Illinois House passes bills to plug state budget gap - Yahoo News

 

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Illinois House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would plug a $1.6 billion hole in the state's budget by cutting spending on most programs by 2.25 percent and tapping money from other funds.

The House voted 69-48 on the measure and 73-45 on a related bill to appropriate funding for some key services that are running out of money. The bills now move to the state Senate, where Senate President John Cullerton will meet with his Democratic caucus to gauge support, said Rikeesha Phelon, his spokeswoman.

Cullerton said last month that the questionable $6.6 billion in spending cuts and savings that new Republican Governor Bruce Rauner put in his $32 billion fiscal 2016 budget proposal on Feb. 18 made reaching an agreement on the fiscal 2015 budget fix more difficult.

Earlier on Tuesday, top aides to Rauner testified before the House Executive Committee in favor of the Democrat-sponsored legislation to fix the current budget.

"Governor Rauner didn't create this fiscal mess, but he is willing to work across party lines to fix it," Richard Goldberg, the governor's deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs, told the committee.

He noted that the legislation offered by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan does not rely on higher taxes or borrowing.

More than 80 percent of the state's budget hole would be filled through the fund transfers, according to Democratic House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, a sponsor of the legislation. She told the House committee that the plan provides funding for services that were running out of money well before the fiscal year ends on June 30, including for prison guards, court reporters and child care.

"This way, I think we can get through the remainder of the fiscal year," Currie said.

She added that the legislation would give Rauner the ability to transfer some funds between agencies, along with a $97 million lump-sum appropriation to help school districts unable to handle the 2.25 percent funding cut and another $90 million to plug unanticipated budget holes.

Illinois' credit ratings at the bottom of the A-scale are the lowest among the 50 states and have negative outlooks tipping toward triple-B - a low investment-grade rating level rarely assigned to U.S. states.

A structural budget deficit, a $105 billion unfunded pension liability and revenue loss from the partial rollback of temporary income tax rates are key factors.

The above is from:  llinois House passes bills to plug state budget gap - Yahoo News

 

HERE IS A VIEW OPPOSING THIS LEGISLATION

Illinois Democrats vote to cut services.

March 25, 2015

tags: Human Services, Illinois Health Facilities, Illinois House, Illinois Prescription Drug, Prevention Special Projects

Governor Private Equity’s strategy of threatening state budgetary nuclear destruction seems to be working. Yesterday the Democratic majority in the Illinois House voted massive cuts to needed services.

The nuclear strategy allowed Democrats to claim a win. While you will be hearing that day-care funds were saved, it came at a huge price.

Cuts:

Food and Drug Safety Fund……………………..$1,000,000
Fire Prevention Fund…………………………$23,000,000
Radiation Protection Fund……………………..$1,500,000
Illinois Health Facilities Planning Fund………..$3,746,000
Emergency Public Health Fund…………………….$500,000
Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund………….$6,000,000
Illinois Prescription Drug Discount Program Fund…..$257,100
Violence Prevention Special Projects Fund….$3,000,000
Drug Treatment Fund…………………………..$1,000,000
Trauma Center Fund……………………………$7,000,000
Human Services Priority Capital Program Fund…….$1,680,000
Commitment to Human Services Fund……………..$25,000,000
New Born Baby Metabolic Screening and Treatment Fund………….$5,000,000
Mental Health Fund……………………………$3,000,000
Public Health Special State Projects Fund……….$5,000,000
Education Funding …………………$150,000,000

And there were more.

Now it goes to the Senate.

Here are the cuts.

See how your legislator voted.

Violent crime is down in Belvidere, but gangs are not gone, officials warn - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

BELVIDERE — Statistics suggest that violent crime has fallen since 2008, but city and county officials warned community members Monday that Belvidere's problem with gangs is not gone, and it might never be.

Data released Monday by the Belvidere Police Department show that 2014 was the city's fourth straight year without a homicide. Vandalism and destruction of property dropped for the fifth year in a row. However, increases were reported in burglary, fraud, drug and DUI offenses.

“The ones we are truly concerned with are the violent crimes and it’s important to note that we got through the entirety of 2014 without a single homicide,” police Chief Jan Noble said. "A lot of our violent crime is down, but a lot of our misdemeanor crime is up slightly."

There were 329 vandalism and destruction of property offenses in 2014. Boone County State's Attorney Michelle Courier said the number of graffiti offenses in Belvidere has fallen significantly since 2009. A drop in gang-related vandalism could suggest that gangs have been less active in the area.

“If you look at the statistics … there has been a decrease in one indicator of gang activity, and that’s graffiti,” Courier said.

In 2009, Courier successfully sued the Latin Kings under the 1993 Illinois Street Gang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act, which says street gangs and their activities present a clear and present danger to public order and safety that no society should be required to endure without redress.

At a Boone County Gang Task Force forum Monday at the Belvidere Community Building, DEA agent Brian Besser said the city, region and the country may never shake their problems with gangs because of social problems including drug use and collapsed family structures.

From April 4 through Oct. 3, 2014, the Gang Intervention Unit made 476 contacts with people willing to give information about gang members or activities, which led to 25 arrests and 60 citations.

There were 485 drug and narcotic offenses in Belvidere in 2014. In 2013, there were 349.

Noble said the department’s gang unit and the Boone County Gang Task Force have been integral in maintaining low violent crime in Belvidere.

"Our city still has the challenges of dealing with the ongoing issue of narcotics and gangs," he said. "Overall, it is all a work in progress.”

Ben Stanley: 815-987-1369; bstanley@rrstar.com; @ben_j_stanley

Violent crime is down in Belvidere, but gangs are not gone, officials warn - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

GM, Ford to ask UAW for new lower-pay tier in U.S.: Bloomberg | Reuters

 

Reuters) - U.S. automakers General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) are considering asking the United Auto Workers union to create a new tier of lower-paid union workers in their U.S. factories, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The UAW currently has a two-tier wage system, that includes top-paid $28-an-hour assembly workers and the lower-paid second tier, whose wages top out at $19.28.

The automakers would be pushing forth for a third tier wage system for certain lower-skilled jobs, according to the report. (bloom.bg/1ImHJBP)

The new pay rate for these lower-skilled jobs would help the automakers bring down labor costs as they compete with Asian and European rivals that pay less at non-union U.S. plants, the report said.

GM and Ford have much higher labor costs than their cross-town rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI), according to a study released just ahead of a meeting of United Auto Workers officials as they prepare for contract talks with the Detroit Three.

GM's U.S. auto workers on average earn about 21 percent more in wages and benefits than their counterparts at Fiat Chrysler, reflecting the much higher percentage of lower-paid, entry-level workers at FCA, according to a study of 2014 labor costs by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR).

Ford's hourly labor costs were $57, just behind GM's at $58. FCA's U.S. workers averaged $48 per hour.

"We aren't going to comment on potential topics in upcoming negotiations... we are committed to working with our UAW partners on solutions that will benefit employees and improve GM's competitiveness," GM spokeswoman Katie McBride said in an email.

Ford was not immediately available for a comment. UAW could not be reached outside business hours.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera and Anjali Rao Koppala in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Anupama Dwivedi)

GM, Ford to ask UAW for new lower-pay tier in U.S.: Bloomberg | Reuters

US auto labor cost study shows impact of two-tier wage system - Yahoo Finance

 

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co <GM.N> and Ford Motor Co <F.N> have much higher labor costs than their cross-town rival Fiat Chrysler, according to a new study released just ahead of a meeting of United Auto Workers officials as they prepare for contract talks with the Detroit Three.

GM's <GM.N> U.S. auto workers on average earn about 21 percent more in wages and benefits than their counterparts at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles <FCAU.N> <FCHA.MI>, reflecting the much higher percentage of lower-paid, entry-level workers at FCA, according to a study of 2014 labor costs by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR).

Ford Motor Co's <F.N> hourly labor costs were $57, just behind GM's at $58. FCA's U.S. workers averaged $48 per hour.

The two-tiered pay scale implemented as part of the United Auto Workers 2007 labor agreement allows GM, Fiat Chrysler and Ford to pay their newer "entry-level" workers less than veteran ones. UAW leaders have said that narrowing the gap between new hires and veterans will be a top issue when negotiations begin with the Detroit automakers this summer.

Germany's Daimler AG <DAIGn.DE>, for its Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama, at its only U.S. plant, has the highest U.S. auto labor costs, at an average of $65 an hour. Workers at the U.S. plants of Volkswagen AG <VOWG_p.DE> and BMW <BMWG.DE> earn the least, at $38 and $39 per hour, respectively, according to estimates by CAR.

GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler are the only automakers whose U.S. workers are represented by the UAW.

Despite major restructuring since the 2009 recession, GM and Ford still have higher labor costs than their major competitors. The $10 per hour labor cost gap between GM and Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> translates to roughly $250 a car in additional labor costs for GM, according to data in the study.

Some 43 percent of Fiat Chrysler's U.S. auto workers earn the lower entry-level wage, almost double the percentage of such workers at Ford and GM.

Of the other automakers operating in the United States, Honda Motor Co <7267.T> workers earned on average $49 per hour, Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> $48, Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> $42, Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS> and its corporate stablemate Kia Motors Corp <000270.KS> $41.

Per hour labor cost averages include pay for "temporary" workers who are formally employed by outside agencies such as Kelly Services Inc <KELYA.O> but mainly work full-time alongside workers employed directly by the automakers. Japanese automakers have the highest percentages of temporary workers, which cut labor costs, CAR analysts have said

US auto labor cost study shows impact of two-tier wage system - Yahoo Finance

How much tax would Wind Turbines pay North Boone School District?

Well here is a tax bill from Stephenson County on one wind turbine somewhat smaller than the ones proposed for Northern Boone County.  Assessments are done by the State of Illinois based upon megawatts so the Boone County assessment should be higher than $167,945.

Boone County’s total property assessment for 2014 is $978,051,132; see Table #2.  Using a figure of $170,000 per wind turbine, fifty wind turbines would increase Boone County’s total property assessment by $8,500,000, less than a one per cent increase (.87%). 

For the North Boone School District there would be a more dramatic effect. See Table #3, the District’s equalized assessed valuation (EAV) is $137,152,702.  The additional $8,500,000 (fifty turbines)  represents a 6.205% increase in assessed valuation.

In actual dollar terms, using the tax rates in Table #3—each year District #200 should receive an additional $514,394.50 for the various operating expenses and the taxpayers should receive $141,780 in assistance in paying the required principal and interest on outstanding school bonds.

Table #1 :  Calculation of taxes to be paid to North Boone School District for a 50 Turbine Wind Farm with each turbine assessed at $170,000, $8,500,000 additional EAV.

Table #2

 

TABLE #3

Below is from: http://www.nbcusd.org/budgetinfo/FY14Annual%20Statement%20of%20Affairs.pdf

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Think Millennials Prefer The City? Think Again. | FiveThirtyEight

 

Here’s the usual media narrative: Millennials prefer cities to suburbs. They love renting lofts and disdain single-family homes; they ride the subway (or take an Uber) because they barely know how to drive. Where their parents wanted green lawns and cul-de-sacs, today’s young Americans want walkable neighborhoods and local bars with plenty of craft beers on draft.

The numbers tell a different story. Whether by choice or economic circumstance, young Americans are still more likely to leave the city for the suburbs than the other way around.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data released this week, 529,000 Americans ages 25 to 29 moved from cities out to the suburbs in 2014; only 426,000 moved in the other direction. Among younger millennials, those in their early 20s, the trend was even starker: 721,000 moved out of the city, compared with 554,000 who moved in.¹ Somewhat more people in both age groups currently live in the suburbs than in the city.

Indeed, for all the talk of the rebirth of American cities, the draw of the suburbs remains powerful. Across all ages, races, incomes and education groups, more Americans are still moving out of cities than in. (Urban populations are still growing, but because of births and immigration, not internal migration.)

The common narrative isn’t entirely wrong about the long-term trend lines. Millennials are moving to the suburbs at a much lower rate than past generations did at the same age. In the mid-1990s, people ages 25 to 29 were twice as likely to move from the city to the suburbs as vice versa. Today, they’re only about a quarter more likely. But even that slowdown appears to be mostly about people delaying their move to the suburbs, not forgoing it entirely. Today’s 30- to 44-year-olds are actually heading for the suburbs at a significantly faster rate than in the 1990s.

The Census Bureau’s definition of the suburbs is broad, covering anywhere that’s inside a metropolitan area but outside a principal city. So the latest data doesn’t distinguish between classic picket-fence suburbs and the kind of faux-urban, walkable suburban developments that have become more common in recent years.

But a survey released earlier this year found that most millennials still want a traditional suburban experience, complete with big single-family homes. The American Community Survey, which provides a more granular look than the data released this week, tells much the same story, said Jed Kolko, chief economist of the real estate site Trulia.

“The fastest population growth right now is in the lowest-density neighborhoods, the suburb-iest suburbs,” Kolko said.

So why has the “city-loving millennials” story gained so much traction? Kolko has a theory: As American cities have become safer and more expensive, they have become increasingly dominated by the affluent and well-educated — exactly the people who drive the media narrative.

“Your typical young, elite-media-outlet journalist probably is more likely to be living more years in the city than 20 years ago,” Kolko said.

Kolko stressed that’s a theory — he doesn’t have solid data to back it up. But for the record, I’m 34 and live in Brooklyn.

Think Millennials Prefer The City? Think Again. | FiveThirtyEight

You're living in a lab: Microsoft, Accenture, Siemens, UI Labs tinker with a new 'city that works' here - In Other News - Crain's Chicago Business

 

Chicago, the city that works, will be the test subject in an experiment to create the city that works better.

Microsoft, Accenture, Commonwealth Edison and Siemens are partnering with the city of Chicago to figure out how technology can help design and operate more efficient cities. The effort, called CityWorks, is the second major program for UI Labs, a Chicago-based research consortium between top universities and companies across the Midwest.

Launched two years ago, UI Labs is best known for its first project, a federally funded effort to develop next-generation manufacturing technology called the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute.

CityWorks will bring the Internet of Things to bear on cities, from infrastructure to energy management. The aim is to turn loose researchers from universities and companies to use Chicago as a giant laboratory to gather data and develop new technologies. Widespread Internet connectivity, smartphones and cheap sensors attached to cars, roads, buildings and people already are providing massive amounts of data.

Chicago is vying to maintain its dominance in architecture, engineering and urban planning into an increasingly digital future. Technology companies including Microsoft, IBM, Cisco Systems and Siemens have been dabbling in aspects of what's loosely described as “smart cities.” And cities such as Berlin, London, Singapore, Toronto, Tokyo and San Jose, Calif., have been praised for individual advances in areas such as transportation or climate.

“No one has claimed the mantle of digital planning,” says John Tolva, the city's former chief technology officer who now is president of Positiv¬Energy Practice, a consulting firm involved in smart building and city design. “Chicago's long history of architectural and structural innovation is based on technology. . . .If this succeeds, we'll be the place other cities and countries come to learn (from).”

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CHICAGO AS TEST SUBJECT

Microsoft picked Chicago as the first of several communities where it will invest in the Internet of Things to figure out “how is tech going to live and breathe in the fabric of big metropolitan areas?” says Dan'l Lewin, Mountain View, Calif.-based vice president for technology and civic engagement.

Unlike the digital-manufacturing lab, which received $80 million in federal funding, CityWorks will be privately funded. Lewin declines to discuss the terms of Microsoft's commitment, and Caralynn Nowinski, executive director of UI Labs, declines to disclose the budget.

The project traces back to a conversation between Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel during a visit to Chicago by Ballmer.

“We decided this would be a great place to put a bet on the table—a working model,” Lewin says. “Chicago presented strong leadership and an incredible infrastructure opportunity. New York is the biggest city, but it's five boroughs and the geography is spread out. Los Angeles is also spread out.”

Microsoft and the other partners will draw on deep technology and infrastructure resources—and strong ties to Chicago. The software maker has 550 employees in the city. Siemens' building technologies division is based in Buffalo Grove. Chicago long has been a hub for Accenture's consulting and technology teams. Chicago-based ComEd increasingly is using technologies such as Internet-connected meters and drones to improve and maintain its infrastructure.

They'll pair up with local universities that have research institutes focused on transportation, architecture, engineering, urban planning, energy management, computation and data analysis.

The other ingredient is a city that has emerged as a leader in using data to deliver services such as public transit, policing and pest control. It also took the lead in making data available to technologists who regularly host hackathons to develop apps to track buses, sewage overflows or car crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists.

Like the digital-manufacturing institute, CityWorks will be housed at UI Labs' headquarters on Goose Island, set to open later this spring. Specific CityWorks research programs haven't been decided, but proposals are underway and should be selected by year-end.

Because the labs draw heavily on private companies and research universities as partners, they won't generate a lot of new jobs or new facilities. “There will be some dedicated staff. It's not about building up internal capability with 1,000 scientists,” Nowinski says. “But with our partners, we'll have 1,000 scientists working on our projects.”

The long-term goal of UI Labs is to have five or six programs in various industries, such as agriculture and food safety, where the Midwest has academic expertise and corporate partners. The idea is to spark collaboration between the state's universities and companies to turn basic research into new commercial technology and companies, replicating some of the success seen in Silicon Valley and Boston. So far, that success has proved elusive for Chicago and other parts of the country.

“Is this going to be the right formula? We're about to find out,” says Robert Rosner, a physicist at the University of Chicago and former director of Argonne National Laboratory. “Everybody understands what we're doing is an experiment.”

You're living in a lab: Microsoft, Accenture, Siemens, UI Labs tinker with a new 'city that works' here - In Other News - Crain's Chicago Business