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What Illinois needs is a road map to reform that’s readily available when the state’s finances finally break down. At Wirepoints, we’ve laid out a path for fixing Illinois’ biggest problem: pensions.
No substantive response, just name calling and labeling.
Jim Dey: “Financial analysts at Wirepoints are used to being perceived by members of Illinois’ political establishment as the skunks at the garden party.”
If needed to respond, the Guard members would fall under the direction of the state police, just as they were when they helped during civil unrest in Chicago following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.
While it’s not illegal to use personal relationships, the tale of how a furniture company became a top supplier of medical gear helps illustrate how valuable those connections were during the early days of the pandemic when speed was critical. “This was an all-hands-on-deck moment,” said Joanna Klonsky, a consultant and political adviser to Lightfoot, “and everyone was looking for ways to be helpful in an emergency.”
About $2.2 billion of next year’s expected revenue would come from CountyCare, the health system’s massive Medicaid program serving low-income residents. The insurance plan is seeing an enrollment resurgence during the pandemic and is now expected to see membership peak in November before it plateaus to about 350,000 for most of next year, potentially offsetting all claims payments.
The clerk’s office under Brown has long been criticized for the inefficient manner in which it handles many public records, relying on paper documents that would many times go missing. This archaic method has been an issue for years, but it’s only grown worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.
That direct warning is likely to exacerbate tensions between the City Council and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration, which has been working to scale back the power of individual aldermen — even as the mayor has vowed to listen more respectfully to those who oppose her policies and initiatives.
“Our office simply used a mailing list that they provided to us and sent letters to everyone that was on that list by September 15,” said Henry Haupt, a spokesman for White. “Under the law we’re required to send one more letter October 15 using the list of names provided to us at that time by the Illinois State Board of Elections.”
Law Department head, Mark Flessner wrote, “Let me reemphasize my concern in another way: There is a significant difference between” asking questions and making suggestions, and “insisting that a proposed ordinance be drastically and fundamentally amended through the imposition of compelled concessions unrelated to that ordinance, as a precondition of committee approval.”
Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider called Kilbride a pawn of longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan. “Time and time again, Kilbride has sided with government insiders and special interests over taxpayers, leading to higher taxes and more corruption here in the most corrupt state in the nation.”
Compared to the same time last year, Illinois’ Rural Mainstreet economy has lost 8.1% of its nonfarm employment representing 390,000 jobs.
Letter from State Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago; State Rep. Lamont Robinson, D-Chicago; Naomi Davis, lead steward, Chicago Black Water Council; Josh Ellis, vice president, Metropolitan Planning Council: “More importantly, equity must be integral to any replacement program; a statewide program would address this issue head-on. Nationwide research has shown that voluntary programs are not equitable.”
Because many Metro East residents utilize Missouri hospitals for medical care and COVID-19 testing services, only including positive test results from those providers would dramatically increase the reported positivity rate for the region.
Teddi’s behavior flies in the face of Pritzker’s order against reinstating the Illinois high school athletic season.
The list now includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.
Eighth-grader Eleni Nicolaudes carried a sign that summed up her feelings on remote learning: “Stressed Out.” Her younger sister, Sofia, made a sign that told her health story of being a Type 1 diabetic who had COVID-19 and survived. “I like to see my friends,” Sofia said. “I just want to go back to school.”
The one-week reprieve was an acknowledgement that adding Wisconsin back to the order could have a “major impact” since many Chicagoans commute to Wisconsin every day for work, and many have vacation homes on the other side of the border, officials said.
157 schools have reopened for an average of over three weeks, according to Justin Lombardo, the Archdiocese’s Chief Human Resource officer. And while he feels progress has gone very well, the biggest challenge is gaining the confidence and trust from the staff and parents. “This was not an exercise of open the door and let it go.”
Mark was on with with Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson discussing Wirepoints’ new report on the need for comprehensive pension reform, the push for a progressive tax and the potential for a federal bailout for irresponsible states like Illinois.
While the state repeatedly said every finalist qualified as a social equity applicant, the winning groups included a clouted list of powerful interests, including Chicago restaurateur Phil Stefani, former Chicago Police Supt. Terry Hillard and others with ties to existing cannabis operators.
Truth in Accounting CEO Sheila Weinberg said, “People around the country were not paying attention to Illinois’ reckless behavior but now they have to because Illinois is going to the federal government and asking taxpayers around the country for a bailout.”
A study from BankRate found 3 out of 5 parents nationwide said remote learning will negatively impact their finances, with more than a third saying they would have to either reduce their hours at work or quit altogether.
New Jersey and Illinois are the worst “sinkhole states.”
Circuit Court Chief Judge Bill Mudge told St. Louis Public Radio, “There are varying interpretations of what is permissible and what is not. Reasonable minds may disagree on this point.” Mudge said the court received various and sometimes “ambiguous and conflicting eviction directives” from the governor, the Illinois Supreme Court and the federal government.
Christine Underwood, who has operated her home day care for 23 years, said, “There’s a lot of days cares shutting down because they can’t afford to stay open, especially the big day cares because they’re only working at 60 percent capacity. Grant or not, they’re still losing a ton of money.”
Officials said public utility customers who have missed bill payments or are having trouble paying their bills don’t need written proof of their struggles to ensure their service isn’t shut off, but do need to call their supplier about their issues.
The 11th annual Financial State of the States report published by Truth in Accounting found New Jersey ranked the worst, having the highest taxpayer burden of $57,900 per taxpayer, meaning each taxpayer would need to pay $57,900 to pay New Jersey’s debt. Illinois was not far behind, reporting a $52,000 taxpayer burden.
Wirepoints’ plan immediately cuts the state’s official unfunded pension and retiree health liabilities by over $70 billion, dropping debts to $120 billion from $192 billion. That reduction saves the state an average of $5 billion a year in retirement costs and reduces retirement costs as a share of the state’s budget to 17 percent from 26 percent.
Stopping the growth in accrued pension promises is the only way Illinois can guarantee an end to its public retirement crisis. Wirepoints’ reform plan protects state workers’ retirement security and ensures Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens no longer suffer from ever-higher taxes and a lack of core services.
Wirepoints lays out a baseline restructuring for Illinois’ five state-run pension plans and the retiree health insurance plan for state workers. The plan significantly reduces Illinois’ retirement debts, helping Illinois escape its downward spiral. By reforming pensions, we can avoid tax hikes and reestablish a competitive level of services, tax rates and economic growth for Illinois.
Laughable hypocrisy, however, is the currency of the realm in today’s politics.
Under a 1983 state law, the Citizens Utility Board can’t accept power company money. But WBEZ has found it took in $11.5 million from ComEd-funded foundations.
“The magnitude of the current budget gap and reliance on one-time measures make us question Illinois’ ability to achieve structural balance in a reasonable time,” the analysts wrote.
“His own lawyers are arguing that there’s an exception right now that applies to the eviction moratorium,” Wirepoints Founder Mark Glennon said of Gov. Pritzker. “When the impairment of the contract is reasonably drafted, fair and properly done, then contracts can be impaired.”
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