Capitol Fax

Rich Miller’s commentary on State Government

I’ve been saying for the past couple of years that Illinois government is one of the biggest drags on our state’s economy. Now, a new survey shows just how true that is.

The survey was conducted in October and November of this year by Illinois Partners for Human Service (IPHS). It found that almost half - 49 percent - of private human service providers have laid off staff. Why? Because the groups are at least partially funded by the state and the state is a total deadbeat when it comes to paying its bills.

The group sent out its survey to 1,000 organizations and 282 replied. And just for those 282 respondents, 1,167 staff had been laid off. Even more frightening, those 282 providers were serving 118,000 fewer clients because of the state’s budget crisis.

Extrapolate those numbers out and the totals are truly gruesome. The survey found that the average human service provider laid off 13 percent of its staff. According to IPHS, there are 400,000 human service workers in Illinois. If those layoff numbers hold up statewide, that’s about 52,000 people. Heck, even if it’s only half that, it’s still 26,000 people without jobs.

Imagine, for a moment, the reaction we’d see if an Illinois company announced it was laying off over 20,000 people. It would be the greatest crisis ever. Except, it’s already happened and hardly anybody has noticed because it’s been done in dribs and drabs throughout the state without press releases or fanfare.

Of course, the object of these providers is to provide their clients with services like alcohol and substance abuse treatment, or caring for delinquent teens, or helping single moms find jobs, or the hundreds of other things these groups do to prevent Illinois from spiraling into Third World hell. According to Illinois Partners for Human Service, about 2 million Illinoisans receive services from private providers.

That means we’re looking at hundreds of thousands of people who either cannot get services or are getting reduced services because of the state’s late payments.

The comptroller expects to pay off Fiscal Year 2010’s past-due bills in the coming days because of the tobacco bond proceeds. Fiscal Year 2010 ended last June. And Illinois Statehouse News reported last week that the state has already accumulated $5.3 billion in past-due bills from the current fiscal year, which isn’t even six months old.

Like any business, these service providers crave certainty above all else. But there’s no certainty in this environment. Far from it. Nobody knows when they’re going to get paid or when this will all end.

The larger providers have taken out loans to make payroll and purchase supplies, but even that only lasts so long. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, one of the largest providers in the state, exhausted its reserves and its credit line just before Thanksgiving because of overdue state bills. Only a late government intervention prevented mass layoffs and program shutdowns.

The smaller providers have no such reserves and can’t tap major lines of credit. These smaller providers reported to IPHS that they’ve even skipped payrolls to avoid layoffs and program closures. But they can only do so much. And even some of the large providers are not sure they can keep going much longer.

For a while, at least, some of the financial strain caused by the state might have weeded out the weaker, or even less committed providers. Some providers have learned to cooperate with each other, rather than compete. They squeezed out the waste and the excess. They learned how to raise more private funds.

But in talking to those left standing, you get the distinct impression that the system is in real danger of collapse. So far, it’s pretty obvious that nobody in Springfield has been willing of late to make the tough choices.

Instead of cutting programs and/or raising taxes, they’ve exported the problem to these providers and other recipients of state money, like schools, local governments, etc. Those recipients have then had to perform a sort of triage at the ground level and then hope for the best. That can only last so long. Triage is for emergencies, not chronic, years-long treatment. By refusing to inject any kind of certainty into the system, the state has created chaos and has endangered its entire network.

We’re spiraling down fast, and it’s our own fault.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com.

Get Morrison On Track and In The Black

“To get Morrison back on track and in the black” is where our city council, mayor and Morrison citizens focus should be.

Observations:

1. We need to learn from our past mistakes, take that information forward to make better decisions. (Keep in mind that “not to exceed-means just that-not to exceed”).

2. At the present time, we no longer have a City Administrator. Does it make sense to replace this position with the main responsibility to create and manage a budget given our current financial status?

3. Honest, open, and more transparent communication between the elected officials and the residents would be beneficial.

4. Morrison’s financial state, like many other towns, is in trouble right now. We, the residents and elected officials, need to work together to find solutions. (That means being open minded, “hearing both sides….not having blinders on” and not pointing fingers – truly just working together.)

5. The Revolving Loan fund was to help businesses in the city improve their businesses, hire more people, and overall economic development. From what I understand, most of Morrison’s Revolving Loan fund is unaccounted for – no one knows how it was used or where it was spent over the last several years. To move forward, we need to find out what happened and where it went so the funds can be replaced. Schuler Motors, Inc. is repaying a loan they have out at present….so, this money should be going back into the Revolving Loan fund with interest to be used by other businesses in the future.

After about 2 years of unanswered questions, it’s time to start fresh. I recently found out if you have a question for the City Council, Mayor, or city employee, you should e-mail it to the Mayor or write it on paper and turn it into the city office. The Mayor will try to get the answer, put it on paper or e-mail you. There will be less confusion, the answers will be thorough, and correct. As a resident, I am also hopeful that this change in communication will provide timely answers. So if you, too, have questions please use this form of communication. I feel that the Mayor and other city representatives currently feel as though they are being put on the spot during public meetings with questions they do not have answers to – but providing concerns and questions in writing will allow them time to research and respond. Most importantly, by working together, our great city is moving forward transparently – correcting errors from our past and not continuing to get buried in inconsistencies and mismanagement. We need to ensure Morrison is a place where residents feel confident that their questions are taken seriously and that their input matters too. So…let us move forward together.

There is a City Council meeting December 13, 2010. I plan on being there. Hope to see you there.

Let’s “Get Morrison back on track and in the black!”

A Morrison Taxpayer

Marti Wood

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

I really do need your help. By telephone, email, letter, it doesn’t matter, I need your input.

On December 1, 2010, I had an opportunity to spend some time, one on one, with the Governor’s Chief of Staff Jerry Stermer. I like Jerry a lot. He is a dedicated public servant, wanting only the best for the citizens of our great state. Of course the conversation was budget related. Any such conversation always comes down to where will the money come from and how do we dig ourselves out of the $6 billion in arrears we currently face.

Many of you reading this are directly affected. If your children go to school, we owe every school district. If you work for a state agency or social agency, somehow the pinch has affected you as it does me. If you receive any state benefits, if you pay taxes, you get my point; all of us are affected directly or indirectly.

The conversation got around to borrowing. Jerry’s point is the prompt pay act – simply meaning, if the state doesn’t pay its providers in a timely manner, it is subject to owing the money plus interest in the twelve to twenty four percent range. We, the state, can borrow at five to seven percent. There lies the question – should we borrow the six billion dollars? Remember, we need a revenue stream to pay it back. Politics involving this decision are astronomical about which I’ve previously written.

Share your observations with me, they will be most helpful. This will be a good place to segue to why I vote a certain way on certain issues. I’ve often written of the importance of lobbyists. They share volumes of information with us and they advocate on your behalf. Of course there are lobbyists advocating for the opposite point of view as well. Lobbyists understand when we vote opposite their wishes. They do, however, ask not to be blindsided. For that reason I seldom, if ever, tip my hat to lobbyists and say how I intend to vote. My desire is to get all the information pro and con, listen to the floor debate, then cast my vote based on that volume of information.

The most important information is what I receive from you, the citizens in the district. Yes, I often vote opposite your wishes but please understand, many back home have been contacting me opposing your point of view. A doctor from Galena emailed me last week that among my numerous faults, wrong voting, and stands on issues, the doctor now hated all republicans because of me. Why must it always be reduced to republicans and democrats? I’m sure many of you will have a response to that question.