Sunday, August 26, 2012
As we start a new week, it's always good to get caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened last week.
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Sunday, August 26, 2012
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Watchdog, formerly Illinois Statehouse News. SPRINGFIELD — Things were mostly quiet here a week after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on comprehensive pension reform during a special legislative session. Rutherford: Pension inaction could have ‘very serious impact’ by year end State Treasurer Dan Rutherford sounded the alarm on Illinois’ financial crisis Friday, after a Moody’s report said lawmakers’ inaction on pension reform continues to be an issue for the state’s credit rating. “I know we keep hearing these things about potential downgrades … but the fact is it is now to the point that (the credit rating agencies) are repeatedly saying this. The …
Illinois Republicans are trying to tell voters that a vote for any Democrat this fall is a vote for House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Could this be the election year in which the GOP's portrayal of Mike Madigan as the corrupt manipulator of Democratic state reps — mere marionettes who dance on strings — actually pays off? The Southwest Side power broker is again the target of a Republican bid to tie him to the candidacies of every House Democrat in the November election, according to a report from IllinoisWatchdog.org. A recent $100,000 union donation to Madigan and the House's failure to act on pension reform in the General Assembly is being cited as evidence of a suspicious scratching of the back on the Speaker's part. David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, offered this take to a reporter for …
Sunday, August 19, 2012
As we start a new week, it's always good to get caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened last week.
- GOVERNMENT
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Sunday, August 19, 2012
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Watchdog, formerly Illinois Statehouse News. SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Democrats had a no-good, very bad week, starting Wednesday when disgruntled state workers and retirees booed and heckled them off the stage during the usually upbeat Governor’s Day rally at the Illinois State Fair. It ended Friday, when lawmakers called back for a taxpayer-funded special session by Gov. Pat Quinn were unable to come to any kind of agreement on pension reform for the state, which continues to drown in pension debt. Jeers for Quinn, other Democratic leaders at state fair Thousands of people gathered at the Illinois State Fair Wednesday, officially “Governor’s Day” at the fair…
Friday, August 17, 2012
Local state legislators expect pension reform to be discussed, but to what extent and whether any formal voting will take place remains unclear.
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Friday, August 17, 2012
Members of Illinois’ General Assembly seem to agree on one aspect of what’s expected at Friday’s special session in Springfield called by Gov. Pat Quinn. Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) will face expulsion by the Illinois House in a vote, after he was accused of taking a $7,000 bribe from a campaign worker in a sting operation. But throngs of state employees, including teachers, are now down in Springfield protesting different aspects of pension reform, not Smith’s likely removal from office. Quinn called a special session of the general assembly for Friday under claims to fix the pension problems facing the state, now totaling about $83 billion in unfunded liabilities among the various state employees. Local legislators, as the date …
Sunday, August 5, 2012
As we start a new week, it's always good to get caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened last week.
- GOVERNMENT
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Sunday, August 5, 2012
Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Watchdog, formerly Illinois Statehouse News. SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Pat Quinn increased transparency in one part of state government this week, but his own office failed to release emails that could shine light on his handling of public discourse about prison closures. Prepaid tuition fund to become more transparent Illinois families who invested in the state’s troubled prepaid tuition program will enjoy more transparency in the system because of legislation signed into law Wednesday. The bill, House Bill 3923, requires meetings about the state’s prepaid tuition fund, known as College Illinois!, to be open to the public under the state’s Open Meetings Act. The …
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The debate will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lemont Township Community Center, 16300 Alba St.
The Illinois Policy Institute will host a public forum Thursday to debate teacher pension costs and the potential shift from state to local school districts. The debate, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lemont Township Community Center, 16300 Alba St. The event will be moderated by Illiniois Sen. Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove) and Jerry Moore, opinions editor for Suburban Life Publications. Debate participants include Ted Dabrowski, vice-president of policy at the Illinois Policy Institute; Rainy Kaplan, executive committee member for the Illinois Education Association; and Dave Molitor; president of the Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A Board of Education. A spokesperson for the …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The Illinois General Assembly will meet Aug. 17 to discuss the state's massive unfunded pension liability, as well as a controversial plan to shift the cost of teacher pensions to local school districts.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday called for a special session of the General Assembly on Aug. 17 to tackle pension reform. The Illinois House was already scheduled to be back in Springfield to decide the fate of indicted Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago), the Chicago Tribune reports. The governor's call means the Senate must also convene. Quinn made the announcement during a speech to the City Club of Chicago, calling on lawmakers to deal with "comprehensive" reforms that address the state's $83 billion unfunded pension liability. The state legislature failed to reach an agreement on pension reform during its regular spring session in May, despite last-minute efforts to strike a deal. Quinn said lawmakers "can't afford to wait another moment…
Monday, July 30, 2012
As we start a new week, it's always good to get caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened last week.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, July 30, 2012
SPRINGFIELD — A severe drought devastating crops throughout Illinois prompted concerns about the potential costs of disaster aid and crop insurance payouts later this year. And House lawmakers will take up pension reform when they return to the Capitol for a special session Aug. 17. Here is the week in review: Taxpayers on the hook for millions in crop insurance payouts An environmental watchdog says taxpayers nationwide, including Illinois, will be on the hook for millions, if not billions, of dollars in crop insurance for grain farmers hit hard by this summer’s devastating drought. Government aid, mostly in the form of low-interest loans, will not provide much help for farmers suffering through the drought because of the slow, creeping …
Monday, June 4, 2012
Superintendents from District 113A and District 210 react to lawmakers' last-minute decision to drop a controversial cost-shift plan from pension reform legislation.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
A plan to shift the cost of teacher pensions from the state to local school districts became the most hotly debated topic in Springfield on Tuesday.
With the clock ticking on the current legislative session in Springfield, Illinois lawmakers are scrambling to find a solution to the state's massive shortfall in the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). The most hotly debated topic in the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday was a plan to gradually shift pension liabilities from the state to local school districts, universities and colleges. The proposal is part of Senate Bill 1673, a pension bill backed by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). An Illinois House committee voted 6-3 to send the proposal to the House before Thursday's adjournment deadline, NBC Chicago reports. In a House floor speech that has since gone viral, State Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) slammed Madigan for the …
Ernie Knight
10:45 am on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Dan, Illinois exempts from income tax, distributions from qualified retirement plans, not just pensions. If you are retired and drawing from your 401k, that is not taxed. Neither is Social Security. Pension holders are not being given more favored status by the Illinois income tax code. more ›