike. During House committee hearings, union officials have complained that legislators were railroading through drastic changes and cutting teachers out of negotiations.
“Give the people who will have to implement these reforms time to figure them out. Not months. Not years. But not days either. That’s not right. But it does make everyone watching this today wonder what the motivation is -- real change that improves education for kids, or something else,” Audry Soglin, executive director of the Illinois Education Association, said in November at a House committee hearing on the proposed reforms.
Illinois teacher’s unions are working on their own legislative package, which overlaps some proposals from reform groups. It also calls for expanded teacher mentoring programs, training for school board members and a “student bill of rights.” Maywood Democratic Sen. Kimberly Lightford, who was a key negotiator in new education laws passed as part of the state’s bid for funds from Race to the Top federal grant program, said she said she hopes to merge both plans.
Democratic leaders from both chambers are backing budget-related issues. Senate President John Cullerton is renewing a push to pass a dollar-a-pack cigarette tax increase through the House. The Senate already approved SB 44. If the House does not take up in the last days of the current session, Cullerton plans to introduce another cigarette tax increase after January 12.
House Speaker Michael Madigan is the sponsor of a constitutional amendment that would set limits on state spending by linking it to changes in average income.
If the budget restraints are too cumbersome during a given fiscal year, the governor could declare a “fiscal emergency.” The General Assembly, with approval from the comptroller and treasurer, would then be able to vote to increase spending levels above the limits set by the amendment.
While Illinois legislators are considering substantial legislation during the final days of their lame-duck session, they are still hammering out the details.
A large gaming expansion that passed in the Senate in November is undergoing some changes in the House. When the Senate passed Senate Bill 737, there was some disagreement between Senate sponsor Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat, and House sponsor Rep. Lou Lang, a Democrat from Skokie. Link said he expected the bill to pass in the House, while Lang said it needed some tweaks.
Casino owners oppose the measure, which would allow five new casinos in the state and slot machines at horse racing tracks, saying the expansion would cut down on their already shrinking profits. A recent report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability found that Illinois gambling revenues are at a 10-year low.
The measure, as passed in the Senate, would allow operating casinos to increase the number of gaming positions to 1,600 each immediately and 2,000 each in 2013.
Instead of presenting the bill to a House committee today, Lang called on stakeholders to come to his office and discuss changes. He told members of the casino industry to come forward with suggestions over the next 24 hours.
“This bill was not designed to hurt [casino owners,] but because the original drafting of the bill in the Senate does provide a certain competitive disadvantage … the amendments we are going to propose will provide certain relief to [casino owners] in some areas.”
Lang said he planned to offer casinos tax credits and the chance for expansion, among other perks. For this bill to succeed, Lang will have to get his new version of the measure passed in the House and the changes approved by the Senate before January 12, when the new legislative session begins and the bill — if not approved by both chambers — would die.
In other legislative action today, the chairwoman of a special Senate committee to reform education said she plans to put the brakes on proposed changes, that would give less credence to teacher seniority and make it more difficult for teacher's unions to strike. During House committee hearings, union officials have complained that legislators were railroading through drastic changes and cutting teachers out of negotiations.
“Give the people who will have to implement these reforms time to figure them out. Not months. Not years. But not days either. That’s not right. But it does make everyone watching this today wonder what the motivation is -- real change that improves education for kids, or something else,” Audry Soglin, executive director of the Illinois Education Association, said in November at a House committee hearing on the proposed reforms.
Illinois teacher’s unions are working on their own legislative package, which overlaps some proposals from reform groups. It also calls for expanded teacher mentoring programs, training for school board members and a “student bill of rights.” Maywood Democratic Sen. Kimberly Lightford, who was a key negotiator in new education laws passed as part of the state’s bid for funds from Race to the Top federal grant program, said she said she hopes to merge both plans.
Democratic leaders from both chambers are backing budget-related issues. Senate President John Cullerton is renewing a push to pass a dollar-a-pack cigarette tax increase through the House. The Senate already approved SB 44. If the House does not take up in the last days of the current session, Cullerton plans to introduce another cigarette tax increase after January 12.
House Speaker Michael Madigan is the sponsor of a constitutional amendment that would set limits on state spending by linking it to changes in average income.
If the budget restraints are too cumbersome during a given fiscal year, the governor could declare a “fiscal emergency.” The General Assembly, with approval from the comptroller and treasurer, would then be able to vote to increase spending levels above the limits set by the amendment.
2010 wrap-up CapitolView
Ray Long, Chicago Tribune; Charlie Wheeler, UIS Public Affairs Reporting Program and Illinois Radio Network's Melissa Hahn join moderator Jamey Dunn from Illinois Issues Magazine to wrap up 2010 and look ahead to 2011. A production of WSEC-TV/PBS Springfield.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Illinois will lose a congressional seat
By Jamey Dunn
Illinois will lose one U.S. House seat in the upcoming remap of legislative districts, but at one expert believes it won’t have much effect on the process legislators use to draw the map.
Nationwide, 12 congressional seats will shift, according to census figures released today. Most of the states losing seats are in the Midwest and Northeast, with the exception of Louisiana. Those gaining representation are in the southern and western parts of the country.
Illinois lost one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2000 remap,and two seats after both the 1990 and 1980 population counts. Since 1970, when Illinois’ seat count held steady, the state has gone from 24 to 18 seats.
With 12, 830,632 residents, Illinois showed a 3.3 percent population growth since 2000 — when the population was 12, 419, 293. That has slowed from an 8.6 percent growth between 1990 and 2000. The state remains the fifth largest state in the nation. Congressional districts in Illinois will average 714,688 residents.
John Jackson, a visiting professor with the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said Illinois’ flagging economy likely played a large role in its slowed growth. “I’m sure that our loss of jobs and our loss of people go hand and hand. … We need to turn around the economy in Illinois. I don’t sneeze off the fact that we have some variables that we need to change.”
Jackson said some of the reform issues legislators plan to take up in early January, such as changes to the state’s Medicaid and workers’ compensation systems, might improve the state’s economy. He warned, however, that Illinois must not engage in a “race to the bottom” when it comes to protecting and caring for its citizens.
Jackson said the picture painted by the business sector of people fleeing Illinois en masse for the more business-friendly climates of neighboring states might be overblown. Iowa and Missouri each lost one congressional seat, and Indiana’s count was static. “[These states are] not the Garden of Eden, perhaps,” he said.
This is the first year since the current redistricting process was put into place under the 1970 Constitution that one party will hold both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office while a new map is being drawn. But Jackson, who worked on proposed reforms to Illinois’ redistricting process for the public policy institute, doesn’t think it will change the process by which the congressional districts are divided. State legislators and the governor could draw the congressional map, but they traditionally leave it to the congressional delegation to sort out among themselves. While Illinois’ delegation will soon be majority Republican, and state government is in Democratic hands, Jackson doesn’t expect that tradition to change.
He believes Republicans will agree to sacrifice the seat of one of the new members elected in the November general election keep their map out state legislators’ hands.
“I think this one will be an easier one than some of those in the past because you have four brand-new freshmen, and they are all Republican. … I am not sure that the Republicans will fight real hard for any of those four.”
He thinks current delegation members’ opinions of the freshmen will play a much larger role in deciding who “gets voted off the island” than shifts in population. “It will be the guy they like the least.”
Jackson points to the last time Illinois lost a seat, when there was “a bipartisan agreement to throw [former Democratic U.S. Rep.] David Phelps overboard.” He was drawn into the same district as Republican and fellow incumbent Rep. John Shimkus.
Jackson said Democrats on the state level will likely be much more concerned with their own battles to protect their districts, with “self-interest being the number-one factor.”
The U.S. Census Bureau will begin releasing the data needed for redistricting, which drills down numbers to a block-by-block level, in February.
For interactive charts, data, video guide to the congressional reapportionment process and more, visit the U.S. Census Bureau's website.
Illinois will lose one U.S. House seat in the upcoming remap of legislative districts, but at one expert believes it won’t have much effect on the process legislators use to draw the map.
Nationwide, 12 congressional seats will shift, according to census figures released today. Most of the states losing seats are in the Midwest and Northeast, with the exception of Louisiana. Those gaining representation are in the southern and western parts of the country.
Illinois lost one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2000 remap,and two seats after both the 1990 and 1980 population counts. Since 1970, when Illinois’ seat count held steady, the state has gone from 24 to 18 seats.
With 12, 830,632 residents, Illinois showed a 3.3 percent population growth since 2000 — when the population was 12, 419, 293. That has slowed from an 8.6 percent growth between 1990 and 2000. The state remains the fifth largest state in the nation. Congressional districts in Illinois will average 714,688 residents.
John Jackson, a visiting professor with the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said Illinois’ flagging economy likely played a large role in its slowed growth. “I’m sure that our loss of jobs and our loss of people go hand and hand. … We need to turn around the economy in Illinois. I don’t sneeze off the fact that we have some variables that we need to change.”
Jackson said some of the reform issues legislators plan to take up in early January, such as changes to the state’s Medicaid and workers’ compensation systems, might improve the state’s economy. He warned, however, that Illinois must not engage in a “race to the bottom” when it comes to protecting and caring for its citizens.
Jackson said the picture painted by the business sector of people fleeing Illinois en masse for the more business-friendly climates of neighboring states might be overblown. Iowa and Missouri each lost one congressional seat, and Indiana’s count was static. “[These states are] not the Garden of Eden, perhaps,” he said.
This is the first year since the current redistricting process was put into place under the 1970 Constitution that one party will hold both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office while a new map is being drawn. But Jackson, who worked on proposed reforms to Illinois’ redistricting process for the public policy institute, doesn’t think it will change the process by which the congressional districts are divided. State legislators and the governor could draw the congressional map, but they traditionally leave it to the congressional delegation to sort out among themselves. While Illinois’ delegation will soon be majority Republican, and state government is in Democratic hands, Jackson doesn’t expect that tradition to change.
He believes Republicans will agree to sacrifice the seat of one of the new members elected in the November general election keep their map out state legislators’ hands.
“I think this one will be an easier one than some of those in the past because you have four brand-new freshmen, and they are all Republican. … I am not sure that the Republicans will fight real hard for any of those four.”
He thinks current delegation members’ opinions of the freshmen will play a much larger role in deciding who “gets voted off the island” than shifts in population. “It will be the guy they like the least.”
Jackson points to the last time Illinois lost a seat, when there was “a bipartisan agreement to throw [former Democratic U.S. Rep.] David Phelps overboard.” He was drawn into the same district as Republican and fellow incumbent Rep. John Shimkus.
Jackson said Democrats on the state level will likely be much more concerned with their own battles to protect their districts, with “self-interest being the number-one factor.”
The U.S. Census Bureau will begin releasing the data needed for redistricting, which drills down numbers to a block-by-block level, in February.
For interactive charts, data, video guide to the congressional reapportionment process and more, visit the U.S. Census Bureau's website.
Ryan to remain behind bars
By Jamey Dunn
Former Gov. George Ryan lost his most recent bid for freedom despite pleas on his behalf from public figures and his ill wife.
Ryan’s case for throwing out some of his corruption convictions was based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed a category of fraud that requires public officials to provide "honest services" to the public and business executives to do the same for their shareholders.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling was made on the case of Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said that the Skilling ruling was based on a claim that the law was vague. However, she wrote in her ruling that Ryan knew his actions were illegal:
Ryan’s current challenge does not rest on vagueness grounds, and the court believes that, in the language of Skilling, Ryan clearly understood “what conduct was prohibited” and could not have been surprised that he was subject to prosecution. Ryan’s efforts to conceal his conduct from public scrutiny themselves demonstrate he knew it was improper. Indeed, long before George Ryan and his associates wrote this chapter in Illinois’s distressing history of public corruption, one of Ryan’s predecessors as Governor, Otto Kerner, was prosecuted under this same theory by an earlier United States Attorney.
According to Pallmeyer's ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling limited prosecutions under the honest services law to “bribery and kickback schemes — the very theory of prosecution under which Ryan was convicted.”
Ryan’s lawyers also argued that instructions given to the jurors in his case violated the new interpretation of the law. Pallmeyer agreed on two of the directions but found the instructions to be “harmless.”
Ryan’s lawyers say the former governor’s wife, Lura Lynn Ryan, who has been diagnosed with cancer, may only have three to six months to live. Pallmeyer’s ruling alluded to calls from Lura Lynn and public figures, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, to allow Ryan to come home to his family:
This court takes no pleasure in depriving any defendant of his or her liberty. The court has had the painful duty to take such action in circumstances more compelling than these — where a young defendant with little education or resources is the sole support of small children, or is the only caregiver for a disabled relative, for example. Any sensitive judge realizes that a lengthy prison term effectively robs the convicted person of what we all value most: months and years with loved ones, some of whom will no longer be there when the sentence has been served. Mr. Ryan, like other convicted persons, undoubtedly wishes it were otherwise. His conduct has exacted a stiff penalty not only for himself but also for his family.
Ryan is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence in a federal prison at Terre Haute, Ind., where he has been since November 2007. His lawyers plan to appeal Pallmeyer's ruling.
Former Gov. George Ryan lost his most recent bid for freedom despite pleas on his behalf from public figures and his ill wife.
Ryan’s case for throwing out some of his corruption convictions was based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed a category of fraud that requires public officials to provide "honest services" to the public and business executives to do the same for their shareholders.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling was made on the case of Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said that the Skilling ruling was based on a claim that the law was vague. However, she wrote in her ruling that Ryan knew his actions were illegal:
Ryan’s current challenge does not rest on vagueness grounds, and the court believes that, in the language of Skilling, Ryan clearly understood “what conduct was prohibited” and could not have been surprised that he was subject to prosecution. Ryan’s efforts to conceal his conduct from public scrutiny themselves demonstrate he knew it was improper. Indeed, long before George Ryan and his associates wrote this chapter in Illinois’s distressing history of public corruption, one of Ryan’s predecessors as Governor, Otto Kerner, was prosecuted under this same theory by an earlier United States Attorney.
According to Pallmeyer's ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling limited prosecutions under the honest services law to “bribery and kickback schemes — the very theory of prosecution under which Ryan was convicted.”
Ryan’s lawyers also argued that instructions given to the jurors in his case violated the new interpretation of the law. Pallmeyer agreed on two of the directions but found the instructions to be “harmless.”
Ryan’s lawyers say the former governor’s wife, Lura Lynn Ryan, who has been diagnosed with cancer, may only have three to six months to live. Pallmeyer’s ruling alluded to calls from Lura Lynn and public figures, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, to allow Ryan to come home to his family:
This court takes no pleasure in depriving any defendant of his or her liberty. The court has had the painful duty to take such action in circumstances more compelling than these — where a young defendant with little education or resources is the sole support of small children, or is the only caregiver for a disabled relative, for example. Any sensitive judge realizes that a lengthy prison term effectively robs the convicted person of what we all value most: months and years with loved ones, some of whom will no longer be there when the sentence has been served. Mr. Ryan, like other convicted persons, undoubtedly wishes it were otherwise. His conduct has exacted a stiff penalty not only for himself but also for his family.
Ryan is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence in a federal prison at Terre Haute, Ind., where he has been since November 2007. His lawyers plan to appeal Pallmeyer's ruling.
Finalists chosen for carbon storage site
By Jamey Dunn
Four Illinois counties are finalists to house a carbon storage facility as part of the revamped FutureGen “clean coal” project.
The original FutureGen project called for building coal-burning power plant in Coles County that would pump most of the carbon it created underground for storage. However, the project stalled and costs grew. The U.S. Department of Energy announced a new plan in August to retrofit an existing shuttered Ameren plant in Meredosia with carbon-capture technology. The carbon would be pumped through an underground pipeline to a storage facility at another location. Mattoon bowed out as a potential storage area shortly after “FutureGen 2.0” was announced.
The FutureGen Alliance, a group of investors backing the project, announced in November six areas for that could potentially host a storage site. The list has been narrowed down to four finalists — Douglas, Christian, Fayette and Morgan counties. The city of Quincy and Pike County were eliminated from the running.
“This next step in the site selection process keeps FutureGen 2.0 on track,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in a written statement. “While the geology was not ideal in the communities that received disappointing news today, the four communities that remain in competition will now have the opportunity to strengthen their proposals. Hosting FutureGen 2.0 in Illinois will create thousands of good-paying jobs and put our state on the forefront of clean coal research and technology.”
The FutureGen Alliance plans to choose a location for carbon storage in early 2011.
Four Illinois counties are finalists to house a carbon storage facility as part of the revamped FutureGen “clean coal” project.
The original FutureGen project called for building coal-burning power plant in Coles County that would pump most of the carbon it created underground for storage. However, the project stalled and costs grew. The U.S. Department of Energy announced a new plan in August to retrofit an existing shuttered Ameren plant in Meredosia with carbon-capture technology. The carbon would be pumped through an underground pipeline to a storage facility at another location. Mattoon bowed out as a potential storage area shortly after “FutureGen 2.0” was announced.
The FutureGen Alliance, a group of investors backing the project, announced in November six areas for that could potentially host a storage site. The list has been narrowed down to four finalists — Douglas, Christian, Fayette and Morgan counties. The city of Quincy and Pike County were eliminated from the running.
“This next step in the site selection process keeps FutureGen 2.0 on track,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in a written statement. “While the geology was not ideal in the communities that received disappointing news today, the four communities that remain in competition will now have the opportunity to strengthen their proposals. Hosting FutureGen 2.0 in Illinois will create thousands of good-paying jobs and put our state on the forefront of clean coal research and technology.”
The FutureGen Alliance plans to choose a location for carbon storage in early 2011.
Friday, December 17, 2010
This week's CapitolView
Mike Lawrence, Statehouse columnist; Bob Gough, quincynews.org and Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, join moderator Jamey Dunn from Illinois Issues magazine to discuss education reform and more on this week's CapitolView. A production of WSEC-TV/PBS Springfield.
House considers limits on teacher strikes
By Jamey Dunn
Some education reformers want to make it more difficult for Illinois public school teachers to go on strike.
A House Education Reform Committee took testimony in Aurora today on a proposed new process for teacher contract negotiations.
According to Jessica Handy, policy director for Stand for Children Illinois — a national organization that is spearheading the current reform push in Illinois — if unions and administration could not reach an agreement through mediation, a fact finding panel would be chosen. Labor and management would each appoint one member and then would have to agree on a third person, who must have arbitration experience. Both sides would present their cases at hearings, and the panel would make recommendations for contract terms.
If either side did not agree to the terms, the panel's’proposal would be released to the public. Unions and management would then have 10 days to make final offers on disputed issues. If an agreement could not be reached, the local school board could adopt the final offers or the panel’s proposals on disputed issues with a two-thirds majority. Only if the board did not choose a solution to each disputed issue would teachers then have the option to strike.
Union officials said the system would in essence ban the right for their members to strike. They added that school systems would have no incentive to bargain with teachers because school boards would like sign off on management proposals at the end of the process. “Collective bargaining under the proposal would effectively be eliminated,” said Dan Montgomery president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
He said teachers have no desire to strike without first exhausting all other possible avenues for compromise, and typically, districts and unions negotiate for months before ultimately agreeing on a contract. “This is not a willy-nilly thing. A strike doesn’t happen overnight.”
Montgomery said reforms put in place in the 1980s have worked to reduce strikes.
He said that last year, there were two strikes in Illinois, which lasted a combined total of five days. That compares with an average of about 24 strikes a year in the nine years before reforms were passed.
However, the issue is not just the number of strikes but the power of a strike as a bargaining chip. “We’re not just talking about the number of strikes, we are talking about the potential of a strike and the power of that potential,” said Rep. Roger Eddy, a Republican who also is a school superintendent in Hutsonville .
Those in favor of changing the process say unions’ use of the threat of strikes has stood in the way of education reforms that would benefit students. They claim the number of strikes has gone down more in part to districts caving to unions’ demands after facing the threat of a strike. “[A strike] becomes an ultimate trump card [in negotiations] and stifles efforts to implement reforms,” Handy said.
Eden Martin, president of the Commercial Club of Chicago said the proposed changes would give teachers “less muscle in collective bargaining.” But he said unions currently hold the upper hand. “There is a balance in the process today … the balance is shifted way against management because of this threat to strike and the consequences of it. … What we’re suggesting is, you shift the balance in the other direction.”
Some education reformers want to make it more difficult for Illinois public school teachers to go on strike.
A House Education Reform Committee took testimony in Aurora today on a proposed new process for teacher contract negotiations.
According to Jessica Handy, policy director for Stand for Children Illinois — a national organization that is spearheading the current reform push in Illinois — if unions and administration could not reach an agreement through mediation, a fact finding panel would be chosen. Labor and management would each appoint one member and then would have to agree on a third person, who must have arbitration experience. Both sides would present their cases at hearings, and the panel would make recommendations for contract terms.
If either side did not agree to the terms, the panel's’proposal would be released to the public. Unions and management would then have 10 days to make final offers on disputed issues. If an agreement could not be reached, the local school board could adopt the final offers or the panel’s proposals on disputed issues with a two-thirds majority. Only if the board did not choose a solution to each disputed issue would teachers then have the option to strike.
Union officials said the system would in essence ban the right for their members to strike. They added that school systems would have no incentive to bargain with teachers because school boards would like sign off on management proposals at the end of the process. “Collective bargaining under the proposal would effectively be eliminated,” said Dan Montgomery president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
He said teachers have no desire to strike without first exhausting all other possible avenues for compromise, and typically, districts and unions negotiate for months before ultimately agreeing on a contract. “This is not a willy-nilly thing. A strike doesn’t happen overnight.”
Montgomery said reforms put in place in the 1980s have worked to reduce strikes.
He said that last year, there were two strikes in Illinois, which lasted a combined total of five days. That compares with an average of about 24 strikes a year in the nine years before reforms were passed.
However, the issue is not just the number of strikes but the power of a strike as a bargaining chip. “We’re not just talking about the number of strikes, we are talking about the potential of a strike and the power of that potential,” said Rep. Roger Eddy, a Republican who also is a school superintendent in Hutsonville .
Those in favor of changing the process say unions’ use of the threat of strikes has stood in the way of education reforms that would benefit students. They claim the number of strikes has gone down more in part to districts caving to unions’ demands after facing the threat of a strike. “[A strike] becomes an ultimate trump card [in negotiations] and stifles efforts to implement reforms,” Handy said.
Eden Martin, president of the Commercial Club of Chicago said the proposed changes would give teachers “less muscle in collective bargaining.” But he said unions currently hold the upper hand. “There is a balance in the process today … the balance is shifted way against management because of this threat to strike and the consequences of it. … What we’re suggesting is, you shift the balance in the other direction.”
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Seniority could mean less for teachers
By Jamey Dunn
Reform advocates say teachers' performance on the job should play a larger role than seniority in determining the trajectories of their careers.
As part of Illinois’ failed bid for Race to The Top, a competitive federal education grant program, the General Assembly passed a law that requires school districts to revamp the evaluations they use to assess teachers’ work. Under the new law, student performance will play a large role in the way educators are rated.
The committee is scheduled to meet again tomorrow morning.
Some legislators and reform groups want to see the results of those evaluations become the primary factor in administrative decisions.
Robin Steans, executive director of education reform group Advance Illinois and sister of Chicago Democratic Sen. Heather Steans, said teachers should be granted tenure after four years of positive evaluations, instead of just four years on the job. “Tenure should be earned and retained by virtue of effective performance,” Steans told the House Education Reform committee at a hearing in Aurora.
She said this method would give new teachers more time to improve and principals more time to consider a teacher before having to decide whether to let them go or make the commitment of granting tenure.
Steans said Illinois should streamline its process for terminating teachers to allow schools to more easily fire those who are not meeting expectations. “The reality is, teachers are very rarely dismissed for ineffective performance.”
She adds that performance should be considered when schools have to make layoffs, as well. “When there are tough decisions to make around lay offs, decisions ought to be driven by what’s good for the kids in that building. From that point of view, performance has to be a factor. It doesn’t mean seniority shouldn’t matter, but let’s make sure the teachers who remain in the classroom have proven themselves effective.”
Rep. Roger Eddy, a Hutsonville Republican and co-chair of the House committee, said legislators should be careful to consider possible unintended consequences of the reform. He said schools might target more senior teachers for firings and layoffs, because they have higher salaries and cost districts.
Steans said that seniority would still be a consideration, but performance would come first.
According to a draft version of legislation, which includes some of the provisions under debate, obtained by Illinois Statehouse News any changes would supercede teacher contracts agreed to in the collective bargaining process.
Union officials say they and teachers are being cut out of the conversation. While the focus of their testimony was not direct opposition to the proposed reforms, they did call on legislators to slow down and work with educators, whom the changes would affect.
“Give the people who will have to implement these reforms time to figure them out. Not months. Not years. But not days either. That’s not right. But it does make everyone watching this today wonder what the motivation is--real change that improves education for kids, or something else,” said Audry Soglin, executive director of the Illinois Education Association.
Soglin pointed to the reform package passed in conjunction with Race to the Top as the result of a deliberative process that brought in stakeholders on all sides of the issues. “We have a track record of working productively together, management, union, advocacy groups, reformers.”
She added, “This is not an attempt to drag out a process to obstruct change. … We did it last year. We did it quickly; we did it collaboratively, and we produced something that we should be proud of.”
Some legislators and reform groups want to see the results of those evaluations become the primary factor in administrative decisions.
Robin Steans, executive director of education reform group Advance Illinois and sister of Chicago Democratic Sen. Heather Steans, said teachers should be granted tenure after four years of positive evaluations, instead of just four years on the job. “Tenure should be earned and retained by virtue of effective performance,” Steans told the House Education Reform committee at a hearing in Aurora.
She said this method would give new teachers more time to improve and principals more time to consider a teacher before having to decide whether to let them go or make the commitment of granting tenure.
Steans said Illinois should streamline its process for terminating teachers to allow schools to more easily fire those who are not meeting expectations. “The reality is, teachers are very rarely dismissed for ineffective performance.”
She adds that performance should be considered when schools have to make layoffs, as well. “When there are tough decisions to make around lay offs, decisions ought to be driven by what’s good for the kids in that building. From that point of view, performance has to be a factor. It doesn’t mean seniority shouldn’t matter, but let’s make sure the teachers who remain in the classroom have proven themselves effective.”
Rep. Roger Eddy, a Hutsonville Republican and co-chair of the House committee, said legislators should be careful to consider possible unintended consequences of the reform. He said schools might target more senior teachers for firings and layoffs, because they have higher salaries and cost districts.
Steans said that seniority would still be a consideration, but performance would come first.
According to a draft version of legislation, which includes some of the provisions under debate, obtained by Illinois Statehouse News any changes would supercede teacher contracts agreed to in the collective bargaining process.
Union officials say they and teachers are being cut out of the conversation. While the focus of their testimony was not direct opposition to the proposed reforms, they did call on legislators to slow down and work with educators, whom the changes would affect.
“Give the people who will have to implement these reforms time to figure them out. Not months. Not years. But not days either. That’s not right. But it does make everyone watching this today wonder what the motivation is--real change that improves education for kids, or something else,” said Audry Soglin, executive director of the Illinois Education Association.
Soglin pointed to the reform package passed in conjunction with Race to the Top as the result of a deliberative process that brought in stakeholders on all sides of the issues. “We have a track record of working productively together, management, union, advocacy groups, reformers.”
She added, “This is not an attempt to drag out a process to obstruct change. … We did it last year. We did it quickly; we did it collaboratively, and we produced something that we should be proud of.”
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Workers' Comp reform "swimming in data"
By Jamey Dunn
Barb Malloy, consultant and former workers’ compensation administrator for the city of Chicago, said that medical fees employers pay for injured worker’s treatment in Illinois outpace what the state and federal government pay under medical programs for the low-income and elderly residents. Malloy said a standard visit to a doctor costs $24.25 under Medicaid, $42.99 under Medicare and $77.81 under workers’ compensation requirements in Illinois.
She told the House Workers’ Compensation Reform committee that. unlike the Federal Medicare program, the workers’ compensation system does not determine costs based on how complicated a procedure is, such as a surgery taking more time and effort from health care professionals than a check up.
Mark Deaton, general counsel for the Illinois Hospital Association, said that as some of the largest employers in the state, hospitals are sensitive to costs of workers’ compensation. However, he warned that budget cuts and substantial federal health care reforms make it a dangerous time to do any major tweaking to Illinois’ health care sector.
“First do no harm. I would like all of us to bear that maxim in mind as we discuss this issue because the potential for harm is extremely high here — harm to injured workers, harm to employers, harm to the economy of the state, harm to our healthcare system. … Right now in the state of Illinois there are a lot of hands and a lot of fingers jostling that house of cards that we call health care,” he said at the hearing held at Illinois State University in Normal.
Deaton called for legislators to slow down and return to the so-called agreed bills process that has been used to make changes to workers’ compensation in the past. Under this method, stakeholders hammer out negotiated legislation that all parties approve. However, this method usually prevents any sweeping changes. “Please do not rush to a solution. … It’s abundantly clear that this is an incredibly complex, multifaceted issue with many moving parts. The last time we had a major reform … it took about two years to work it out. And today’s landscape is even more precarious.”
He added: “There is no public policy reason whatsoever that we have to solve this problem between now and the middle of January, [the deadline for the Senate and House committees to make reconditions about workers' comp, as well as the end of the lame-duck session.] The system is not on the verge of collapse. … I don’t believe that a single business in the state of Illinois is going to relocate if there are not changes made to workers’ comp in January, especially if there is the prospect of meaningful reform on the horizon.”
However, Rep. Jim Sacia, a Pecatonica Republican, said he was alarmed by Deaton’s statement about the urgency of the situation. Sacia said there is at least one business in his district that is considering moving out of Illinois, largely in part because of workers’ compensation costs.
Eugene Munin, budget director for the city of Chicago, said the city has seen workers’ compensation costs rise while the number of city employees decreased. Munin said the city has eliminated around 6,000 positions in the last 10 years because of budget cuts. He said the city had 2,000 workers’ compensation claims in 2005 and had 1,350 in 2009. But workers’ compensation cost Chicago $61 million in 2009 versus $38 million in 2005.
“Our costs have increased … even while the number of employees the number of claims have gone down dramatically,” he said.
Deaton said the issue of workers’ compensation is “swimming in data that is often contradictory." That is why he thinks experts should be given the chance to work out a compromise. “There are a lot of very very smart people on both sides of this issue.”
He said legislators should remember that being injured at work can be traumatic, and access to quality health care is important to get workers back on their feet. “Somebody who is injured [at the workplace] in Illinois and needs medical attention has one thing going for them. They have access to some of the finest doctors and hospitals that this country has to offer.”
Tom Mercier, president of Bloomington Offset Process, Inc. and a board member of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, said employers want to make things right for their workers who are injured on the job. He takes issue with employers having to pay the full cost of treatment for conditions, which may be caused or contributed to by outside activities.
“If someone is hurt on the job. we look at it as our responsibility to get that person … fixed. …Our questions come about when there isn’t a definitive reason for why that person needs a double hernia operation. Was it because something that happened at work or was it something that happened on the weekend because he is part of a band? Is it something in which someone needs an operation … that is a bindery-hand-work person but at nights and on the weekends she’s a seamstress? It is those things that make our job difficult,” he said.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Springfield mayor found dead in his home
UPDATE Wednesday, December 15, 2010: After conducting an autopsy Wednesday, the Sangamon County Corner's Office confirmed that Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Police received a 911 call from Davlin’s home shortly before 9 a.m. this morning. According to Springfield Police Chief Rob Williams, Davlin was “unresponsive” when police arrived and did not respond to resuscitation attempts. He failed to show up this morning at a court-ordered appearance regarding a relative's estate for which he was executor. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.
“Because of the unique nature—Mr. Davlin being my boss—we then called for an assist from an outside agency, and we have now turned over the entire investigation to the Illinois State Police,” Williams said at a Springfield news conference.
Davlin had been mayor of Springfield since April 2003. He announced in November that he did not intend to run for a third term in March. The Springfield State-Journal Register reported in October the IRS placed a lien on his home over nearly $90,000 the agency says Davlin owed in unpaid taxes.
“Today’s news of the death of Mayor Tim Davlin is truly a tragedy. Tim was a great public servant who loved Springfield and its people. The city of Springfield is a better place because of his leadership. As Mayor, Tim led the community through some of its most difficult times and worked hard to revitalize the city. He was not only a champion for Springfield, but also for the entire state, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him. My thoughts and prayers are with the Davlin family during this most difficult time,” Gov. Pat Quinn said in a written statement.
From the City Of Springfield’s Davlin memorial page:
Mayor Davlin will probably best be remembered by one of his most successful programs, Springfield Green, a city wide environmental improvement program which not only promotes planting trees, flowers and greenery, but also stimulates cleanliness through an Adopt-a-Street program.
Alderman Frank Kunz, who is mayor pro tem, has taken over Davlin’s duties.
Hamos to legislators: Back me up on Medicaid reform
By Jamey Dunn
If legislators want Medicaid reform, they are going to have to fight for it, says Julie Hamos, director of Illinois' Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Hamos targeted a number of areas for potential savings during a Senate committee today, but she said she needs backing and, sometimes even pressure, from the General Assembly to spur negations with providers.
“It’s times like this, when we really have a budget crisis, that we should pushing the envelope and trying to see what we can really achieve in all of the budget items,” she said at the Chicago hearing.
Hamos hopes to save the state money on prescriptions. “We do believe that we should be making some adjustments in the pharmacy rates. It’s a very big part of our Medicaid budget and a place that we need to go to when we are talking about the kind of pressures we have right now to make budget reductions.”
Hamos said the state is paying too much for dispensing fees. Illinois pays $4.60 per Medicaid prescription for generic drugs and $3.40 for brand-name drugs. That compares to $1.36 for generics and $1.28 for brand-name drugs under the state’s employee health care plan.
However, David Vite, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), said there is little room to cut back on Medicaid prescription costs. “Pharmacy in the Medicaid program is about as low as it can go. We are in the mainstream of all 50 states in all Medicaid programs, and Medicaid pays less than the average prescription price.”
He said that Medicaid patients do not pay the co-payment on nearly half of the prescriptions that pharmacies fill. Hamos said she wants pharmacies to work harder to recoup those co-payments, but she conceded that she was not sure what steps they should take to collect the cash. “We have very small co-pays, but the co-pays we have are there for a purpose. I think that collecting them is a part of getting people to be more invested in their health care.”
She added that her agency is negotiating with IRMA and the Illinois Pharmacy Association, and she hopes to reach a deal by early January.
John Stephen—a partner with the Boston-based consulting firm The Lucas Group, who served on Gov. Pat Quinn’s taxpayer action board—said Illinois needs to be bold and take a long view on Medicaid changes, or legislators will “back every year looking at the same things.”
Stephen, who served as New Hampshire's Commissioner of Health and Human Services and testified on Medicaid reform in front of the Illinois Senate Deficit Reduction Committee last year, said: “I feel like I’m saying the same things I said to that committee.”
He said Illinois should target two areas—moving clients our of institutional settings when possible and utilizing more managed care programs.
“[In New Hampshire] we’ve saved all kinds of money with home- and community-based services. And we’ve done it the right way. But it takes a lot of effort.”
Illinois is building a managed care pilot program to treat elderly and disabled patients in some Chicago suburban counties.
However, Hamos voiced frustration over resistance to the program from legislators, stakeholders and even medical providers. “The same hospitals that we are investing in and putting a lot of Medicaid dollars into are not signing up to be part of our network. That’s a problem. So we are seeing push back as we develop managed care in Illinois. And we want you to recognize as you want us probably to expand that—something that we’re definitely interested in doing…the provider community, the stakeholders and the policymakers all need to be on our team as we move forward.”
Hamos said she also hopes to change the ways in which providers are paid, such as compensating based on results and trying to get the state better rates by bundling services. She also called for backing from the legislature on this issue.
“This whole question of payment reform is very much a theme of national health care. And we would like to really be very creative about how we roll that out. Again the providers are not necessarily going to like that. We want you to back us up in doing that. It’s going to be a challenge. Change is hard.”
If legislators want Medicaid reform, they are going to have to fight for it, says Julie Hamos, director of Illinois' Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Hamos targeted a number of areas for potential savings during a Senate committee today, but she said she needs backing and, sometimes even pressure, from the General Assembly to spur negations with providers.
“It’s times like this, when we really have a budget crisis, that we should pushing the envelope and trying to see what we can really achieve in all of the budget items,” she said at the Chicago hearing.
Hamos hopes to save the state money on prescriptions. “We do believe that we should be making some adjustments in the pharmacy rates. It’s a very big part of our Medicaid budget and a place that we need to go to when we are talking about the kind of pressures we have right now to make budget reductions.”
Hamos said the state is paying too much for dispensing fees. Illinois pays $4.60 per Medicaid prescription for generic drugs and $3.40 for brand-name drugs. That compares to $1.36 for generics and $1.28 for brand-name drugs under the state’s employee health care plan.
However, David Vite, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), said there is little room to cut back on Medicaid prescription costs. “Pharmacy in the Medicaid program is about as low as it can go. We are in the mainstream of all 50 states in all Medicaid programs, and Medicaid pays less than the average prescription price.”
He said that Medicaid patients do not pay the co-payment on nearly half of the prescriptions that pharmacies fill. Hamos said she wants pharmacies to work harder to recoup those co-payments, but she conceded that she was not sure what steps they should take to collect the cash. “We have very small co-pays, but the co-pays we have are there for a purpose. I think that collecting them is a part of getting people to be more invested in their health care.”
She added that her agency is negotiating with IRMA and the Illinois Pharmacy Association, and she hopes to reach a deal by early January.
John Stephen—a partner with the Boston-based consulting firm The Lucas Group, who served on Gov. Pat Quinn’s taxpayer action board—said Illinois needs to be bold and take a long view on Medicaid changes, or legislators will “back every year looking at the same things.”
Stephen, who served as New Hampshire's Commissioner of Health and Human Services and testified on Medicaid reform in front of the Illinois Senate Deficit Reduction Committee last year, said: “I feel like I’m saying the same things I said to that committee.”
He said Illinois should target two areas—moving clients our of institutional settings when possible and utilizing more managed care programs.
“[In New Hampshire] we’ve saved all kinds of money with home- and community-based services. And we’ve done it the right way. But it takes a lot of effort.”
Illinois is building a managed care pilot program to treat elderly and disabled patients in some Chicago suburban counties.
However, Hamos voiced frustration over resistance to the program from legislators, stakeholders and even medical providers. “The same hospitals that we are investing in and putting a lot of Medicaid dollars into are not signing up to be part of our network. That’s a problem. So we are seeing push back as we develop managed care in Illinois. And we want you to recognize as you want us probably to expand that—something that we’re definitely interested in doing…the provider community, the stakeholders and the policymakers all need to be on our team as we move forward.”
Hamos said she also hopes to change the ways in which providers are paid, such as compensating based on results and trying to get the state better rates by bundling services. She also called for backing from the legislature on this issue.
“This whole question of payment reform is very much a theme of national health care. And we would like to really be very creative about how we roll that out. Again the providers are not necessarily going to like that. We want you to back us up in doing that. It’s going to be a challenge. Change is hard.”
Monday, December 13, 2010
Quinn names Jack Lavin chief of staff
Gov. Pat Quinn named Jack Lavin his new chief of staff today.
“Jack Lavin has helped my administration accomplish many of our top priorities, and I have full confidence that he has the vision and ability to lead my office into a successful new term and will tackle the many serious issues facing our state,” Quinn said in a written statement.
Lavin has been Quinn's chief operating officer since February 2009, and was deputy treasurer under Quinn when he was treasurer. Before becoming a part of Quinn's administration, he was also appointed as director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Quinn's previous chief of staff, Jerry Stermer, resigned after some minor ethics violations during Quinn's campaign for governor. Stermer has since returned to the adminstration as a senior adviser.
“Jack Lavin has helped my administration accomplish many of our top priorities, and I have full confidence that he has the vision and ability to lead my office into a successful new term and will tackle the many serious issues facing our state,” Quinn said in a written statement.
Lavin has been Quinn's chief operating officer since February 2009, and was deputy treasurer under Quinn when he was treasurer. Before becoming a part of Quinn's administration, he was also appointed as director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Quinn's previous chief of staff, Jerry Stermer, resigned after some minor ethics violations during Quinn's campaign for governor. Stermer has since returned to the adminstration as a senior adviser.
Illinois may crack down on Medicaid eligiblity
By Jamey Dunn
In its ongoing quest to find savings in the state’s Medicaid system, a House committee today took up the issue of making sure those who receive benefits are eligible for them.
Legislators in both houses are looking for ways to trim the Medicaid budget and make the system more efficient. However, today’s hearing did not produce many options. The one change most agreed with was working to make records electronic and shareable between state agencies.
John Bouman, president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Policy Law, said the state should take advantage of federal funding associated with the health care reform law. “For example, if we are going to save $200 million in managed care ideas, save $190 million, take $10 million and turn that it into $100 million pot for information technology upgrades, which adds that much money to the state budget to do tasks we should be doing anyhow.”
Legislators on the committee painted a grim picture of the administrative oversight and technological systems Medicaid operates under.
“Everything is still in paper files. Computer systems crash. The whole office is shut down. Nothing works and it’s not only undignified for recipients of our human …services but also ridiculous when it comes to being able to efficiently manage this,” said Rep. Sarah Feigenholtz, a Chicago Democrat.
“In my local office … each one of the case management people have 2,500 cases. ... This is what one of them told us: They’re just told not to answer the phone because they can’t handle it,” said Rep. Patricia Bellock, a Hinsdale Republican.
Bouman said if legislators want to crack down on verifying whether patients are eligible for Medicaid assistance, new technology is needed. He said a “staff-heavy, paper-heavy” verification system is slow, costly and has more potential for mistakes.
However, Bouman cautioned against kicking people off of Medicaid coverage — even if their eligibility lapses — if the committee’s overall goal is to provide preventative health care rather than expensive treatment for chronic medical problems. “This is not traditional cash welfare assistance where we have a stern gatekeeping function. This is health policy. And we have to pay attention to connection to care, and not interrupting care and getting the cheap sensible prevention going on and continuing.”
Members of Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration were not receptive to the idea of knocking such people out of the program as undocumented children and people whose coverage is paid for solely by the state.
“We see the issue of serving undocumented children as a policy issue, one that we’re proud of and this governor supports. So we are not proposing changes in reducing eligibility for undocumented children,” said Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Hamos said the pool of single adults that Illinois covers with no help from the feds costs the state around $16.9 million. “This is a relatively small amount of money, relatively, but it’s still money … If we don’t provide for some kind of payment for these very low-income people either they’re going to get very sick and end up in emergency rooms, and then the hospitals will be eating the cost one way or another, or they won’t even get primary health care, and they’ll by default get sicker.”
Hamos said her agency would present plans for new technology and information sharing to the General Assembly in the spring. She also said she would support stricter enforcement of eligibility standards; however, the federal government may not allow such changes. To receive federal matching dollars, Illinois cannot change the standards used to determine who is eligible for Medicaid assistance. “We will try to make the best case for why verification is different than [changes in] eligibility. …But we don’t know how [the federal government] will react.”
The committee is scheduled to meet again tomorrow. A Senate committee is also taking up the issue of Medicaid reform.
In its ongoing quest to find savings in the state’s Medicaid system, a House committee today took up the issue of making sure those who receive benefits are eligible for them.
Legislators in both houses are looking for ways to trim the Medicaid budget and make the system more efficient. However, today’s hearing did not produce many options. The one change most agreed with was working to make records electronic and shareable between state agencies.
John Bouman, president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Policy Law, said the state should take advantage of federal funding associated with the health care reform law. “For example, if we are going to save $200 million in managed care ideas, save $190 million, take $10 million and turn that it into $100 million pot for information technology upgrades, which adds that much money to the state budget to do tasks we should be doing anyhow.”
Legislators on the committee painted a grim picture of the administrative oversight and technological systems Medicaid operates under.
“Everything is still in paper files. Computer systems crash. The whole office is shut down. Nothing works and it’s not only undignified for recipients of our human …services but also ridiculous when it comes to being able to efficiently manage this,” said Rep. Sarah Feigenholtz, a Chicago Democrat.
“In my local office … each one of the case management people have 2,500 cases. ... This is what one of them told us: They’re just told not to answer the phone because they can’t handle it,” said Rep. Patricia Bellock, a Hinsdale Republican.
Bouman said if legislators want to crack down on verifying whether patients are eligible for Medicaid assistance, new technology is needed. He said a “staff-heavy, paper-heavy” verification system is slow, costly and has more potential for mistakes.
However, Bouman cautioned against kicking people off of Medicaid coverage — even if their eligibility lapses — if the committee’s overall goal is to provide preventative health care rather than expensive treatment for chronic medical problems. “This is not traditional cash welfare assistance where we have a stern gatekeeping function. This is health policy. And we have to pay attention to connection to care, and not interrupting care and getting the cheap sensible prevention going on and continuing.”
Members of Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration were not receptive to the idea of knocking such people out of the program as undocumented children and people whose coverage is paid for solely by the state.
“We see the issue of serving undocumented children as a policy issue, one that we’re proud of and this governor supports. So we are not proposing changes in reducing eligibility for undocumented children,” said Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Hamos said the pool of single adults that Illinois covers with no help from the feds costs the state around $16.9 million. “This is a relatively small amount of money, relatively, but it’s still money … If we don’t provide for some kind of payment for these very low-income people either they’re going to get very sick and end up in emergency rooms, and then the hospitals will be eating the cost one way or another, or they won’t even get primary health care, and they’ll by default get sicker.”
Hamos said her agency would present plans for new technology and information sharing to the General Assembly in the spring. She also said she would support stricter enforcement of eligibility standards; however, the federal government may not allow such changes. To receive federal matching dollars, Illinois cannot change the standards used to determine who is eligible for Medicaid assistance. “We will try to make the best case for why verification is different than [changes in] eligibility. …But we don’t know how [the federal government] will react.”
The committee is scheduled to meet again tomorrow. A Senate committee is also taking up the issue of Medicaid reform.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Commission wants to cut poverty by 2015
By Jamey Dunn
Illinois can help to raise some of its most vulnerable residents out of crushing poverty by 2015, according to a new plan released today.
The Illinois Commission on the Elimination of Poverty released recommendations for the state to cut the number of those living in extreme poverty — those earning up to half or the federal poverty level — in half by 2015.
According to the group's report, about 1.6 million Illinoisans live below the poverty line, which is an income of $22,050 or less for a family of four, and almost 760,000 fit the category of extreme poverty, an income of $11,025 or less for a family of four. About half of those living in extreme poverty belong to groups that are unable to work, such as children, the elderly and the disabled. The report says the number of impoverished Illinois residents has been slowly growing over the last decade:
Our support system is failing those who need it most, and as a result, the number of individuals and families living in poverty in Illinois continues to rise.
The commission operated under the principle that “the absence of human rights is the cause of poverty.”
The commission was charged with finding ways to help people in need find affordable housing, health care and childcare. They also addressed accessibility to nutritious foods, reliable transportation and adequate education and training.
Here of some of several suggestions the group made in its report:
With the state’s current fiscal situation, the commission recognizes that its recommendations need to be sensitive to the state’s current revenue constraints and spending obligations. Initial changes should not add to the state’s budget difficulties. As the commission advocates for the incremental adoption of its recommendations until 2015, it will make adjustments in the implementation of this plan that reflect the changes and opportunities that will be encountered during that time.
Maywood Democratic Rep. Karen Yarbrough, who sponsored the legislation that created the commission, said the state can no longer ignore its growing poverty numbers. “While there will be a cost to provide this help, the cost of doing nothing is so expensive that it could bankrupt society as we know it,” she said at a Chicago news conference.
Yarbrough said the report should be a starting point for action on the issue from the General Assembly. “This puts a real face on who we’re trying to help. But we must not lose sight of the fact that by helping them, we are helping everyone in Illinois. This plan is an important step toward addressing the needs of the most vulnerable in Illinois. Because it’s such a large step forward, no longer can we say that this issue must have more study. We’ve done the study.”
Illinois can help to raise some of its most vulnerable residents out of crushing poverty by 2015, according to a new plan released today.
The Illinois Commission on the Elimination of Poverty released recommendations for the state to cut the number of those living in extreme poverty — those earning up to half or the federal poverty level — in half by 2015.
According to the group's report, about 1.6 million Illinoisans live below the poverty line, which is an income of $22,050 or less for a family of four, and almost 760,000 fit the category of extreme poverty, an income of $11,025 or less for a family of four. About half of those living in extreme poverty belong to groups that are unable to work, such as children, the elderly and the disabled. The report says the number of impoverished Illinois residents has been slowly growing over the last decade:
Our support system is failing those who need it most, and as a result, the number of individuals and families living in poverty in Illinois continues to rise.
The commission operated under the principle that “the absence of human rights is the cause of poverty.”
The commission was charged with finding ways to help people in need find affordable housing, health care and childcare. They also addressed accessibility to nutritious foods, reliable transportation and adequate education and training.
Here of some of several suggestions the group made in its report:
- A statewide transitional jobs program that would help up to 40,000 people return to the workforce each year.
- Eliminating categories of workers not covered by minimum wage — such as restaurant servers, who receive tips.
- Educational programs to make sure those eligible for federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, commonly referred to as welfare, are receiving benefits. This group also recommends increased TANF benefits because it is possible to receive TANF funds and still be below the extreme poverty line.
- Legislation to prohibit the state from asking job applicants about their criminal histories, as well as encouraging private employers to hire people with criminal backgrounds.
- Increased scholarships to community colleges for low-income students.
- Tripling the earned income tax credit, which is meant to reward employment and assist low-income families
- Increased rental subsidies for individuals living in poverty.
- Simplifying the application process for Medicaid and food stamps, allowing residents to sign up for all aid programs they are eligible for with one application.
With the state’s current fiscal situation, the commission recognizes that its recommendations need to be sensitive to the state’s current revenue constraints and spending obligations. Initial changes should not add to the state’s budget difficulties. As the commission advocates for the incremental adoption of its recommendations until 2015, it will make adjustments in the implementation of this plan that reflect the changes and opportunities that will be encountered during that time.
Maywood Democratic Rep. Karen Yarbrough, who sponsored the legislation that created the commission, said the state can no longer ignore its growing poverty numbers. “While there will be a cost to provide this help, the cost of doing nothing is so expensive that it could bankrupt society as we know it,” she said at a Chicago news conference.
Yarbrough said the report should be a starting point for action on the issue from the General Assembly. “This puts a real face on who we’re trying to help. But we must not lose sight of the fact that by helping them, we are helping everyone in Illinois. This plan is an important step toward addressing the needs of the most vulnerable in Illinois. Because it’s such a large step forward, no longer can we say that this issue must have more study. We’ve done the study.”
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
State will pay off FY2010 bills by end of December - updated
By Jamey Dunn
UPDATE: Gov Pat Quinn confirmed Thursday that the state will pay off its fiscal year 2010 bills by the end of the month, largely through the sale of bonds against the state's tobacco settlement money.
Quinn said the backlog for FY2010 is about $1.4 billion and that service providers and vendors should expect payments soon. “They’ll get their money by the end of this year. Probably in the next week or so," he told reporters in Chicago.
Quinn also emphasized the importance of working on budget solutions when the legislature returns in January. “We also have to pay [FY2011] and beyond — [FY2012], [FY2013] and you name it. So we have to have a plan in Illinois that gets us back on sure footing when it comes to our finances, and that’s what I’m working on now with legislators of both parties.”
Illinois will make the deadline for paying off its bills by the end of this month. A new survey indicates, however, that the slow payment schedule, coupled with budget cuts, has hurt social service providers.
According to Alan Henry, director of communications for Comptroller Dan Hynes, the state will pay off all of its overdue bills from fiscal year 2010 — which ended June 30 — by the end of this month. Legislators moved the cutoff date for payments from August 31 to December as part of the budget plan passed in May.
The state prioritized paying off last year’s bills before paying for costs incurred in FY 2011. Illinois also sold $1.5 billion in bonds against the state’s money from a court settlement with tobacco companies and brought in $546 million from the tax amnesty period. Hynes warned in his quarterly report released in October that the state would have to get at least $1.2 billion from the tobacco money and $200 million from deadbeat taxpayers to make the end-of-the-year deadline.
But the results of a survey from the Illinois Partners for Human Services, a lobbying coalition that represents social service providers throughout Illinois, show that the state’s financial crisis has already taken a toll.
The group surveyed more than 200 Illinois social service providers. More than 70 percent of respondents said their efforts were affected by the late payments, with more than half cutting hours of operation or levels of services. More than 40 percent saw increased waiting lists, and more than one quarter turned clients away and/or closed programs. More than a quarter saw no changes to their services.
More than half of the organizations upped their fundraising efforts. Nearly half sought credit, and nearly half cut staff.
The report describes the compounded problem of staff cuts and an increased need for remaining staff to try to find money where they can:
Sixty percent of responding organizations sought additional funding sources, often requiring program staff to refocus efforts away from service provision. Combined with the 49% that laid off employees, these organizations are severely hampered by both direct cuts and service reductions, as well as reallocating staff to non-service specific functions.
UPDATE: Gov Pat Quinn confirmed Thursday that the state will pay off its fiscal year 2010 bills by the end of the month, largely through the sale of bonds against the state's tobacco settlement money.
Quinn said the backlog for FY2010 is about $1.4 billion and that service providers and vendors should expect payments soon. “They’ll get their money by the end of this year. Probably in the next week or so," he told reporters in Chicago.
Quinn also emphasized the importance of working on budget solutions when the legislature returns in January. “We also have to pay [FY2011] and beyond — [FY2012], [FY2013] and you name it. So we have to have a plan in Illinois that gets us back on sure footing when it comes to our finances, and that’s what I’m working on now with legislators of both parties.”
Illinois will make the deadline for paying off its bills by the end of this month. A new survey indicates, however, that the slow payment schedule, coupled with budget cuts, has hurt social service providers.
According to Alan Henry, director of communications for Comptroller Dan Hynes, the state will pay off all of its overdue bills from fiscal year 2010 — which ended June 30 — by the end of this month. Legislators moved the cutoff date for payments from August 31 to December as part of the budget plan passed in May.
The state prioritized paying off last year’s bills before paying for costs incurred in FY 2011. Illinois also sold $1.5 billion in bonds against the state’s money from a court settlement with tobacco companies and brought in $546 million from the tax amnesty period. Hynes warned in his quarterly report released in October that the state would have to get at least $1.2 billion from the tobacco money and $200 million from deadbeat taxpayers to make the end-of-the-year deadline.
But the results of a survey from the Illinois Partners for Human Services, a lobbying coalition that represents social service providers throughout Illinois, show that the state’s financial crisis has already taken a toll.
The group surveyed more than 200 Illinois social service providers. More than 70 percent of respondents said their efforts were affected by the late payments, with more than half cutting hours of operation or levels of services. More than 40 percent saw increased waiting lists, and more than one quarter turned clients away and/or closed programs. More than a quarter saw no changes to their services.
More than half of the organizations upped their fundraising efforts. Nearly half sought credit, and nearly half cut staff.
The report describes the compounded problem of staff cuts and an increased need for remaining staff to try to find money where they can:
Sixty percent of responding organizations sought additional funding sources, often requiring program staff to refocus efforts away from service provision. Combined with the 49% that laid off employees, these organizations are severely hampered by both direct cuts and service reductions, as well as reallocating staff to non-service specific functions.
House considers Medicaid reforms
By Jamey Dunn
In a move that parallels the Senate’s reform efforts, a House committee heard testimony in Chicago today on possible changes to Illinois’ Medicaid system.
A special Senate committee held a hearing on Medicaid last week. Both that hearing and today’s House hearing focused on cutting costs while giving patients more comprehensive treatment.
Much of the conversation was about potential savings that could be found in managed care programs. The state has a voluntary managed care program and is working on a mandatory managed care pilot program in the Chicago suburbs, which would provide care to elderly and disabled patients.
“Our approach towards managed care is one of using it as a means to an end, and the end that we’re trying to achieve is higher health status, better health care outcomes and the use of integrated care delivery systems to get us there,” said Michael Gelder, a health care policy adviser to Gov. Pat Quinn.
However, James Parker, deputy administrator of medical programs for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said the voluntary program is not producing big savings for the state. “Somebody enrolling in that program saves the state nothing. It actually costs us money.”
Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie suggested that requiring Medicaid patients to enroll in managed care might bring down costs. “If the provider doesn’t know what numbers that company is going to deal with, its very hard for them to figure what’s a rate that makes sense for them. … It maybe that you get a better rate bid from a provider if there is some mandatory enrollment because they have a better sense as to what the population is.”
Parker agreed. “We need a rate cut for that program to make sense. But if we did a mandatory program … and gave them enough [patients], it would make up for the rate cut that would be needed to save money.”
Parker added that because there are not many cases of people receiving unnecessary care, the best way to save money on Medicaid would be to try to keep patients healthier in general so they do not require as much treatment.
“Our rates don’t entice specialists to see our patients unless they really need to be seen. … We don’t have an overuse of expensive specialists, mainly because there’s no such thing as an expensive specialist in our Medicaid program because we don’t pay that much. … The only way to really get the costs down is to reduce the need for care.”
Parker said the state could also save by pushing for a reduction in the dispensing fees pharmacies charge for filling Medicaid prescriptions. Illinois currently pays $3.40 for each brand name prescription and $4.60 for each generic, in an attempt to encourage pharmacies to use generic drugs for Medicaid. That is compared with a $1.50 fee for any prescription for state employees.
He cautioned, that savings would not come in the form of cuts to a budget line. They are instead expressed in terms of savings compared with the estimates of what the state would spend in the future if no action were taken. “When anybody is talking about saving from any of these managed care programs, any one of them … whenever they talk about savings, they are never, never talking about spending less money this year than we spent last year or less money next year than we’re spending this year. It is all based on slowing the growth.”
The House committee is scheduled to meet again on December 13 and 14. Rep. Chapin Rose, a Mahomet Republican, said the committee would likely consider legislation on December 14. The Senate Medicaid Reform Committee is scheduled to make final recommendations to the full Senate on January 3.
In a move that parallels the Senate’s reform efforts, a House committee heard testimony in Chicago today on possible changes to Illinois’ Medicaid system.
A special Senate committee held a hearing on Medicaid last week. Both that hearing and today’s House hearing focused on cutting costs while giving patients more comprehensive treatment.
Much of the conversation was about potential savings that could be found in managed care programs. The state has a voluntary managed care program and is working on a mandatory managed care pilot program in the Chicago suburbs, which would provide care to elderly and disabled patients.
“Our approach towards managed care is one of using it as a means to an end, and the end that we’re trying to achieve is higher health status, better health care outcomes and the use of integrated care delivery systems to get us there,” said Michael Gelder, a health care policy adviser to Gov. Pat Quinn.
However, James Parker, deputy administrator of medical programs for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said the voluntary program is not producing big savings for the state. “Somebody enrolling in that program saves the state nothing. It actually costs us money.”
Chicago Democratic Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie suggested that requiring Medicaid patients to enroll in managed care might bring down costs. “If the provider doesn’t know what numbers that company is going to deal with, its very hard for them to figure what’s a rate that makes sense for them. … It maybe that you get a better rate bid from a provider if there is some mandatory enrollment because they have a better sense as to what the population is.”
Parker agreed. “We need a rate cut for that program to make sense. But if we did a mandatory program … and gave them enough [patients], it would make up for the rate cut that would be needed to save money.”
Parker added that because there are not many cases of people receiving unnecessary care, the best way to save money on Medicaid would be to try to keep patients healthier in general so they do not require as much treatment.
“Our rates don’t entice specialists to see our patients unless they really need to be seen. … We don’t have an overuse of expensive specialists, mainly because there’s no such thing as an expensive specialist in our Medicaid program because we don’t pay that much. … The only way to really get the costs down is to reduce the need for care.”
Parker said the state could also save by pushing for a reduction in the dispensing fees pharmacies charge for filling Medicaid prescriptions. Illinois currently pays $3.40 for each brand name prescription and $4.60 for each generic, in an attempt to encourage pharmacies to use generic drugs for Medicaid. That is compared with a $1.50 fee for any prescription for state employees.
He cautioned, that savings would not come in the form of cuts to a budget line. They are instead expressed in terms of savings compared with the estimates of what the state would spend in the future if no action were taken. “When anybody is talking about saving from any of these managed care programs, any one of them … whenever they talk about savings, they are never, never talking about spending less money this year than we spent last year or less money next year than we’re spending this year. It is all based on slowing the growth.”
The House committee is scheduled to meet again on December 13 and 14. Rep. Chapin Rose, a Mahomet Republican, said the committee would likely consider legislation on December 14. The Senate Medicaid Reform Committee is scheduled to make final recommendations to the full Senate on January 3.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
This week's CapitolView
From civil unions to gambling to pensions, a wrap up of the week in Illinois government. Panelists Mike Lawrence, former director of Paul Simon Public Policy Institute; Charlie Wheeler, director of the Public Affairs Reporting Program at UIS, and Scott Reeder, statehouse bureau chief for Illinois Statehouse News. Guest moderator, Amanda Vinicky from WUIS-FM/NPR in Springfield. A production of WSEC-TV/PBS Springfield.
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