·
Chicago Public Schools receive $235 million
in overpayments from Illinois taxpayers; Rep. Pihos files reform package to
hold Chicago accountable. In response to recent revelations that
Illinois taxpayers overpaid Chicago Public Schools (CPS) by $235 million in
block grant funds for the 2011-2012 school year, Representative Sandy Pihos has
filed a package of bills that would repeal the preferential block grant funding
for CPS and require CPS to submit claims for reimbursement of special education
costs, just like the other 859 school districts throughout Illinois are
required to do.
According to Pihos, the root of the problem can be traced to a
lack of accountability with how grant money is sent to CPS and a failure within
CPS to comply with reporting mandates required within the Illinois School Code.
Whereas every other public school
district in the state gets reimbursed for services delivered, current law
allows CPS to receive their block grant money up front. For 2011-12, CPS received $483.7 million in
block grants, but provided only $249 in student benefits. Nearly 30 percent of special education funding
was earmarked to CPS, which only had 16 percent of the special education
student population in the state.
For the last 18 years, CPS was not obligated to report Block Grant spending, which made it very difficult for the State Board of Education to track the efficiency of how CPS was spending the money. Two years ago the General Assembly ordered CPS to begin reporting grant expenditures, but CPS failed to comply with reporting mandates. It was only recently that the report was received and the discrepancy was discovered.
Pihos’ Chicago Public Schools accountability and reform package
includes:
HB 3690 - Make CPS Funding Requirement Procedures the Same as All
Other School Districts
Repealing the preset allocation that CPS receives in Block Grants
would require them to submit claims for spending to the State Board of
Education, thus mirroring the requirements of every other district in the
state.
HB 3691 – Make CPS Submit Claims for Special Education Funding
Removing special education services from the Chicago Block Grant
would require the district to submit claims for annual reimbursement just like
every other school district in Illinois. CPS received $222.8 million more for
Special Education than actual claims in 2011-2012.
HB 3692 – Hold CPS Accountable for Refusal to Submit Claims in a
Timely Manner
This proposal would withhold all federal and state funding due to
CPS in the event that the district does not comply with the reporting
procedures outlined in PA 97-238, which created the reporting requirements for
Block Grant funding. Funding would be restored when compliance is achieved. CPS
was not compliant with the disclosure requirement, forcing the State
Superintendent of Education to threaten the withholding of funds and a
designation of non-recognition status for the district.
Concealed Carry
·
State Police describe record number of
FOID card, concealed carry instructor applications. Approximately 60,000 Illinois residents per month are applying for
new FOID cards, which are the cards held by 1.6 million Illinoisans that are
required to legally purchase and own a firearm.
As of Tuesday, October 8, almost 1,000 people statewide had been legally
approved to instruct FOID cardholders in how to apply for the right to carry a
concealed weapon. These 959 instructors
will offer courses, ranging in length from 8 hours to 16 hours, to certify an
applicant as qualified to apply for a concealed carry permit. Most instructors will charge a tuition fee
for these instructions.
Instructional work should begin in the near future, as the State
Police have set forth guidelines for the instructional curriculums that the
instructors will follow; but the State is not required to actually open its
concealed carry application window until January 2014. Organizations that represent gun owners are
pushing to open this window. Concerned
gun owners may want to look up the State Police’s website for further concealed
carry information at http://www.isp.state.il.us/firearms/ccw/ and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
at http://www.isp.state.il.us/firearms/ccw/ccw-faq.cfm.
Downstate
·
Archer Daniels Midland ups stakes in
proposed headquarters move. The global food processor, which reported $85
billion in sales in 2012, is talking to large U.S. cities about moving its
headquarters location from Decatur, the firm’s 40-year home, to a locality with
substantial passenger air service. A
Minnesota official reported on Tuesday, October 8 that ADM had met with state
executives to learn about a possible incentive package that would entice the
firm to move from Illinois to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The Twin Cities, home of the former Northwest
Airlines, has significant passenger plane service to Europe and Asia. St. Louis is reported to have also submitted
a bid. Both cities, as well as an
unknown number of additional competitors, are competing with Chicago for this
Fortune 500 prize.
ADM executives have told Illinois House lawmakers that they would
like to see a substantial State income tax giveback, funneled through the
Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax incentive law, in order
to give their firm an incentive to retain its headquarters in Illinois. ADM’s move out of Decatur follows the move of
a rival in the corn-based sweetener market, formerly Decatur-based Tate &
Lyle, which moved its North American headquarters to Hoffman Estates in 2010.
Economy
·
Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation
again downgrades Illinois’ business climate. In a report, “2014 State
Business Tax Climate Index”, released on Wednesday, October 9, the nonpartisan
Tax Foundation ranked Illinois’ business tax climate at the below-average level
of 31st among the 50 states.
This was a downgrade from 30th in the preceding year. Neighboring Indiana was ranked 10th
best.
The Tax Foundation looked at the varying tax policies of the 50
states meant to cover their budgets for FY14, which is now underway in almost
all states (Illinois’ fiscal year begins on July 1 of the preceding calendar
year). Other nearby states with
high-ranking business climates include Michigan (#14) and Missouri (#16).
States ranked poorly by the Tax Foundation include some of
America’s largest states; these states often have inner-city social spending
needs and a graduated income tax rate schedule.
California is ranked #48 and New York is ranked #50. The Tax Foundation’s summary can be found at http://taxfoundation.org/article/2014-state-business-tax-climate-index.
Gambling
·
“Poker run” reform language filed in
Illinois House. A “poker run” is a fundraising event,
especially popular in suburban and rural areas, where a group of people with
common ties come together to progressively visit five or more goal
locations. At each location they buy or
are awarded a game token, such as a playing card, and at the end of the poker
run the player or team with the best poker hand or bunch of game tokens wins a
prize.
Under current law, poker run organizers have to register and get
licensed under the time-consuming rules administered by the state Department of
Revenue under the Charitable Games Act.
Two House Republicans, Rich Brauer and Chad Hays, have filed bills (HB
3689 and HB 3694) to remove poker runs from this State law.
·
Video gaming underperforms revenue
expectations. Truck stops, social and fraternal
organization meeting halls, and places where alcohol is served have been
authorized starting in early 2013 to set up video games (similar to slot
machines) for customer play. A “gold
rush” was expected. Individual gaming
location hosts told central Illinois’ WICS-Channel 20 on Monday, October 7 that
they were happy with game turnover, but the State’s Commission on Government
Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) indicated that electronic reporting of
game play and tax receipts were coming in below expectations. While CGFA had estimated that video taxes
would yield as much as $1 billion in the first year of licensed play, the true
figure for calendar year 2013 will be closer to $200 million.
CGFA noted that a significant number of additional license
applications remain in the hands of the Illinois Gaming Board, awaiting
approval. It is possible that as fewer
licenses are awarded, video gaming total revenues and the tax “take” may rise
further.
General Assembly
·
House Republican Leader-elect Jim
Durkin announces new leadership team. After Leader Durkin took on his new
responsibilities in late September, he consulted with his colleagues to name
the men and women who will serve as Deputy Leaders and Assistant Leaders. David Leitch, the dean of the House
Republican caucus, and Patti Bellock, the caucus leader on Medicaid and many
other issues, will serve as Deputy Republican Leaders.
The
six Assistant Republican Leaders will be Dan Brady, Chad Hays, Bill Mitchell,
JoAnn Osmond, Dennis Reboletti and Mike Tryon.
Mike Bost will serve as the Conference Chair. Ron Sandack and Chad Hays will join Dennis
Reboletti and Ed Sullivan Jr. as the Floor Leaders for the Illinois House
Republicans.
Health Care
·
Warnings go out that 15,000
Medicare-eligible state retirees must leave Health Alliance, find new insurer
by January 1. The Champaign-Urbana-based Health Alliance
told the Champaign News-Gazette on
Tuesday, October 8 that they were not likely to appeal the decision last week
by the Quinn administration not to include their firm on the list of health
insurers admitted to the Medicare Advantage program. This decision, if it stands, will require an
estimated 15,000 retirees from state government and institutions of higher
education to select from a short list of plans offered by three nationwide
health giants: Aetna, Humana, and United Healthcare.
Especially affected are approximately 6,000 Champaign-Urbana-based
retirees who have established doctor-patient relationships with the Carle
health care system through Health Alliance.
The Carle system is not currently on the Medicare Advantage preferred
provider lists of the three short-listed firms; and persons in this category –
including persons with multiple diagnoses and challenging medical conditions – are
expected to be required to find new physicians or physician teams before
January 1.
State Government
·
State workers, retirees get letters urging
them to obtain IRS tax transcripts. The new documentation will
be required to verify a State worker, university worker, or State/university
retiree’s status as the head or co-head of a household that contains one or
more persons who are dependents. A
person in these categories will not be allowed to continue to enroll a dependent
in his or her State health insurance account unless the dependent is accepted
by the IRS as a dependent. The IRS
operates a website that accepts applications for tax transcripts at http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Order-a-Transcript.
News
reports have indicated that request fulfillments for IRS tax transcripts may be
delayed due to the current federal government partial shutdown.
Under the revised deadline, retirees will be given until December 6,
2013 to submit these tax transcript documents.
·
Widespread criticism in response to Quinn
executive order. Last
week, Governor Pat Quinn quietly signed an executive order that removed a
previous section from the applications used by most job hopefuls applying for
employment with the State. The section
requested applicants to disclose convictions for serious criminal
offenses. Attempts to remove the
criminal offense section via legislative action have repeatedly failed in the
General Assembly. Lawmakers and State
executives have traditionally felt that a job applicant’s criminal history is
important hiring information to consider for any office of public trust and
expense.
The decision by Governor Quinn to stop asking job applicants for
their conviction history has puzzled many Illinois opinion leaders. For example, the Champaign News-Gazette editorialized against Quinn’s decision on
Wednesday, October 9. Many believe that
the State and its agencies should not take any steps to send the wrong message
to Illinois taxpayers about who has been hired to collect a public paycheck and
perform essential work for the common good.
Individual agencies will continue to have the authority to conduct
criminal background checks on job applicants, including background checks
performed at taxpayers’ expense, if these State agencies have the budgetary
means to do so.
Suburbs
·
CMAP votes against Illiana toll
highway; project remains alive pending further discussions.
On Wednesday, October 9, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
(CMAP), a key planning board that has been deputized by the federal government
to oversee the future transportation needs of the greater Chicago area, voted
10-4 not to support construction of the $1.3 billion Illiana toll highway. Supporters say the 47-mile-long Illiana
Corridor will be a way for motor vehicles, particularly cargo trucks, to move
back and forth from Illinois’ Interstate 55 near Wilmington to Indiana’s
Interstate 65. The Will County area is a
growing base for North American truck traffic and logistics.
CMAP’s “no” vote could have been decisive had this been a project
requiring federal aid, because of CMAP’s role as an oversight authority over
federal aid to local planning needs. The
Illiana Corridor’s backers, however, which include the Illinois Department of
Transportation (IDOT), are planning the proposed highway as a public-private
partnership that will be built with funds from the private sector, along the
manner of key toll roads in Texas and Virginia.
Another vote on the Illiana project is expected to be taken soon by a
different Chicago-area planning body, the Metropolitan Planning Organization
Policy Committee.