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During House floor debate, Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, renewed his request for an estimate as to when a draft copy of the budget might drop – or at least a revenue estimate for the state’s fiscal year that begins July 1. “You’re asking me?” replied Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Democrat from Swansea who was presiding over the House chamber at the time. Hoffman’s quip elicited laughs from members, and Keicher broke into a smile. “Funny story,” Keicher responded. “After I made my inquiry last night, I had eight members of the other side of the aisle suggest to me that they hadn't seen one either.”
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Yeah, it’s all just a big joke in IL. Yuk, yuk!
“When we came to Springfield in January, we made it clear that our top priority was a fiscally responsible budget that prioritized hardworking Illinoisans,” Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said in a joint statement.”
What a hoot! Unless, of course, Don and Chris mean “prioritized” as in a “target on hardworking Illinoisans’ backs” sort of way.
Jay Hoffman lost his own seat in his Democrat District once so Madigan et al had to redraw a seat that included Holbrook’s old area for him. Jay always was a loser unless the deck is stacked for him in true Madigan style.
Making BIPA penalties even worse is simply unbelievable!!!, and shows how much trial lawyers association controls Springfield to the detriment of all…what are they thinking???