QUOTE OF THE DAY
Chicago Tribune: Quinn signs advisory minimum-wage hike question for Nov. 4 ballot
Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law a measure today placing a non-binding advisory referendum on the fall ballot asking voters whether the state’s minimum wage should be increased from $8.25 to $10 an hour, a key issue in his bid to win re-election against Republican challenger Bruce Rauner.
The minimum wage proposal was a backup plan after rank-and-file Democrats, despite their majority in the state House and Senate, failed to back Quinn and their legislative leadership to pass a measure to put the increased wage rate into state law. The non-binding referendum is aimed at helping to drive Democratic turnout for the Nov. 4 general election.
To emphasize the point, shortly after signing the measure, Quinn’s campaign sent out a fundraising e-mail to supporters, telling them that “when you vote this November, you can send a clear signal to lawmakers in Springfield that we must have an economy that works for everyone.”
Journal Standard: Critics say new FOIA law could stifle information
SPRINGFIELD — A bill rushed through the closing days of the General Assembly’s spring session is drawing the ire of a good-government group, which says it will restrict the ability of residents to get information about their governments.
Supporters, though, said the bill is a way to help municipalities deal with a comparative handful of people who file excessive requests under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, tying up employees who could better be used doing other work.
“It was intended to fix maybe an unintended consequence of people abusing the FOIA,” said Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, who drafted the bill. “It’s not intended to hide information from people.”
Wire Points: Why Illinois voters should understand the Laffer Curve – WP Original
“Please, don’t go to the top of the curve!” That was the warning from a Wharton School professor of finance, Robert Inman, in a recent presentation he made at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, speaking in general about tax rates for states and cities What did he mean? Are Chicago and Illinois at the top of the curve?
Those questions may seem obscure, but they’re key to our future. Voters don’t just need to asks whether more revenue should be raised, they need to ask whether that’s even achievable.
And hang in there on this. Even if you hate numbers, graphs and economics, this is actually pretty simple, and you can probably answer those questions better than most economists.
Daily Herald: Illinois fire departments get more help to buy trucks
Illinois fire departments are getting more help to buy new trucks.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Saturday raising the cap on how much money municipalities can borrow from the state at no or low interest for truck purchases.
Republican state Rep. Donald Moffitt of Gilson was one of the sponsors.
Crain’s: Obamacare leaves nursing homes waiting for millions of dollars
The massive expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare had an unintended consequence in Illinois, leaving nursing homes in the lurch as the state sits on a mountain of unpaid bills.
The state doesn’t know how much it owes nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, some of which have gone a year or more without getting paid. But the figure is likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
About $129 million that’s owed has been approved and is waiting to be paid by the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. Another estimated $185 million in bills is being processed at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which oversees Medicaid.
Daily Herald: Lottery contractor likely $200 million short on profits
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ private lottery contract has never reached the lofty sales promises it used to win a bid four years ago and is expected to fall more than $200 million short of what it owes the state when the budget year ends June 30.
But Northstar Lottery Group says it’s been hamstrung by state officials, with whom they have an already frosty relationship and accuse of throwing up road blocks — from canceling games it wanted to launch to prohibiting the sponsorship of Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival in 2013 because of headliner R.Kelly.
Regardless, Northstar’s 10-year contract with the state details that falling short of its goals by 10 percent two years in a row is grounds for ending the partnership, no questions asked. It missed targets by almost 20 percent last year, and is on track to do the same this year.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
