|
Senate Republicans again sounded the alarm about the governor's lack
of appointments to the Wooded Land Assessment Task Force. The task
force was created by
House Joint Resolution 95, which also asked the Illinois
Department of Revenue to freeze timberland assessments for two years
at the 2005 level. The two-year freeze is to give the task force
members time to conduct hearings, make recommendations and allow the
Legislature to pass any appropriate legislation based on their
findings. The report is due Dec. 31. But the 12-member task force
needs a quorum to do its work and has only six members so far: Sens.
John O. Jones, R-Mount Vernon, and John Sullivan, D-Rushville; state
Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville; and the directors of the Department
of Natural Resources, Department of Revenue and the Department of
Agriculture.
Brady said the governor has not yet made three appointments.
Representatives of Southern Illinois University, the University of
Illinois and the House Democrats comprise the other three members of
the task force.
In other news, Credit Suisse, an independent investment banking
firm, presented a report Aug. 29 to the Illinois Commission on
Government Forecasting and Accountability. The commission, which
serves as the Legislature's financial forecasting arm, contracted
Credit Suisse earlier this summer to perform an independent analysis
exploring the potential for a partnership between private investors
and the state of Illinois. The report details the firm's assessment
of the potential value of the 274-mile Illinois toll highway system.
The 134-page report looks at several variations in toll
increases, interest rate fluctuations and foreseeable toll highway
usage and the effect of these variables on any investor's potential
bid for leasing the system for a 25-, 50- or 75-year time period.
According to the firm's analysis, the value of the toll highway
could vary significantly based on four variables -- the estimated
toll rate increases, estimated toll highway usage, the length of the
concession agreement and the market's going interest rate at the
time of the transaction -- with the system valued at anywhere from
$2 billion to $23 billion as these variables are manipulated.
[to top of second column] |
 Senate Republican lawmakers point out that while they want to
improve education and transportation funding, this is a complex
proposal with many implications for Illinois taxpayers. Aside from
selling one of the state's largest revenue streams, suburbanites
could easily be strapped with higher tolls, while wages and benefits
to toll highway employees could simultaneously be cut.
Senate Republicans maintain that before selling or leasing a
valuable public asset like the toll highway system, the state should
focus on long-term solutions and discovering alternative revenue
streams that do not require forfeiting state assets.
Finally, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee
Relations conducted a hearing in Springfield on the viability of
Illinois' pension plans.
Illinois congresswoman Judy Biggert and Minnesota congressman
John Kline led the discussion, which examined the financial outlook
of state and local pension plans and considered how the uncertain
fiscal health of these plans could affect state and local government
workers, retirees, and taxpayers in general.
In the spring of 2005, the governor and his legislative allies
pushed through a massive raid on the state's pension systems; as a
result, $1.2 billion was diverted from the state retirement systems
in fiscal 2006. The current (fiscal 2007) budget is diverting
another $1.1 billion, for a total two-year raid of $2.3 billion.
Under the Blagojevich administration, spending has gone up more
than $3 billion. Senate Republicans opposed the governor's pension
raids on the grounds that a simple reduction in new spending and new
programs would make it unnecessary to put the state's pension
systems at risk.
[News release from
Sen. Bill Brady]
 |
