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On first looking onto Toronto's skyline
12/01/2011

A couple of years before I moved to Chicago I visited its cinematic alter ego, Toronto, and like many another visitor rode a ferry from downtown to the Toronto Islands a few hundred yards offshore. The view of the city from the islands is much like the one of Chicago from the tip of Navy Pier, except that between myself and Toronto’s skyline there was nothing but open water.…

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Lawmakers push some issues to the last week of veto session
11/30/2011

By Jamey Dunn

This week, lawmakers overturned Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of a smart grid plan, clearing the way for the state’s two biggest utilities to raise rates and begin work on the state’s electrical grid. But legislators left many issues unresolved and say they plan to revisit them when they return next month for the second half of veto session.

Tax breaks
Senate Present John Cullerton presented a bill in committee this week that would give a tax break to a business that says the recent income tax increase would result in a $158 million tab.

The CME Group, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, has threatened to leave the state if lawmakers do not provide some form of tax relief.

Cullerton purposed changing the way the group’s taxes are calculated. CME’s tax bill is based upon its sales, but many of those sales are online trading. Cullerton said that state considers all of those sales as happening in Illinois, even though many of CME’s customers do not live in the state. “You can’t tell where the customer receives the service nor where the customer orders the service, so there’s a default that every sale takes place in the state of Illinois. So 100 percent of the revenue from this activity is being sourced to Illinois,” Cullerton said. His plan would lower the percentage of CME sales that are taxed by Illinois, and he said cut that $158 million tax bill “about in half.”

Cullerton added, “So there would definitely be a reduction in revenues to the state, but of course if they leave, there will be an even further reduction.”

Cullerton and other Democrats framed the change as keeping the tax code modern and in step with new technology. “The exchanges have said that if we don’t correct this inequity that they would consider going to another state, and so that obviously is something that we should take into account as well,” he said. “But it really is not a threat to leave that motivates me to do this. I think it’s just a recognition that this is an unfair way of calculating their tax.”

The proposal also includes a five year extension of a business tax break for research and development.

James Parasi, chief financial officer for CME, said his company employs more than 2,000 people in Illinois. He said those employees also pay income, property, sales and other taxes in the state.  Parasi said CME’s income tax payment for 2010, before the tax increase, made up 6 percent of all the cooperate income tax revenues the state brought in that year.

Senate Republicans said they supported the idea of lightening CME’s tax load, however they said it was unfair to focus in on one business for relief. “There are dramatic and significant unintended consequences from that tax increase that need to be addressed. And it is preferable if they are addressed not necessarily on a company-by-company basis so much as in a broader based fashion,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican. “And including things that frankly will help the little guy, the small business, as well.”

Sen. Dale Righter said that offering help to only CME sends the wrong message to small-business owners who do not have the means to lobby the General Assembly on the same level. He likened the plan to a “corporate bailout.”

“I believe that you have a real problem. I believe that you have been caught in a glitch here that probably does need a fix,” Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno said to Parasi. “This may be a real issue, but there is a perception problem that the only folks that get the help are those that have the access and the money to buy that access.” She said of the bill as is: “What’s not real is moving this bill forward because the governor is not going to sign it. It is not going to go through the House. And I don’t want to perpetuate the perception of this special treatment.” Radogno said she is willing to work on a more comprehensive package, but she did not think that lawmakers should rush a plan through before the end of the veto session to appease CME. “If you guys leave because this doesn’t pass today, it does raise the question to the sincerity of whether or not you were staying in the first place.”

A Quinn spokesperson said the governor had some suggestions to be included in the plan.

Regional superintendents
Quinn’s plan to pay regional superintendents was shot down in the House this week, leaving the administrators, who have not been paid since the summer, scrambling to find a solution before the end of veto session.

Quinn vetoed from the budget in June the money to pay regional superintendents and their assistants. He said the locally elected administrators should not be paid with state dollars and put forth a plan to pay them out of a local tax.

Rep. Frank Mautino said some of the superintendents are receiving support from public aid programs because they are barred by law from having another job. Mautino, a Spring Valley Democrat, is the sponsor of House Bill 3828, which calls for the superintendents to be paid out of the personal property tax replacement fund.

Opponents said that it is unfair to push the cost onto local governments, when the budget the legislature passed included the funding for the administrators’ pay.

“We’re getting a lot of concern from every unit of government that receives part of this money,” said Crystal Lake Republican Rep. Michael Tryon. Some opponents said it would be better to simply override Quinn’s veto of the funds. Mautino said he had no control over whether an override would be called for a vote. He placed HB 3828 on postponed consideration, which means he could call the bill for another vote. An override of Quinn’s veto could also happen before the end of veto session, but for now, the superintendents continue to wait for paychecks.

"We have said from the outset we deserve to be paid now and moving forward. We are disappointed by [the] vote in this chamber against this possible funding solution. We know we need a solution now and can't wait any longer. We will keep working with legislators to find the votes for a reasonable solution for our very serious funding problem, and we remain hopeful that resolution will happen in this veto session,” Bob Daiber, president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools and Madison County regional superintendent, said in a prepared statement.

Pension reform
House Minority Leader Tom Cross said this week that he has the 30 Republican votes he needs to pass Senate Bill 512 — which would reduce pension benefits for employees hired before January, when a reduction for new hires went into effect. Cross said it is now up to House Speaker Michael Madigan to call the bill and put up 30 Democratic votes. Madigan’s spokesperson said once Cross gives Democrats a chance to review an amendment he is working on, Democratic leadership will start polling its caucus members to gauge whether there is enough support to pass the measure.

Gaming expansion
Gov. Pat Quinn said that if he were given the opportunity, he would veto the gaming bill lawmakers passed last spring. Since the bill, Senate Bill 744, was held from going to Quinn’s desk through a parliamentary procedure, he instead laid out what he would like to see changed. After being pushed all summer by the sponsors of SB744 for specifics, Quinn shared his thoughts in a news conference a week before veto session. Waukegan Democratic Sen. Terry Link, sponsor of SB744, said Quinn’s plan couldn’t pass in the Senate.

However, Link is also sponsor of SB 747, a plan he says is “based” on Quinn’s demands. Quinn denounced that bill and called Link's efforts a “charade.” Link said he would call SB747 for a vote on Wednesday but then opted not to because he said he wanted to allow for more discussion on the bill.

Cullerton, who supports gambling expansion, said he wants to give Quinn next week, when lawmakers take a break from session, to consider his options. Cullerton said his chamber would take up the issue of gaming in the last days of veto session. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Springfield for the final three days of the veto session on November 8.

Cross said he and House Speaker Michael Madigan agreed that each of them would find 30 votes for  Senate Bill 512 within their respective caucuses. The two House leaders have partnered on pension reform talks that took place while the legislature was out for the summer. Cross said today that he has the votes on the Republican side. “We’ve got our votes ready to go. The bill itself is still being finalized. It’s a very complicated bill, so it should be ready this week.”

Cross said it is up to Madigan whether the bill is called for a vote when lawmakers return in November for the last week of the veto session. “We want to have a bill ready, and we want to be prepared on our side, and that’s what we’re doing.”

He added: “This is a priority. We need to do it.”

Cross' legislation would allow employees to keep all the benefits they previously earned. Under the bill, they would have to opt to pay more for their benefits, choose to participate in a reduced-benefit plan that was enacted for employees hired after Jan. 1 of this year or move into a plan similar to a 401(k).

Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesperson, said Democrats are waiting to see Cross’ changes to the bill. “An accurate view of the situation from our side is the Cross staff has said there is another amendment to the bill. … That’s where we’ve been all week.” ” Brown said once lawmakers get a chance to see the review, Democratic leadership will begin polling them to see if there are enough votes to pass the bill.

The Illinois Education Association issued a response today saying that members of House leadership have told the organization that there are not enough legislators willing to vote in favor of Cross' bill. Jim Reed, director of government relations for the IEA, said in a video statement on the group’s website that claims that there is enough support to pass the bill are “false” statements. Reed said the group has been told by legislators that “really nothing has changed since last spring.” The House held a hearing on SB 512 during the the spring legislative session, but Cross acknowledged then that it lacked the support to needed pass on a full floor vote. Union officials say pension benefits are protected by the state Constitution, and plans such as SB 512 are unconstitutional. Senate President John Cullerton has said that he agrees that such changes are unconstitutional. However, if the bill is approved in the House, Cullerton said he would allow it to come up for a vote in his chamber.

The House today passed a different bill from Cross, House Bill 3813, meant to prevent pension fraud and double-dipping cases. The bill was rushed through the legislature after the Chicago Tribune reported on Chicago unions officials collecting both city and union pensions. The paper also uncovered two union officials who served as substitute teachers for one day each and then counted their years working for the union toward state pensions. Cross said such abuses have helped solidify support behind broader pension reforms. “We’re going to do what we can — and I think others will, too — in saying that those days are over, and we can’t go forward. We can’t afford it. Plus, it’s just wrong.”

Cross said Quinn backs HB 3813 and that it has a good chance of passing in the Senate.

“Earlier this week, at the start of session,” said a prepared statement from Quinn’s office. “Governor Quinn urged lawmakers to address flagrant abuses of the pension system. The governor wholeheartedly supports the pension abuse reforms that passed today and is very interested in pension reform moving forward but has always noted that any changes to the pension system should be within the bounds of the Constitution. Governor Quinn looks forward to reviewing legislation once it arrives on his desk.”

11/30/2011

By Jamey Dunn

Lawmakers today overturned Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of a bill that will allow the state’s two biggest utility companies to raise customers' rates in exchange for investments in the state’s power grid.

Under the plan, Ameren and Commonwealth Edison will be able to increase customers' rates by 2.5 percent annually in exchange for $3.2 billion in spending on the grid over 10 years. The companies will add smart grid technologies that allow them to monitor transmission and respond quicker to outages. The measure would also require ComEd to create 2,000 new jobs through the plan and Ameren to create 450 jobs.

Supporters were able to pass a trailer bill this week that would impose reliability standards on the utilities. It would also require them to spend more on traditional infrastructure, such as underground wires, to prevent blackouts. The bill also calls for $60 million from the utilities annually to go toward rate relief programs for low-income customers. Backers of the overall plan say the so-called trailer bill helped pull in the three-fifths majority needed to override Quinn’s veto.

Sen. Mike Jacobs, a sponsor of the plan, said the state’s increasing demands for energy make upgrades to the out-of-date grid a necessity. “If you look around the room here, everybody is on the phone. Everybody’s got a computer in front of them. Everybody’s got a smart phone in their pocket. We need the power.”

Opponents say the bill is just a way for the utilities to skirt the authority of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), which rules on proposed rate hikes. “I’m not sure smart grid’s really the issue here. It think the real issue is that this is a new way to recalculate rate hikes because Ameren and ComEd didn’t get the approval that they wanted from the ICC. Let’s be honest, that’s what this is about. If you put the name smart grid on it, it doesn’t make it any better,” said Rep. Kyle McCarter, a Lebanon Republican.

McCarter said that increased energy rates would drive business out of the Illinois. “One of the last good things we’ve got going in this state for businesses is affordable power. We’ve increased taxes on people, we’ve got high regulation. and we still have high workers’ compensation rates.”

But Jacobs, a Democrat from Moline, pointed to the economic development that he says the plan will bring. “I don’t know the last time I was in a legislative body when anyone stood up and said they we’re going to create 2,450 jobs. And these are good paying jobs. … These are jobs that are written into the contract.”

Quinn, a vocal opponent of the plan from the start, would not say if he plans to sign the trailer bill containing some consumer protections. “The consumers of Illinois are deeply disappointed in the General Assembly’s action today to give Commonwealth Edison and Ameren guaranteed annual rate increases for each of the next 10 years… and so am I,” said a prepared statement from his office. “The fight for consumers against unfair utility practices will go on and will never end as long as I am governor.

Last week, Quinn laid out the changes he wanted to the gaming expansion package lawmakers approved last spring. Sen. Terry Link, the sponsor of the original plan, Senate Bill 744, decided to back a bill, SB747, that he said was based on Quinn’s proposals.

A Senate committee heard testimony on SB747 today, and Quinn balked at the idea of his plan being pushed through the legislative process. “This is not the governor’s bill. Instead of improving their current bill and having good faith discussions within the governor’s framework amongst the House, the city of Chicago, the racing industry, the [Illinois] Gaming Board, and the governor’s office, some have chosen to put on a charade,” said a prepared statement from Quinn’s office. “The governor announced a framework — not a bill — for any gambling expansion last week. He will support a smaller, more moderate gambling expansion that prevents corruption and provides adequate revenue for education.”

But Link, a Waukegan Democrat, said he carried they bill with the sincere hope that it would pass. “I can do only as much as I can do.”

Link said he thinks Quinn may have backed away from the plan after he began to realize that it did not have enough support to pass in the legislature. “I think he already felt that there were a lot of people out there that didn’t have the willingness to vote for his concept. So now that we put it in a bill form, his feelings [are] a little bit different.”

Link said he and supporters of the original bill tried to work with Quinn all summer to negotiate a rework of the bill that he could live with. “President [John] Cullerton has met with him a couple times without any type of real negotiations,” Link said. “Until that press conference [when Quinn made his demands] … we had no idea of where the governor stood on any of these issues.”

After the committee hearing this afternoon, Link said he doubted Quinn’s willingness to negotiate. “If he was truly open to negotiations … why wouldn’t he personally call me and say, ‘I’d like to negotiate with you?’ I’m still the sponsor of the bill. I’m the chief sponsor of both bills.” However, someone must have picked up the phone because a member of Cullerton’s staff said Link, Quinn and Cullerton plan to meet  to discuss an amendment to SB747. Earlier today, Link said he planned to call the bill for a floor vote this evening, but later, he chose not to. “We’re going to have a meeting,” he said. A spokesperson for Quinn would not confirm the meeting, but said the governor will be attending a scheduled leaders meeting in the morning where several topics would be discussed.

Per Quinn’s suggestions, the bill does not allow for slot machines at horse racing tracks and limits gaming expansion to five new casinos, including one operated by the city of Chicago. However, it would require casinos to pay a so-called impact fee of more than $330 million to replace the money that the tracks could have made with slots. “This would be a fee that would make up for the amount of money that was figured to be made from the racetracks,” Link said. “Casinos would also have to chip in on an impact fee of $70 million that would go toward education.” He estimated that each casino would pay about $25 million.

Tom Swoik of the Illinois Casino and Gaming Association said the fees would put four or five of the state’s 10 existing casinos out of business. “You’re against SB 744 when you had the racinos,” Link said of the casino owners. "Now you’re against this with the impact fee. What do you want? You can’t have it both ways. If we want to increase he number of casinos in the state of Illinois, you have got to be for something." Link said that he was open to making changes to the fee system and filed an amendment this afternoon that would put off the fees until 2015.

Swoik said casino owners are not inherently against new casinos, as long as they do not cannibalize the business of existing operations. “We’re not opposed to expansion if it’s in new markets and in areas that don’t have such a concentration of existing gaming positions. All of the racetracks are right next to existing casinos.”

Cullerton said today that he supports the legislation but that there were some components he did not like. He noted that making local governments vote to opt into a plan to legalize video poker in bars and restaurants across the state likely result in less money for capital construction projects. Currently, local governments can vote to be exempt from the plan but do not have to vote to be included. The Illinois Gaming Board has not issued any licenses for video poker, and the gaming expansion has yet to bring in dollars for the capital plan it was enacted to fund.

Cullerton said SB 747 plan could bring in education dollars and more than $1 billion to help the state pay down its billions of dollars in unpaid bills. He said that even though he disagrees with parts of the plan, it is more important to try to stop gamblers from crossing state lines by approving five new Illinois casinos. “We do have all these people from Illinois spending their money in other states,” Cullerton said. “If you supported the original bill, I think there’s a way in which you could also support this bill.”

Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican said that if a gaming bill does not pass during the veto session, it would be a “failure of leadership” on Quinn’s part. “The state is losing out on the $1.5 billion in up front revenue to pay down the backlog of bills and $1 billion in annual revenue that say could go to reducing or rolling back the tax increase that has seen us struggle on the jobs numbers since January.”

Murphy added: “That is going to sit right at the foot of the governor.”

Whatever happens with SB 747, Link, who by his own count has been pushing gaming expansion for about 20 years, said he would not be ready to give up. “I won’t sit back and just go in a corner. I will be working with the [Senate] president and the House to try to get another bill resurrected and make sure we can get something done.”

The utilities would be able to increase rates by up to 2.5 percent annually. Quinn said today the plan allows the companies to do “an end run” around the Illinois Commerce Commission, which rules on rate hikes. Quinn called the trailer bill — which among other changes, would require utilities to spend more money on grid upgrades focused on reliability and spend millions more annually on rate relief for low-income customers — “a hasty effort to try and paper over this bad bill.”

Oak Park Democratic Sen. Don Harmon, who sponsored the follow-up bill that passed today, said that the plan would not result in the automatic rate increases opponents have described. “You have to remember, it’s not net revenue to the utility. They are recovering costs that they have already incurred.” Harmon said any rate increases would be capped and would likely result in about $3 more per month for average customers.

However, he conceded that voting on a bill that would result in rate increases may be unpopular with voters. “This is one of those things that is difficult to explain to folks back home, and I understand that. … We all want reliable power delivered to our homes and businesses. The only way that’s going to happen is if the ratepayers pay for it.”

Lebanon Republican Rep. Kyle McCarter said that instead of raising rates on all customers, the legislature should set a price for smart meters — an important component of Smart Grid that allows customers to potentially save money by monitoring their power usage — and utilities could then give interested customers a chance to buy them. “Other states have chosen other ways to pay for this,” McCarter said. “If this smart grid is wonderful like we’re being told it is, surely everyone will ask to have a smart meter and be part of the smart grid.”

11/30/2011

By Jamey Dunn

Tweaks to two major legislative packages emerged the day before the fall veto legislative session is scheduled to begin.

Waukegan Democratic Sen. Terry Link said he plans to bring a bill that contains Gov. Pat Quinn’s suggested changes for the gaming expansion up for a floor vote in the Senate this week. Quinn said last week that he supported five new casinos in the state, including one owned by the city of Chicago, but opposed the slot machines at horse racing tracks that would be allowed under the gaming plan lawmakers approved in the spring session.

Last week, Link told Illinois Issues that legislation based on Quinn’s demands could not find the support needed to pass in the Senate. However, Link said today: “I will carry it with sincerity. I will tell all the facts, figures and everything that the governor has in it. I will … make it as a positive endeavor.” He said if it does not pass, he plans to sponsor a trailer bill in the last week of veto session that he hopes will be a “compromise” that the governor can accept. Quinn has been unable to veto the gaming bill because a parliamentary move was used to hold it from going to his desk. But he said last week that given the opportunity, he would use his veto pen on Senate Bill 744. Link would not share any details today about a potential trailer bill.

Gov. Pat Quinn has also shot down a plan that sponsors say would help the state’s two biggest utility companies update Illinois’ electrical grid. Quinn was a vocal opponent of Senate Bill 1652 when lawmakers passed it last spring. He followed through on his vow to veto the bill and has been urging  residents to call their lawmakers and ask them to vote against a potential override of his veto.

The measure would allow the companies to increase consumer rates in exchange for a $3.2 billion investment in the grid over 10 years.

Supporters worked to craft a follow-up bill that they say would tighten restrictions on Ameren and Commonwealth Edison. They hope it will be enough top drum up the supermajority needed to undo Quinn’s veto. A Senate committee approved the changes today.

“I commended the governor for vetoing the bill, having voted against it. There were clearly some defects in Senate Bill 1652 that caused concern for myself and other members of the General Assembly who voted ‘no,’” Oak Park Democratic Sen. Don Harmon said. Harmon is the sponsor of House Bill 3036, the so-called trailer bill that asks more of utilities and would only go into effect if lawmakers vote to override the governor’s veto. Harmon said the plan “would make that underlying bill, in my opinion, much better.”

House Bill 3036 would increase reliability standards and require the utilities to spend more of their investment on traditional infrastructure, such as buried power lines, to make transmission more reliable. The plan calls for spending on so-called smart grid technologies — which allow utilities to better monitor lines, outages and transmission in real time — as well as basic costs like power lines and poles.

The original legislation requires ComEd to create 2,000 jobs under the plan and Ameren to create 450 jobs. Harmon said his bill would crack down on how those jobs are counted to avoid the potential double counting of a single job. It would also increase the penalty for not meeting those hiring goals from $3,000 per job to $6,000.

The bill calls for both companies to spend an annual combined total of $60 million a year on rate relief programs for low-income customers.

The legislation would also lower the return on equity the companies would be allowed to earn from 10.4 percent to about 9.7 percent. Harmon said in years two through 10 of the plan, the return would be capped at 8 percent to 9 percent. Consumer advocates said the utilities should not be able to make more than 10 percent returns on their investments, since they would likely be backed with rate increases.

Despite such changes, major consumer advocacy groups, along with Quinn and Attorney General Lisa Madigan, remain opposed to the plan.

“We don’t think ... it addresses the fundamental problems,” said Scott Musser, associate state director of AARP Illinois. “I think we need to start from square one on this and go a new direction and get everyone at the table. One of the fundamental problems all along is there hasn’t been substantial negotiations.”

Madigan blasted the proposed changes to the plan. “Just like they tried to muscle this legislation through the spring session, ComEd and Ameren are at it again. On the eve of veto session, the utility companies gave the public just 59 minutes to review their smart grid “trailer bill” before taking it to the Senate for a vote. If ComEd and Ameren’s proposal were actually a “smart” deal for consumers, it would hold its own rather than be rushed through the process without public input. Instead, ComEd and Ameren have produced a “Trojan Horse” deal that’s designed to distract us from what this legislation really does: guarantee the utilities’ profits, mandate automatic, annual rate hikes and eviscerate independent oversight,” the attorney general said in a written statement.


For more on what to expect during veto session, see Illinois Issues' roundup of the big issues with links to background piec

Illinois couples in civil unions will now be required to file their state tax returns in the same way as married couples. The new plan is a reversal from a previous policy, under which couples in civil unions could not file state taxes together.

The Illinois Department of Revenue had decided that such couples would have to file separately because they could not file their federal taxes together. Sue Hofer, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Revenue, said the agency looked to New York, which legalized same sex marriage this year, when trying to find a way to allow couples in civil unions to file joint state taxes.

Hofer said partners in a civil union would fill out the federal form as if they were married, and then fill out the state form as a married couple.  The federal return would be sent only to the state, along with the state form, to be used as a dummy to base the state return upon. Those in civil unions would still have to file separate federal returns as single because the federal government does not recognize their partnerships. Couples who do not wish to file a joint return would still file as married but would be able to file separate state returns.

Hofer said joint filing for state taxes will not result in large tax benefits for couples -- the substantial benefit comes at the federal level for couples with disparate incomes. If one person has a much smaller income, it can move the household into a lower tax bracket than the individual was in. “In Illinois because we are a flat tax state, you really aren’t going to see any significant change to your taxes. … With the state, everybody pays a 5 percent flat tax. But there will be some benefits.” She said that exemptions such as for property taxes or education expenses, could be applied a couple’s total income instead of just an individual’s earnings.

Randy Hannig, director of public policy for Equality Illinois, declined to comment specifically on the change because he said the group had not received an official announcement from the department. However, he said he is “cautiously optimistic.” UPDATE: From a prepared statement released by Equality Illinois Monday night: "Since the beginning of June when same-sex couples first started entering into civil unions, no one could speak with certainty about how this new status would affect state tax policy," said Hannig. "We immediately reached out to the Illinois Department of Revenue and started the process of figuring out a solid solution to this problem. Illinois law specifies that couples in a civil union are afforded the same rights and benefits as married spouses, so why should same-sex couples' state tax status be any different?” Illinois is the 10th state, including the District of Columbia, to allow same sex couples to file joint tax returns, according to Equality Illinois.

Hofer said the department will work in the coming weeks to get the word out about the change so couples in civil unions know what to do when filing their returns early next year. “We realize we had to make a decisions before the end of the year,” she said. “We will be talking with advocates and folks that this will impact.”

Rep. Greg Harris, a sponsor of the law that legalized civil unions in the state, said he did not know whether the department had created a final policy on the issue. “I do know in having talked to tax partners in a number of major law firms ... that this change would bring us in line with what other states do,” Harris said. He said the problems the department had in sorting out tax policy for couples in civil unions highlight a disparity that exists at the federal level. Harris, a Chicago Democrat, said because the federal government does not recognize civil unions, couples will miss out on tax benefits and have to jump through “additional hoops” to file state taxes together. “There’s still an inequality in the way relationships between same sex couples are treated and the way relationships between opposite sex couples are treated.”

Maloney, chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, said that the amount of funding linked to performance would likely be small at first. He said that one of the biggest challenges to the plan is the state budget. Maloney said the idea is to reward schools that are doing well, not punish schools that are under-achieving. But he said if higher education funding is cut or even holds steady, the end result would be punitive — taking away money from current funding levels — instead of a positive incentive — getting bonus funds for good performance. “The higher ed community has celebrated flat funding as a victory. That is unfortunate, but that’s where we’re at.”

Perna and her research partner, Joni Finney, who is also a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, looked at Illinois as part of a series of five state studies and plan to release data on other states in the near future. The project focuses on the possible causes of higher education outcomes in different states. Perna said that other states are struggling with issues similar to those facing Illinois. However, she said that the findings in Illinois are particularly disheartening because the state was performing very well in recent years. According to the study, Illinois was a leader on enrollment rates and college affordability during the mid-90s. “Illinois was once a state that people looked to as the model for higher education performance, as well as public policy and government, and it's not really any longer,” Perna said. She said that Illinois' more positive performance history is an indicator that higher education in the state could bounce back. “The potential is there, but there’s been a serious erosion. … Some profound things have to change.”

The legislation's sponsor, Rep. Frank Mautino, a Spring Valley Democrat, called the situation “an embarrassment to the state of Illinois, and it needs to be corrected.”

The bill would allow for regional superintendents to be paid for one year, including back pay from the time they have worked without compensation, out of corporate personal property replacement tax revenues. The measure also calls for the creation of a task force that would make recommendations on potential consolidation of the Regional Offices of Education, which are run by the superintendents.

Mautino said that the plan would cost about $13 million. “It’s a one year hit of less than 1 percent, less than a penny on the dollar.” But local representatives of local governments say the real issue is not the price tag, it’s about the state shifting the cost onto local governments of an office created by the legislature.

Joe McCoy, legislative director for the Illinois Municipal League, said the move to pay regional superintendents from local funds falls into a larger pattern of the state looking to shift expenses to local governments during the current budget crisis. He said there is concern that some lawmakers are starting to view money from the personal property replacement tax as a “slush fund of the state of Illinois.”

McCoy said that although the provision that would end payment out of the tax revenue after one year does provide a safeguard, “it doesn’t really address our underlying concern, which is that the state is going to begin to cost shift onto local governments.”

The deadline has passed for lawmakers to override Quinn’s veto, so the bill appears to be the superintendents’ only hope. “We have to act today because an override is no longer an option. Because if we do not, the next time we will meet will be in January, and they will not have been paid for seven months,” Mautino said today on the House floor.

But some opponents said the General Assembly should not swoop in to fix a problem that Quinn created. "I don’t know how many times we’re going to have to keep cleaning up the mess that our governor is making. This is the mess that he’s created, and he’s asking us to fix it. We shouldn’t do that for him,” said Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat. Franks was critical of Quinn for cutting the superintendents’ pay without a clear plan of who would handle their responsibilities, many of which are required by law. “If he didn’t think that the Regional Offices of Education were necessary, then he should have had their duties transferred to the state superintendent of schools, but he didn’t do that.”

A Senate committee approved the bill this evening, and supporters expect it to come up for a floor vote in that chamber tomorrow.

“Without reform, we must either watch as pension contributions crowd out all other state services … or accept responsibility for allowing the pension funds to fail,” said Tyrone Fahner, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, one of the driving forces behind the pension reform push.

However, union officials argued that changes to benefits for employees hired under the old plan are unconstitutional.

“Whether it was corporate tax breaks or new programs — for decades these tax breaks and these programs have been paid for in part by putting off or ignoring pension payments due to these good workers," said Michael Carrigan, Illinois AFL-CIO president. “Pensions have become an issue because they weren’t a priority when spending decisions were made over the past decades. Had pensions been adequately funded down throughout the years, the recent economic downturns … could have been weathered.”

Opponents of SB 512 said that reductions in benefits would not automatically create reform in the system and questioned the lack of a guarantee in the bill that the state would make its required contributions. Rep. Karen May said she would like a so-called lock-box provision in the bill that would end the increased contribution levels for workers if the state fails to make its contribution.

May, a Highland Park Democrat, and Rep. Daniel Biss, an Evanston Democrat, said that they thought the proposal needed improvement. Biss said that since the effective date for SB 512 is not until July 2012, with most of the provisions kicking in even later than that date, lawmakers can work until the spring legislative session on a better bill. However, he said as of now, “there is not a clear counter proposal on the table.”

Biss added that he hopes working groups with representatives from all sides of the issue can come up with a more holistic plan. “I’m going to be for a major pension reform bill this spring. Period. If there’s nothing better on the table than Senate Bill 512, I’ll be for 512. I hope that’s not where we are.”

After the hearing, Cross declined to comment on his next move. He claimed in the first week of veto session that he has 30 Republican “yes” votes for the plan and said it was up to bill co-sponsor House Speaker Michael Madigan to supply 30 Democratic supporters and call the bill for a floor vote. When asked yesterday when he planned to call the measure, Madigan replied that the bill belongs to Cross. Senate President John Cullerton has said that he believes that the bill is unconstitutional, but he said he would allow it to come for a vote in his chamber if it passes in the House.

Quinn came out strongly against Link's proposal, and the plan has not been called for a floor vote.

Lang said he tired to take Quinn’s thoughts — as well as criticisms from Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe, newspaper editorial boards and others — into account when drafting a new gaming expansion bill, SB1849. A House committee approved Lang's bill today.

The measure includes slots at horse racing tracks but does not allow for slots at the Illinois State Fairgrounds or Chicago airports. It would reduce the number of gaming positions available to casinos from 2,000 in the original bill to 1,600. They currently are allowed 1,200 positions. The Chicago-owned casino proposed in the plan would be allowed 4,000 positions. Lang said any unused positions at a facility could potentially be transferred to another casino that would use them. “It is in the benefit of our citizens to have all of those positions used.” Lang said that it would be up to the Gaming Board to create the procedure for transferring positions.

SB 1849 does not include a controversial provision that called for the Gaming Board to issue temporary licenses within 60 days of application to bars and restaurants seeking video gaming. The proposal was meant to spur the board to implement video gaming, which was approved as part of the funding for the state’s capital construction plan. So far, no licenses have been issued and no revenue from video gambling has come in.

Lang said some lawmakers were uncomfortable with issuing the temporary licenses. His new bill calls for the board to begin implementing video poker before any new casinos can be licensed and before horse tracks can get a license for a permanent location for slots. However, they would be able to operate out of a temporary facility, such as a tent. Lang said he wanted to ensure that the board did not “skip over” video poker to begin work on a gaming expansion. “That could be one machine, it could be 10,000 machines, but they’ve got to get it up and running.”

Lang said the legislation should clear up concerns about oversight of the Chicago casino. He said the ultimate authority would belong to the Gaming Board. Quinn complained that the city would be allowed too much regulatory leeway under SB 744.

But Lang’s stated goal of finding 71 “yes” votes in the House — enough supporters to override a veto from Quinn — indicates that he is less worried about pleasing the governor with his bill and more concerned with getting as much support from his fellow lawmakers as possible. While Quinn has yet to take a position on the plan, Lang's goal shows that he is anticipating a veto. A spokesperson for Quinn said his administration is “reviewing the proposal.” Quinn has said numerous times that he opposes allowing slots at horse racing tracks. He has said that such a proposal allows for too much gambling in the state and would lead to the cannibalization of business from existing casinos.

Current casinos owners oppose Lang’s plan for that very reason. “We’re not opposed to a casino in Danville. We’re not opposed to a casino in Rockford, Chicago, the Waukegan area. … We are opposed to the facilities right next door to existing casinos,” said Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino gaming association. Swoik said casino owners are not opposed to expansion as long as it is “reasonable” and in “new market areas.”

He added: “The state isn’t going to get the kind of money that they think they are going to get out of this. We’re just transferring gamblers from one area to another.”

But Lang said the bill would bring in roughly $1 billion in licensing fees in addition to future revenues from taxes paid by casinos and racetracks. “I think we’ve made a very good piece of legislation better; one that will raise billions of dollars for the state, one that will pay our old bills,” Lang said. “At a time when our unemployment rate has reached 10 percent, this is something that we must do.”

He said finding the backing for a veto proof majority is “not going to be easy,” and he is not above exploiting recent rifts between the governor and the legislature to rally the votes he needs. “I will use any legal means to get a veto proof majority to pass this bill.” He said Quinn’s proposal to close state facilities, his comments implying that campaign contributions influenced votes to override his veto on a smart grid plan and his refusal to negotiate about gaming caused some animosity toward the governor among lawmakers. “I think when the governor announced two weeks ago that he was not in favor of slot machines at racetracks, it made some people very angry. … I’m going to go to those legislators, and I’m going to get them angry.”

Lang said he hopes to call his bill for a floor vote tomorrow.

Sullivan said that he is not working directly with Quinn on a revamped plan, but he said he is willing to tweak his legislation in whatever ways needed to garner support. When Sullivan called a measure to borrow about $6.2 billion for a vote in the spring, it only got 19 “yes” votes. “I definitely think that we’re at a better place now than we were when the plan was introduced,” he said. At least one Republican vote will be needed in his chamber for borrowing legislation to pass.

Business package
Lawmakers will likely consider a second incarnation of a tax incentive package meant to keep large businesses in the state. Senate President John Cullerton sponsored a plan to offer a tax cut to the CME Group, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, to keep it from moving out of state. Terrence Duffy, chairman and chief operating officer of the CME Group, starting making such threats after realizing that the company would pay more than $150 million in income taxes under the state’s recent income tax increase. During a committee hearing on the measure last week, Republicans said they could not support giving target breaks to one company. They said they wanted a broader relief package that would help out other businesses, too.

A revamped plan could offer relief to Sears, which has also threatened an exit, as well as some generally business friendly sweeteners, such as an extension of a research and development tax credit.

Collective bargaining
House Speaker Michael Madigan pitched a resolution that would allow the legislature to get involved in bargaining union contracts.

Under the plan, both chambers would agree to put a spending cap on how much the governor can offer public employee unions in wage increases under a new contract. Current contracts are set to expire in 2012. “What we’re talking about is about a two-and-a-half-year obligation on spending. Well, I think the legislature has a rightful place in this bargaining,” said Madigan when the resolution was read on the House floor two weeks ago.

Traditionally, the legislature has not been at the forefront of contract negotiations. But lawmakers became frustrated with Quinn after he promised no public union employee layoffs through the end of the current fiscal year. Quinn has since gone back on that promise by backing a plan for layoffs and facility closures. He also froze union pay raises included in contracts. Quinn said both moves are necessary because the legislature did not include enough money in the budget to cover personnel costs and keep basic services running through the end of the fiscal year. Union officials say that Quinn has violated their contract and are taking the state to court.

Cross went one further than Madigan, proposing an amendment that would halt pay increases until the state has had a budget surplus for two years. “Our priority is on the protection of jobs in this state and ensuring that we get our fiscal house in order above all else,” Cross said in a written statement. “We should not enter into any new contracts that guarantee wage and benefit increases at a time when the governor is talking about closing seven state facilities that serve those with mental health needs, at-risk youth, and house dangerous criminals.” The Republican leader has said the facilities Quinn want to shutter are primarily in Republican districts and accused Quinn of playing politics when choosing his closure targets.

Madigan called upon the House Revenue and Finance Committee to set the number for the cap. The committee may also consider Cross’ proposal. The House Revenue and Finance Committee has two hearings scheduled for next week. The first is scheduled for today.

Insurance Exchange
Legislators may also consider a pivotal component of the federal health care reform law. Illinois is working to set up its own insurance exchange, an online marketplace meant to drive down the cost of insurance policies by encouraging competition. Health care advocates are pushing for lawmakers to approve legislation that would determine who would serve on the board overseeing the marketplace and who would ultimately pay for the exchange. “We want the state to move forward, and we are optimistic,” said Jim Duffett, executive director of the Campaign for Better Health Care.

The major sticking point is who will be eligible to sit on the board. Advocacy groups want insurance industry insiders barred from holding any voting power, because they could potentially profit from board decisions. They say those in the industry should hold purely advisory positions. Duffett said the board should be made up of “health care experts, small business owners and consumers.” He likened allowing insurance professionals voting power to letting a fox into the hen house.

Representatives of the industry say their hands-on expertise is needed on the board to shape an exchange that works well in practice. “To suggest that insurance expertise should be prohibited on the board, as some have … we believe is analogous to suggesting that an aeronautical engineer should be prohibited from serving on the board of Boeing Aircraft,” said Phil Lackman, Illinois vice president of government relations for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

The House Insurance Committee has a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. “We do believe that there will be some action taken on Tuesday,” Duffett said.

Gambling
Supporters of a gaming expansion package are still looking for a plan that can pass in the legislature and get Quinn’s support. Quinn is opposed to Senate Bill 744, which passed last spring and would allow for five new casinos and slots at horse racing tracks. Quinn laid out his recommendations days before the veto session started, and Sen. Terry Link, sponsor of SB744, backed a bill that he said was based on those suggestions. Quinn did not agree and opposed the bill. Link held off on calling the legislation, SB747, last week and said he wanted to continue talks with Quinn.

This week, Quinn said that he was not engaged in negotiations on gaming. He said passing an expansion is not one of his priorities, but he is “open minded” about the concept. After meeting with Quinn last week, Cullerton told reporters that he was optimistic about finding a compromise. “I expect we will have a gaming bill going on next week as well. … We had a lot of productive input from the governor in ways in which we could correct the bill that we did pass. I can’t say we’ve narrowed the differences to agreement, but I think we’ve made a lot of progress. A lot of reforms suggested by the gaming board, we can incorporate into the bill.” More than half — 57 percent — of respondents in the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute survey said they backed expanded gambling as a way to bring in more state revenue.

. 

Coverage from the Chicago Tribune.

A timeline of Cellini's life from the State Journal-Register.

11/30/2011

By Jamey Dunn 

Gov. Pat Quinn said today that he is not negotiating when it comes to a gaming expansion in Illinois.

Quinn told reporters in Chicago today that lawmakers who want more gambling in the state have two options: Pass a bill based on his ideas; or send him the bill they passed last spring. “I’d be happy to take it, veto out the defects and flaws and put in the good important things and send it back to them,” Quinn said. In the hopes of working out a plan that Quinn and lawmakers could live with, Senate President John Cullerton used a parliamentary procedure to hold the bill from going to the governor’s desk. But when asked today if he was working on a compromise with lawmakers, Quinn said, “I don’t think the word negotiate is appropriate.”

He reiterated his call for Cullerton to send Senate Bill 744 to his desk. “This is rather unusual, to say the least, if you believe in what you voted for. Now if they want to send it to me, we’ll be very happy to apply my framework to their bill. And my framework will emphasize integrity and honesty.”

Quinn said he would support five new casinos but could not back allowing horse racing tracks to have slot machines. He said he wants more oversight of the proposed Chicago casino and he wants an option that would require local governments to opt into legalizing video gaming in some bars and restaurants. Legalized video gaming is one of the founding sources of funding for the state’s capital construction program. Quinn’s proposal would likely reduce potential revenues once the program was implemented. Quinn also wants to give the gaming board unlimited time to vet businesses owners seeking to offer video gaming. SB744 allows for probationary licenses for applicants 60 days after they apply.

Sen. Terry Link presented a bill during the first week of veto session that he says is based on the governor’s ideas. The governor did not agree. “The bill was not our framework," Quinn said today. "Charades and playing games on any subject are inappropriate, in my opinion. The legislature should be serious about its work. They tried to do a kind of a charade their last week, and we called them out on it.”

Link, who also sponsors SB744, said today that he has tried to pass a gaming expansion for years and has backed several different versions of the idea. “These we’re his ideas; these were his thoughts,” he said about the governor. “We weren’t trying to do a charade. We were trying to see if there was a will out there for this [to pass in the legislature. The point is that we’ve tried different ways — with or without the track, with the casinos owning the slots at the tracks. … We’ve tried every which way you could conceivably think of.”

Link, a Waukegan Democrat, said he held the bill, SB747, from a floor vote last week at Quinn's request. “The governor called and didn’t want it and [said] he wants to talk.” But Link said that meeting has not materialized. ‘We have done everything in our power to try to set up [meetings] and discuss these things. I just hope that the governor doesn’t get to this point where he wants to draw a line in the sand.”

Quinn explained today that while he is “open-minded” about gaming, it is not a priority for him.

“It is up to the legislature,” Quinn said. “My interest is not to promote gambling. That is not my foremost goal in Illinois. I don’t think you can gamble your way to prosperity.”

Quinn has maintained that local governments should pay for their salaries. A spokesperson for Quinn said that he plans to sign the bill.

Speed cameras
The city of Chicago could install cameras to catch speeders around parks and schools if Quinn signs SB965. The cameras would take a picture of the license plates of speeders who then would be mailed a ticket. They would not be charged with a moving violation. The offense would be on par with a parking ticket. And, like a parking ticket, the owner of the car, who may or may not have been driving at the time of the violation, would be responsible for the ticket.


Unemployment insurance
Legislators also approved a plan to address the state’s growing obligation to the federal government for unemployment benefits. The state has been borrowing money for the feds to keep pace with unemployment benefits paid out during the recession. The interest bill would have reached an estimated $240 million, which would have come out of general revenue funds. Under SB72, business will have to pay up to make the trust fund that pays benefits solvent. However, the interest payment and even larger penalties for businesses that would have happened if no action were taken, would be avoided. Companies that have not had any layoffs, nearly half of businesses in Illinois, would pay less. The plan passed with bipartisan support and the backing of the business and labor communities. “Many of us have campaigned that we want to help business out. … Well, here is your bill,” said Sen. Kyle McCarter during floor debate. Quinn also supports the measure. "We are in difficult economic times, and we need to bolster our unemployment insurance program to protect both workers and businesses," Quinn said in a prepared statement. “As we did with our workers’ compensation overhaul this spring, we brought everyone to the table to find a solution.”

For a comprehensive look at the unemployment insurance trust fund, see Illinois Issues November 2010.

House Speaker Michael Madigan said the House plans to return for session on November 29. Senate President Cullerton said his chamber would return before the end of the year to take up issues that were not resolved during the veto session.

But Quinn has not backed away from the idea of closing state institutions. The new plan calls for the shuttering up to four centers for the developmentally disabled and at least two mental health centers.

The plan would transition about 600 of the 2,000 people with developmental disabilities in state institutions to community care settings.  Michael Gelder, senior health policy adviser to the governor said the transition would take two and a half years. Once the plan gets rolling, he said, about 20 people a month would be transferred according to individual transition plans based on assessments of their needs.

“As appropriations increase, we’ll be able to maintain these facilities over the course of this year. That is our goal,” Gelder said.

Gelder said the plan could result in closing more than two psychiatric hospitals by 2014. “That would be the minimum. We think we could do more with that planned thoughtful approach working with local hospitals and working with other community base service providers to prevent emergency psychiatric admissions that are now treated in our state centers.”

Kraft said the money to keep the facilities open would likely come from Quinn’s budget vetoes, which stand because they did not come up for a vote this week, and transfers from special funds — the same funds targeted by Senate Democrats as a revenue source during their failed attempt to add spending to the budget shortly after it passed. She said federal Medicaid dollars might also be tapped.

Union officials, who represent many workers at state institutions, were not impressed with Quinn’s new plan to close facilities in a slower and more deliberate manner. “Governor Quinn is under fire for his irresponsible push to cut mental health care, force people with severe developmental disabilities out of the homes they have chosen and destroy thousands of middle-class jobs. Spreading that pain out over the coming years doesn’t make it any less wrong,” Anders Lindall, spokesperson for the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 31, said in a written statement.

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability voted to keep all seven  facilities open. Though many members said they thought some facilities should be closed, they objected to Quinn’s rushed timeline. Republican legislators, including House Majority Leader Tom Cross, have accused Quinn of targeting facilities in Republican districts. These opponents called on the governor to slow down the process and put all state facilities on the table.

“There’s a right way to close these places and a wrong way to do it, and I thought this was the wrong way,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy, an Orland Park Democrat. “We are over-institutionalized in our state. We understand that. We want to move forward.” COGFA plays an advisory role in the process, but according to COGFA co-chair Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, no governor has gone against its recommendations on a facility closure.

While lawmakers argue that they want all facilities up for consideration, many members of COGFA say that it would be impossible to close either the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln or the Chester Mental health center, which houses the criminally insane. “There are two facilities I think that we just couldn’t close, and it’s incumbent upon us to find the resources. One is Chester, one is Logan [Correctional Center in Lincoln,]” Rep. Michael Tryon, a Crystal Lake Republican, said at a previous COGFA hearing. “[Chester is] the only maximum security facility for the criminally insane and those who are not fit to stand trial. … These are not the kind or prisoners that we should put in Alton [Mental Health Center] or any other facility.”

The proposed plan to close Logan, which Schoenberg said “defies imagination,” involves housing prisoners in the gymnasiums of other prisons.

The new tack described by Gelder did not focus on correctional facilities, although Quinn’s original plan called for closing Logan and the Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro. “We would rather spend less on maintenance of institutions and more on the people who are served in [them.] So we will move ahead with a planned thoughtful approach — stopping admissions, initiating assessments and completing care plans and transition plans that will enable us to serve and meet the needs of the people that we all want to meet wherever they are in the state,”Gelder said . “We will work with the General Assembly…to identify the facilities and prioritize those facilities. Not everybody is going to agree.”

Although members of Quinn’s administration say he wants to put the breaks on closures, the state sent out layoff notices earlier this month to 200 employees of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center. The layoffs would be effective December 3. Kraft said if legislation to shift funds is passed soon, it would save those workers’ jobs, but the state is obligated by law to give them layoff notices because the money is not there to pay them. If a plan is not approved soon, about 160 workers at the Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford would be the next to get pink slips.

Kraft said there are no plans to reinstate 21 Department of Agriculture employees who have already been laid off under the original closure plan.

COGFA co-chair Rep. Patricia Bellock said hearings held throughout the state on the proposed closures helped to raise awareness among lawmakers about the need to give more patients access to community based care. “Besides the 12 members of COGFA, at all those hearings, the local legislators were there. So now you have 35 or 40 legislators who are familiar with this process in Illinois of institutionalization and are ready to move forward with the [Quinn] administration on this in a serious way,” said Bellock, a Hinsdale Republican.

She added, “This will not go away.”

Lawmakers will likely be returning to Springfield later this month to wrap up a plan intended to keep businesses in the state.

As the legislative session was drawing to a close this evening, it was announced on the House floor that legislators should be prepared to return to the Statehouse for session on November 21. Veto session was originally scheduled to last through tomorrow. “It will be an opportunity for the House Revenue Committee to report a tax incentive bill,” House Speaker Michael Madigan said after the announcement. When asked whether the tax incentive package, which began as a plan to keep the CME Group from making good on threats to leave the state, would be addressed, Madigan said, “That’s the plan.”

A spokesperson for Senate President John Cullerton said Cullerton is “surveying his members” to see if they are available for more session days.

Cullerton introduced a bill that would cut taxes for the CME Group, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. CME representatives said the recent income tax increase would result in the company owing the state $158 million. Republicans demanded other business friendly provisions and said they would not support a bill that was geared to only one business. Sears is also looking for incentive to stay in the state. Since the introduction of the bill, wish lists from all sides have been piled on, and Madigan seems to be seeking more time to iron out a deal that can pass.

Additional session days would allow sponsors who have been unable to drum up support for their bills more time to try an find “yes” votes.

One such sponsor could be Skokie Democratic Rep. Lou Lang. Senate Bill 1849, a revamped version of a gaming expansion package, failed to pass today in the House. Lang said yesterday that he was seeking a veto-proof majority, but the bill failed to gain even the simple majority needed to move it over to the Senate.

Lang said the new bill was a better version of a gaming package that lawmakers approved last spring. “This bill provides less gaming and more oversight.” He said he took Gov. Pat Quinn’s complaints about SB 744, which Quinn vowed to veto, under consideration when drafting the new plan. But in the end, the sticking point is allowing horse racing tracks to have slot machines. Quinn is opposed and Lang and Waukegan Democratic Sen. Terry Link, who is the gaming point man in his chamber, say a gambling expansion cannot pass in the legislature without them. Quinn’s office did not respond to an inquiry about the governor’s position on SB 1849.

“The first thing that the governor said was, No help for our agribusiness people. No help for central and southern Illinois. 'No help for you. You’re on your own. You’re on your own. Oh, we’ll continue to cut jobs in your communities. We’ll close facilities in your communities,'” Lang said during floor debate. “It would make me angry if I lived in central Illinois.”

Lang attempted to tweak legislative frustration with the governor toward his favor, but in the end, it may have been Quinn’s opposition that pulled off of this new bill at least some of the original 65 “yes” votes for the larger gaming package approved in spring.

Madigan said Quinn’s opposition to slots at horse racing tracks and what most see as an inevitable veto for SB 1849, if it should pass, may have damped support. “That could dissuade people from voting yes.”

“Clearly several people who voted for this in May did not vote for it today. I had several members who voted no last time that told me that they were going to vote yes today,” Lang said. “We’ll get to the bottom of it and figure out if we can find the necessary votes to pass it by tomorrow.”

Lang said legislators should not allow Quinn’s veto threats to sway their votes. “That happens around here a lot. And that would be not a proper way to make legislation. We have a Constitution that provides for three coequal branches of government, and I would hope that legislators would not abdicate their responsibilities under the Constitution worrying about what [the governor] might do if we pass a bill.”

Other issues could bleed into extra session days. House Minority Leader Tom Cross has yet to call, SB 512, his plan to reduce pension benefits for workers hired before reduced benefits kicked in this year. The deadline has passed to override Quinn’s budget vetoes, which include a cut to Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals and an unpopular cut to funding for school transportation. Without a corresponding rate cut, the Medicaid reduction would essentially push bills into next fiscal year. The vetoes stand, so lawmakers may look to make budget tweaks in the near future.

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