Politics & Government

Political Rewind: Small Business Left Out of Tax Break Discussion

It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.

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

New plan forms to keep state facilities open, for now

Notices have gone out to nearly 200 Tinley Park Mental Health Center employees letting them know that they will be laid off on Dec. 3 as their facilities prepares to close under orders from Gov. Pat Quinn. 

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But Thursday morning a legislative commission voted against Quinn’s move to close the state psychiatric center. 

The Legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, also voted against closing the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln and the Jacksonville Developmental Centerfacility Thursday too.

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“There’s a right way to close these places and there’s a wrong way to do it and I thought this was the wrong way,” state Rep. Kevin McCarthy, D-Orland Park, said. 

Quinn announced the closures of those and four other state facilities and the laying off of nearly 2,000 employees earlier in the year because the General Assembly didn’t give him enough money in its $33.2 billion budget.

Plan to pay regional superintendents gets House approval

Regional superintendents of education in the state got a glimmer of hope Wednesday after months of uncertainty and going unpaid. 

The Illinois House approved a plan to fund the offices with about $13 million from the personal property replacement tax, or PPRT, for just this fiscal year on a 74-36 vote. The PPRT is an additional income tax levied on businesses by the state and distributed to local municipalities.

We’re “very, very relieved and happy,” Marc Kiehna, regional superintendent of schools for Monroe and Randolph counties, said after the vote. 

Kiehna was joined by several other regional superintendents, who exploded into applause after watching the House approve the measure. 

State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, sponsored the legislation and said it will cost local governments about a penny for every dollar of PPRT money they receive. 

The House’s action comes nearly four months after Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed money for the regional offices of education where the regional superintendents work. Regional superintendents have been working since July without pay.

Small business left out of tax break discussion

Legislators are working to give Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Sears tax breaks to keep the companies' in the state.

Both companies have said other states are offering them incentives to move, which would be bruising to state government’s bottom line. CME’s $108 million in income taxes alone accounted for 6 percent of the state’s corporate income tax last year.

Without $85 million in proposed yearly tax breaks, CME will pay an estimated $158 million in income taxes this year. Sears would get tax breaks of $15 million for the next decade.

Sears would also be allowed to continue getting a break on its local property taxes for fifteen years. The company has been paying reduced property taxes for about 20 years. Sears would be required to keep a minimum of 4,250 employees in the state at its headquarters in Hoffman Estates under the plan.

But that would allow the company to downsize its current workforce of 6,100 by 1,850 and still get the benefits of lower taxes. 

Not everyone in the Legislature is on board with the tax breaks. 

“When I think about the other businesses we’ve given tax breaks to, what do we get as taxpayers in return? Another threat? When is enough, enough?” state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, asked. 

CME Chairman Terry Duffy said at a committee hearing Tuesday that his company isn’t seeking a handout from the state and isn’t threatening anyone.

Speaker Madigan: Legislature not bound by Quinn’s spending decisions

In the fight for control over Illinois’ purse strings, House Speaker Mike Madigan says the Legislature, not Gov. Pat Quinn, decides how to spend the taxpayer’s money and balance the Illinois budget.

“I don’t necessarily subscribe to the view that what the executive (branch) does binds the legislative (branch),” the Democrat from Chicago said at a statehouse hearing Monday here.

The hearing allowed Madigan to further showcase his legislative resolution that would allow the Legislature to indicate how much the state can spend on employee pay during upcoming contract negotiations between Quinn and the state’s largest public-sector union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME.The contract expires in June.

“One of our responsibilities, under the constitution, is to adopt a balanced budget. Which means, under the constitution, we are expected to be involved in budget making,” Madigan said. “We do not want to replace the governor in negotiations.”

Henry Bayer, executive director for AFSCME Council 31, said Monday that the Legislature gave Quinn the authority that Madigan wants to change.

“The Legislature passed the current collective bargaining (legislation), and gave to the governor the power to negotiate collective bargaining agreements,” said Bayer. “We’ve been doing that … since 1984.

But Madigan said Illinois is broke and the Legislature needs to have input in the negotiations.

Wage increases slow, but not campaign contributions

Pay increases for public employees in Illinois could become a trickle under a plan forming in the General Assembly.

Looking to interject itself into upcoming contract talks, the state Legislature is setting a limit on how much it’ll appropriate for wage increases.

The state House will decide the maximum increase.

“Essentially, it’s the legislature putting down a marker and saying (to the governor), ‘If you go beyond this, we’re not going to fund it,’” said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at University of Illinois at Springfield and longtime state government observer.

The Legislature’s actions come on the eve of contract negotiations beginning between Gov. Pat Quinn and the state’s largest public-sector union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME. The current contract ends June 30.

During the 2010 campaign cycle, which was the last major election before the new contract with the unions will be decided, AFSCME maintained a steady stream of campaign contributions to help get and keep public officials, from Quinn to Democratic legislators, in office.

Between Jan. 1, 2010 and Nov. 7, 2010, AFSCME gave $1.4 million to candidates, according to records from the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Medicaid payments to hospitals to take longer

The Legislature decided not to try and turn over Governor Pat Quinn’s veto of $376 million from the state’s budget.

Quinn wants to shuffle that money around to other areas in the budget he sees as underfunded.Out of that, $276 million was to go towards Medicaid bills. Those will now be pushed to next year, meaning hospitals will have to wait longer to get paid by the state.

That state currently owes more than $1.5-billion in Medicaid bills. 

Lang: Now or next April for gaming

If Illinois lawmakers cannot agree on a new plan to add five casinos or override Gov. Pat Quinn's threatened veto this week, then gaming expansion could be on hold until the spring legislative session.

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, told a legislative panel Tuesday morning that his new plan is the best chance now for Illinois to expand gambling and tap into the billions of dollars in revenue the new casinos would generate.

"If we don't make it happen this week —  because of getting into a new session, because of the primary election, because of all sort of things —  it is clear to me that we won't have a gaming (plan) to vote on until next April or May," Lang said.

Lang's new legislation is in direct response to Quinn's criticisms of the bill lawmakers agreed to last spring. That legislation approved not only five new casinos, but also allowed horse track owners to install slot machines at their facilities.

Quinn repeatedly has said he does not want slot machines at horse racing tracks, including the Illinois State Fairgrounds here. The governor has insisted that the Illinois Gaming Board be given more power and oversight. 


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