SJR: Consolidation task force enters home stretch
A group of state lawmakers, representatives of local governments and others has been meeting for months to find ways to consolidate Illinois’ glut of local governments and ways for them to operate more efficiently.
After holding hearings around the state, the group is entering the home stretch before its Dec. 31 deadline to issue a final report to Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly.
The group has already adopted a number of recommendations that will be included in the report, such as allowing local governments to opt out of a requirement to publish public notices in newspapers and imposing a four-year moratorium on creation of new units of local government.
The Southern: Illinois pilots grounded in budget fight
Five state airplane pilots spent the first quarter of Illinois’ fiscal year showing up at their jobs with little chance of leaving the ground.
The reason: Beginning in July, Gov. Bruce Rauner grounded the state air shuttle that ferried state workers and lawmakers between Springfield and Chicago as part of a budget-cutting plan designed to save an estimated $3 million.
Data provided by the transportation agency through a Freedom of Information Act request shows the shuttles flew 136 times in the three months leading up to Rauner’s decree. Afterwards, records show the planes took off zero times.
Crain's: Chicago Park District budget freezes taxes, but pension hole looms
The Chicago Park District rolled out a proposed 2016 budget today that includes no property-tax hike and only an average two-percent hike in fees for recreation programs.
But it dances around a looming pension crisis that could hit not far in the future.
Overall, as described by district officials—it won’t go online until later today, and I’ve not been able to review it in detail—the budget hikes spending by a modest two percent, with total expenditures rising almost $18 million to $458.1 million.
WirePoints: ‘Rahm’s Ramp’: The Madness of Chicago’s Pension ‘Reform’
If you’re not exasperated by Chicago’s approach to pension “reform,” you haven’t been paying attention.
The absurdity into which it has descended is anything but “reform.” Nothing good will come out of the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision on the reform case it heard this week. In fact, upholding Chicago’s reform law could constitutionally lock in pension funding obligations far beyond what taxpayers would endure. Here’s a recap:
On Tuesday the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the appeal on SB1922. That law, which a trial court earlier struck down, would reduce benefits for two of Chicago’s four pensions, the Laborer’s Fund and the Municipal Fund.
St. Louis Post Dispatch: U.S. judge orders settlement talks for Illinois lottery dispute
A U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday sent parties in a lawsuit against the Illinois Lottery by unpaid lottery winners into settlement talks while the case continues.
Chief Judge Ruben Castillo said he will refer the case on an expedited basis to Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland, who will oversee the discussions.
Illinois has not been paying lottery winners of $600 or more since October, due to a state budget impasse between the Republican governor and the Democratic-controlled legislature. The state has continued to advertise games, sell tickets and hold lottery drawings.
Bond Buyer: Market Doesn't Like Chicago's Odds in Pension Case
The municipal market’s buyside, as do legal experts, sees Chicago’s pension reform appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court as a longshot and wants the city to come up with an alternative.
Oral arguments were held Wednesday in Chicago’s appeal of a July lower court ruling that voided the city’s overhaul of its laborers and municipal employees’ funds. They are responsible for half of the city’s $20 billion unfunded pension liabilities. Moody’s Investors Service dropped the city to junk in May over its pension strains.
“Almost no one is optimistic in the market” that Chicago will prevail, said Matt Fabian, partner at Municipal Market Analytics. “It comes down to what the city does after.”
Reuters: Cook County, Illinois, pension plan could be challenged: Fitch
Cook County’s plan to significantly boost payments to its pension fund over the amount required by Illinois law could lead to legal challenges by taxpayers, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday.
Illinois’ biggest county, which is home to Chicago, passed a fiscal 2016 budget on Wednesday that increases its pension payment by $270.5 million over the $195 million required by state law, according to the credit rating agency. Revenue for the bigger payment will come from a 1 percentage point increase in the county’s sales tax that is expected to raise $308 million for the budget.
“The county’s pension strategy is notable, as it includes actuarially determined funding of the pension liability, but appears to ignore the restrictions imposed by the current pension statute, leaving the county vulnerable to potential litigation from taxpayers challenging the increased payments,” Fitch said in a statement.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago City Council ethics standards? Emanuel didn't care
Faisal Khan certainly did not go quietly, nor should he.
Khan, hired to investigate alleged wrongdoings of the Chicago City Council, left this week in a huff when his term expired. The former inspector general turned over records of ongoing investigations to the FBI. He bad-mouthed aldermen publicly. And he called the system of ethics oversight “rigged from day one.”
Set aside whatever animosity Khan generated for himself. The truth is that aldermen and Mayor Rahm Emanuel consistently bullied Khan like a band of fraternity brothers. They relished watching him flail around. They dropped dimes on him to reporters. Emanuel’s floor leader called him an “idiot.” Emanuel at one point dismissed Khan entirely, saying he had neither the time nor interest in reading reports from Khan’s office.
Pantagraph: Diana Rauner's chief of staff appointed to Illinois House
The chief of staff to Illinois first lady Diana Rauner has been appointed to the state House of Representatives.
Sara Wojcicki Jimenez (woh-JIS’-kee hee-MEN’-ehz) of Springfield will replace Republican Raymond Poe. Poe resigned last week to become Gov. Bruce Rauner’s state agriculture director.
Sangamon County GOP Chairwoman Rosemarie Long made the announcement Friday.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago will soon see how Laquan McDonald died. Be passionate. Be peaceful.
Chicagoans have waited 13 months to see for themselves how a police officer killed Laquan McDonald, and sometime in the next few days, they will finally get that chance. But they will have to keep waiting to find out what will happen to the cop who shot him.
On Thursday, Cook County Circuit Judge Franklin Valderrama ordered the city to release a police dashboard cam video of the incident. Police responding to a complaint found McDonald, a 17-year-old African-American who had the drug PCP in his system, holding a knife and behaving erratically.
He reportedly ignored orders to drop the weapon and he walked down the street, with the cops following him. Finally, Officer Jason Van Dyke shot McDonald 16 times, inflicting fatal wounds. None of the other five officers discharged their weapons.