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SPRINGFIELD SPOTLIGHT
THE CARTOONIST’S VOICE
Corporate fight pits taxi owners vs. ride-sharing Foundation gets entangled in the process
Dave Granlund, GateHouse News Service
EDITORIAL | STATE BUDGET
Spend money to make money; what could be wrong with that? R epublican lawmakers and other critics of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s budgetary strategy must have forgotten the old adage, You have to spend money to make money. Madigan, the powerful Chicago Democrat who has led the House for nearly 3 decades, simply adapted that adage last week to a series of votes to approve a new state budget. Yes, it’s true that budget writers normally set the amount of expected revenue first. Then they decide how the big pot of money will be allocated within the massive bureaucracy that constitutes Illinois state government. But Madigan does not know yet exactly what revenue to expect; specifically, whether legislators will extend the “temporary� 5 percent income tax rate past Jan. 1, or whether the rate will expire and decline to 3.75 percent.
What we think
A new wrinkle in state budgeting was introduced last week in Springfield. Did House Speaker Michael Madigan put the cart before the horse? Let the public decide.
Such a decline could mean an estimated revenue drop of $1.8 billion for the final 6 months of the 2014-15 state budget, which is the one the Legislature must complete before May 31. With time running out, Madigan employed his version of the “spend money, make money� adage. THE SPEAKER’S TEAM ran a series of 80 appropriations measures through the House last week that call for the state to spend about $37 billion next fiscal year. Whoa, said one state lawmaker. Madigan is “putting the cart before the horse,� as state Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, described the move. Republicans, you see, believe revenue
will be closer to $34 billion. Horsefeathers! Doesn’t Rep. Harris know you have to spend money (even if you don’t have it) to make money? Madigan explained it himself Wednesday. “Our purpose in advancing the budget first is to set the bar against which we will work to convince people to vote for the revenue,� Madigan said. “We try to persuade people. We’re not in the business of issuing threats,� he added. Hmm. With the spending bar set higher, Madigan hopes to then “persuade� the full House to “make money,� or retain that $1.8 billion in revenue that otherwise would vanish starting Jan. 1, 2015.
And because of his dual roles of House speaker and Illinois Democratic Party chairman, Madigan is accustomed to getting what he wants. THE STRATEGY LEFT some of Madigan’s fellow Democrats scratching their heads. State Sen. Dan Kotowsky, D-Park Ridge, said, “I’d have a very hard time voting for a budget based on revenue that we don’t have.� Ah, Senator. You think too rationally. Remember, the federal government for decades has budgeted and spent money that it doesn’t have. And now, Speaker Madigan has brought the same strategy to Springfield. Perhaps Madigan did plop the legislative cart firmly in front of the taxpaying horse. But if his strategy works, Illinois’ finances could soon mirror the federal governments’. What could be wrong with that?
THE READER’S VOICE
People matter; support Quinn’s proposed budget CAROL FITZGERALD Rock Falls
This year, as the state Legislature faces the annual challenge of adopting a budget for the coming year, the YWCA of the Sauk Valley urges legislators to consider a basic principle: people matter. Because people matter,
our state budget must include adequate funding for human services. At the YWCA, state funding supports our services to hundreds of survivors of violence every year. Thanks to state funds, we are able to support and assist people as they recuperate and pull their lives back together. We want to be there for school children, so they can learn about their rights to feel safe, strong, and free from sexual abuse, bullying, and
harassment. We need to be there for families as they rebuild their lives. We have seen the huge difference we can make, helping people stay safer as they build confidence, independence, and a better life. The governor has released two budget options. One would reduce our services by at least 25 percent – meaning that we might have to turn away many, many people who need help.
The other option, the governor’s recommended budget, would allow us to keep our full range of services, which are essential to our neighbors, co-workers, family, and friends. We ask everyone to join us in asking our legislators to support the governor’s recommended budget. Because people matter ... they really do. Note to readers: Carol Fitzgerald is executive director of the YWCA of the Sauk Valley.
YOUR GOVERNMENT ONLINE Monitor your govern- leecountyil.com Ogle County – www. carroll-county.net ment at these websites: Whiteside County – oglecounty.org Bureau County – www. Lee County – www. www.whiteside.org Carroll County – www. bureaucountyclerk.com
Every year, we get at least one “corporate fight� in Springfield. Two or more corporations or industries will duke it out over some proposed law change. This year has been relatively quiet until probably a few weeks ago. Psychologists want the right to dispense prescriptions to their patients, even though they’re not medical doctors. The doctors are opposed, and so are the psychiatrists. Both sides recently hired a bevy of Statehouse lobbyists. But the biggest issue to develop this spring was the fight between taxi company owners and ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft. Rather than call a cab company or wave down a taxi on the street, ride-share consumers use smart phone apps to book their rides. It’s become hugely popular in many cities around the world, but taxi company owners see the industry as an encroachment on their turf. The ride-share companies started operating in Chicago without so much as a “How do you do� to the local government regulators, and the fairly heavily regulated taxi companies retaliated. They initially tried to put the ride-sharing companies out of business with a ridiculously over-the-top bill. Attempts at compromise failed. Eventually, a somewhat reasonable bill emerged, but Uber and Lyft fought it hard, and both sides bulked up. Their spending rapidly escalated as independent contract lobbyists were hired left and right. But the Statehouse spending may not have stopped there. Earlier this month, some wealthy taxi company owners converged on Springfield and met with the Legislative Black Caucus at their headquarters near the Statehouse. The taxi owners’ goal was to persuade the legislators to support tough – some would say too tough – regulations of Uber and Lyft. Most House Black Caucus members subsequently voted for the regulatory bill, along with the vast majority of most other state representatives. RUMORS SOON BEGAN flying, though, that the taxi owners had donated money to the Black Caucus Foundation’s annual golf outing. The Black Caucus Foundation is a private, not-for-profit organization that raises money for things like college scholarships. Maze Jackson, a former Statehouse lobbyist, was named the foundation’s executive director effective March 1. Jackson
richMILLER Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter. He may be reached at http://thecapitolfax.blog. com online.
terminated his lobbying registration in late February. Before he did so, he worked with a lobbying firm that now represents the taxi industry. Jackson admitted last week that he had held “discussions� of a “possible� donation, but he flatly denied that anything was solidly pledged and defended the talks because, he said, they were not directly related to any legislation. The donation wasn’t discussed at the meeting with legislators, he insisted. The Black State Rep. C a u c u s Ken Durkin Foundation D-Chicago is prohibited Durkin is from being chairman of the Legislative involved in Black Caucus. politics, and Jackson said he’s committed to raising as much money as he can from anyone he can for minority scholarships. State Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, is chairman of the Black Caucus. He also flatly denied that anything untoward had taken place. OTHER MEMBERS OF the Black Caucus, however, privately expressed worries that the situation could taint their foundation in an era when even a slight appearance of impropriety can invite a federal probe. Jackson also claimed that a lobbyist for a ridesharing company had approached him about making a donation. But that lobbyist said that he was conversing with Jackson at the Statehouse and Jackson casually asked him what he was working on. When the lobbyist told Jackson that he was lobbying for a ride-sharing company, Jackson said that the taxi companies had already donated to the foundation. The lobbyist said he told Jackson that his company would probably do the same, but he said he never actually followed up with his client. One of the ride-sharing companies pushed this story hard last week in what was apparently a last-ditch attempt to derail the regulatory package. So far, though, the legislation appears to be on track. There is no solid evidence right now of any direct quid pro quo here. Obviously, though, this doesn’t look good on its face. At all. And it needs to stop.
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