Chicago Tonight: Rauner Sworn In as Illinois Governor
Rauner delivered his inaugural speech today, which Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman called “fantastic.”
“It was the first time [a governor] put taxpayers as equal partners as government employees,” Tillman said. “His tone was just right, very upbeat but extremely straightforward about how hard things are going to be.”
Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, said Rauner’s speech was a “mixed bag.”
“On the one hand, he said a couple of things that are hopeful. He made it clear that the problems in the past were bipartisan. He didn’t try to throw Democrats entirely under the bus,” Martire said. “Hopefully, this indicates willingness to reach across party lines…. Unfortunately, he also repeated a lot of rhetoric that has no basis in data that has stood in the way of Illinois getting to a fiscal situation that can make investments in education. One of the key points he made during his speech was high taxes and high regulations have been driving businesses out of Illinois. That’s simply not true about Illinois or true in general.”
Alton Daily News: New Lawsuit over EDGE Tax Credits
A new lawsuit claims the state has been handing out tax credits to companies which shouldn’t qualify. A group called the Liberty Justice Center is suing the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity over awarding EDGE tax credits to businesses based on retaining existing employees. Jacob Huebert, the center’s senior attorney, says the original EDGE law allowed EDGE credits to be based on income tax withheld only from employees hired after entering into a tax credit agreement.
“What the DCEO has done here is illegal,” Huebert said. “A government agency cannot expand its power by enacting rules that contradict a statute passed by the General Assembly.”
Huebert claims more than half of the $950 million awarded in EDGE tax credits appears to have gone to businesses that shouldn’t have qualified. The lawsuit seeks to end that practice, and the center has asked for a preliminary injunction to prevent DCEO from awarding any more EDGE credits to those companies.
WARD Room: Bruce Rauner Announces First Appointments for Administration
Governor-Elect Bruce Rauner announced the first round of state office appointments Saturday, including his nomination for the chairman of the Board of Education.
Rauner nominated former State Senator James Meeks to be the chairman of the Board of Education. Meeks is currently the pastor of Salem Baptist Church, a predominantly African-American Church.
“While a member of the Senate, Meeks was a strong voice in education, serving as the Chairman of the Senate’s Education Committee,” the Bruce Rauner transition committee said in a statement. “He worked hard to increase school funding and improve the quality of education for all students.”
Chicago Sun Times: Gov. Rauner's one big job: Fix the broken-down car
“You know what, I’m the dog that caught the car.”
So said Bruce Rauner a few days before Christmas, describing the colossal job now before him — a job he chased after and caught — of straightening out our state’s miserable finances.
At least the man’s got a sense of humor.
U.S. News: Local Economies Still Recovering From Recession
Though 2014 brought record-breaking stock performances, unemployment that was the lowest since 2008 and the best year for job growth since the turn of the millennium, the rising economic tide has not lifted all ships as some U.S. counties are still floundering, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Counties.
A county-by-county breakdown of local economic performance was issued Monday in the association’s2014 County Economic Tracker. The study spans all 3,069 U.S. counties and suggests the majority of local economies have not fully returned to pre-recession stability.
“The U.S. economy doesn’t happen at the abstract macroeconomic level. It happens on the ground, where businesses are located and where Americans live and work,” says Emilia Istrate, the association’s director of research. “County economies are building blocks of the regional economies, state economies and national economy.”
Washington Times: Federal funding provides $400M bump for Illinois hospitals
Hospitals across Illinois will receive $400 million in federal funding under the Affordable Care Act.
Gov. Pat Quinn said Saturday he traveled to Washington last month to lobby for the funding bump. It will allow the state to increase its funding to hospitals to care for more inpatient and outpatient clients and cover a greater volume of people newly enrolled in the AffordableCare Act.
Department of Healthcare and Family Services Director Julie Hamos (HAY’-mohs) says payments will begin by mid-February and will cover expenses retroactively.
Wall Street Journal: Of More Than 3,000 U.S. Counties, Just 65 Have Recovered From Recession, NACo Says
Seven years after the recession began, only one in 50 U.S. counties has fully bounced back, according to a study the National Association of Counties released Monday.
The 2014 County Economic Tracker shows that 65 of the nation’s 3,069 counties have met or surpassed prerecession levels in four measured categories: jobs, unemployment rate, economic output and home prices.
Those places range from Anderson County, S.C., to McKenzie County, N.D., to Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Bloomberg:Turnaround Veteran Rauner Tackles Illinois Finances as Governor
Bruce Rauner is a turnaround specialist who built his reputation taking over struggling companies and making them profitable. Now he’s tasked with fixing the finances of Illinois.
A Republican and first-time public officeholder, Rauner takes over today as governor of the state with the worst-funded pension system and the lowest credit rating among its peers, and more financial stress lies ahead. Some government services, such as the corrections department, may run out of cash as soon as next month because lawmakers passed a 2015 budget containing a $2 billion revenue hole.
A $6.5 billion pile of unpaid bills is projected to multiply, exceeding $21 billion in three years, according to the state’s budget office. That would be about 60 percent of the annual operating budget. There’s also the matter of a $111 billion pension deficit that’s squeezing other spending priorities.
Chicago Tribune: Gov. Rauner, lead by example
All right, Gov. Bruce Rauner. Now that you’re on the job, it’s only a matter of time before your first of many clashes with Illinois’ political machine.
You’ll propose a reform and the Democrats, with their supermajorities, will make sure it goes nowhere. Suggest a single cut to the budget and it will be labeled “draconian,” and you, “heartless.” You will be scrutinized more than your predecessors were.
On behalf of all the regular folks who voted for you: Stay strong. And here is some advice:
Crains: Why Chicago businesses love Milwaukee now
Unlike Chicago’s, the Milwaukee skyline hasn’t changed much in the past decade. The last building that captured national attention was the soaring, white-winged Quadracci Pavilion, designed for the Milwaukee Art Museum by Santiago Calatrava and named to Time magazine’s “Best Design” list in 2001.
What you can’t see, but soon will, is an entrepreneurial revival that funnels through the downtown corridor south to the trending Bay View neighborhood. This spirit is bolstered, in part, by a handful of Chicago business owners who have relocated here in search of cheaper cost of living, a collaborative entrepreneurial community and a highly educated workforce, not to mention fewer taxes and lower rents.
In terms of skyline-altering projects, construction will begin this year on a 275-unit, 37-story apartment building backed by Chicago developer Carroll Properties,the firm behind a luxury apartment in downtown Evanston and the McGill Mansion conversion on Chicago’s North Side. Proposals are floating for a 44-story apartment building hugging Lake Michigan in the shadow of the $76 million tower.
New York Times: Where Young College Graduates Are Choosing to Live
When young college graduates decide where to move, they are not just looking at the usual suspects, like New York, Washington and San Francisco. Other cities are increasing their share of these valuable residents at an even higher rate and have reached a high overall percentage, led by Denver, San Diego, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore., according to a report published Monday by City Observatory, a new think tank.
And as young people continue to spurn the suburbs for urban living, more of them are moving to the very heart of cities — even in economically troubled places like Buffalo and Cleveland. The number of college-educated people age 25 to 34 living within three miles of city centers has surged, up 37 percent since 2000, even as the total population of these neighborhoods has slightly shrunk.
Some cities are attracting young talent while their overall population falls, like Pittsburgh and New Orleans. And in a reversal, others that used to be magnets, like Atlanta and Charlotte, are struggling to attract them at the same rate.