April 8, 2010

This week, Senate Democrats introduced their plan to change the way district maps are drawn in Illinois.  However, good government groups and state Republicans both said the proposal falls short of true redistricting reform, as politicians would still be allowed to draw their own districts.

Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno was also critical of the plan, which she said falls far short of what needs to happen in Illinois.

“By allowing legislators to continue to draw their own districts, this proposal violates the first basic principle of reform,” Radogno explained. “The new Senate Democrat proposal continues the current practice in Illinois that allows politicians to pick their voters instead of the other way around. It’s a practice that allows friends to be rewarded, enemies to be punished and voters to be short-changed.”

Additionally, unlike the plans advanced by Senate and House Republicans (SJRCA 104 and HJRCA 56), the Senate Democrat’s plan does nothing to encourage bi-partisan compromise. The Republicans’ plan requires an extra-ordinary majority to approve redistricting maps, while the Senate Democrats plan allows a map to be adopted by a simple majority vote in each House—after it has been drawn by the politicians.

Reform groups, which have advanced alternative plans that take the drawing of legislative districts out of the hands of politicians, reacted quickly and negatively to the scheme.  

"The whole point of what we're doing is to get it out of the hands of the Legislature so that incumbents can't guarantee their own elections," said Jan Czarnik, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

Read more: Democrat redistricting proposal falls short of real reform

March 31, 2010

Major credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, recently downgraded the state’s general obligation rating from an A to an A minus, warning that the state’s credit rating could drop further if nothing is done to address Illinois’ massive deficit and multi-billion dollar bill backlog.

Despite recent action by state lawmakers to ward off the possible downgrade—the passage of a pension reform measure intended to show that Illinois is committed to getting its fiscal house in order—the credit rating agencies didn’t bite.  On March 29, Fitch downgraded the state while maintaining a continued Rating Watch Negative, while on March 26 Standard & Poor placed Illinois on a negative credit watch. Moody’s Investors Service has also affirmed its negative outlook.

While commending the pension reforms, Fitch Ratings focused more on the overall fiscal mismanagement of the state under Quinn and legislative Democrats. In issuing the downgrade, the rating agency said, “The rating downgrade reflects the magnitude and persistent nature of the state’s fiscal problems and the likelihood that the budget to be enacted for fiscal year (FY) 2011 will not sufficiently address either the annual operating deficit or accumulated liabilities.”

Read more: State’s messy finances lead to downgrade by Fitch Ratings

March 31, 2010

A sweeping bipartisan pension reform measure topped a busy legislative week, with lawmakers also holding hearings on the state budget and approving a new school voucher program for low-income students.

On March 24, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1946 which included numerous pension reforms that have been debated for years. Illinois has the worst-funded pension system in the nation, and pension payments threatened to swallow increasingly larger chunks of the state budget without reforms.

Ultimately, it was the threat of a major credit downgrade that helped spur majority Democrats and Governor Quinn to adopt reforms. Most Republicans supported the reforms, but noted that the changes were needed largely because majority Democrats in 2005 raided state pensions and abandoned a long-term funding plan that had been enacted under Republican control in 1995. The measure, which applies only to new hires, raises the retirement age for state employees, ends “golden pension parachutes” for highly compensated employees, limits annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments and significantly reduces benefits for judges and state lawmakers.

Read more: General Assembly passes pension reform

March 23, 2010

Senator Radogno gave thumbs up to the Chicago Tribune’s March 23 editorial criticizing some lawmakers' resistance to eliminating Illinois’ controversial legislative scholarship program. 

The editorial, “Spare us the ‘baby steps,’” slammed largely ineffective scholarship "reform" legislation that was recently approved by the Illinois Senate, noting that it provides “no way to police the program and no penalty for lawmakers who cheat.”

The Tribune pressed for lawmakers to approve one of numerous bills that have been introduced in the General Assembly that would completely eliminate the scholarship program—including Senate Bill 3652, which was introduced by Senator Radogno.

Radogno has spoken out against the legislative scholarships, and recently decided to opt out of the program. While pushing for its elimination, she noted that in addition to the impropriety and patronage associated with the program, awarding these scholarships is one area the state should scale back in order to relieve some of the financial burden on Illinois’ universities and community colleges.

You can read “Spare us the ‘baby steps’” here.