Pritchard’s Perspective 5/19/14

In This Issue:

Budget Votes for Show
Kaneland High School Among Most Improved
Poison Center Closing Averted
Preparing for Illinois’ 200th Birthday
Opposition to Obama Library Funding
Equitable School Funding Growing Out of Reach

May 19, 2014
Budget Votes for Show

If you were like many citizens following the news last week, you probably thought the House was bringing the budgeting process to a close and was taking votes on legislation to fund government in FY 2015. A few years ago we passed the budget in early May but not this year.

After spending 11 continuous hours in session on Thursday and 570 minutes debating and passing 73 budget bills, Speaker Madigan moved to reconsider every bill. The votes were apparently for show to test the will of legislators to cut spending if they were unwilling to continue current income tax rates. Two years ago he used the same maneuver to force legislators to vote on dozens of pension reform bills and then crafted an entirely different piece of legislation based on the test votes.

The budget bills that were called for a vote on Thursday spent more money than was available if the income tax rates rolled back as scheduled on January 1. Each bill received the bare minimum to pass except for half a dozen or so that received a few more votes. A summary of the bills and the General Revenue Fund (GRF) amounts can be seen here.

From work in the appropriation committees over the past month and debate on the House floor, it was clear the majority party wanted to continue the income tax at current rates so they could continue spending. A majority of their party was not troubled by the promise their leaders made three years ago that the income tax rates would be rolled back in 2015.

Education: not the priority. While most legislators and the Governor say education is their top priority, the spending numbers proposed in the budget bills and the Governor’s recommended budget don’t support that claim. K-12 education was given about $291 million more than last year and higher education received $54 million more.

As I pointed out in debate, if revenue equals their total spending number of $37.7 billion, the state should have about $3.2 billion more revenue for programs next year. Using the same distribution formula the House has used for the past 6 years would mean $1.3 billion of that increased revenue should be allocated for K-12 education and $380 million for higher education. You be the judge if education is the priority. Allocations at these levels would allow some real property tax relief and lower fees and tuition for college students. You can see some of the comments I made on the floor regarding this here.

Civic Federation Opposes Quinn’s Property Tax Relief. A panel of the Chicago-based nonpartisan Civic Federation said Tuesday that they opposed the Governor’s plan to eliminate the current 5 percent property tax credit for homeowners. The credit is one of the most popular tax benefits provided to Illinois residents and greatly exceeds the $500 check that the Governor proposes to mail to homeowners just before the elections in exchange for eliminating the credit.

In addition the Institute points out that the state would have to borrow the money from other state funds, further delaying the repayment of past-due bills from providers of goods and services.

Kaneland High School Among Most Improved

Last week State Superintendent of Education Chris Koch visited Kaneland High School, Maple Park, to recognize students and faculty for their academic improvement. The local school is one of 125 schools recognized for substantial academic improvement in 2013. The Illinois Honor Roll listed 177 schools in three categories: academic excellence, academic improvement and high-performance among high poverty schools.

Kaneland High School Principal Jill Maras credited the improved assessment scores on students understanding the role of assessments in their education. She said the district starts teaching students in junior high to connect assessment testing with their learning in the classroom and education goals after high school. Families and the communities should be proud of the student progress.

Poison Center Closing Averted

Funding for the Illinois Poison Control Center has declined so much in recent years that the Center announced plans to close on July 1 if more state funding was not received. One of the budget bills passed last week allocated $2 million to the Center and should avoid the closing.

The Center receives federal, state, hospital and other funding to operate a poison response hot line, provide a forensic laboratory and conduct research on treatments for various poisons. The Center reported that by offering a telephone call center for citizens (1-800-222-1222) when there are accidental poisonings, they reduce the 9-1-1 calls and expenses of emergency unit response.

Preparing for Illinois’ 200th Birthday

A proclamation issued by the Governor’s office on May 12th begins the countdown to Illinois’ bicentennial. Members of the Illinois Bicentennial Commission will be appointed in the coming weeks to oversee planning for the 2018 observance and involvement of schools, history professionals, federal and local units of government, and the private sector.

On December 3, 1818, Illinois was admitted to the Union as the 21st state. Illinois’ centennial in 1918 and sesquicentennial in 1968 were marked by major state and federal observances, the U.S. Mint struck a special silver half-dollar in honor of Illinois, and educational resources were distributed to schools to increase the knowledge of our heritage. In addition, the Centennial Building just south of the state capitol was dedicated in 1918. Today it has been renamed as the Howlett Building and provides offices for the Secretary of State.

Opposition to Obama Library Funding

I have been receiving a fair amount of mail about HB 6010, Speaker Madigan’s bill to appropriate $100 million in tax revenue for the Obama Presidential Library. The comments, like public polls, are running strongly in opposition to the Speaker’s proposal.

Most Illinoisans support building the Obama Library in Chicago; however they feel the state simply can’t afford to spend public funds on the project when Illinois can’t pay its existing bills. Speaker Madigan argued that state funds were used to construct the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. While that is true, the Lincoln museum is different from other presidential libraries as it falls under the authority of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Our last two presidents used private donations to build their libraries. In fact, no National Archives presidential libraries have received direct funding from either the federal government or their respective states. President Obama has proven himself to be a prolific fundraiser and his foundation should have no difficulty raising the money needed.

Equitable School Funding Growing Out of Reach

The Illinois Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) calculates the cost of educating a K-12 pupil has climbed to $8,767 per year. This estimate is well above the foundation level set in statute at $6,119 per pupil and $4.8 billion above current state funding.

The foundation level is the minimum per-pupil funding necessary to adequately educate each public K-12 student in Illinois. By law, districts with less local property tax funding should receive greater assistance from the state in order to meet the foundation level. The committee’s latest recommendation reflects the Employment Cost Index for workers in elementary and secondary schools but is not broken down by region to adjustment for cost of living differences.

The state currently fails to fund the statutory level and has forced across-the-board proration of district general state aid (GSA) payments for the third consecutive year. In FY14, the GSA was prorated at 89 percent of the total claim.

Have a great week and plan to attend a Memorial Day ceremony next Monday.

Bob