Political Rewind: Public Information Could be Tougher to Come By

Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters.

Fewer state employees, but higher paychecks

A fractured economy is swelling unemployment figures in Illinois, and a growing number of those out-of-work residents are state employees.

The General Assembly has been forced to deal with less income from taxpayers and, as a result, has trimmed the number of public employees. But those still working in public-sector jobs are earning more, according to an Illinois Statehouse News, or ISN, analysis.

Between 2009 and 2010, lawmakers increased the paychecks of those still on the job with the state by $83 million, the ISN analysis found. 

Overall, the $3.93 billion in payroll accounted for about 12 percent of the state’s operating budget for fiscal 2010, and was 2 percent higher than in fiscal 2009. Employee pay usually hovers around 10 percent of the state’s operating budget.

But that does not include public university employees, whose salary data were not included in the analysis.

Illinois top earners rake in overtime

Illinois’ top-paid employee isn’t Gov. Pat Quinn, and it’s also not Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride. 

The state's top earner for 2010 is William Wood, the assistant medical director and staff psychiatrist at the Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford, Ill. 

He took home $361,439.80, almost half of which came from overtime beyond his base salary of $201,636, according to public records obtained by Illinois Statehouse News.

Wood is joined by Robert Stanley Rupnik, chief investment officer for the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS, as some of the state’s highest paid employees in 2010. Rupnik made $300,776.90, a 15.96 percent jump from his 2009 salary of $256,187.75, making him the second-highest earner among state employees in 2010.

“Like hiring a physician to work at the University of Illinois to teach neurosurgeon, you need a professional that is qualified and entirely competent,” said Dave Urbanek, spokesman for the teachers’ retirement system. 

While the U.S. Department of Labor doesn’t keep wage information on Rupnik’s specific type of job, it does indicate that a general financial managers’ average salary is between $148,920 and $168,640.

Few want state to run Illinois’ health-care exchanges

Almost no one wants the state running Illinois' new health-care exchanges. 

Health-care advocates, unions, doctors’ groups and business people testified in unison this week before the Legislature's rule-making body, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability that the state should have a limited role in running the health-care exchanges, but they were divided on their reasons. 

Each state must create an exchange where people can shop for and purchase competitive health insurance plans, as required under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But each state can create its own exchange. 

At its most basic, an exchange would be a marketplace, a one-stop shop. Some states are looking at online exchanges or physical exchanges or both, but no single model has emerged.

FOIA tweak could make getting info tougher

A new law signed last week by Gov. Pat Quinn gives local public officials and government bodies, like Riddle, more time to comply with FOIA requests from so-called "recurrent requesters."

The law took effect as soon as it was signed. 

Someone becomes a "recurrent requester" by filing more than seven FOIA requests in seven days, 15 requests in a month or 50 in a single year.

Media, universities, nonprofits and scientific organizations are exempt. 

Under the previous law, a public body had to respond to a FOIA request from a recurrent requester within five days. However, the new law requires a response only in "reasonable period of time."  

"This new law really deals with people who clearly use FOIA as a harassment tool," said Brian May, the lead attorney for the Illinois Municipal League, which is a leading lobbyist for Illinois' local governments. 

Ameren asking customers to cough up $90 million more

Ameren Illinois customers could get a shock, when they open their electric and gas bills in January.

The Illinois Commerce Commission, or ICC, on Tuesday held the only scheduled public hearing  on gas and electricity rate increases for the 1.2 million Ameren customers. 

Ameren estimates the increases, which would start in 2012, would cause the average customer’s electric bill to increase $36 a year and the average customer’s natural gas bill jump by up to $38 a year.

$5 million is just the beginning of Illinois’ health care exchange costs

Illinois is touting a $5 million federal grant to set up health-care exchanges as part of the national health care law, but residents may not have access to an exchange for a couple years. 

Illinois wants to have an exchange ready for federal review by 2013, said Kate Gross, assistant director for health planning at the Illinois Department of Insurance.

If Illinois fails to set up its exchange by January 2014, it will be required to use an exchange chosen by federal officials.

Judge: No paychecks for superintendents yet

Illinois lawmakers, not the court system, must order that the state's regional superintendents be paid after not receiving a paycheck since July. 

Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Schmidt issued a three-page ruling, in which he denied the regional superintendents' request for a temporary restraining order to force Gov. Pat Quinn to pay them. 

"The issue is … whether this Court has the authority to order payment of unappropriated state salaries," Schmidt wrote in his opinion Friday. "The answer is no." 

The judge added that the Illinois Constitution gives the governor the authority to shape the state budget. The governor cannot increase it, but he can cut it or amend it, under the amendatory veto power. 

But Schmidt said the Legislature needs to act on Quinn's veto.   

"The Illinois Constitution states very plainly that the governor may veto an item of appropriation," Schmidt wrote. "To hold otherwise would thrust the Court into the appropriation process." 

Illinois' 44 regional superintendents’ paychecks will be in limbo until late October or early November when lawmakers return for the fall veto session. Illinois' fall veto session runs Oct. 25-27 and then again Nov. 8-10. No special session is planned to address this issue.