WBEZ | Springfield

Afternoon Shift: Springfield tactics, Monsanto and 2 Chicago cops fired

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:59:00 -0500

On today's show, Niala is joined by reporters Tony Arnold and Kristen McQueary to talk legislative tactics in Illinois. Food expert Monica Eng weighs in on the Monsanto case. WBEZ's Chip Mitchell discusses the firing of two Chicago police officers for conduct captured on a 2011 gang video.

Frustrated Illinois lawmakers pitch pension fix

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:22:00 -0600

A group of Illinois legislators is introducing a new way to start fixing the state’s massively under-funded pension system.

For the better part of 2012, Illinois politicians have been talking about the state’s now $96 billion unfunded pension liabilities in drastic terms. It was no different at a Wednesday morning news conference.

“Without some changes, Illinois will be sent into fiscal oblivion,” Democratic State Rep. Elaine Nekritz said. Nekritz chairs the Personnel and Pensions Committee in the House.

Nekritz is proposing a new measure taking bits and pieces of other proposals that have already been talked about including the controversial shifting of pension costs from the state to local school districts to pay teachers’ retirements, something many Republicans oppose because they say it will cause local property taxes to go up.

“There will be stakeholders that say that it doesn’t go far enough. There will be stakeholders that say it’s unconstitutional, it goes too far, in which case I would agree with Goldilocks that maybe this is the one that’s just about right,” Nekritz said.

Republican State Rep. David Harris from Chicago’s Northwest suburbs joined them in support of the plan.

“I’m reflecting my district. I’m not reflecting my leadership in any way here,” Harris said.

Harris is breaking from Republican leadership in supporting the cost shift proposal. Harris said schools in his district can afford to take on those costs.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross said he met with the governor’s office a few times during the veto session to talk pensions, but expects the debate to continue until lawmakers return in January.

Legislators also have to consider whether an agreed-upon solution would survive a legal challenge from labor groups. Lawmakers could address the matter as early as January.

Speaker Madigan drops cost shift for pension plan

Thu, 31 May 2012 03:54:00 -0500

After a long, frustrating day Wednesday, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan could be making way for public pension reform in Illinois.

Earlier this week, Madigan sponsored a pension reform bill in the House (SB 1673) that would have suburban and downstate school districts pick up the pension costs for their teachers. That could have shifted billions onto local tax rolls. That worried school districts statewide as to how they were going to pay for such an item.

“I think that there ought to be a shift in the responsibility for the normal cost so that going forward the people making the spending decisions will be called upon to pay the bills,” Madigan said on the House floor after a long day of debate and heated discussions on pension reforms with Gov.Pat Quinn and House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego.

Madigan knew Cross would be opposed to putting teacher pension payments on suburban and downstate districts.

And he was: Cross threatened to block passage of the state’s 2013 budget if Madigan didn’t move away from his cost-shift provision.

"Let's pass a pension reform bill without a cost shift, tonight or tomorrow morning and be done with it," Cross said on the House floor late Wednesday. "We'll get the budget done, we'd have done Medicaid, we've done pensions, we've done retiree healthcare, a successful session with bipartisian collaborative effort and be done with it. My question to you (Madigan) is why not? Why not do it?"

Cross added, "We know what it takes to have a pension bill. We know what will pass the House, what will pass the Senate, what the governor will sign and we can do it without the cost shift, without the $20 billion property tax increase on downstate, suburban schools."

But Madigan seemed shocked to learn that his Democratic teammate Gov. Pat Quinn opposed his cost-shift move as well.

“I was surprised that the governor disagreed with me on the issue. He agrees with the Republicans,” Madigan said.

With that, Madigan said he intends to remove his name as the House sponsor for the bill. “I’ve arranged with the clerk that the sponsorship of Senate Bill 1673 will be changed from me to Mr. Cross,” Madigan said.

A House executive committee will take up the issue this morning, the last official day of the Spring legislative session. Bills remain to be considered and passed to stabilize the state’s collapsing pension and Medicaid programs.

Madigan’s shift was hardly the only thing that happened on a marathon Wednesday.

• The House adopted a bill to keep the state’s only super-max prison open. Tamms, in far southern Illinois, will be reorganized to become a medium-security prison to allow more inmates to be housed at the facility. Gov. Quinn is proposing closing several correctional facilities to save money. The House is trying to save unionized correctional jobs.

• The Illinois House approved a plan to drop campaign-donation limits in races where super PACs jump in with big money. The legislation would apply in races where an independent super PAC spends more than $100,000 supporting a legislative candidate or $250,000 supporting a statewide candidate. If that happens, then the opposing candidate would not have to follow the state's new limits on donations. The bill passed 63-55 Wednesday in the Illinois House and now goes to the Senate.

Government watchdog groups fear this will create a loophole for big money to pour into political races. But House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie says it would let candidates "fight fire with fire" if they're targeted by super PACs with deep pockets.

The Illinois House also approved a measure by state Rep. Marcus Evans (D-Chicago) to ban landfills in Cook County. The bill moves to Gov. Quinn for his signature.

The state Senate approved a bill to allow the sale of Powerball lottery tickets to be sold over the internet. The measure heads to the governor.

House Democrats also moved forward their own version of a new budget set at $33.7 billion that features deep cuts to schools, public universities and health care services for the poor. In the end, the state will still end up spending $300 million more than in the current budget, but is still $4.4 million under the cap agreed up in a spending resolution, according to Madigan.

Emanuel presents pension problems to Illinois legislators

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:02:00 -0500

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel went before Illinois lawmakers in Springfield Tuesday to help him get a handle on souring pension costs.

Just like the state of Illinois, the City of Chicago is reeling with billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities for its workers. Emanuel said a fix is needed or property taxes could skyrocket in coming years to pay the estimated $20 billion debt.

Emanuel took his case before a House panel looking into pension reform. He's calling for a pause on cost of living increases for 10 years for current retirees.

"These increases present the biggest potential burden on our taxpayers and the single greatest threat to the retirement security of our present public employees," Emanuel said at the hearing. "We need to hit the pause button so the entire system can catch its breath. By doing this, we will stop digging a deeper hole and allow the reforms we put in place to take hold."

Emanuel said he knows his proposals will not sit well with many retirees and others paying into the system.

Indicted lawmaker plans return to Springfield

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:29:50 -0500

The lawyer for indicted Illinois state Rep. Derrick Smith says the Chicago Democrat plans to return to work in Springfield despite numerous calls from him to step down.

Victor Henderson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Smith "takes his responsibility as a state representative very seriously" and that Smith told him he'll return to the General Assembly shortly.

A federal grand jury indicted Smith Tuesday for allegedly taking a $7,000 bribe in exchange for endorsing a daycare's state grant application. The incident was part of a sting, and Smith faces 10 years in prison if convicted.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald declined comment.

Politicians including Gov. Pat Quinn have asked Smith to resign. A Chicago alderman said this week Smith should quit or go to work.

Illinois bill aims to make online dating safer

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:30:00 -0500

State lawmakers in Illinois are trying to make it safer for people to use online dating sites.

The Decatur Herald & Review reported Sunday that legislation aiming to do that passed the Illinois House last week.

It would require Internet dating services operating in Illinois to post disclaimers saying whether they conduct background checks on their members.

The measure is sponsored by state Rep. Michelle Mussman, a Democrat from Schaumburg.

She says she wants to help Internet users "become more savvy" and protect themselves from online predators.

Opponents say the bill overreaches. Republican Rep. Jim Durkin of LaGrange says adults should be responsible for their own safety when using such sites.

The legislation now goes to the Senate.

Illinois pension director suggests cut for retired teachers

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:09:46 -0500

The director of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System is warning that financial troubles are so great it could consider reducing pension benefits to teachers who have already retired.

The Springfield State Journal-Register reported Sunday that it obtained a confidential memo written by Dick Ingram that contains the warning of that politically explosive possibility.

In it, Ingram says the state's largest pension system has been underfunded for decades and is no longer confident the state will continue to pay it enough money to remain solvent.

The suggestion is an indication of just how high concerns have risen over Illinois' pension problems.

Ingram says pension funding is under severe threat from the state's unpaid bills, soaring Medicaid costs and the $85 billion in overall unfunded pension liability.

Extra pay, not always extra work, for lawmakers

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:04:00 -0600

Lawmakers in the Illinois House earned about $661,000 last year in extra pay for serving as officers of various House committees--from armed forces to biotechnology--even though some committees met fewer than five times and a handful met only once.

The House pays members who serve as committee chairmen and minority spokesmen $10,326 apiece in addition to their $67,836 salaries. The House operated 46 committees last year with more than a dozen subcommittees, a structure that allows more than half of House members to earn the stipend. Even the state House in New York, with nearly twice Illinois’ population, operates fewer committees at 37. The Illinois Senate relies on 28 committees.

The House committee system provides a glimpse into state government operations and reveals one way in which House Speaker Michael Madigan, Democrat of Chicago, builds loyalty among his members, who control the House by a 64-54 margin. Madigan not only chooses committee chairmen, he approves the creation of new committees, his office sets committee schedules , and he can steer the agenda by controlling which committees hear which bills.

Like many speakers around the country, Madigan makes committee assignments based on seniority, lawmakers said. House Democrats starting their third terms are routinely given chairmanships. The large number of committees is due, partly, to that practice. A big freshmen class requires the need for more committees four years later.

Overall, House committees averaged eight meetings annually during the last three years. Some met regularly but others convened only once or twice in those years, according to thousands of pages of committee schedules and cancellations from 2009, 2010 and 2011 obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

“I don’t know that there’s a hard and fast rule about committee workloads,” Madigan’s spokesman, Steve Brown, said. “If you only meet once, I’m not sure why that would be viewed as wrong. Committees meet as bills are introduced and assigned.”

Records show that five House committees met three times or less last year: adoption reform, chaired by Representative Sara Feigenholtz; international trade and commerce, headed by Representative Jack Franks; biotechnology, overseen by Representative Edward Acevedo; armed forces and military affairs, chaired by Representative Eddie Lee Jackson; and tourism and conventions, overseen by Representative Kenneth Dunkin.

Feigenholtz, Franks and Dunkin also headed second committees with heavier workloads. They were not paid two stipends.

In 2009 and 2010, more than 20 committees met three times or less.

That compares to the busiest committees, which in 2011 was revenue and finance, chaired by Representative John Bradley. The committee met 25 times, according to the records.

Dunkin said his tourism committee didn’t require many meetings last year, but his appropriation-higher education committee demanded considerable time.

“I have no interest in taking advantage of the system,” he said. “All of us down here, we’re not hustling the system. I’ve spent a ton of hours on my appropriations committee. I disagree that tourism only met one time. We met three or four times. With tourism, there just aren’t that many bills. That’s just the way it is.”

In additional to international trade and commerce, Franks last year headed the panel that deals with state government administration, one of the more active committeesin the House. He said committee work is part of the job, and the stipends for serving as chairmen and minority spokesmen allow Madigan to steer extra pay toward lawmakers.

“I think it’s a way to get more money to members of the General Assembly without having to increase salaries,” Franks said. “That’s what it’s designed to do. If we’re honest with taxpayers, the more honest thing would be to vote to raise salaries.”

In 2009 and 2010, the biotech committee chaired by Representative Maria Antonia Berrios met a total of four times. She was not heading other committees at the time, records show. Retired Representative Careen Gordon’s only committee, computer technology, met twice in 2010, as did Representative Esther Golar’s disability services committee, the only panel she chaired that year, according to the records.

House Republicans earn the extra pay as well. The minority spokesperson position on each committee is held by a Republican. Two committees, pensions investments and veterans affairs, are chaired by Republicans.

Madigan creates new committees based in part on members’ personal interests. That’s how the railroads industry committee started, chaired by Representative Elaine Nekritz.

“I was in a class of 35 people,” said Nekritz, who was elected in 2002. “So by the time the speaker went through the seniority system, there wasn’t really one left. He asked me if there was a subject area I was interested in, and I told him railroads. Then, later, I took over judiciary.”

The number of House committees climbed to 56 in 2009, dropped to 53 in 2010 and fell to 46 last year.

In 29 states, lawmakers do not earn extra pay for committee work. Ten states pay committee chairmen extra, ranging from an $18 per diem in Kentucky to $34,000 for certain committee posts in New York, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Representative Will Davis oversees the appropriations-elementary and secondary education committee, which met 13 times last year, and the less-active health and healthcare disparities panel, which met five times. He asked Madigan to form the healthcare disparities committee to address growing concern over health care delivery.

“He allows members the opportunity to create their own committees,” Davis said. “My committee doesn’t see a lot of bills, but we’ve had many subject-matter hearings, and I’ve asked for certain bills to be assigned to it.”

Some lawmakers said the number of committees can complicate their schedules. A single member might be assigned to seven or more with overlapping meeting times.

“I couldn’t even call my own bills today because too many members were running to other committees,”Franks said of his government administration committee meeting. “We could certainly cut down the number of committees.”

Veto session enters home stretch

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:10:00 -0600

Lawmakers were wrapping up the fall veto session in Springfield. Some of the issues they were considering were significant to Chicago--from gambling to red light cameras. Furthermore, owners of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange waited to see if legislatures will give them a tax break to stay put. The session may be most notable for the big-ticket items still left to do, such as pension reform and a final state budget. Kristen McQueary, statehouse reporter for WBEZ and the Chicago News Cooperative, gave Eight Forty-Eight a sense of what's been sticky and what’s been smooth in the veto session.

Music Button: The Boardwalkers, "Bonzai Pipeline", from the CD Shots In The Dark, (Donna/Del-Fi)

Rahm should get statue in Springfield...or Heavy D dies, rayon shirts half off at Chess King

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:42:00 -0600

Mayor Emanuel has three big things he wants from Springfield. 1) Casinos. 2) Speeding cameras and 3) a huge statue of him sitting on top of the statue of Abraham Lincoln. Okay, maybe not a huge statue, maybe the third was keeping the Mercantile Exchange in Chicago. I can't remember.

Anyway, he's pretty much locked up the speeding cameras and Quinn has compromised and says he would allow a casino in Chicago if they took slots at horse tracks off the table. Because, yeah, that's relevant. Does anyone go to the track anymore? If so, do you wear a fidora and smoke a cigar like a Grandpa?

We know that speeding cameras are looking like a done deal, even if some house members posture. And now the word is that the CME is putting the ultimatum on the table to the state of Illinois, essentially asking for their taxes to be cut in half or they are walking. And the state might give it to them. Wow, I wonder how that will sit with Occupy Chicago? The CME (which owns the Board of Trade) get taxed about $160 million right now and they are asking for $80 million from here on out. That's a lot of millions, right?

So will Rahm get it all? Pay attention. If he goes 3-3, I wonder if he'll be asking for a contract extension soon. And just imagine a statue next to the fairgrounds:

B story: This Herman Cain story is troubling on several levels. Either this guy is a serial sexual harasser or these women are making up stories to take down a presidential candidate. I will defer to you for judgement either way, but if the truth ever does come out, we will have quite a bombshell story on our hands.

C story: Travel day! Who wants to go to NYC with me? Yesterday, flights dropped to $67 round trip. Seriously, I might just fly to NYC for a staff meeting. Sound good web team? Now, it's weird days/hours and it is Spirit Airlines, but $67? You could go next time there is an Interview Show. I went with Mark Bazer last month to do his show at Union Hall in Brooklyn. Here's his interview with Broadway star Brian D'Arcy James.

D story: There is a fake Jim DeRogatis online selling demo records. Reviewers get review CDs (you know, the CD with the little notch on the side) and a dude is selling them, acting like he is Jim DeRogatis. The AV Club has the story. I asked Jim for comment on this breaking story:

Jeez, talk about a slow news day. As noted, it ain't me. I only sell exclusive Ryan Adams recordings online. (That was a joke.)

If you are unfamiliar with the context of that joke, please please please familiarize yourself with this Chicago classic (NSFW):

Weather: It's raining again. But it is clearing up, maybe.

Sports: The Kansas City Royals have shown interest in Carlos Zambrano. Not "we'll take him and pay him all that money" but more of "if you want to continue paying him but not have him play in Chicago, we have interest in taking him off your hands." Hey, it's a start. Mark Buehrle is meeting with the Florida Marlins. Uh-oh White Sox fans. That's not a courtesy. That's Ozzie getting a quality left-hand starter and sticking it to his former team. The Bears are still not getting respect in the media. CBS Sports did their power rankings and have the Bears at 14th overall with the Detroit Lions at 6th and the Atlanta Falcons at 8th. Whaa? Didn't we beat the Falcons? At least ESPN has it reversed.

Did you know that several Bears players get together and play Call of Duty? Forte is the best (go figure). Although, Kellen Davis has better kill shot percentages.

Kicker: Heavy D up in the limousine...if the limousine was heaven. I heard WGCI belting out a Heavy D mix this morning in memory of the rapper, who died yesterday at the age of 44. Heavy D was a seminal crossover rap artist that came to life on Yo MTV Raps! and quickly became a Top 40 hit that suburban white kids could use as an entry to a new kind of music. Almost every Heavy D song also sampled old R&B songs, which made me giddy when I would hear those songs on V-103 after the fact (sorry, don't have a full handle on every classic R&B song).

But it was the outfits that set him apart. Like this half and half suit in the classic "Is it Good to You" off the Juice soundtrack. They should have a sale at Merry Go Round in his honor: