QUOTE OF THE DAY
Daily Herald: Quinn: Tighter controls coming for Medicaid payments
Gov. Pat Quinn promised tighter controls Saturday after a review found that the Illinois Medicaid program paid an estimated $12 million for medical services for people who had already died.
The Democratic governor told reporters he’s not happy with the findings and the state is on track to get back CHICAGO — Gov. Pat Quinn promised tighter controls Saturday after a review found that the Illinois Medicaid program paid an estimated $12 million for medical services for people who had already died.
“We’ve already recouped a great deal of the money,” Quinn said. “We intend to get every single penny.”
Chicago Sun Times: Charter school principal proposes buying school shut by CPS
Despite a pledge by CPS not to allow any charter schools to move into the dozens of schools that were shuttered last year, a charter school principal on Thursday night proposed doing just that.
Legacy Charter School Principal Lisa Kenner said her 500 students are running out of room at their current location and proposed buying Pope Elementary, 1852 S. Albany, from Chicago Public Schools to alleviate the crowding while continuing to serve the community.
The meeting, held in the basement of a Lawndale church, was to discuss possible proposals before CPS begins accepting official bids.
Pantagraph: Gov. Quinn backs state spending for Obama library
Gov. Pat Quinn is throwing his support behind a proposal to spend $100 million in state funds to sweeten Chicago’s bid for the Obama presidential library and museum.
The state is grappling with budget woes, but Quinn said Saturday the spending would be “an important investment.”
He pointed to the state’s financial support for the Lincoln library in Springfield, saying “it’s paid tremendous dividends in terms of tourism.”
In a recent article in The American titled “A National Minimum Wage is a Bad Fit for Low-Cost Communities,” my AEI colleague Andrew Biggs and I argued that a one-size-fits-all minimum wage, without any adjustments for the significant differences in the cost of living across the country, will disproportionately affect low-skilled workers in low-cost areas.
In Saturday’s Wall Street Journal (“Why Subway Doesn’t Serve a $14 Reuben Sandwich”), my friend Michael Saltsman makes a slightly different, but related, argument that a one-size-fits-all minimum wage imposed on all businesses and industries is bad public policy. Reason? Without any adjustments for the significant differences in industries that employ low and unskilled workers, raising the minimum wage uniformly to $10.10 per hour for every industry and every business will disproportionately affect employers and workers in low-cost, low-wage, low profit-margin industries like fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s, Domino’s and Subway.
Time: This Is How Detroit Found Itself a Mysterious Pot of Gold
Suddenly the cops and firemen and other municipal workers’ retirement doesn’t look so bleak in the Motor City. But don’t try this at home.
To the great relief of firefighters, police and other public employees in bankrupt Detroit, city fathers recently plugged a huge hole in their pension plans. For now, anyway, something close to these employees’ retirement dreams have been restored.
But how did they do it? Just a few weeks ago, Detroit leaders pegged the pension shortfall at $3.5 billion—about 20% of the city’s total indebtedness—and they were threatening to slash benefits beyond already expected cuts of up to 14% for cops and firemen and 34% for other workers. Miraculously, workers are now being assured that benefits cuts will be comparatively tame, amounting to less than a 5% reduction for those hardest hit.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
