Closer Look: Why Illinois budget deal unlikely before 2016 | Belleville News-Democrat

 

CHICAGO

Much attention is being focused on a Dec. 1 sit-down between Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders as Illinois approaches the five-month mark without a state budget.

But there are other dates approaching that may be far more important to hopes for a deal on a spending plan, since getting there has as much to do with political timing as getting everyone in the same room or agreeing on what and how much to fund.

For politicians, the calendar often dictates motivations. And considerations such as the primary election in March and whether they will face opposition could be as big a factor as anything in getting a deal before spring.

Among the tough votes lawmakers may have to cast are for a likely tax increase to help a close a revenue gap or for pieces of a pro-business agenda the Republican governor is pushing to weaken labor unions' bargaining power. Democrats say his proposals would hurt working families and shouldn't factor into talks over how to close a multibillion-dollar budget hole; Rauner says they're necessary to improve Illinois' economy.

Next week's meeting is expected to bring Rauner together with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, both Democrats, and GOP leaders Rep. Jim Durkin and Sen. Christine Radogno for the first time since the fiscal year began.

Here's a look at other key dates in the budget battle:

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NOV. 30: NOMINATING PETITION DEADLINE

One of the biggest calculations for legislators will be determining who will vote "yes" on a deal that could include unpopular items such as a tax increase.

Rauner's roughly $20 million political fund and a new political action committee that says it has millions to spend against Democrats in the March primaries have added a new level of concern for candidates this year, even for lawmakers in what are considered "safe" Democratic or Republican districts.

While all seats in the Illinois House and about two-thirds of state senate districts will be on the 2016 ballot, only some sitting lawmakers will face challenges come March.

Starting Monday, candidates may begin filing their nominating petitions with the state board of elections. The deadline to file is Nov. 30.

That's important because it will give legislators up for re-election a sense of whether they can or should risk their political neck by taking a tough vote on a budget deal before the primary.

JAN. 1: SIMPLE MAJORITY

The Illinois Constitution says that after May 31, any bill approved by the Legislature requires a three-fifths vote in both chambers, rather than a simple majority, to take effect prior to July 1 of the next year.

That means that if the Legislature wants to pass a budget before the end of 2015, it would take 71 "yes" votes in the House and 36 in the Senate. If they wait until January, they need 60 in the House and 30 in the Senate — a far easier threshold.

Rauner has said he's "cautiously optimistic that maybe in January we'll get something done."

The rookie governor also has suggested it's Democrats who are putting off a deal because they don't want to take a "tough" vote. Asked about Rauner's comments, Cullerton said the governor must have "misspoke."

"Even if we had an agreement we couldn't vote on anything until January," he said. "That's just clinical."

MARCH 15: PRIMARY ELECTION

It's possible some lawmakers will want to wait until after the March 15 primary before casting a vote on a budget package. It's also possible that the leaders still won't have agreed on a plan by then.

Regardless, there will be even more pressure on lawmakers to get something done.

Among the issues expected to boil over into the 2016 session are universities and community colleges that may be forced to make drastic cuts, including not offering grants to students who need help paying tuition. And without help it's been seeking from the state, Chicago Public Schools may have to lay off hundreds of teachers. The teachers union already has said it will be willing to strike.

Of course, lawmakers already are hearing horror stories about the impact of the budget standoff, and, so far, it hasn't brought much action.

"We're still a long way away from a final resolution," Madigan said

Closer Look: Why Illinois budget deal unlikely before 2016 | Belleville News-Democrat

Unemployment Debt Weighs on U.S. States 6 Years After Recession - Yahoo Finance

 

By Mark Niquette 2 hours ago

 

U.S. states are still repaying federal loans for unemployment benefits more than six years after the recession, costing businesses from mighty Apple Inc. to Ohio’s humble Canton Chair Rental hundreds of millions in taxes and interest. And only a third of states are prepared for the next downturn.

Thirty-five states borrowed from a federal fund when dismissals from the 18-month recession that began in December 2007 depleted jobless benefit accounts. California,  Ohio and Connecticut are the only ones that haven’t retired their debt, which businesses must repay through higher levies. California firms alone have already paid $1.8 billion though last year, and the loan isn’t projected to be paid off until sometime in 2018.

“This is money that we should not be paying out,” said Ginny Grome of Restaurant Management Inc. in Cincinnati, which owns 65 Arby’s restaurants in seven states and has paid almost $218,000 in extra taxes because of Ohio’s outstanding loan. “That’s a lot of money as far as reinvesting or how many more employees could we have had.”

A bill was introduced in Ohio on Nov. 9 to build reserves by 2025 to avoid borrowing again when the next recession hits. But only 17 states have an unemployment insurance fund that the U.S. Labor Department considers sufficient for a downturn, according to a June report, as states try to balance an adequate safety net with an aversion to higher taxes.

“You have to make difficult choices at times, but the system is set up in a way that the states are responsible,” said Doug Holmes, president of UWC-Strategic Services on Unemployment & Workers’ Compensation, a Washington association representing employers.

Each state maintains a fund fed by taxes on employers to cover jobless benefits. When a state must borrow from the federal government to cover those payments and has outstanding balance for more than two consecutive years, employers pay a higher rate to retire the debt. Interest also accrues, which some states pay by assessing businesses and which others cover with state dollars.

Colorado, Illinois, Michigan and five other states issued bonds or borrowed from other funds to retire their federal debt, while others raised employer taxes and reduced benefits, Holmes said. Indiana advanced funds last month to retire its $250 million debt and save businesses $327 million next year, Governor Mike Pence said.

“Hoosier businesses and employees can now rest assured that this tax on hiring has been eliminated,” Pence, a Republican, said in a Nov. 10 release.

In Connecticut, where employers have paid $504 million in additional taxes and $85 million in interest -- and have a rate more than four times higher than in Massachusetts -- the state expects to pay off its $101 million balance next year, said Carl Guzzardi of the state’s Labor Department.

California owes $5.9 billion, and there’s no appetite among businesses for higher taxes or among employee groups to accept benefit cuts, said Marti Fisher of the state’s Chamber of Commerce.

“The only option in this state is for the employers to pay it off,” she said. “It’s a burden.”

Ohio’s outstanding balance is $775 million, after employers have paid $962 million in additional taxes and the state $246 million in interest, according to the Job and Family Services department. California has paid $1.3 billion in interest since 2011, part of $3.7 billion nationwide, federal data show.

The Ohio bill introduced this month to revamp the system ties the employer tax rate to whether the state has a “minimum safe level” of reserves, while also reducing maximum worker benefits and requiring drug tests for some applicants.

The Ohio AFL-CIO opposes the measure because it “unfairly puts the burden of reform on the backs of the unemployed while employers will pay less overall,” President Tim Burga said in a statement.

State Representative Barbara Sears, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said the timing is right to bolster the fund while unemployment is at 4.4 percent and the economy is improving.

“Do we want to go into the next recession prepared to the best of our ability, or do we want to go into the next recession ill-prepared and take the full brunt of the hit long after the recession is over?” she said during a Nov. 10 hearing in Columbus

Unemployment Debt Weighs on U.S. States 6 Years After Recession - Yahoo Finance

Residents upset about one-way street project near Boone County Courthouse in Belvidere - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

Ben Stanley
Staff writer

Posted Nov. 22, 2015 at 8:00 AM
Updated Nov 22, 2015 at 5:29 PM

BELVIDERE — Recent construction intended to turn a thoroughfare near the Boone County Courthouse into a one-way street has neighborhood residents reeling.

In September, the city decided to turn Menomonie Street into a one-way between Main and Webster streets to accommodate angle parking for city police cars, but neighbors say they were never notified of the city’s intentions and were not given an opportunity to voice their concerns before construction began.

"Evidently, if they’re going to change the neighborhood, they don’t have to tell you," resident Shirley Mills said. "They can just do what they want."

Meanwhile, aldermen never approved an ordinance to make the changes, leaving the project in legal limbo while construction crews worked under contract with the city. The city spent about $6,500 to build islands that established angle parking. Construction finished in late October, but the road was not opened to traffic because of the unapproved ordinance, said Brent Anderson, director of Public Works.

At last week's council meeting, a group of residents from the neighborhood demanded that the city take immediate action to open the street to two-way traffic again. The council obliged, voting unanimously against the lingering one-way ordinance so the city could review its options and draw up a plan to reverse changes to Menomonie Street.

"We will start over again to rectify the mess that’s been made," Mayor Mike Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain and aldermen apologized during the meeting for fumbling communication with the neighborhood about the project before it began. Miscommunication among aldermen, police and residents left many confused about what kind of work was being done on Menomonie and why.

On Sept. 8, aldermen voted unanimously to approve a motion from the Public Safety and Finance committees to close Menomonie Street so crews could break ground on the project. At the time, Chamberlain was in Europe consulting with civic leaders in sister cities on economic development strategies; 4th Ward Ald. George Crawford conducted the meeting in the mayor's absence.

Some aldermen still blamed Chamberlain for the foul-up.

"That’s an excuse, but it’s really not a reason," Ald. Clinton Morris said. "If you put it on the agenda and it will affect people here and you’re overseas, then why not hold it off? There should be no blame that goes to the council. The council doesn’t run the day-to-day operations of the city. That’s the mayor."

Chamberlain took responsibility for the miscue but said he trusted the council to make responsible decisions in his absence.

The city will review plans to change Menomonie back into a two-way street during a Committee of the Whole meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at Belvidere City Hall. Anderson said there are two options: pay for construction crews to restore the street's original configuration or explore whether the city can keep angled parking and still accommodate two-way traffic.

"The bottom line for the Police Department is, we need additional parking stalls for our police cars," Chief Jan Noble said. Noble said he'd prefer expanded parking at lots already used by police officers, but "parking on the street is what we may very well have to resort to."

Residents upset about one-way street project near Boone County Courthouse in Belvidere - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Democrat Strategy to Take Back the Senate: Attack the Koch Brothers

Written by  Bob Adelmann

Upon learning that the Koch brothers, Charles (shown) and David, and their network of conservative donors, were planning on spending upwards of $750 million over the next two election cycles, Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader and harsh critic of the Kochs, enlisted the help of two hard-left political strategists to respond. David Brock, the founder of Media Matters in 2004 and the super-PAC American Bridge in 2010, joined with Geoff Garin, president of Hart Research Associates, to build a plan for Democrats to take back the Senate in 2016.

Brock investigates strategy via focus groups while Garin digs up dirt on Republican opponents. Combined with lots of money, attack ads then are constructed to sway low-information voters in Democrats' direction.

The task of taking back the Senate in 2016 is manageable for the Democrats: 34 Senate seats are up for reelection and Democrats need only four or five victories to return control to their party. By tying the 24 Republican candidates to the Kochs, Reid, Brock, and Garin are predicting success.

For Reid, it’s personal. He repeatedly excoriated the Koch’s influence on the floor of the Senate, with attacks like this one:

     “We’ve proven in the long run that [the Koch brothers] are interested in one thing: their bottom line. They’re trying to buy the country. They want to be America’s oligarchs.

For Brock and Garin, it’s redemption. Attack ads attempting to tie Republicans to Koch money failed almost completely in 2014, with only one contested seat going to the Democrats while nine others went Republican. But they say that their strategy is long-term, that results from focus groups show the strategy works, and that last year's victory in Michigan proves it.

First, the focus groups. Six of them were held around the country in August, where “swing” voters were exposed to anti-Koch rhetoric for an hour and then asked if any of them had made up their minds about whom them would support next November. The rhetoric included “evidence” that the brothers want to cut Pell grants and reduce environmental regulations. The implication was that the brothers were anti-student and pro-pollution, implying that the Kochs wanted more freedom to pollute the air and water in order to help their bottom line.

By the time the brainwashing sessions were complete, so was the transformation of these swing voters into rabid anti-Koch activists. Some of them, following the sessions, called the brothers “whores,” “bullies,” and “Nazis.” Said one: “They’re rich white guys who want rich white guys to succeed.” Said another: “Anyone who spends that much money to get somebody elected wants something back what that person is elected.”

Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat senator from North Dakota whose seat isn’t up until 2018, disagreed that the strategy will necessarily work: “When you start making [the Kochs] front and center, you are losing sight of what you need to do. We need to be more mindful of what the message is, not who the messengers are and who’s paying for them.”

Brock and Garin are touting their success in destroying the Republican candidate in the contest for Senator Carl Levin’s seat in Michigan last year. According to Guy Molyneux of Hart Research, their exposure of Terri Lynn Land’s Koch brothers funding did her in, by 14 percentage points, when she lost to now-Senator Gary Peters.

A closer look reveals that the victory was not nearly that simple. First, the race would have been tough for any Republican to win because Republicans haven’t elected a U.S. senator in Michigan in 20 years.

Second, Land was the runt of the Republican litter. After Representatives Dave Camp and Mike Rogers bowed out of the contest, Land was the only one left. Even Republicans admitted they had a weak candidate, one who lacked sufficient public persona or panache to carry the day. In its review of Land’s cratering, Chris Gautz, in Crain’s Detroit Business, wrote:

Poor decisions included the near-invisible nature of Land’s campaign.… [It] rarely, if ever, announced where it would be ahead of time. Land only did a handful of appearances with statewide media, and declined to debate Peters.

The few times she did talk with reporters, her lack of a grasp on national issues was apparent.

The focus groups upon which Reid, Brock, and Garin are relying also show that the strategy might be flawed. In one focus group/brainwashing session that gathered middle-aged Latinos in Las Vegas, some of them said that Democrats were equally guilty of the Koch’s alleged sins, with many of them mentioning one name repeatedly: George Soros. Said a bartender after the session: “The only difference between him [Soros] and them [the Koch brothers] is that they [the brothers] are out there. [Soros] is more of a behind-the-scenes puppet master, like the Wizard of Oz.”

Said another coming up for air after one of the sessions: “They all do it. They’re all going to ask for money from someone, some billionaire. Just like the Koch brothers have all this negative stuff, so do a bunch of other ones.”

Aside from Soros, would some of those “other ones” include John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods, who has been helping to fund Hillary Clinton’s campaigns for years? What about David Stevens, the CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association? Or Richard Parsons, former chairman of Citigroup and Time Warner? Or how about Goldman Sachs, which, between 1999 and 2016, has given $711,000 to Clinton? Or JPMorgan Chase, with gifts of $620,000? Or Morgan Stanley, unloading $543,000 into Clinton’s coffers? Or Time Warner — $411,000?

If Reid, Brock, and Garin are relying on these focus group results and electoral “victories” to win the necessary four to five Senate seats in November for the Democrats, it is, as Alex Roarty, writing in the National Journal, expressed it, "a strategy that Democrats will have to repeat several million times over if they want to succeed."

A graduate of an Ivy League school and a former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at www.LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at badelmann@thenewamerican.com .

Democrat Strategy to Take Back the Senate: Attack the Koch Brothers

New Filings Show Koch Brothers Give Millions To Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice Groups | ThinkProgress

 

New Filings Show Koch Brothers Give Millions To Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice Groups

by Josh Israel Nov 18, 2015 9:27am

CREDIT: AP Photo/Paul Vernon

David Koch at an August Americans for Prosperity conference

 

Over the past year, petrochemical billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch have gone to great pains to change their public image and sell themselves as social moderates who “don’t want the federal government in your pocketbook” or “in your bedroom.”

But IRS filings released on Tuesday by Freedom Partners, the Kochs’ secretive tax-exempt organization that serves as the ATM for their anti-government activism, show they also continued to help distribute millions of dollars to anti-choice and anti-gay organizations in 2014.

Last December, ABC’s Barbara Walters interviewed David Koch and noted that he was “not well-liked, primarily because of [his] very conservative politics.” She asked him why a supporter of LGBT equality and abortion rights supports social conservatives. Koch, not disputing her characterization of his own public standing, responded, “Well that’s their problem. I do have those views… I want these candidates to support a balanced budget. I’m very worried that if the budget is not balanced, inflation could occur and the economy of our country could suffer terribly.”

Earlier this year, Politico Magazine suggested Charles Koch might now be labeled a “liberal crusader,” based on his work on criminal justice reform, including a partnership with the Center for American Progress (ThinkProgress is an editorially independent news site associated within CAP). After he and his wife hosted MSNBC’s Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough at a closed-to-the-public GOP candidate forum, the former Republican Congressman raved that the Kochs were mainstream social moderates with little patience for those who want “huge bloody battles on social issues.”

On its own website, Freedom Partners reprints a USA Today article that identifies the 501(c)(6) organization (curiously registered under the section of the tax code for chambers of commerce and similar groups) as “the center of the Koch’s expansive operation.” Politico called it the Koch Brothers’ “secret bank,” though as the group does not disclose its donors, it is unclear how much of its hundreds of millions came from the Kochs themselves.

Where did the money go? In addition to going to an array of other Koch network groups like Americans for Prosperity ($16 million), Generation Opportunity (more than $14 million), and the Libre Initiative ($6.5 million), a good chunk of it went to the very anti-LGBT and anti-abortion groups from which the duo has sought to disassociate themselves.

Freedom Partners gave $5,745,000 to Evangchr4 Trust, a Koch-tied Evangelical Christian pastoral outreach organization that itself gave more than $1.3 million in 2013 to Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink and $375,000 to the anti-LGBT hate group Family Research Council Action.

The group also gave $885,000 for advocacy and another $125,000 for general support directly to CitizenLink — which describes itself as “deeply concerned about the hearts and souls of those who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or ‘transgendered.'” It also sent $225,000 to Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion and anti-contraception organization, and $150,000 to Heritage Action for America.

Freedom Partners reported giving $0 to socially progressive organizations in 2014.

Above is from:  New Filings Show Koch Brothers Give Millions To Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice Groups | ThinkProgress

Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » Rauner: The least popular freshman governor

 

Friday, Nov 20, 2015

* Morning Consult…

While only a small percentage of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the average governor’s approval rating is a healthy 54 percent. An average of 34 percent disapproved.

Running for president appears to be a good path to a lousy approval rating in one’s home state, the surveys show. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – both of whom have an approval rating of just 40 percent — join Jindal near the bottom of the rankings (Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who sports a 59 percent approval rating, is the lone exception).

On the other hand, voters appear to give the benefit of the doubt to governors who have only recently won office: Less than a year into their terms, Baker, Hogan, Alaska’s Walker, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) all have approval ratings north of 59 percent. Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) both have approval ratings over 50 percent.

Only one new governor – Illinois’s Bruce Rauner (R) – is seen in a negative light: His approval rating, 42 percent, is three points lower than the percentage who disapprove of the job he’s doing.

Rauner never really had great numbers during the campaign, and these are 2016 voters, so it’s a more Democratic sample. I seriously doubt this poll would cause any sort of panic on Team Rauner.

But it’s nothing to be proud of, for sure.

The Illinois survey had a very large sample size, by the way.

Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » The least popular freshman governor

Boone County sets $25.7M budget; slight property tax increase expected - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

By Adam Poulisse
Staff writer

Posted Nov. 20, 2015 at 2:02 PM
Updated at 8:48 PM

BELVIDERE — Property tax bills are expected to increase slightly in the Boone County budget that goes into effect Dec. 1.

The county anticipates a 1.26 percent tax rate, although the actual rate won't be set until spring. That would increase the property tax bill of the owner of a $100,000 house by about $4 next year for the county's portion of the bill. The county's share would be $345 for a $100,000 home, depending on the exemptions. The county's tax rate makes up 11 percent of a total residential bill.

Board members approved the $25.7 million budget Wednesday, 10-2, making several cuts and tapping into cash reserves to balance it. On Oct. 21, the board voted 9-3 to use $800,000 of public safety sales tax revenue to balance the budget, a controversial move that resulted in debate between board members and residents.

"Our revenue and expenses are going opposite directions," Chairman Bob Walberg said. "We have real concern (with) payments from the state. We put them in the budget anticipating we will get them. With this five-month process of trying to get a state budget, we're not assured we'll get those revenues."

General fund revenues are projected at $16.2 million, and spending to be about the same, Boone County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said. The general fund was $14.9 million this year and $15.3 million in 2014. General funds pay for daily operations, including salaries. The increase can be attributed to increase costs in health insurances, wages, juror pay and new positions with the county, and to afford two sheriff's deputies and two corrections officers to help staffing and reduce overtime.

Major funds in the budget include $4.8 million for bridge work. A significant repair to the bridge on Pleasant Street near the Green Giant plant will cost about $3 million.

The budget includes $740,000 for the new Animal Services building, plus $266,000 for one year of bond payments. Bids for construction will go out Dec. 1, Walberg said. "I'm hopeful they'll (be) in line with what we anticipate the building will cost."

the county also used to earn daily payments to house inmates from DeKalb County. But a 50 percent increase in inmates at the Boone County Jail has left no more room to house outsiders, costing about $400,000 in lost revenue, Walberg said.

Budgeting has been difficult for some time, Terrinoni said.

"We never got over the recession of '09," he said. "Our revenues never got better, then add into that the state (budget) problem, then the local prisoner population took off ... ."

In other business, the board approved changes to the wind turbine ordinance, 9-3 vote, following approval Nov. 4 by the Planning, Zoning and Building Committee. The revised ordinance says wind energy conversion systems must be at least 2,640 feet, or 5½ times the height of the turbine tower, away from a property line; the previous distance was 1,000 feet. It also would allow property owners to waive setback conditions if an agreement is made with neighboring property owners.

Boone County sets $25.7M budget; slight property tax increase expected - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL