February 2, 2017
The following editorial represents the collective opinion of editorial boards of: The (Bloomington) Pantagraph; (Decatur) Herald & Review; The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan; Quad-City Times; Mattoon Journal-Gazette and (Charleston) Times-Courier.
Shutdown is what the state needs
Genuine urgency: There’s been a dearth of it in Springfield over the past 19 months.
A real, unmitigated shutdown is precisely what Illinois needs.
Make no mistake, the General Assembly floor has seen more than its share of grandstanding as the state’s muddled along without a budget. Talk of pain among students and Illinoisans who rely on social services are cliche now. Budgetary extenders come and go. Billions in unpaid bills continue to pile up. Credit ratings are downgraded. And business is reminded why Illinois is not a state worthy of investment.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan hopes to inject some real urgency. For better or worse, her motion filed late last month in St. Clair County that would freeze the state’s payroll might be the extreme measure that ends a stalemate that’s lasted longer than any other in seven decades.
But this is Illinois. There’s a no lack of familial political intrigue.
Madigan is daughter of Speaker Michael Madigan, Illinois’ one-man wrecking crew who dominates anything that happens within the Legislature. Try as he might, state Senate President John Cullerton’s would-be “grand bargain” means little without Madigan’s personal approval.
Madigan and Gov. Bruce Rauner are the lead actors in this tiresome farce. The incessant game of chicken mustn’t continue.
Rauner, predictably, squawked at Lisa Madigan’s lawsuit. She’s colluding with her father to force the governor’s hand, Republicans say. She’s putting her thumb on the scale in a struggle that’s as much about Rauner’s 2018 re-election bid than the state’s financial health, they claim. Forcing Rauner into promise-breaking tax hikes is the goal here, they say.
Republicans have no reason to trust Michael Madigan. Any Rauner victory - on local property taxes, unions and reform - would run counter to the speaker’s long-game. Speaker Madigan wrongly describes Rauner’s much-needed reforms as “non-budgetary issues.” Yet, it’s Rauner who has shown a willingness to deal, particularly when it comes to income tax hikes.
Illinois’ speaker is the one who is unwilling to yield.
Both Madigans rebut the conspiracy allegations. But the political intrigue is little more than inside baseball at this point.
Illinois needs a budget. And the pressure applied by thousands of Illinoisans - state employees, local officials and just plain citizens - angrily screaming on the Statehouse steps could spur action from even Speaker Madigan’s already twitchy rank-and-file members.
For more than a year, court orders have forced the Illinois to lumber along in some semi-functional state. The constant instability of a quasi-shutdown has damaged Illinois’ prospects for years to come. College students aren’t sure if their grants will come through. Social service agencies close, reopen, close again.
Rauner is correct on at least one front: As it stands, Illinois is no place to set up shop. The freshman governor didn’t make this mess. He didn’t drive state pensions into a pit of no return through budgetary gambles. He didn’t continually hike spending year after year, while local taxes soared. But, after two years in office, Rauner holds a leading role now, no matter how right-minded some of his reforms might be.
There’s no foreseeable end to the inexcusable stalemate, so long as state employees continue to get paid and service remains somewhat viable. Only the rage of public employees - many now considering a strike - outside the Statehouse will force action. Only the real burden of lawmakers personally grappling with missed paychecks will hit home with the elected class.
Illinois hasn’t been functional for years. Lisa Madigan only hopes to make it official.
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February 1, 2017
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register
All citizens should be concerned when governments conceal information
We are not concerned for ourselves.
When we hear about the Trump administration imposing media blackouts on some federal departments, it’s not the journalists covering the presidency that we worry about. And it’s not reporters we are anxious for when we hear the president and his advisers say they rely on “alternative facts” that only serve to support their opinions. Or when specific media outlets are frozen out as retribution for their commitment to reporting actual facts.
No, we are upset on behalf of you. The fundamental tenet of journalism is this: We subscribe to the idea that freedom is only achievable when a country’s citizens have access to factual information they can use to make their own decisions. While not the only conduit of information, journalists are often the ones that provide it. When we are impeded from doing so, we raise a little hell because our audiences expect nothing less.
It is why the press decried President Donald Trump’s ordered media blackouts at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior and the Agriculture Department. It is understandable for a new administration to review the way information is shared, or that some information is sensitive and disclosure of it would harm national security. It is unacceptable to completely stop its dissemination, which is what happened on Inauguration Day when the EPA was told it could not issue news releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts.
A free press was vital to the founders: Otherwise it wouldn’t be enshrined in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, along with other essential freedoms such as the rights to petition, assemble, speak freely and practice the religion of your choice. The founders knew that a country where a relatively small number of representatives are elected to make decisions for all Americans could only be successful if the citizens could hold them accountable.
Historically, journalists have been vital to achieving that ideal. They attend government meetings, ask questions and dig through public documents (which they at times have to fight for) so it can be reported. The end result is often critical. Information can make people angry or they can disagree with it. But the job has never been about making people happy: It is to hold the powerful accountable and effect change when necessary.
When the press is stymied from doing that, it’s taxpayers who are shortchanged. But it is being painted in a different light: The media are, according to Trump officials, the opposition party. During his first full day in office, Trump said he had a “running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth.” It appeared to be in response because many media outlets reported, using photographs from the same angles, that the crowd was larger at the first inauguration of Barack Obama than his.
He has since slammed the New York Times and Washington Post. His spokesmen are forbidden from going on CNN. These are outlets that have reported factual information he has not liked, and his reaction has been to punish them.
That’s not to say journalists are infallible. Like all professions, there have been bad apples. It’s a business that grapples with fewer resources and more competition than in the past. Mistakes are made. Reputable media organizations correct and apologize when that happens.
But the core commitment to our audience has never changed. We will fight for your right to have access to information, because we know citizens need information if they are to meaningfully take part in government. And we will remind elected officials that if they truly have the best interests of their constituents at heart, they will not demand to be the owners of information but stewards of it on behalf of those they represent.
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February 1, 2017
(Arlington Heights) Daily Herald
Tax-deferred savings offers better future for workers with disabilities
Justin Bainbridge works at a fitness center in Nebraska, one of 12 states partnering with Illinois on a new type of savings program that gives disabled workers like him new opportunities to save money for their future.
Justin Bainbridge works at a fitness center in Nebraska, one of 12 states partnering with Illinois on a new type of savings program that gives disabled workers like him new opportunities to save money for their future.
Lost amid the constant stream of news coming out of Washington this week was good news for a change coming out of Springfield.
Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs on Monday announced the state was launching a new program aimed at encouraging disabled people to invest and save money tax-exempt to help pay for certain expenses without jeopardizing federal disability benefits.
The program known as National ABLE (Achieving for a Better Life Experience) was approved by Congress in 2014. It’s up to states to implement their own versions of it — Illinois passed its own law in 2015.
Frerichs is to be commended for spearheading this program here and in partnership with 12 other states. It is similar to the state’s 529 college savings program which his office also administers.
“We help families save their own money,” Frerichs said in announcing the program.
And in an article for the Chicago Tribune, Frerichs put the new program in perspective for a state still trying to pass a budget.
“I think especially when we’ve gone nearly two years without any budget certainty and social service providers are closing their doors, it’s important we use our office to help give families tools they need to invest in themselves.”
To qualify for an ABLE account, a beneficiary must have developed his or her disability before age 26. Before this savings avenue, families had to keep any savings below $2,000 and remain below the federal poverty line or risk losing federal disability income. Under the new law, beneficiaries can save up to $14,000 annually. Illinois law limits the total amount to $350,000.
Considering the high cost of taking care of a disabled child, this is a good step in helping to ease that burden.
In an interview with our editorial board last year, Frerichs said the ABLE program addresses one of the greatest fears parents of disabled children have — that they will outlive their children and resources won’t be available to take care of them and keep them out of poverty.
A report released last month by the ABLE National Resource Center summarized the significance of this program: “This is the first time Congress recognized that families raising a child with a disability and working-age adults with disabilities have additional significant costs associated with living with a disability.”
This is one area that all sides in the partisan divide in this state and country can agree is a positive step forward.
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