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Chicago Tribune: Democrats can't agree on sending state budget to Rauner, who calls spring session 'stunning failure'
Infighting between House and Senate Democrats blocked passage of a new state budget during the final hours of spring session Tuesday night, as Republican Gov.Bruce Rauner and his allies lashed out at the opposition party’s leadership for turning Illinois into a “banana republic” of overspending.
The GOP critique came as the legislature lurched toward a midnight adjournment deadline, with the Senate voting down Speaker Michael Madigan‘s spending bill that would have provided hundreds of millions of dollars to schools, including Chicago’s cash-strapped education system. The plan also was an estimated $7 billion short of what the state is expected to take in, prompting Rauner to pledge a total veto.
Several Senate Democrats, including some members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, were unhappy with the budget blueprint Madigan muscled through the House last week, contending the longtime speaker too often dictates to them what the state budget will be. The bill failed, garnering only 17 “yes” votes and 31 “no” votes.
Herald & Review: Illinois Senate rejects House budget plan
The Latest on the last day of the Illinois legislative session as lawmakers and the governor try to end an 11-month budget standoff:
Illinois Senate Democrats approved a nearly $16 billion bill for public schools next year while rejecting an out-of-balance House spending plan that the governor threatened to veto.
The Senate bill would add nearly a billion dollars to schools at a time when the state is running a massive deficit. Republicans said the bill was unrealistic and it was unclear if the House would take it up before concluding the year’s session Tuesday night.
Shortly after passing the education bill, the Senate overwhelming rejected a $40 billion budget plan that House Democrats passed last week.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said the House bill was $7 billion out of balance and he was going to veto it.
Forbes: Puerto Rico, Illinois And California: Public Pension Dominoes
The U.S. Commonwealth Puerto Rico is making a lot of news these days, but for the wrong reasons—it’s economy, overburdened by government, can’t generate enough income to cover payments on its $70 billion debt. Measured on a per capita basis, each of the island’s 3.5 million residents owe $20,000, a debt they can avoid by simply moving. Compared to its economy, Puerto Rico’s debt-to-GDP ratio is about 68%.
Congress recently moved to rescue Puerto Rico from its debt crisis. Ironically, this is the same U.S. Congress that has presided over the accumulation of a $19.3 trillion U.S. federal government debt for a U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio of 106%. Throw in the unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare and other obligations, and the debt balloons to about $127 trillion, give or take.
Paying debt service is easier when you can print money and run deficits at will. Local and state governments, in contrast to the federal government, are obligated to balance their books. It’s this level of government where a looming debt crisis is gathering, the likes of which make Puerto Rico seem a minor prelude.
Wirepoints: Why Unions Are Cheering Can-Kick on Chicago Pensions: Automatic Tax Levy, Casino!
If you’re scratching your head about why public unions are thrilled with the override of Governor Rauner’s veto of SB777, which reduces taxpayer contributions in the near term for Chicago’s police and fire pensions, here’s why:
Overlooked by our ace press corps is the funding guaranty in the bill. Starting in 2020, taxpayer contributions increase to whatever-it-takes, sky’s-the-limit, annual contributions sufficient to fund the pensions, and property taxes automatically increase to cover those amounts. The bill also mandates that revenue from any casino in Chicago go towards pensions.
So, public unions are thinking that the additional cost resulting from delayed contributions is less important than statutory assurance that property taxes will increase as necessary. Rauner estimates the additional cost at over $18 billion. Reporters haven’t bothered to ask anybody for the actuarial analyses on this, so it’s hard to confirm that number.
Chicago Tribune: UnitedHealthcare to pull out of Illinois insurance exchange
UnitedHealthcare will stop offering Affordable Care Act plans in Illinois in 2017, the Tribune confirmed Tuesday.
The departure of the insurance company will reduce the number of coverage options for consumers in 27 counties.
UnitedHealthcare announced in April that it would pull out of nearly all of the ACA exchanges because of heavier-than-expected losses from covering a population that turned out to be sicker than it expected. The ACA plans, which the company offered in 34 states this year, are a small share of UnitedHealthcare’s total business.
ars: Illinois senator’s plan to weaken biometric privacy law put on hold
Yesterday, Illinois Senator Terry Link filed an amendment to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) to relax rules on the collection of facial recognition data, and he attached that amendment to an unrelated bill pertaining to unclaimed property. But on Friday morning, the senator’s spokesperson reached out to Ars saying that the bill “had been put on hold,” although he would not comment on the reasons for the decision, nor would he speak to when or if the amendment might be revived. If it passes, the amendment would pull the rug out from under a number of lawsuits filed against Facebook, Google, and Snapchat for using facial recognition in photo tagging.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel averts witness stand as city settles suit by whistleblower cops
On the day trial was set to begin, the Emanuel administration on Tuesday announced a $2 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by two Chicago police officers who alleged they were blackballed by the department for blowing the whistle on corruption.
The last-minute resolution of the potentially explosive civil rights lawsuit kept Mayor Rahm Emanuel from having to testify about the code of silence within the Police Department — although the mayor later insisted he was not trying to avoid taking the witness stand.
News-Gazette: AFSCME falls short again
Almost lost amid all the excitement surrounding last week’s state’s budget travails was another legislative vote on a proposal to strip Gov. Bruce Rauner of his authority to negotiate a contract with a union representing nearly 40,000 state workers.
For the second time in less than a year, the Legislature failed to override Rauner’s veto of the ill-conceived legislation.
The Illinois House of Representatives voted 69-47 in favor of overriding the veto of H.B. 580. But 71 votes — a 60 percent majority — were required to override the veto.
Northwest Herald: Madigan, Democrats vote to extend budget debacle
Here we go again.
Despite the pain and controversy that followed Illinois going an entire year without an approved budget, Democrats in the Illinois House of Representatives have voted once again to pass an unbalanced budget certain to be vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner.
That is bad enough. What’s worse is the way in which it was done
The budget plan, a 500-page document, was introduced in the House last Wednesday and voted on the same day, after Democrats voted to end debate.
Then 63 members of the House, all of them Democrats under the command of House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), voted in favor. Nine Democrats joined the House’s 44 Republicans in voting “no,” including Rep. Jack Franks of Marengo.
Herald & Review: Lots of game playing at state capitol
Don’t play video games at work. Especially, don’t play video games at work where your boss can see you.
That seems pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Even the newest, most unaware employee should understand that playing games on company time is a bad idea.
But a few weeks ago, two state representatives, Kate Cloonen, D-Kankakee and Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, were caught by TV cameras playing video games in the House chambers during a fairly significant debate on education funding. By the way, in this case the bosses are the taxpayers. That’s a fact that bears repeating as often as possible when you are dealing with folks in Springfield.
WTTW: Mayor Emanuel’s Pension Plan Survives Rauner’s Veto
The mayor’s police and fire pension reform plan is now law. So how does it affect city taxpayers?
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday took a victory lap and thanked the General Assembly members who went against the governor. He says it spared the city from having to raise property taxes yet again, but does the fix just put off the mess for future taxpayers to pay?
Taxpayers will have to pay $220 million less than they would have if the governor’s veto had gone through. That means there will be no additional tax hike and a line of credit the city took out while waiting for this relief can be paid back.
The Southern: Lawmakers send Rauner plan to reopen Illinois prison camp
Illinois lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to re-open a Southern Illinois prison.
The Senate voted 36-14 on Tuesday in favor of re-opening the low-security Hardin County Work Camp in Cave-in-Rock. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner closed it last winter because of falling inmate numbers and a budget crisis.
Officials say the state will save $1 million in annually and $10 million in required renovation.