Bill Hatfield’s View: Boone County works to treat all nonprofits fairly

• My View: Boone County works to treat all nonprofits fairly

• This opinion piece was printed recently in the Rockford Register Star and is available on line at:  http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/20160827/my-view-boone-county-works-to-treat-all-nonprofits-fairly/?Start=2

• By Bill Hatfield

  Rockford Register Star

  By Bill Hatfield

  Posted Aug. 27, 2016 at 10:00 AM

• Bill Hatfield

• By Bill Hatfield

• Posted Aug. 27, 2016 at 10:00 AM

  In recent years a small group of vocal citizens has chosen to pressure the Boone County Board of Health, the Boone County Health Department and the County Board for continued special treatment at the expense of taxpayers and local businesses. They discovered that their not-for-profit status entitles them to the county code fee waiver for food permits.

  Fee waiver history: No waiver in the 1975 code. No waiver in the 1981 code. In 1987, a fee waiver was introduced for “nonprofit organizations such as: school districts, hospitals, day care centers and churches.” In 1995, the County Food Code was updated to comply with new state requirements.

  In that update the definition changed to “Bona fide not for profit organizations” based upon a conversation with the Illinois Department of Revenue that anyone having been issued an “E” tax number was an exclusively charitable organization and therefore “Bona fide not for profit.” The Board of Health then adopted the “E” tax number as the definition of an NFP but neglected to have it officially changed in the County Food Code.

  Instead of seeking consistency in the county code and calling for a fee waiver from all county fees, the group has concentrated on retaining the special treatment and is calling for elimination of the department. BCHD is an NFP organization that benefits Boone County citizens through a variety of services; many of which are either free or a reduced rate.

  Much revenue brought into the county through multiple state and federal grants can only be received by a “certified” local health department. Grants make up 44.9 percent of the department budget while the local taxpayer levy represents 24.3 percent. For every local tax dollar received, BCHD brings in $1.84 through grants, almost doubling the local tax contribution. A BCHD report is published annually, which gives a summary of services offered. At least 40,000 local citizens are impacted by BCHD services annually.

  Some false statements and wrong assumptions found in previous letters from the group are addressed below:

  BCHD wants to charge all nonprofits: BCHD seeks to remove special treatment enjoyed by some at a $20,000 annual expense to the local taxpayer. County code also waives food permit fees for NFPs located outside the county/state. The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a bona fide NFP established in California. Local taxpayers will subsidize them and other such groups if they apply for a Boone County food permit.

  Fees, no rhyme/reason: Actual costs incurred by BCHD for evaluating, permitting, educating and inspecting food facilities determine fees. The low risk permit cost was $162.21 in 2015. This baseline cost is adjusted to cover additional inspections/education/time required for establishments posing a higher risk of food-borne illness to the public. Illinois Department of Public Health Food Sanitation Code “risk” criteria are used by all Illinois health departments to determine minimum food management certification, education and inspection requirements.

Health Department says, "We are in the red. We need more money. We need more fees, now!": BCHD has never made that statement.

2013 wage increases: In 2013, the Health Department was unable to hire replacements for necessary positions due to noncompetitive wages. Adjustments brought wages in line with surrounding counties for similar positions.

Cindy Frank's 55 percent pay increase (2013): Published budgets show the administrator was paid $78,250 in 2013 and $80,116 in 2014; less than a 2 percent increase.

Administrator salary 2017: Administrators must meet qualifications required by Illinois statute that limit the ability to find and hire persons approvable by IDPH for the position. $90,675 is a maximum number in a proposed budget.

Combining jobs/layoffs: The balanced 2017 budget combines three management positions into two. Both remaining positions will assume more workload, responsibility and hands-on client contact activities day to day. Several BCHD vacated positions remain unfilled.

Money from taxes: Taxpayer money currently subsidizes all NFP food permit/education/inspection costs due to the NFP fee waiver. NFPs pay all other fees in the county code, from $5 clerk fees to $2,500 annual liquor licenses.

Volunteer organizations give back: The value of NFPs is not at issue. The issue is that everyone choosing to conduct an activity that causes an expense to the taxpayer must reimburse for that expense or choose to conduct an activity that has no cost to the taxpayer.

88 percent salaries and benefits: According to the Bureau of Labor Standards Economic News release, June 9, formula, the 15 workers at the department should have cost $1,322,977 in salaries and benefits. The department paid $979,852.

$500,000 in untapped grant money: All grants have requirements that must be met prior to grant expiration. There is no such thing as “untapped grant money.”

Food-borne Illness: BCHD has been required to assist in numerous food-borne illness investigations that occurred elsewhere. The only illness originating in Boone County recently was an outbreak at a closed event where volunteers were used and no permit was required.

Overtime: Employees who work weekends and evening hours are compensated by taking the equivalent hours off during their normal work week.

Crusader Clinic: BCHD works very closely with Crusader Clinic. Crusader can only offer medical services to those persons who are enrolled with the clinic and can afford a copay. Those who don’t qualify are referred to the Health Department for medical services.

Bill Hatfield is director of Environmental Health for the Boone County Health Department

Native Americans fight No Dakota pipeline

 

With echoes of Wounded Knee, tribes mount prairie occupation to block North Dakota pipeline

Los Angeles Times

William Yardley

 

© James MacPherson/AP Jon Don Ilone Reed, an Army veteran and member of South Dakota's Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, poses for a photo at an oil pipeline protest near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in southern North Dakota, Thursday… REPORTING FROM ALONG THE CANNONBALL RIVER, N.D. - Long before Lewis and Clark paddled by, Native Americans built homes here at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers, using the thick earth to guard against brutal winters and hard summer heat. They were called the Mandan people.

Now, Native Americans are living here again. They sleep in teepees and nylon tents. They ride horses and drive quad cabs. They string banners between trees and, when they can get a signal, they post messages with hashtags such as #ReZpectOurWater, #NoDakotaAccess and #NODAPL. For weeks, they have been arriving from the scattered patches of the United States where the government put their ancestors to protest what they say is one indignity too many in a history that has included extermination and exploitation.

It is called the Dakota Access oil pipeline and it could carry more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Bakken region of western North Dakota across South Dakota and Iowa to connect with an existing pipeline in Illinois.

The 1,100-mile pipeline, which is estimated to cost $3.7 billion, is nearly halfway complete. But construction on a section that would sink beneath the Missouri River, just north of the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux, has been halted under orders from the sheriff of Morton County, Kyle Kirchmeier. He said protesters, nearly 30 of whom have been arrested in recent weeks, were creating safety issues.

Yet the protesters say they are creating something very different - new resistance against what they say is a seemingly endless number of pipelines, export terminals and rail lines that would transport fossil fuels across or near tribal reservations, risking pollution to air, water and land.

"Every time there's a project of this magnitude, so the nation can benefit, there's a cost," Dave Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, who was among those arrested, said in an interview. "That cost is born by tribal nations."

Archambault and other native leaders have been caught off guard by the support they have received. What began with a handful of natives establishing a prayer camp along the river this spring has now drawn international environmental groups and prompted Hollywood celebrities, including Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley, to join them, whether here or in a protest last week in Washington, D.C., or on social media.

"Inspired by the Standing Rock Sioux's efforts to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline," Leonardo DiCaprio posted on Twitter this week.

Lawyers from Earthjustice are representing the Standing Rock Sioux in a legal effort to stop construction of the pipeline. They claim that the Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Historic Preservation Act when it approved the project and that a more stringent environmental review should be done. They say the pipeline and its construction would damage ancestral sites of the Standing Rock Sioux and put the tribe's water supply at risk.

On Thursday, nearly three dozen environmental groups wrote to President Obama, who visited the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in 2014 with Michelle Obama, saying the Corps approved the project using a fast-track process, known as permit 12, that was inadequate given its size and the many sensitive areas it would cross.

The Corps of Engineers argued in court in Washington this week that the Standing Rock Sioux and other parties had ample time to express concerns during a review process and that the pipeline was properly approved. Energy Transfer Partners, the Texas company building it, says the pipeline will increase the nation's energy independence and that it is a safer means of transport than rail.

The judge over seeing the case, James A. Boasberg of United States District Court, said this week that he will rule no later than Sept. 9 on a request by the Standing Rock Sioux to stop construction and reconsider permits the project has received.

The pipeline has met resistance elsewhere along its route, including from farmers in Iowa concerned about soil damage and property owners whose land is being taken by eminent domain. But nothing compares to what has taken hold here between the rivers.

Nantinki Young, who goes by Tink, is a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe from South Dakota; she runs the cook shack here. Winona, who did not give her last name, is Penobscot. She left Maine on Monday and drove 2,100 miles to put together a recycling program for the hundreds of new residents of the protest camp.

And then there is Clyde Bellecourt. He is Ojibwe. He came from Minnesota, but may be better associated with Wounded Knee, S.D. Not the massacre in 1890, but the standoff in 1973, when the group he helped found, the American Indian Movement, suddenly became a household name, the image of Indian activism.

He is 80 now. Sitting in a folding chair not far from the Buick where he keeps copies of a flyer promoting his new memoir, he likes what he sees.

"My life is almost over, but there's fresh energy here," he said. "Save the children - that's what this is all about."

Protesters have vowed to stay at least until Judge Boasberg rules and potentially much longer. Monitors from Amnesty International have arrived. An employee of the federal Indian Health Service established a first aid tent. Vans carpooled people to showers.

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux formed Spirit Resistance Radio, at 87.9 FM, to broadcast updates. An Art Market opened to sell handmade crafts. There was talk, lighthearted for now, about establishing a school that would teach children at the camp site in native languages.

The Morton County Sheriff's office has blocked one of the main routes to the camp from Bismarck, the state capital, forcing some protesters to drive a lengthier route to the site. Law enforcement is planning to escort school buses that travel through the area, though protesters say they want nothing but peace and prayers.

People have been practicing nonviolent direct action tactics, preparing to try to stop construction should it start again. A lawyer from Colorado working pro bono asked protesters to fill out forms "if you think that you have a clean record and you want to be arrestable."

Jasilyn Charger, 20, is among a group of young natives who ran together from North Dakota to Washington to protest the pipeline. She remembers the early days of the protest, when just a handful of people prayed by the river.

"When we started this, people thought we were crazy," she said. "But look at where we are today."

Don Cuny, 65, was among those impressed with how robust the camp had become. Like Bellecourt, he was at Wounded Knee when natives led a 71-day standoff in the town on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. That effort was driven in part by a goal to rewrite treaties with the government.

"This kind of reminds me of back in Wounded Knee," said Cuny, who goes by Cuny Dog. "Except that I'm gaining weight. At Wounded Knee, I lost weight."

Koch Brothers spend big in Indiana races

 

Group spending nearly $4 million on anti-Bayh ads

WASHINGTON — A group with ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is spending nearly $4 million on fall ads to try to prevent Evan Bayh from taking back his old Senate seat.

That’s on top of the $1 million the Senate Leadership Fund has already spent on the general election race, and the roughly $800,000 the group spent to help Rep. Todd Young win the GOP primary.

The Senate Leadership Fund is a super PAC created to help Republicans keep control of the Senate.

The group on Friday placed $960,000 in ads each week for the last three weeks of September and the first week of October.

The ads are running statewide — some on broadcast TV and some only on cable channels.

Indiana has already seen the fourth-highest amount of general election ads for a Senate race through mid-August, according to an independent report released Wednesday.

Bayh’s side paid for $3 million of those ads, and Young or his backers paid for $2.1 million.

That calculation from the Wesleyan Media Project report was based on data provided by Kantar Media/CMAG, which tracks broadcast television, national network and national cable television advertising.

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

Indiana's Senate, governor races among tops in nation for political ads

Independent expenditure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show the campaign arm of Senate Republicans, the National Republican Senatorial Committee,  has spent $664,718 on ads against the former governor and senator.

Freedom Partners Action Fund, the super PAC associated with the political network overseen by brothers Charles and David Koch, has spent more than $1 million on television and digital ads against Bayh.

Americans for Prosperity, which also is backed by the Koch brothers, has spent more than $92,000 on phone banks and other canvassing expenses. The group also is holding events around the state to talk about Bayh’s voting record.

The campaign arm of Senate Democrats has spent more than $1 million on ads attacking Young.

National political handicappers rate Indiana’s Senate seat, which is being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Dan Coats, as one of the most likely to switch political parties.

The outcome will help determine which party controls the Senate.

Spending by outside groups in all Senate races is at an all-time high, according to the Wesleyan Media Project. Outside spending made up just less than half of all airings through mid-August, although the share in Indiana was just less than 20 percent.

Contact Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.

Above is from:  http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/behind-closed-doors/2016/08/26/group-spending-nearly-1-million-anti-bayh-ads/89407142/

Mainstream request extension for Canadian Project

Mainstream Renewable Power has requested a two-year extension for construction of the 63MW Windy Point wind farm in Alberta.

The developer told regulators the project, which was initially approved in 2012 and has already received two extensions, could complete construction by 30 September 2018.

The Alberta Utilities Commission has granted an interim extension while it reviews the request.

“Historically low power pool prices over the past several years has prevented Windy Point, and many other proposed wind farm developments, from obtaining commercial project financing for the construction of the project,” said Mainstream.

Alberta is developing and implementing a plan to procure new renewable energy, which is expected to launch later this year.

“Windy Point is expecting to participate in the renewable energy program,” said the developer.

Mainstream also plans to submit an application to change the turbine model. The permit authorizes construction of 21 Siemens 3MW turbines at Windy Point, about 15 kilometers northeast of Pincher Creek.

If all changes are approved, Mainstream expects to start construction in late 2017.

The Alberta Electric System Operator has approved a revised in-service date of 1 September 2018.

Above is from:  http://renews.biz/103916/mainstream-eyes-alberta-overtime/

Governor Rauner signs life insurance bill

Rauner signs life insurance bill

Friday, Aug 26, 2016

* Press release…

Governor Bruce Rauner and Anne Melissa Dowling, Acting Director of the Illinois Dept. of Insurance, today announced two actions taken by the administration to help Illinoisans find lost life insurance money through the launch of the free Life Policy Locator Service and signing House Bill 4633 into law.

“I applaud Director Dowling and her staff for their efforts to make it easier for Illinoisans to access life insurance policy information, ensuring they can more quickly receive the benefits they are owed,” said Governor Rauner. “Updating our antiquated technology to increase employee efficiency and provide better customer service to the taxpayers that interact with state government has been one of my top priorities since coming into office, and our administration will continue to pursue efforts like the Life Policy Locator Service to bring state government into the 21st Century.”

The Life Policy Locator Service through the Dept. of Insurance (DOI) helps executors, legal representatives, or members of the deceased person’s immediate family find a life insurance policy or annuity contract left by a deceased loved one and serves to bridge the gap between insurance companies and Illinois citizens who think they may be listed as a beneficiary.

“Many times finding life insurance policies can be difficult and time consuming after a loved one’s death,” said Dowling. “But with this new free service, consumers can request help from the Illinois Department of Insurance to simplify the process of locating lost life insurance policies. This search service eliminates the confusion of trying to locate missing life insurance policies or annuity contracts and helps get those benefits to the intended beneficiary.”

After the necessary information is submitted, DOI will contact all state-licensed life insurance companies asking them to search their records for any life insurance policies or annuity contracts insuring the decedent. If a policy is found, that insurance company will contact the beneficiary to complete the claim.

In addition, today Governor Rauner signed House Bill 4633 into law. The legislation creates the Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act and requires insurers to run an initial, and then semi-annual, check against the Death Master File to determine if an insured has passed away. Insurers will be allowed to access the Life Policy Locator to help streamline the process and comply with the new law.

Finally, Governor Rauner and Director Dowling called on the General Assembly and the Treasurer to stop contingency arrangements with private finder companies. The Treasurer’s Office has paid these companies millions of dollars over the past several years, funds which would otherwise be put towards the pension systems, to locate unclaimed life insurance policies. With the launch of the free Life Policy Locator Service and the enactment of HB 4633, these arrangements should no longer be necessary. The savings will result in millions of dollars for the pension funds.

Illinoisans can learn more about the Lost Life Policy Locator Service, by visiting the DOI website at www.insurance.illinois.gov.

HB4633 is effective January 1, 2017.

Above is from:  http://capitolfax.com/2016/08/26/rauner-signs-life-insurance-bill/

Fiat Chrysler employees at Belvidere plant laid off for one week following parts shortage

• By Adam Poulisse
  Staff writer

  Posted Aug. 27, 2016 at 12:01 AM

  BELVIDERE — About 3,800 workers at the Fiat Chrysler plant will be laid off for one week beginning Monday due to a shortage of parts because an Ontario-based supplier was damaged by a tornado.

  The supplier is unable to manufacture gas tanks for vehicles until the damage is cleaned up. As a result, assembly in Belvidere is temporarily put on pause, according to George Welitschinsky, president of United Auto Workers Local 1268.

  "They got hit hard and can't recoup for another week," he said. "It's mother nature, we can't control it. It creeped up on us."

  Those affected will retain their benefits for the week they are off, Welitschinsky said. About 2,000 parts suppliers near the Belvidere plant will also be laid off for the week, Welitschinsky said.

  Employees will receive unemployment plus a subpayment, which adds up to about 95 percent of a worker's pay. Employees are set to return to work on Sept. 6, the day after Labor Day, according to Welitschinsky.

  "It's only going to be a week," he said. "We can't afford a second week."

  A tornado ripped through parts of Windsor this week, ripping roofs off buildings and tearing down power lines. Tornadoes also caused significant damage in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

  Adam Poulisse: 815-987-1344; apoulisse@rrstar.com; @adampoulisse

• Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/news/20160827/fiat-chrysler-employees-at-belvidere-plant-laid-off-for-one-week-following-parts-shortage

Status of Great Lakes Basin RR

Great Lakes Basin Transportation will not meet a Monday deadline for filing an alternate route for its proposed freight train line from Milton, Wis., into LaPorte County.

"We are going to file a request for an extension on Monday," said Frank Patton, founder and managing partner of GLBT, on Friday, declining to provide further details. "It should be public shortly thereafter."

In related news, a local lawmaker said he will spearhead updating the state's eminent domain laws related to railroads to make it more difficult for business interests to take privately owned land for their own profit.

The federal Surface Transportation Board, which held public meetings on the 278-mile proposal in the spring, set an Aug. 29 deadline for GLBT to offer an alternate route to the one that cuts through southern Lake and Porter counties.

"There is no explanation in the information GLBT has provided to date to explain whether GLBT considered other potential alignments and variations and why they might have been rejected," Victoria Rutson, director of the Office of Environmental Analysis, wrote in a July 5 letter to one of GLBT's attorneys.

The Office of Environmental Analysis will compile the more than 3,900 comments submitted online, as well as those made during the spring meetings, for an environmental impact statement on the proposal. That is expected to take a few years.

Earlier in the week, Patton indicated via email that GLBT planned to meet the Monday deadline. It was not immediately clear Friday what might have changed.

A proposal to build the Great Lakes Basin Transportation's freight rail line through south Lake and Porter counties is creating uncertainty for government, schools and real estate professionals.

"For us it's kind of a really large guessing game as far as forward planning," Lowell Town Council president...

A proposal to build the Great Lakes Basin Transportation's freight rail line through south Lake and Porter counties is creating uncertainty for government, schools and real estate professionals.

"For us it's kind of a really large guessing game as far as forward planning," Lowell Town Council president...

(Amy Lavalley and Carrie Napoleon)

GLBT's $8 billion privately funded proposal, would be the largest new rail line in recent times and is meant to provide a bypass for Chicago's congested rail yard and take trucks off the road. The route will have the capacity for up to 110 trains a day.

Two of the six Class I railroads expected to be served by the freight line have publicly stated they will not participate; the remaining four appear uncommitted to the project.

Several people, including a representative with the opposition group Residents Against the Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain, or RAILED, have submitted alternate routes for consideration to the STB.

"There have already been some good alternative routes submitted," said Kathleen Honl, one of RAILED's organizers, adding she wasn't surprised Patton would not meet the deadline. "Though I would doubt he would kill the project altogether, maybe he is realizing that his original route isn't the best choice. Of course, this is speculation."

Federal agency begins look at proposed freight line

Amy Lavalley

The fate of a proposed freight train line with a route that would cut through southern Lake and Porter counties is in the hands of the three-person Surface Transportation Board.

The federal agency will determine whether Great Lakes Basin Transportation's proposal for a 278-mile rail line from Milton,...

The fate of a proposed freight train line with a route that would cut through southern Lake and Porter counties is in the hands of the three-person Surface Transportation Board.

The federal agency will determine whether Great Lakes Basin Transportation's proposal for a 278-mile rail line from Milton,...

(Amy Lavalley)

A document on the STB website outlines what was discussed in an Aug. 5 teleconference between GLBT representatives, their attorneys, and representatives from the Office of Environmental Analysis.

"GLBT indicated that the general location of their proposed route was designed as a balance between the closer and more distant routes (from Chicago)… (and) included design objectives to avoid population centers, connect with other railroads, and avoid wetlands."

The document notes that the group discussed submissions on the STB website that identify alternate route, and "GLBT indicated that it is reviewing scoping comments and considering them."

GLBT indicated during the teleconference "that it will prepare a robust narrative" on how it screened route alternatives and variations. According to the document, the OEA will independently review the information GLBT submits.

Meanwhile, State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, chairman of the House of Representative's Roads and Transportation Committee, said he will work to update the statutes on railroad eminent domain, some of which date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.

"It's the days when railroads were just beginning to have an impact on the nation. It appears to be quite liberal by modern standards," he said.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling several years ago on an eminent domain case on the East Coast led many states to update their related statutes, he said, but not those regarding railroads.

"We should not take people's land or property unless there's a compelling public interest, and a compelling public interest is not that someone makes a profit," he said.

The move was prompted by media reports about GLBT's plans to take land through eminent domain if its proposal were to move forward, he said, as well as requests by the Porter County Board of Commissioners to take a look at the statutes.

"This is an issue whether (the GLBT plan) exists or not. It needs to be done. I've been talking to the big railroads and they see the need," he said.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Above is from:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-glbt-route-deadline-st-0827-20160826-story.html