Posted on 02/15/2018 5:26:47 AM PST by ChicagoConservative27
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed on Wednesday an election-year budget that relies on a politically questionable shift of pension costs to colleges, universities and local school districts.
"The simple truth is this: We have to change the way we manage pension costs and group health expenses. If we don't, our finances will continue to deteriorate, our economy will remain sluggish and our tax burdens will stay high and keep rising," Rauner said in his fourth budget address. "Our FY19 budget addresses the problem head on and creates a surplus that we can use to pay down some of our debt."
Rauner's budget office pegged the surplus at $351 million, although that depends on cooperation from Democrats as well as some Republicans who signaled skepticism.
The key cost-cutting provision in Rauner's budget is a plan to shift pension and group health insurance costs — 25 percent this year, rising to 100 percent in four years — off the state budget and onto individual universities, community colleges and local school districts.
"We need to move pension costs to the people who do the buying, and make them responsible for the paying, too," Rauner said.
But Democrats — who control both houses of the Legislature — attacked the idea.
"This is the biggest backdoor property tax increase in Illinois history," said State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, a Champaign Democrat and a former state senator. "He says he is increasing money for education and higher education, but at the same time making them pay far more than they're going to get. I find it galling for him to claim that he is fighting to cut taxes and put more money into education while pushing further burdens on our schools and our property taxpayers."
I live in the burbs of Chicago. Rauner has as 26% approval rating. He is toast. Any one of these rats get in and the party is over for good. All of them want to double down on tax and spend and give away more free crap.
Who will then shift it to the local taxpayers. Yeah, good luck with that.
Any thoughts on CUTTING the unaffordable pensions?
“Any thoughts on CUTTING the unaffordable pensions?”
I believe that cutting current benefits has been declared unconstitutional by the state supreme court (whose judges also have state pensions).
Prophecy 101
Within the next ten years, maybe sooner, you will see union school teachers being replaced with AI.
Some where in the neighborhood of 60+% of your real estate and state tax dollars is going to fund these fiefdoms called schools an school districts.
One of not the biggest and easiest cost to fix is the cost of school teachers.
The more you know about what goes on in the schools the more likely you are to have nothing but disdain and contempt for the schools.
Hey ask yourself, where did your 14 year old daughter learn to give oral and anal sex? At church? At home? where?
“Hey ask yourself, where did your 14 year old daughter learn to give oral and anal sex? At church? At home? where?”
Gym class?
“Within the next ten years, maybe sooner, you will see union school teachers being replaced with AI.”
Probably should happen but it won’t. The rise of the computer revolutionized the world and should have reduced education costs but it didn’t. We pore more money into education every year.
IL state constitution bars pension “cuts,” making them an immovable object. Liberals believe the government can do any tax the dream up, without any limits. So don’t “cut” the unaffordable pensions, “tax” them to recycle limited government resources. And be progressive about it: tax the little pensions at a little rate but tax the wealth out of the big ones. Withhold the taxes from their pension checks to avoid cheating on them.
Does the state constitution prohibit the state from using bankruptcy? Just curious.
“This is the biggest backdoor property tax increase in Illinois history,” said State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, a Champaign Democrat and a former state senator. “He says he is increasing money for education and higher education, but at the same time making them pay far more than they’re going to get. I find it galling for him to claim that he is fighting to cut taxes and put more money into education while pushing further burdens on our schools and our property taxpayers.”
All the Democrat is saying is that the same people who he says should not be burdened by higher property taxes should be burdened instead by higher state taxes. He acts like all political-tax-theifs do, telling people they deserve a monetary gift into one pocket, that actually will be taken from their other pocket.
On the other side, no one - GOP or Dim - is willing to admit - the pension costs, no matter who pays, are not sustainable and pension benefits for public employees somehow, somewhere, have to be cut.
I don’t know, but suspect if it did that wouldn’t matter whenever the endgame arrives. Sounds like Rauner’s plan is localize the debt and the future bankruptcies instead of having the entire state go down. Which strikes me as wise. Now if they could just have rules that bankrupt municipalities, school districts, etc. will be run by the state or bankruptcy court until they’ve completed the bankruptcy process AND that during that time their right to representation in the state legislature and to vote for statewide offices is suspended AND that during that time all attempted political donations from people, business and other organizations within the bankrupt areas MUST be diverted to the local debt pay down. Disenfranchise Chicago, etc and the Madigan machine and aggressively seize all the resisting graft attempted and the remaining down state Illinois pols could get a lot done.
I got a mailer for Rauner accusing Ives of SUPPORTING Madigan’s tax hike. She voted AGAINST it. Does Rauner think I’m retarded? I’m insulted by this kind of disingenuous garbage, Jim Durkin’s “Madigan Mickey” attacks on his MORE conservative opponent are in a similar vein.
Madigan is our Stalin but Rauner’s one note campaign is tiresome and lazy, all he does is whine about Madigan.
The last time the good guys won a big primary like this was with Peter Fitzgerald in 1998. You will remember that many pro-lifers did not vote in the Republican primary. They went to the Democrat primary to vote for Proshard against traitor George Ryan.
So, without the pro-life voters, how did Peter Fitzgerald win the Republican primary? The building trades union members ... both Republican and Democrat came out in mass in the Republican primary for Peter because he had stood with them against the corrupt combine on McPier where all the money was sent to the Bob Kjellander style bond holders and none to the trades union members.
Not only did these members and their families vote for Peter, these union members went door to door selling Peter to their friends and neighbors.
Who wins this time depends on who actually votes. Who votes depends on who asks for their vote. The Good Book says: Ask and ye shall receive. That is a true of salvation. But it is a universal truth that applies to sales, and to politics, and to most all of life.
The only way for Ives to win is for good people to recruit their friends and neighbors into Ives voters. Those neighbors are not anti-Ives right now. They are not focused on politics. They are thinking of family, work, church and things far removed from voting in the primary.
They want to be good citizens. Someone just needs to ask them to be good citizens.
“”We need to move pension costs to the people who do the buying, and make them responsible for the paying, too,” Rauner said.”
Almost 70% of our property tax bill is specifically designated for teacher and municpal pensions now. Rauner is done. So is Illinois. Stick a fork in both of them.
L
“Does the state constitution prohibit the state from using bankruptcy? ”
Federal law prohibits States from using Chapter 9.
L
“Any thoughts on CUTTING the unaffordable pensions?”
That can’t because the Illinois Constitution declares them to be inviolate. That’s already been litigated to the Illinois Supreme Court. The ONLY way to alter the old pension plans is through Chapter 9 Bankruptcy proceedings filed by the entity involved.
And every politician in Illinois is terrified of that happening. The Federal courts have already basically abolished unsustainable pension plans in California. If that happens in Illinois, and I believe it will, retired State and local workers will be livid and the entire rotten political system here in Illinois will be torn limb from limb.
This proposal by Rauner is just stupid on its face. It doesn’t matter where he “ moves” things to. There’s only one place to get the money from and that’s Illinois taxpayers. It’s a shell game and he knows it. All this would do is move the obligation to pay from the State, which can NOT file for Bankruptcy, to local municipalities and school districts, which CAN file for Bankruptcy.
The Dems know that and it scares the crap out of them.
L
Spintreebob, you were incorrect when you said that, in the democrat primary, Proshard ran against Ryan. Ryan ran in the republican primary. Proshard and Ryan ran against each other, in the general election.
wrong phil, bob was talking about the primary not the general. that’s the only time i’ve pulled a ‘rat primary ballot ... the temptation of voting for poshard, a pro-life, pro-gun democrat was just too fun to resist ... as a consequence, i was unable to vote for fitzgerald in the primary even tho i strongly supported him in the general.
I agree that Bob was talking about the primary. George Ryan was a Republican, and Glen Proshard was a Democrat, so they didn’t run against each other in the primary.
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