QUOTE OF THE DAY
Politico: Rahm Emanuel: D.C. hero, Chicago goat
In Washington, he is “Rahmbo,” the ruthless, profane operative who survived the Clinton White House despite being vanquished by the first lady. In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel has been dubbed the “murder mayor” by one critic, a snipe at the city’s high homicide rate.
In Washington, he’s the campaign mastermind who reportedly mused about a 2016 presidential run if Hillary Clinton takes a pass. In Chicago, he’s the ham-fisted gentrifer who’s been tripped up by the city’s entrenched racial politics.
In Washington, he’s the star of the CNN series “Chicagoland” — a careful keeper of his image whose office helped coordinate the show. In the real Chicago, a city known for its mobster history, his tough-guy veneer just isn’t as intimidating.
Chicago Tribune: Part of Illinois’ Medicaid rollout delayed at least 2 months
The chief medical officer of the state’s largest health system said Wednesday that Illinois will delay the launch of one of its Medicaid managed care programs by at least two months.
Advocate Health Care’s Dr. Lee Sacks, speaking at a health care event hosted by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said Illinois is behind schedule on the July 1 launch of its “accountable care entity” program for Medicaid patients.
The state is required by law to move at least half of its 3 million Medicaid patients into managed care by Jan. 1, a date officials said late Wednesday that they will meet despite the delay. Even with the delay, patients will still be able to access care in the same way they are now.
Peoria Public Radio: Illinois’ Economic Growth Up Slightly In May
After three months of declines, the U of I’s Flash Index to the Illinois economy showed a slight increase in May, up two tenths of a point, to 106.2.
Any reading above 100 on the Flash Index shows economic growth. But economist Fred Giertz with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs says the rate of growth had declined from February through April, possibly due to the harsh winter.
Before that time, Giertz says Illinois’ economic growth rate had reached an encouraging 3-4%.
Chicago Healthcare Daily: Obamacare co-op Land of Lincoln loses money in first quarter
Illinois’ only co-op health insurance program lost more than $4 million and enrolled fewer than 2,500 people in its first quarter of operation as it struggled to enter a market dominated by one massive competitor.
Land of Lincoln Health Inc. Co-op had just 2,451 members by March 31, 97 percent of whom bought individual plans. The carrier was established under President Barack Obama’s health care reform law and aimed to increase competition in Illinois’ individual and group insurance markets.
Meanwhile, the Chicago-based insurer recorded just $1.9 million in premium revenue against $6.1 million in expenses, including $1.6 million in payments for medical services and prescription drugs and $4.5 million in claims adjustment and administrative expenses, according to a filing last month with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Chicago Sun Times: Cabdrivers bolster their case to be declared city employees
Half of Chicago cabdrivers are earning less than the minimum wage — and more than ten percent are losing money — in a taxi industry that’s generating $30 million in annual city revenue.
Cabdriver Melissa Callahan presented that evidence Thursday in a “motion for summary judgment” that asks a federal judge to classify cabdrivers as city employees who must be paid the state’s $8.25-an-hour minimum wage — or higher if Mayor Rahm Emanuel follows through on his promise to propose a Chicago-only minimum wage increase.
The statistics on driver earnings come from a study conducted by Dr. Robert Bruno of the University of Illinois at Chicago and mirrors his findings five years ago. In fact, cabbies have been sinking further into poverty.
Daily Herald: More than 200,000 Illinois job openings posted
Illinois officials say ads for more than 200,000 job openings were posted online in May and 85 percent of them were for full-time work.
The state Department of Employment Security says there were about 151,000 jobs posted for the Chicago region. Other top numbers included 9,000 in Bloomington and Peoria, 7,000 in Decatur and Springfield, 6,500 in Rockford and 5,500 in Champaign and Danville.
Employment Security Director Jay Rowell says it’s a sign that Illinois is undergoing economic growth with expanded job opportunities.
Wall Street Journal: Economists React to May Jobs Report: ‘Right in Line’ With ‘No Obvious Warts’
U.S. nonfarm employers added 217,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate remained at 6.3% from the prior month, the Labor Department said Friday. It was the fourth consecutive monthly gain above 200,000 and also marked the first time total U.S. payrolls have pushed past their prior peak reached in January 2008.
Overall, this was a very strong report with no obvious warts to detract from the underlying message of sustained improvement in economic activity, which is broadly consistent with the tone of other economic reports in recent weeks. And while it fell short of what would have been a clear signal of a break-out in growth which would have provided a catalyst for a shift to higher yields in the market, it certainly provides the necessary confirmation that the U.S. economic recovery is definitively back on track after the first-quarter setback and it is consistent with growth in the 3.5% to 4.0% range. For the Fed, this report will likely be seen as a “business-as-usual” report, which will mean no obvious reason for them to alter the current course of monetary policy when they meet later this month. – Millan Mulraine, TD Securities
The good news is that the economy has now recovered all of the near nine million jobs lost during the recession. The bad news is that, after bottoming out in early 2010, it took four years before the level of employment returned to its pre-recession peak. Moreover, over the same period the labor force expanded by an additional two million people, which explains why the unemployment rate is still well above its prerecession level. The increase in the labor force would have been even bigger if it wasn’t for the retirement of the baby boomers and disillusioned job seekers drifting out of the labor market. As a result, the participation rate, that is the proportion of the population in the active labor force, was only 62.8% in May, a multi-decade low. –Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics
Chicago Sun Times: ‘Incomplete’ Illinois budget leaves state agencies in limbo
Illinois state agencies are restricting spending and bracing for the worst after lawmakers approved a budget that uses accounting gimmicks and punts on crucial decisions about where to find revenue until after the November election.
The $35.7 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 keeps most funding flat after Democrats — who hold supermajorities in both chambers — couldn’t find enough votes to extend the state’s temporary income increase before adjourning for the session last week.
That option’s still on the table after the November election, when lawmakers will face heightened pressure to find additional funds in the next year or cut at least $4.4 billion in expenses, forcing layoffs, facility closures and massive program cuts.
Chicago Tribune: Elections board in hurry to spike remap amendment
State election officials say the campaign to change how Illinois draws its legislative maps came up way short of the signatures needed to get its measure on the November ballot. Yes for Independent Maps says it can prove otherwise.
It’s a steep hill to climb. Why is the State Board of Elections determined to block the path?
Could it be because this is a campaign to take power from the politicians and give it to the people?
Chicago Tribune: Why Gov. Quinn should veto Chicago’s pension bill
Gov. Pat Quinn should veto the Chicago pension bill sitting on his desk.
First, the bill doesn’t improve the retirement security of Chicago’s city workers. Instead, it makes workers contribute more to the broken pension system and accept cuts to their cost-of-living adjustments, while leaving their retirements under the control of same politicians who bankrupted the pension systems in the first place.
Second, the bill doesn’t do anything to fix the structural defects of Chicago’s failed pension scheme. Instead, it’s a plan for increased taxpayer contributions — a total of $4.1 billion through 2025 for just the municipal fund alone — that will be funded primarily through property tax hikes.
Wall Street Journal: Hey, the Unions Pushed for the ACAHey, the Unions Pushed for the ACA
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read “New Costs From Health Law Snarl Union Contract Talks” (page one, May 27). Union members nationwide had no objection to the Democrats’ forcing of ObamaCare on to an unwilling public, and now they are trying to avoid paying for the increased cost.
Only those without an elementary understanding of economics could actually believe that health-care reform would bring costs down. Perhaps the unions should have read the bill before they urged the Democrats to pass it.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
