Article week of January 14, 2008

     The two days that we spent in Springfield on January 9th and 10th were not fruitless.  At long last, the budget implementation legislation that is necessary to enact increases in education funding in Illinois cleared the final hurdle.  Both the Senate and House agreed unanimously with the Governor’s minor amendatory veto of the bill.  That means that schools will begin to see increases in state aid payments later this month.  This record increase in education funding was included in the budget passed on August 10th.  The foundation level which is paid to schools on a per pupil basis increased by $400 and for the first time ever the reimbursement rate paid to schools for special education personnel was increased.  These increased payments have been held up for months and seemingly were part of a budget battle between Democrats in Springfield that raged during all of 2007.  It is great to have that behind us.  Good thing too….the FY09 budget cycle begins soon and the Governor’s budget address for next year is just a few weeks away.  It is always good to get last years’ budget finalized before presentation of next years’ budget.

     There was also some significant movement on legislation regarding the mass transit “crisis” that faces Chicago and the collar counties.  A bill did pass both the House and Senate last week which would provide hundreds of millions of dollars for the CTA, RTA, METRA and PACE.  The measure includes a sales tax increase for those residents of the counties served by the transit system.  It also includes an increase in the real estate transfer tax for the City of Chicago and at the last minute, the legislation was amended to allow collar counties to use a portion of the sales tax increase collected to fund “public safety” expenses. 

     So, the increased operating costs associated with mass transit are being paid for regionally by a sales tax increase paid by those directly using the system……..plus, many others who make purchases in the region that do not use the system who buy anything sold in Cook County and the surrounding collar counties.  The legislation does not include a fare increase to be paid by those who actually ride on the busses and trains.  Any sale that is made in this region will include an additional tax that goes directly to subsidize those using the mass transit system.  Doesn’t it make you want to run right up to one of the great collar county malls and do some shopping?  How about a trip down Michigan Avenue to do that Christmas shopping next year?

     I mentioned that the legislation included a last minute provision that allows for a portion of the proceeds from the additional sales tax to be used for purposes related to public safety in the collar counties.  Isn’t it interesting that the mass transit crisis turned into an opportunity to pass a tax for another purpose. It is also interesting that they have already been trying to pass a referendum in Du Page County for this very purpose and now, voila!   Normally when someone decides to take a hard vote on an issue, they get something significant for their district like a museum, a fire department or some other public infrastructure.  In this case, some lawmakers agreed to vote for a bill after requesting a provision to take money from their constituents in the form of a sales tax increase for public safety. 

     After the transit bill received enough votes to pass the Senate and the House all eyes turned toward the Governor’s office to see if he would veto the bill.  After all, he has pledged on numerous occasions that he would veto any income or sales tax increase that he is sent by the General Assembly.  Actually, he has been very consistent in his insistence that these types of taxes were not negotiable.  What happened?  Well, the governor did change the bill with an amendatory veto.  However, he did not veto the sales tax portion of the bill.  He simply added a provision that allows senior citizens over age 65 to ride public transit for free.  If he would have simply signed the bill, it would have become effective immediately.  This change requires that the General Assembly meet once again to either accept the change or reject it.  Of course, this will cost taxpayers additional funds by adding a day to the legislative calendar in order to add a provision that he later stated that he had thought of right after Thanksgiving.    

     You might wonder why the Governor didn’t pass along his suggestion for improvement to the Speaker prior to the final vote and avoid another trip to Springfield.  After all, they are in the same political party.  Remember, these two aren’t communicating that well these days.

     In fact it was none other than fellow Democrat and Speaker of the House Michael Madigan who quickly and sarcastically “congratulated” the governor for breaking another campaign promise.  He also mentioned that this was possibly the only campaign promise the governor had not yet broken.  Ouch!  Apparently passing the transit bail out did little for their strained relationship.

     So, the bottom line is that it is very likely we will make a return trip to Springfield at taxpayers expense to take another vote on this issue very soon to either agree with the governors effort to allow free rides for seniors or not. My guess is that the change will be accepted and the latest “doomsday” will be averted.  Mass transit riders will not pay any additional costs for using the system, anyone who buys anything in Cook or the collar counties will pay a bit more and some of the “doomsday” transit revenue will be used to fund public safety in some collar counties.

     I suppose the chance still exists for a bill to be passed that would bring much needed capitol spending for roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure.  However, we certainly do not have the same leverage to see it happen.  When a jobs bill was tied to mass transit, we had a better chance to bring some projects to downstate areas which are sorely needed.  Unfortunately, the pressure is not the same and we might have let our best chance slip away.  I hope not.

      Your questions or comments are always welcome, write to me at either P.O. Box 125, Hutsonville, IL  62433, or 222-N, Stratton office Building, Springfield, IL  62706, or you can e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com.  I will also keep you updated on my web site:  www.peopleforeddy.com