The Mike Bertelsen Project

Governor Blagojevich blamed 10 Democrat legislators from Chicago for "double-dipping" and also for killing his construction plan because Mayor Richard Daley said to do it. The legislators, according to the governor also for work for the City of Chicago or Cook County. Earlier last week Blagojevich asked Daley to intervene between himself and House Speaker Madigan, who doesn't trust the governor to deliver on his promises. House Democrats, who also work for other public entities in Chicago or Cook County think the governor can threaten them with their jobs if they don't cooperate. Some legislators have been on unpaid leave or get about half the salary because they are now in the state legislature. Blagojevich has said that these legislators need to "stop killing jobs" for downstate.

I've been in public service for just over 13 1/2 years as an elected public official. I am a state constitutional officer since the local government section of the state constitution states that a county shall have at least three officers: the county clerk, the county treasurer and the county sheriff. I come to the courthouse as a public servant to serve.

Do I make mistakes? Yes. Hopefully my mistakes aren't too big to handle and when I do make a mistake I first admit it to myself and then tell someone about it and then I go on to correct what I've done wrong. Simple enough. I've been fortunate enough that I haven't made too many of the same mistakes twice. Good for me and good for the people I serve. I don't get too many compliments, but I'm not in public service for those..I am in public service to help people and to fix their problems. Have I always been successful helping people? No, but that doesn't mean that I didn't try.

Why am I writing about this? Because I read something today that really bothered me. The entry in the Capital Fax Blog for today frankly made me ashamed that we have those in the roles of leadership in the legislative and executive branches of government that don't have the people at heart. After all they are in the role of public servants too. They were elected to help people, but with their current attitudes they give the impression that they only care about themselves and are using the people that need state funding to their own advantage.

Is this merely coincidence, or is this evidence that one-party rule is not working in Illinois? Why then did State Senate President Emil Jones demand a pay raise and Senator Mike Jacobs say that he deserves a pay raise and he is worth every penny? Are they truly getting the job done or is this an example of one-party rule?

On a personal note, I don't know if I deserve what I am paid. I like to think that I earn what I am paid, but I am not the judge of that, the taxpayers are. As a a taxpayer ask if the state legislature and the governor are earning what they make. Do they really deserve a raise in light of the problems they helped to create?

Mr. Blagojevich, Madigan and Jones need to admit to themselves that they made a mistake.
They then need to tell each other that they made a mistake, and when they are done they need to tell the citizens of Illinois they made a mistake. That would enable them to get back to work and balance a budget, or in other words, correct a mistake. I propose the legislature get back in session on August 5th to hammer out the budget problems and allow for enough revenue streams to balance the budget. I want them to show some leadership and get the job done. According to Rich Miller, Illinois used to be a rough and tumble get the job done state, but no longer. Is there enough leadership in the one-party rule Democrat Party to see this through? I doubt it.

Lawmakers will be back in Springfield next week to talk about the budget. But what is it all about? The Bond Buyer, a publication about public finance has an article that explains the situation very well. Here's a breakdown:

• The Senate approved a series of revenue-generating measures when they signed off on the spending plan.
• The House approved the spending side of the package, but DID NOT vote on a $16 billion pension obligation bond issue, the transfer of various funds and a CAPITAL BUDGET that combined would have trimmed the deficit by more than a $1 billion.
• The Governor has called on the House to approve the ILLINOIS WORKS capital budget that would free up about $320 million in the operating budget and the transfer of $530 million from various non-general fund accounts.
• House Speaker Mike Madigan's spokesman said there's not sufficient support for the various measures to win passage.
• Without a budget, State Comptroller Dan Hynes has warned that bill payment could be delayed along with employee paychecks.
• The proposed CAPITAL BUDGET relies on about $7 billion from a partial leasing of the State Lottery, $800 million in upfront funds from the issuance of new gambling licenses, $7.8 billion in new general obligation borrowing and local and federal matching dollars.
• About $6.2 billion of the bonding would be repaid with recurring gambling expansion revenues and $1.6 billion from transportation-related taxes and fees.
• The pension borrowing plan has been dropped by the Governor due to lack of support.
• The current unfunded pension laibility is $42 billion.
• On Wednesday the 2nd, Moody's Investment Service issued a special report which monitors four states - California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania - that have entered new fiscal years without a budget in place.
• The timing of state budget enactment can affect the ratings Moody's assigns to state issued general obligation bonds and other debt.

We'll see what happens as this all plays out. In the meantime remember that there was no mention of the back log of unpaid Medicaid bills to the tune of $1.7 billion. No that bunch of bills does not just disappear.

Governor Blagojevich has decided to call state legislators back in session for July 9th and 10th. The topic will be the out-of-balance budget. The new state fiscal year began on July 1st, and no new budget. Governor Blagojevich is calling on lawmakers to pass a $600 million construction revenue plan and to allow "fund sweeps", the term used so that accounts with cash can be used for the general fund. There is about $3 billion out there. The state senate has already passed the revenue measures. The Governor has said the House leadership was stalling.

According to House Speaker Mike Madigan's office, support most likely will be luke warm at best, just like in May. Madigan has ruled out tax increases.

technorati: politics

Woefully bad. That's what is said to describe the Illinois government state pension problems. The major problem is debt. The entire state budget is 59 billion dollars, so 44 billion dollars of long-tern debt to the pension systems is a big liability.

What did lawmakers do? Nothing. The Blagojevich Administration and the Senate Democrats wants another 16 billion dollar bond issue to pay down the debt. That would then free up money destined for pensions to be spent elsewhere: education, health care and the like. The idea is to put the borrowed money into the pension systems. This would cut the debt and reduce interest costs. The Governor is hoping that the bond debt interest would be 6%, compared to the pension debt of 8.5%, thus saving money.

Well and good you say? There was a catch....the Senate Democrats, and only the Democrats voted for it, but when it went to the House, Speaker Madigan didn't call it for a vote. Keep in mind that some House Republicans would have to vote for this if it's to pass the House.

So what's the problem? Well for starters, converting pension debt (which can be paid off any time) into bond debt puts the payment plan on a strict schedule. With the state financial situation on shaky ground, with help from the volatile stock market, should Illinois be obligated to such a plan? Those for it see that the required pension systems payment would be knocked down to 300 million dollars from 800 million dollars, thus giving the state an additional 500 million dollars to spend elsewhere. That's the money I mentioned in the second paragraph that would be freed up. That's not all.... the proposed FY 09 budget the Governor submitted assumed that the pension bond issue would have passed, thus leaving the 500 million hole that's part of the 2.1 billion dollar deficit total.

I would advise to cut 500 million dollars of spending out of the budget along with the matching revenue stream (the leftover). That still leaves us with 1.6 billion dollars to cut. Oh well....it's a start!

On June 11th three out of the four legislative leaders met in Chicago to discuss the out of balance Illinois FY09 budget. Republican Snate Leader called this meeting unproductive, overshadowed by the impeachment talk.

Senate Republicans have advocated bringing spending under control. Mr. Watson did say that there was agreement to transmit a passed budget to the Governor and he has sixty days to sign it or line item veto parts of the budget.

The capital plan, which is a massive public works program, has been stalled. Some have viewed it as "dead on arrival" when it got to the State House of Representatives. Some have also contended that Mike Madigan's "impeachment memo" (see madigan demo memo link on this blog) is a distraction for lawmakers. Some accuse Madigan of relishing in the distraction.

The Governor has been seen as one to keep the spending alive enriched from revenues garnered by fund raiding.

Four labor unions are are accusing Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan of Illinois Democrats. The alleged distraction is the potentail impeachment investigation of Governor Blagojevich. The letter, sent out June 12th, states the party members need to work together.

Story on topix

Seems that what goes around, comes around. Sometimes what comes back is more of a "wave" than what went in the first place. I'm writing about the impeachment memo from Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan to fellow Democrat Illinois State House candidates....which by the way, is all the House members, since they run every two years.

Mr. Madigan sent out a memo which described how a "tumor" must be removed when discovered or it will grow. The "tumor" he is referring to is Governor Rod Blagojevich. Seems that Mr. Madigan has run plum out of patience with the Governor. Mr Madigan also knows that voters will be asking the questions about the Governor's exploits in light of the fundraising cloud created by the conviction of Tony Rezko. State Senate President Emil Jones has said impeachment is unwarranted.

The impeachment trial would take place in the State Senate, with the senators acting as the jury. It would take 40 of the 59 senators to vote for a guilty verdict. The impeachment vote in the House is a majority to move on with the trial. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would preside over the trial.

You should read the memo...it is interesting and to the point. However it may be too late for Illinois Democrats to squelch all the negatives and future ramifications about the Governor. Will this hurt the Democrat Party in Illinois? Most likely.