Rauner cost the taxpayers money.
Friday, Aug 21, 2015
* Wednesday’s statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office…
“Tonight the state legislature has taken an important step forward for Chicago and for Illinois. I want to thank Senate President Cullerton and the members of the State Senate for joining the State House in passing Senate Bill 2042. This bill ensures that the operations at Navy Pier and McCormick Place, which are two engines of our economy, are funded. It also ensures that we leave no federal dollars on the table which can support our residents.”
* On Thursday, the governor signed the federal funds bill into law…
Governor Bruce Rauner signed SB 2042 today, which appropriates money for the pass through of federal dollars without adding to the state’s budget deficit. The clean bill allows the state to provide some services to the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Governor Rauner supported and signed this clean pass through bill because it will help those in need without adding to the state’s budget deficit,” Director of Communications Lance Trover said. “While the Governor continues to work on passing a balanced budget with structural reforms to maximize how much we can invest in our schools and important social services, some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens will be able receive additional support.”
* Speaker Madigan’s response…
Madigan: Governor Failed Women, Children and Elderly While Helping Chicago’s McCormick Place
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - House Speaker Michael J. Madigan issued the following statement Thursday after the governor signed legislation authorizing the use of state funds for McCormick Place while opposing funding for women, children and the elderly:
“Governor Rauner’s piecemeal approach to federally funded programs creates more hardship and confusing disruptions. A few weeks ago, he vetoed all federally funded program spending. Now he cherry picks and says ‘no’ to state funding for critically needed services like breast and cervical cancer screenings, assistance for children with development disabilities and meals for the elderly. He also reversed course with the decision to support spending state money to pay Chicago’s McCormick Place bankers.
“The governor’s office called the inclusion of funding for these programs a ‘poison pill,’ and more than one House Republican made similar comments on the House floor, even going so far as to say these programs were ‘extra nonsense’ that ‘got in the way’ while they insisted on spending additional state money to ensure McCormick Place’s bankers get paid. I take great exception to those disparaging comments, as do the women, children and elderly who would have benefitted from the state dollars House Democrats supported.”
He has a point, but that federal funding/McPier bill really needed to pass.
* OK, now let’s move on to some context from Yvette Shields…
The legislation permits MPEA to draw from the account that holds pledged tax revenues to cover monthly payments to the bond trustee and also to make its December debt service payment. The agency requires an appropriation to do both and without a state budget in place it could not make the $20.8 monthly payment due to the trustee July 20.
The failed transfer triggered a technical default and prompted Standard & Poor’s to strip the agency’s $3 billion of debt of its AAA rating and Fitch Ratings to lower its AA-minus rating. […]
“Met Pier has been held hostage by the Illinois legislature, which should have unconditionally appropriated money to cover debt service,” [Cumberland Advisors] wrote in a recent commentary authored by Michael Coomes and John Mousseau.
“The political paralysis in Illinois does not make Met Pier a bad credit,” they wrote. “It is a good credit held hostage by the vagaries of the municipal market’s retail buyer base and headline risk. At Cumberland, we have sold our uninsured Met Pier debt because of these heightened political risks. We believe that Met Pier bonds will not be prudent investments until Illinois’ political issues are resolved.”
* But my beef is, what exactly happened here?
It’ll now cost more money to finance McPier bonds because somebody in the Rauner administration didn’t anticipate a very real debt service issue, or didn’t communicate that upcoming problem to the governor’s office or the General Assembly leadership, or they did and the warnings were ignored.
And are there any other preventable time bombs out there that we should know about?
The House’s State Government Administration Committee and/or the Senate’s State Government & Veterans Affairs Committee ought to get to the bottom of these questions. Pronto.
- Posted by Rich Miller
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