Humans services spending restored as part of larger budget deal

By Ashley Griffin

As part of legislation that will keep some state institutions open through the current fiscal year, the Illinois General Assembly also approved more spending for some human services programs.

With all eyes on a plan to halt state facility closures and avert 1,900 layoff, the General Assembly was able to quietly restore millions to some human services programs statewide in cash-stricken times.

Teen Parent Services, which helps low-income parents younger than 20 receive their GEDs and offers parent training classes, received $1.4 million under Senate Bill 2412.“Redeploy Illinois,” a program designed to provide services to youth 13 to 18 years old who are in the juvenile system and are at high risk of being committed to the Department of Corrections, received $2.4 million.

Legislators also allocated $1.4 million to the state’s Homeless Prevention program. Sen. Heather Steans, one of the sponsors of the bill, said that if programs to address homelessness did not receive funding now, it would lead to larger problems and costs for the state because more people would end up in emergency rooms, institutionalized and on the streets. “We were making sure it was getting maintained, not cut out completely,” said Steans, a Chicago Democrat. Senate Democrats pushed for more human services spending last summer but lost when the House and Gov. Pat Quinn refused to go along with the plan.

The Homeless Prevention program was designed to help provide rental assistance, utility assistance and supportive services to individuals and families who are at risk of being evicted or entering foreclosure on their homes. For the past five years, the program has provided counseling, job preparation and assistance with rent or security deposits. It is administered by six centers in the Chicago area and more than 75 sites statewide that aim to help families remain in their homes by offering various programs such a one-month rental-assistance program and emergency funds for families.

According to the Department of Human Service’s website, the program served more than 14,000 households in Fiscal Year 2007. The state’s economic downturn has brought a growing demand for social services and left the state climbing to the top of the nation’s largest inventory of foreclosed homes. A May 2011 RealtyTrac report showed the Chicago metropolitan area had 118,776 homes in foreclosure.

“I think there’s a lot of cold people in the street in the winter months, and homeless families have it the worst. … At the end of the day, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to make an inhuman line item to cut the program,” said Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, a Democrat from Chicago. Currently, more than 14,000 Illinoisans experience homelessness each night, according to a report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Although some legislators pushed for the increase in spending for human services, a recent budget projection from Quinn revealed the state plans to spend $507 million more than it will take in during the current fiscal year. The state is also set to hit $7 billion in overdue bills to vendors — including human service providers — by the end of FY 2012. As part of the projection, Quinn called for a 9 percent cut to state spending, with the exception of education and health care, paving the way for potentially large human services cuts in FY 2013.

While Feigenholtz acknowledges that FY 2012 was a difficult budget year, she said the state must address the backlog of bills, and she predicted that the next budget could possibly send major cuts to human services. “We have to start paying our bills and stop spending,” Feigenholtz said. “As bad as last year was, it may be a walk in the park compared to this year budget.”

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About that "50% Increase"

As the graph below will show you, the much-balleyhooed "50%" tax increase fails to ring true. We found this out when looking at what the Effective tax rate is currently, versus what it would be under Gov. Quinn's plan. As you see, the tax increase tops out at about 20% for any family of 4 that could consider themselves middle class.

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State of Illinois Governor Quinn’s Proposed Budget Summary

Source: State of Illinois FY2010 Budget Book



FY2010 General Funds Budget:

• Revenues - $33.076 billion (after new proposed revenues)
  
• Operating Expenditures - $30.662 billion
  
• Pay-back short-term borrowing - $2.318 billion
  
• Pay old FY2009 bills - $1.333 billion
  
• Remaining FY2010 budget deficit - $1.237 billion (likely carried over to FY2011)
  

CLOSING THE DEFICIT

Current FY2009 deficit: $4.317 billion

• REVENUE: New FY2009 Federal Stimulus funds: $2.155 billion
  
• REVENUE: Fund sweeps: $199 million
  
• CUT: Pension payments: $550 million
  
• CUT: Other spending decreases: $155 million
  
• INCREASE: One-time Medicaid backlog pay-down: $1.491 billion (necessary to get federal funds)
  

New FY2009 deficit: $2.748 billion.

The State of Illinois will borrow $2.25 billion to pay bills this year and pay it back in FY2010. That leaves $1.333 billion in bills carried over to FY2010, $835 of which was carried over to FY2009 from FY2008.



Projected FY2010 deficit: $7.289 billion

• REVENUE: New FY2010 Federal Stimulus funds: $1.843 billion
  
• REVENUE: Income and corporate income tax increase: $3.207 billion
  
• REVENUE: Loophole closures, fee increases, and fund sweeps: $1.054 billion
  
• CUT: Pension payments: $2.296 billion
  
• CUT: Other spending decreases: $1.303 billion
  

New FY2009 surplus: $2.404 billion.

The State will use some of that surplus ($2.318 billion) to pay-back short-term borrowing. The rest ($97 million) will go toward paying down the $1.333 billion in bills carried over from FY2009 to FY2010.

We will be updating our information all day and in the weeks ahead as it comes out. Head on over to Wonkish.com for updates and a nifty Quinn Tax Reform calculator.

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Budget Giveaways to Restore Political Capital

Cross Posted from GapersBlock.com

In the spirit of the Seniors Ride Free giveaway, what budget gifts would you recommend?

6

Gift: Alternative Energies And Planting a Corpse In Mike Madigan's Cellar Tax Credit.

Rationale: "Renewable and alternative energies are an important component of Illinois' economic future; investing in them now will build the infrastructure that will place Illinois ahead of other states as alternative and renewable energy become the standard forms of energy production. Also, dependence on foreign energy is a danger to our homeland security, and investing in domestic energy is the best way to free our foreign policy from the undue attention paid to regions and regimes that control natural resources!"

Indirect or Direct Benefit to Blagojevich: Ingratiates him with creative class social entrepreneurs, environmentalists.
7

Gift: $12 million appropriation for Getting Your Car Out of Tow Lots in Schaumburg/Orland Park.

Rationale: "A significant number of Illinoisans are stranded in downtown Chicago, needing only a few more bucks so they can get on a train and get their car out of a tow lot in Schaumburg or Orland Park."

Indirect or Direct Benefit to Blagojevich: Wins both street hustlers and harried downtown businesspeople.
8

Gift: $400,000 appropriation for reopening Fan Si Pan Restaurant.

Rationale: Fan Si Pan spring rolls.

Indirect or Direct Benefit to Blagojevich: Gets Ramsin's vote.

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Blagojevich a control freak with state budget

When Gov. Rod Blagojevich gives his budget address Wednesday, he’s going to elicit a combination of emotions – boredom and anger.

Legislators, lobbyists and other Statehouse Scene observers are going to struggle to stay awake due to the governor’s whiny voice and less-than-exciting public speaking skills. But those same people are going to enter the Illinois House chambers for the speech totally upset.

Blagojevich, in his desire to exert complete oversight of the process of presenting a budget proposal for the upcoming Illinois government fiscal year, is showing himself to be a control freak.

That kind of attitude is going to mess with the attitudes of the people the governor will ultimately need to approve a state budget. So we can forget about any notion that lawmakers will “play nice” this year and not do anything as embarrassing as last year’s behavior – where a funding resolution for Chicago mass transit dragged into the early weeks of this year.

What has Statehouse people upset is the idea that Blagojevich is being extra secretive about the details of the government spending plan he will present Wednesday at noon.

Gubernatorial aides, particularly those who work with the Bureau of the Budget, have spent the past few months putting together a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that would in theory allow Illinois government to not be deeper in debt on June 30, 2009.

Their work culminates with the governor’s budget address, which is one of the ceremonial rituals that defines the Statehouse Scene. After Wednesday, the budget process gets handed off to the General Assembly, which will spend the next few months reviewing and amending a budget plan until taking a final vote before adjourning for the summer.

The governor’s budget address is one of the ceremonial moments of the state government academic year. It’s almost like Homecoming at a college campus, where a lot of people come out of the woodwork to see what the old place looks like. Wednesday in Springfield will be a madhouse with politicos and their observers all making sure to be at the Statehouse so they can see for themselves just what Blagojevich has in mind.

To accommodate those people with differing interests, the governor’s staff usually conducts briefings the day before the budget address to provide a summary of what is in the spending plan.

The General Assembly’s leaders and the state constitutional officers (attorney general, secretary of state, etc.) all are given a presentation, and they in turn provide a review for their key aides.

In the case of the state Legislature’s members, they receive briefings from their respective partisan leaders, which means Republican senators and representatives are told of all the budget’s shortcomings, and the Democrats in theory are told of its strengths.

Even reporters who work regularly at the Statehouse are given a pair of briefings. From my experience covering state government under governors James R. Thompson, Jim Edgar and George H. Ryan, one briefing would occur in the afternoon – with the state budget director prepared to take detailed questions about the governor’s spending priorities.

The second briefing would come in the evening, and would be held by the governor himself to allow him the chance to influence the way reporters perceived the budget.

Under the agreement, reporters would not actually write or broadcast anything about the budget proposal until the governor’s budget address began. The advantage to reporters is they had something of a clue as to what was in the several-hundreds-of-pages budget book and could write a more intelligent story or two after the afternoon budget speech.

It also meant that an enterprising reporter could have the bulk of the story written, and could spend their after-speech time gaining intelligent reaction to the spending plan.

What made reactions somewhat intelligent was that lawmakers who were commenting on the proposal actually had an idea what was in the budget even before the speech began. They actually knew what they were talking about.

Not this year. The budgetary briefings are being held in the final hours of Wednesday morning just prior to the speech. Blagojevich himself is not participating. With that little lead time, the concept of briefings that are worth anything is a joke.

Blagojevich, as I said before, is being a control freak.

He's not allowing anyone outside of his immediate circle to know what is in the Illinois government spending proposal until the absolute last possible minute. I would imagine any of his staff who actually talked to a legislator, lobbyist or reporter would wind up losing his or her job.

It also means Blagojevich is needlessly ticking off the Legislature, which in theory is controlled by his politically partisan allies. A Democrat-run Illinois House and state Senate ought to be prepared to give Chicago Democrat Blagojevich whatever he wants.

Fat chance. The Chicago White Sox have a better chance this year of winning the World Series than Blagojevich has of achieving détente with the General Assembly.

I can’t understand why Blagojevich, who has threatened to pull similar tactics in the past, is so willing to antagonize the pols, unless he seriously believes the Illinois electorate is so stupid that they will automatically believe “it’s the Legislature’s fault” for whatever problems arise in state government this spring.

It is because of moments like this that I find it ridiculous when people complain Chicago Democrats are taking over Illinois politics and will run everything with strong-arm tactics.

“The Three Stooges” is a more appropriate image. The constant tensions and backstabbing are going to prevent any politically partisan agenda from being imposed on the people of Illinois.

In fact, the only reason Blagojevich may get away with this is because the current status of the Republican Party in Illinois is brain-dead. There are no signs the GOP in Illinois will be able to put together a credible candidate to challenge the second-term governor who has made it clear he expects to be elected to Term Number Three come the 2010 elections.

So if you are one of those people who feel a need to watch the broadcasts of the budget address that likely will air on public television stations across Illinois, keep in mind that the governor is not just a bumbling speaker who historically takes up to two hours to deliver the same type of speech that his predecessors could give in 40 minutes.

He's a conniving politico who is facing a potentially angry mob.

Because he’s governor, he thinks he can get away with it. There’s just one lesson Blagojevich should heed, and it comes from Illinois political history.

In their book “The Glory and the Tragedy,” former Statehouse reporters Taylor Pensoneau and Bob Ellis wrote that former Gov. Dan Walker pulled the exact same stunt – nobody was allowed to see his first budget proposal until he literally started speaking for his first budget address in 1973.

Walker, who had gone through a tenuous campaign against the Democratic organization in Chicago to become Illinois governor, cemented a reputation among his alleged political allies as a political pain in the derriere.

His budget stunt was just one of several reasons that built up into the Democratic Party challenging his desire for re-election in 1976. Even though the challenge ultimately resulted in a Republican winning that election cycle and starting a streak of 26 years with GOP governors, many Democrats of that era thought that dumping Dan Walker made the elections that year a complete success.

If he’s not careful, Rod Blagojevich could find himself in the same position two years from now.

-30-

Originally posted at http://www.chicagoargus.blogspot.com/.

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One Version of the Budget Address

Rich is pointing out that there was not an off the record budget briefing from the governors office this year.

However here at OneMan central we have gotten a preview copy...

Dear Citizens of Illinois, in the past I have tried to do big things for you, health care, better school funding all without raising income taxes. I have failed you, due to the lack of vision of the people in front of me, they have didn't have the vision to approve the GRT, they didn't have the vision to lease the lottery or toll road. They didn't embrace Kino, they have asked questions about what I have wanted to do for you and all around meddled in my plans.

No more....

We are going to buy the Chicago Cubs and I will serve as GM along with being the coolest governor.

How we are going to pay for this. Simple, I am going to sweep every single fund down to 0 and we are not going to pay any bills for 6 months.

That's it, if you don't approve it I will have more special sessions than you can shake a bat at. I will veto anything and everything you do until this happens. I will end up seeing you in court. While you guys are dealing with all of that I will be enjoying the summer at Blago Field opps I mean Wrigley Field.

Go Cubs, I have to catch a Hannah Montana episode I think he secret identity is going to be revealed to the world.

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The yo-yo BIMP

Illinois school districts have waited 60 days for the governor’s action on one particular measure because it would allow them to collect about $600 million for increased state aid payments per student and increased reimbursements for special education teachers. Gov. Rod Blagojevich left time to spare, about 14 hours, to act before the bill would have automatically become law without his signature.

It’s not for the taking yet, though. The governor made two changes from the version approved by the legislature in August. Blagojevich’s office issued a press release at 10 a.m. that said he changed some technical details relating to money for special education and for the Illinois State Police. “Schools and the State Police wouldn’t have been able to get the full funds that are designated for them in the budget without these two changes,” says Abby Ottenhoff, the governor’s spokeswoman. She adds that it took so long to announce the changes because of a thorough review process of such a large piece of legislation, which she says would have had unintended consequences with these mistakes. She denies any political motivations to use the measure as leverage for other items on the negotiating table, namely mass transit funding, gaming-for-capital or money for member initiatives.

In order for the school districts to get the money, the Illinois House and Senate must agree on whether to accept or reject the changes. If they disagree, then the entire measure dies. (Technical note: The new year means it’ll take only 30 votes in the Senate and 60 votes in the House to approve the governor’s changes; it’ll take a three-fifths majority in each chamber to override those changes.)

Considering the long-standing sour relationship between the governor and House Speaker Michael Madigan, as well as the lack of unison between the speaker and Senate President Emil Jones Jr., school districts have gotten used to not seeing the money that the legislature approved as part of the normal state budget.

The governor’s changes will first be considered in the Senate. Jones’ spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer says the president’s office is reviewing the changes and has no comment.

Either way, it’ll be up to the House to follow suit in order for the bill to take effect. Rep. Gary Hannig, Democratic budget negotiator in his chamber, says it’ll be up to the House Rules Committee, which determines whether bills are heard for debate or kept in purgatory. “If this is simply technical, I don’t think there’ll be a problem. I think we’ll say, ‘OK, we’ll run it through as quick as we can because we understand that this has gone on way too long,’” Hannig says. However, the committee could decide to hold the bill if it believes this governor’s or any governor’s amendatory veto oversteps authority by changing the intent of the original legislation. When that happens, the committee tends not to call the bill, Hannig says.

The first day the legislature could consider the so-called BIMP bill, which “implements” the budget, is January 9, the first day of the new spring schedule.

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Blagojevich Could Owe Taxes For Flights

Ouch from CBS2 this governor is taking a beating. Well since the summer he's been taking a beating for his expensive flights as the state legislature is toiling hammering out a budget. The complaints are that these flights between Springfield and Chicago costs money. Now it might cost him some money...

Tax experts say the Internal Revenue Service could consider that travel a taxable fringe benefit.

But Blagojevich's office says the governor's main office is in Chicago -- not the state capital -- so trips there are for legitimate business.

The AP review found that the value of the flights by Blagojevich, his family and guests could be at least $225,000.

That could mean a potential tax bill to the governor of $60,000. Taxpayers could get hit with a penalty of $40,000 if he doesn't pay the bill.



Blagojevich could have significantly cut the amount he might owe for personal trips on state aircraft if he would have used a federal tax formula.

The Internal Revenue Service allows a steeply discounted rate for the value of executive's personal travel on company aircraft.

An Associated Press review of flights by Blagojevich, his family and guests shows trips with no business purpose valued at $225,000.

He could owe taxes of $60,000 on the flights.

His office says the issue is moot because the governor's main place of business is Chicago -- not the state capital -- so flights there are for business purposes.

If Blagojevich had used the IRS discount -- the flights would have a value of $15,000 or less.

He likely would still be able to use the discount for 2007 flights. That would save him tens of thousands of dollars.

The potential tax bill of $60,000 is based on Blagojevich applying the discount for 2007.

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The Peraica Balanced Budget Plan

I got an email from the Peraica for State's Attorney campaign advertising that he will appear on FOX Chicago Sunday and NBC5's City Desk on Sunday morning. Also he provided a link to his budget plan for Cook County. I thought it deserved some play here.

- Calls for a modest reduction of 2% of the FY2007 appropriation level for most departments. The heads of these departments are the best position to know how to best appropriate the funds that their departments receive.

- Reduces the FY 2007 level for the Cook County Recorder of Deeds by 25%.

- Eliminates the TB Sanitarium District. The department of public health is equipped to handle any and all TB issues that arise.

- Eliminates the Police Department at John Stroger Hospital, which was supposed to be disbanded by September 2007, but was given a reprieve at the 11th hour.

- Calls for the elimination of duplicative administrative positions throughout the Cook County Bureau of Health. Examples include the Human Resource Departments in the Bureau of Health that have been absorbed by the Department of Human Resources.

- President Stroger claims there is a $230 million deficit in the budget, yet wants to clear it up by imposing $1 billion per year in new taxes. The deficit statistics given by the Stroger administration change with great frequency, thus making it difficult to determine what the real deficit level is.

- Even if the currently offered statistics were true, they do not justify adding $1 billion per year in new taxes. What do they plan to do with the additional $670 million?

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Wait for it ... wait for it ...

The worries of Chicago-area mass transit riders, Illinois public schools and human service providers culminated at the state Capitol Thursday, but they were all put on hold for seven to 10 days. Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Thursday night outside of his Statehouse office that he would announce a short-term plan Friday that would save Chicago-area mass transit from severe cuts in services and in payroll.

In those seven to 10 days, Blagojevich said he and the legislative leaders — three of whom stood next to him Thursday night — would urge the Regional Transportation Authority to avoid cutting Chicagoland mass transit services November 4. He said that’s because he and the Illinois General Assembly could tie up major differences in the capital program for road and school construction financed by a gaming expansion. And tying that up would allow for Republicans and downstate lawmakers to approve a mass transit bill primarily for Chicago, he said.

He was joined by Senate President Emil Jones Jr. and the two Republican leaders, Tom Cross in the House and Frank Watson in the Senate.

Quote Blagojevich: “There’s broad consensus among Senate President Jones, Republican Leader Watson, Republican Leader Cross and myself that the practical reality is that in order to solve the mass transit problem long-term for the Chicagoland area, we need an infrastructure, capital construction program to get the downstate members to vote for a Chicago issue and to get the Republican members to support a Chicago issue.”

The missing force was House Speaker Michael Madigan, who arrived late and left early from the leaders’ meeting. Afterwards, Madigan said little other than that the House would wait to hear the governor’s announcement before voting on the mass transit proposal that would increase the regional sales tax and real estate transfer tax in Cook County and restructure the governance of the Chicago Transit Authority.

“We’re going to wait to hear from the governor to see if he has produced more money for another short-term, one-week to 10-day bailout,” Madigan said before walking away.

Downstairs from the leaders’ meeting, Chicago Transit Authority executive director Ron Huberman told a House committee that the agency can’t risk accepting another short-term solution. But that depends on whether he, as well as the mass transit riders and other service providers waiting for state money, believe the governor’s promise that everything will fall into place within seven to 10 days.

Jones said the RTA and the CTA officials will testify to a Senate committee Friday.

Schools held hostage?
One more issue tangled in this mess is state aid payments for public schools.

School districts across the state are still waiting for increases in state aid payments promised to them when the legislature approved a state budget in August. (They’ve been getting their fiscal year 2007 levels since August.) The piece of legislation needed for the state to distribute the new money — including an increase in per-student spending and an increase in reimbursements for special education teachers — is another victim of the political standoff on capital and mass transit funding.

“Enough is enough.” That was the message delivered by state Rep. Roger Eddy, a Hutsonville Republican, on behalf of fellow House Republicans and school superintendents earlier Thursday in a Statehouse news conference.

Without the legislation to release the new money, Eddy said not only will schools miss out on the promised increased funding, but some districts actually will lose money. The Illinois State Board of Education would have to recalculate general state aid payments using last year’s numbers.

“In fact, 726 school districts, as of today, when the calculation is recalculated, will actually receive less money in state aid payments beginning with the November 10 payment,” Eddy said.

For instance, Jeff Patchett, superintendent of Oblong Community Unit School District 4 in east central Illinois, said that his district, which is already on the federal financial warning list, would lose out on $8,571 in state aid per month without legislative action. If the legislation to implement the payments were approved, then the district’s state aid payments would increase by more than $21,000 per month.

Logistically, the House could vote on one ”budget implementation bill” (a.k.a. BIMP) already approved by the Senate. Instead, the House advanced a new, more comprehensive BIMP bill that Democratic budget negotiator Rep. Gary Hannig of Litchfield said is more in sync with the approved budget than the one approved by the Senate month’s ago.

The House and Senate are back in session Friday, and the leaders are expected to meet again. Jones said the leaders could continue to meet in Springfield and Chicago over the next seven to 10 days. Mass transit riders, school officials and service providers will be holding their breath in the meantime.

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DuPage Budget Debacle - What Others Are Saying…And What About Long-Term Planning?

[Cross-Posted at WurfWhile.com]

The current budget proposal is to cut about 10% of the DuPage County government workforce, about 235 people, as part of a plan to cut over $50 million. That means hundreds of people, who worked hard and did their job, now will lose their job through no fault of their own. It also means a lot to other DuPage residents, who will face cuts that threaten safety and key government functions. It should have never gotten to this. Many people, many of them Democrats like me, have railed about county mismanagement for years and advocated more fiscal responsibility. Now that disaster has struck on the all-Republican watch, it seems appropriate to me to permit office holders to describe what they will preside over - and in many cases what they've created. Warning to readers and residents - you may find the following material deeply offensive, and you should.

What Others Are Saying About The DuPage Budget Debacle (Alphabetically By Last Name)

DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett denies what the county board tells him is true, according to the Daily Herald, saying layoffs are not an option for the criminal justice system that stands to face almost 200 lost jobs. "It would mean not even doing the bare minimum that is required by law.... Probation will become a joke. The youth home will shut down. Courtrooms will have to be shut down because we can't staff them."

Chief Judge Ann Jorgensen in the Chicago Tribune, "'There won't be enough assistant state's attorneys to prosecute cases; there won't be enough public defenders to represent indigent defendants'.... Jorgensen said probation officers are already spread so thinly that further staff cuts will prevent them from providing services and monitoring that are designed to steer convicted criminals away from a life of crime. 'We have the finest probation officers in the state of Illinois, but I have already asked them to do more and more with less and less.'"

DuPage County Board member Linda Kurzawa, Board President of the DuPage County Board of Health, in the Naperville Sun said, "department services are severely threatened and the Convalescent Center is facing 'the beginning of the end.... The cuts will mean the loss of breast and cervical cancer screenings, hands-on health programs and a large scale-back if not elimination of our dental program.'"

DuPage County Board Chair Robert Schillerstrom in the Chicago Tribune, "'This is not a budget I want. It is not a budget you want.... It is not a budget that will meet the needs of DuPage County or our constituents. ... [The proposed budget cuts] are deep and they are real, and they will affect every department across our county.'" And in the Daily Herald, Chairman Schillerstrom is quoted saying, "Government should cut fat - we have.... Government shouldn't cut muscle - we must. This budget may change people's ideas about our county."

Coroner Pete Siekmann in the Daily Herald, "Siekmann said staff cuts to his office would translate to delayed autopsies and possibly the closing of the coroner's office on weekends. 'People aren't going to quit dying.... If people die in the hospital or their residence we can't just let them lay. We need to respond.'"

Sheriff John Zaruba in the Daily Herald, "'If the county board passes this budget, they have failed in their responsibility to protect the public,' said Sheriff John Zaruba in a written statement. 'The consequences of this budget proposal are unconscionable.'" And in the Chicago Tribune, Sheriff Zaruba is quoted saying, "This office has already been reduced to 1980s staffing levels. ... Crime prevention, alternative sentencing and anti-recidivism programs have been eliminated.... I cannot and will not stand by and let cuts of this magnitude stand. The safety of our citizens is not negotiable."

What About That Long-Term Planning?

Laurence Msall, president of The Civic Federation, told the Daily Herald that "part of the reason the county is in trouble is because it hasn't implemented a long-term strategic plan to address lean financial times." But wait, don't we have a strategic plan - a "roadmap" of where we're headed? Yes, we recently got one - it's here. So why are we in this mess? Well, the "roadmap" is apparently crap (to put it politely). According to the Naperville Sun, before this so-called "roadmap," "[i]n the 20 years that Robert Schillerstrom has been with the county, DuPage has not had a strategic plan." Just as damning, with Schillerstrom counted, ten of the 19 members of the DuPage County Board, a majority, have served at least eight years (and some around two decades). Yet these supposedly business-oriented county board members never thought, until just recently, that a strategic plan was a priority - and then they failed to create and follow a good one.

Conclusion

Now, of course, it's probably too late for a good, short-term fix. Chairman Schillerstrom and the county board want to blame the problem on not getting the $1 a pack cigarette tax through Springfield, but as the Chicago Tribune notes today, "Even that appears to be insufficient to roll back the cuts proposed by Schillerstrom because it would raise an estimated $25 million a year for the county when the cuts total $52 million."

Put simply, the DuPage County Board is responsible for the county budget - and it has lost control. Public safety and crucial government services will likely suffer. Robert Schillerstrom and the DuPage County Board have totally failed to plan for the future - and they've totally failed us. When campaign season comes, and everyone's making promises about being fiscally responsible and cutting taxes and running on their record, or running with the support of incumbents, you need to think about this and think hard. Decades of total Republican control of the DuPage County Board have led to this result. If you like what you see, vote for them. If you believe we need a change, then vote Democrat. As far as I'm concerned, we need big change. It can't come soon enough.

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Some more thoughts on the loopholes...

Zorn had some off the 'corporate loopholes' that the Governor wants to address and I figured I was as good as anyone to respond.

Repeal deduction for foreign and domestic dividends received by corporations--Corporations are allowed to deduct dividends received from other corporations, while individuals are required to include dividends as income and pay tax on dividends received. Corporations exploit this loophole to create foreign subsidiaries that return profits to the U.S. parent corporation in the form of dividends, which cannot be taxed under current Illinois law. For example, an Illinois manufacturer creates a subsidiary in Mexico to manufacture widgets and closes its Illinois widget manufacturing facility. The subsidiary returns its profits to the Illinois parent as a dividend. This deduction is encouraging companies to export jobs overseas.

So raising a tax will help keep jobs in Illinois? That's just illogical. No one moves a widget operation overseas to just save the income tax expense. You move manufacturing overseas due to lower labor and material costs (material costs which can go up due to taxes). The likely difference in shipping costs (domestic vs. importing) would eat up any tax savings from this loophole.

Tax canned software which is subject to written license agreement -- Illinois is the only state the does not tax licenses of prewritten (canned) software and is one of only five that do not tax the prewritten base of software that is modified. Large businesses often escape sales tax on the acquisition of software when they do so through a license agreement, even though the software is identical to that which is taxed when it is purchased by individuals or other businesses. It is unfair to tax the individual or small business user, but not the large business user.

First, where does it say that because every other state taxes something we need to do so as well? There are other implications to the licensing of software besides the tax implications that make it worthwhile to license it (including the cost of upgrades, etc) Also with the growth of Software As A Service (think gmail) where you just pay a per-seat monthly fee to use the software over time corporate expenditures on software produced by other companies is going to go down. This golden goose is going to get killed by technology. Also software requires new hardware, training, etc. The state should be encouraging software licenses and sales not taxing them.

Disclosure moment, I work for a company that licenses software.

Repeal exemption for fuel transported to out of state destinations --By closing this loophole, fuel stored in Illinois will be taxed at the same rate, whether the ultimate destination of the fuel is in Illinois or in another state. Currently the state collects this tax for the LUST fund (Leaking Underground Storage Tax), but gives an exemption for that fuel which is sold in another state. Fuel stored in Illinois and exported to another state poses an environmental risk so the same tax should be charged. Further, the exemption gives a gasoline retailer in a border state at $.011 per gallon advantage over an Illinois retailer, if both buy fuel from the same Illinois distributor. In addition to ending the exemption, this proposal will actually reduce the tax rate from $.011 per gallon to $.010 per gallon, thus reducing the tax on fuel used in Illinois.

For more information about the LUST fund. For the last annual report available on-line 2003.

Perhaps the most illogical of them all, the LUST fund is primarily for storage tanks at gas stations. Not for tanks that store for distribution. Also it would appear that if you are not subject to the tax you can't enjoy the benefit.

That is a distribution facility would not be eligible for remediation with LUST funds. So if we start taxing that fuel, that is fuel that is just at a storage facility will LUST now be responsible for clean-up? That may be a penny wise and a pound foolish.

Also the LUST fund is supposed to pay for tank cleanup, is the LUST fund short of funds? Or is the goal of expanding the tax to make more money available for general revenue funds? Also if they are serious about this, how about removing the exemption for...

Those exempt include airports with more than 300,000 operations per year located in a city of more than 1,000,000 inhabitants (O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport in Chicago);

Sounds like the Aurora Municipal Airport has to pay so why not O'Hare? I bet that would add some revenue!

So here is the question on this one, does the LUST fund need more money (and should it pick up some liability) or is this being eyed as a way to add some general revenue funds.

If the idea is help Illinois gas stations with out of state compition, then .01 a gallon might help. Reducing the .25% difference in the sales tax on gas with Indiana would help more. Gas is always more than $0.01 cheaper on the other side of the state line. There is a reason there are a lot more gas stations and truck stops on the Indiana side of I-80 and the LUST fund is not the reason...

Require income tax withholding on gaming winnings over $1000 from non-residents--Closing this loophole will allow the state to withhold tax from the gambling winnings of nonresidents, which is consistent with the laws of neighboring states. Currently Illinois residents have to pay Indiana taxes when they win at Indiana casinos, but Indiana residents don’t have to pay Illinois taxes when the win at Illinois Casinos. It is unfair to tax Illinois residents but not those from neighboring states on their winnings at Illinois casinos. The withholding requirements will both ease the burden on taxpayers and will assure that gambling winnings are reported.

Fine. I don't see how this is a corporate loophole however. Last time I checked Boeing doesn't go drop money at the boats.

Also are we doing this now for the lottery? How about the tracks?

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Governor to AIDS Advocates: Screw you very much!

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago has been one of the most vocal and consistent supporters of Governor Blagojevich's "Illinois Covered Plan."

They've got to be wondering why they went out on a limb for the Governor, after learning that his budget vetoes included nearly $700,000 in cuts to HIV/AIDS prevention, in addition to more than $6.6 million in cuts to funding for substance abuse treatment. Drug addiction remains one of the largest underlying causes of HIV/AIDS. (Hat Tip to CapitolFax, for going to all of the trouble of summarizing these cuts.)

Of course, this is not the first time that Blagojevich has put HIV/AIDS patients on the chopping block.

Back in 2003, Blagojevich reneged on a promise to the Latino Caucus to provide $3 million in additional funding to expand HIV/AIDS prevention in minority communities, vetoing that money from the budget.

When is the AIDS Foundation of Chicago going to wake up and smell the backstabbing?

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