Senate Week in Review: July 25-29

SPRINGFIELD – A new audit released by Illinois’ Auditor General William Holland shows that Illinois’ net worth deficit is now the largest among all 50 states and the state’s general fund deficit is a record $9.2 billion.

This week, state leaders met with Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to discuss work rules at McPier, and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority is exploring increasing toll fares for I-Pass users.

The Auditor General released a report on July 21, right after the Comptroller’s Fiscal Year 2010 annual report on the state’s finances was released. The audit showed that Illinois’ net worth has steadily deteriorated over the last decade, plunging from negative $12.8 billion in FY 2003 to negative $37.9 billion in FY 2010.

The deficit in the state’s net worth reflects the difference between Illinois’ liabilities and assets. Examining a state’s net worth provides a good picture of its fiscal health. In FY 2010, Quinn's first full year in office, the state’s net assets fell $8.4 billion. 

I'd like to note that the report continues to show how Illinois mismanages its fiscal responsibilities with no sign of improvement.  Nothing short of a dramatic change in policy direction will fix Illinois’ current status as a financial train wreck.  We need to do just about everything differently.

Illinois was one of only four states with a net worth deficit. However, Illinois had by far the largest deficit, at nearly 10 times the $4.2 billion deficit reported by California and still substantially more than Connecticut’s $13.7 billion deficit and New Jersey’s $28.2 billion deficit.

The audit is one of numerous reports released by both state officials and private entities highlighting the state’s ongoing fiscal problems. In May, Treasurer Dan Rutherford released a report showing state taxpayers’ borrowing debt has jumped to $45 billion—or $24,000 for every Illinois family. Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka has consistently cautioned that substantial structural budget changes are needed if Illinois is to ever eliminate its massive deficit.

In other news, the Toll Highway Authority is seeking the first toll increase for I-Pass users since 1983. The revenues would finance a $12 billion program to improve and expand Illinois’ suburban Chicago transportation infrastructure.

On July 28, the Tollway Board voted to hold August hearings on the proposed toll hike. According to the Tollway’s Executive Director, the Authority is seeking to increase the current 40-cent I-Pass passenger-car toll to 75 cents. Proponents note that when the Tollway opened in 1958, toll rates were 30 cents—only 10 cents less than current rates.

The Tollway Board would be responsible for voting on the proposed hikes, though lawmakers and the Governor would have to approve construction plans affiliated with the improvement program. Tollway authorities say the increase is necessary to make much-needed improvements to the suburban expressways surrounding Chicago.

There is no proposed hike for commercial vehicles; an increase had already been approved for commercial vehicles that will take effect in 2015. Tollway drivers who pay cash will continue to pay their current rates, which are double the I-Pass rate.

Earlier in the week, legislative leaders sat down with the Governor and Mayor Emanuel to discuss changes to work rules at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center and exhibition facility.

The facility, known as “McPier,” is an economic engine for Chicago and the state, attracting lucrative trade shows, which create local jobs, and bring in tourism dollars and sales tax revenues. In 2010, lawmakers passed a bipartisan reform package to ease stringent labor rules at McPier after several trade shows left Illinois for more desirable locations, citing the high cost of doing business at the facility.

However, legal challenges have placed the 2010 labor changes in jeopardy. U.S. District and Appeals Courts have sided with labor unions that protested the initial reforms, finding that the law interferes with the negotiating rights of private-sector employees.

In response, state and city leaders are pursing new work rules that would satisfy the legal concerns surrounding the current work rules. State officials are hopeful a compromise can be reached through negotiations with union leaders. However, Gov. Quinn has said that if an agreement cannot be reached, he will call lawmakers back to Springfield in September to pursue revised legislation intended to keep the work rules in place.

State lawmakers, Quinn and Emanuel all agree that a compromise on the work rules is urgent. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), which owns and manages McCormick Place, confirmed that the implementation of the reforms had a tremendously positive impact in ensuring the competitiveness of the facility against similar venues in Orlando and Las Vegas. However, McPier authorities have confirmed that the legal uncertainty surrounding the reforms has already impacted sales at the facility through lost trade show business.

Legislation signed into law this week includes:

Audit Clean-up (SB 100/PA 97-220): Addresses issues, loopholes and outdated practices at the Environmental Protection Agency as outlined in a recent state audit, including establishing a new penalty for destroying a public water system.

College Technology Entrepreneur Centers (HB 1876/PA 97-0196): Authorizes the board of trustees of each public university and community college in Illinois to create a technology entrepreneur center, which will provide goods and personnel to innovators who possess an innovative concept that has not yet been offered for sale. The goal is to help them develop their concept to the point where it can become a business venture

Construction Application (SB 2143/PA 97-0232): Doubles the time, from two years to four years, that a filed school construction application from a former school district(s) may be used with the State Board of Education for a reorganized school district or cooperative high school ­construction project, if that application has not been already been entitled for a project previously for districts that are reorganizing. 

Corporate License Plate (SB 1360/PA 97-0221): Requires the Secretary of State to complete a feasibility study on the costs, profits and public interest associated with the implementation of corporate license plates.

False Representation (SB 64/PA 97-219): Prohibits knowingly and falsely representing oneself to be another person in order to intimidate, threaten, injure, defraud, or obtain a benefit from another. Prohibits a person to claim to be a representative of a person or organization in order to obtain a benefit, or to injure or defraud another person.

Forgery Terminology (SB 2027/PA 97-0231): Adds the act of making "a false document" and “to make it false” to the prohibited conduct currently included under a forgery offense.

Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits (SB 2168/PA 97-0203): Creates an income tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic structures in River Edge Redevelopment Zones.

IDOT Discrimination (SB 1923/PA 97-0228): Gives the chief procurement officer, in consultation with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the power to implement a target market program in order to remedy particular incidents and patterns of egregious race or gender discrimination.

Investment Funds (SB 107/PA 97-0197): Provides that any funds created by an Illinois venture capital firm in which the Treasurer places money must invest at least twice the aggregate amount of investable capital that is received from the state in Illinois companies during the life of the fund. The goal is to ensure that money invested by the state will not be invested in out-of-state companies with no hope of that money returning as investments in Illinois companies. 

Juvenile Detention Worker Assault (SB 1754/PA 97-0225): Establishes that an assault against a county juvenile detention center resident supervisor is considered an aggravated assault and a Class 4 felony, the same classification that’s associated with assaults against corrections officers.

Large Truck Speed Limit (SB 1913/PA 97-0202): Provides that outside the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will, the speed limit for big trucks is uniform with cars, or 65 mph, on four-lane divided highways.

License “Clean-up” Languages (SB 1924/PA 97-0229): Contains clean-up provisions and minor changes relating to driver’s licenses, including requiring individuals to appear at a Secretary of State facility that the Secretary of State believes to have issued identification cards based on invalid, fictitious or fraudulent documents. Failure to appear will result in cancellation of the card. Also makes changes relating to school bus permits, graduated driver’s licenses for people who received supervision for underage drinking, license suspension for speeding in construction zones, restricted driving permits for people convicted of moving violations that resulted in fatal accidents, and more.

Natural Gas Markets (SB 1654/PA 97-0223): Requires the Illinois Commerce Commission's Office of Retail Market Development to prepare an annual report regarding the development of competitive retail natural gas markets in Illinois.

Nuclear Fees (HB 1723/PA 97-0195): Increases the fee that must be paid by owners of each licensed nuclear power reactor in the state, and changes the date by which the fees must be paid. Also imposes an additional, temporary fee that will be used to upgrade remote monitoring system software and to acquire, replace and upgrade certain equipment.

Oral Cancer Medications (HB 1825/PA 97-0198): Requires insurance plans that provide coverage for oral cancer medications and intravenous cancer medications to cover oral medications at the same benefit cost as intravenous medications.

Recycling Centers (SB 1929/PA 97-0230): Allows recycling centers to recycle certain materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. Counting other types of waste as recycling material will allow them to qualify for certain exemptions that would enable them to maintain financial viability.

Respectful Language (SB 1833/PA 97-0227): Makes changes to language in state law to replace the term “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability” and the term “physically disabled” for “crippled.”

Semi-trailers (HB 2836/PA 97-0200): Allows a semi-trailer to be directly connected to another semi-trailer without the use of a dolly converter as long as all statutory length and weight restrictions are met.

Student Athlete Concussion (HB 200/PA 97-0204): Requires school boards to adopt a policy on student athlete concussions and head injuries that complies with the protocols, policies, and by-laws of the IHSA. Requires student athletes who sustained a concussion to receive written clearance from a licensed health professional before they can resume play. Also encourages park districts to provide patrons with information concerning head injuries.

Student Transportation (SB 1669/PA 97-0224): Places additional regulations on school bus and cab drivers who transport students, including restrictions and requirements for applicants under court supervision, or who have been convicted of multiple traffic offenses. Institutes new safety and insurance requirements for transportation companies transporting students. Advances new documentation mandates for school districts relating to bus drivers.

Sunset Clean-up (SB 1806/PA 97-0226): Amends the Home Inspector License Act and the Regulatory Sunset Act to move the repeal date from Jan. 1, 2012, to Jan. 1, 2022, and advances other standard clean-up language.

Truck Restrictions (SB 1644/PA 97-0201): Preempts home rule to establish that weight and size limits on trucks are under the exclusive purview of the state, with some exemptions.

Utility Consumer Education (SB 1396/PA 97-0222): Requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to direct the Office of Retail Market Development to review the existing consumer education information for residential and small commercial utility customers and determine whether updates are necessary.