Medicaid reform, now or never, GOP savings may cost NY $5B and other commentary
'Republicans would be making a terrible blunder to let' Democrats' fear-mongering about Medicaid reform 'intimidate them from fixing the program,' warns The Wall Street Journal's editorial board.
Under the ObamaCare law's Medicaid expansion, the feds pay states more for eligible 'prime-age adults' than 'for pregnant women, the disabled and other low-income populations.'
Huh! 'You won't find many voters who think the federal government should focus scarce health resources on working-age men over poor children and pregnant women. Yet that is what the perverse financing formula encourages.'
Fact is, 'the GOP can make the strong and accurate argument that fixing this bias in federal payments is shoring up the program to better serve the vulnerable,' and 'Republicans may not get another opening for decades to fix the core problems in Medicaid.'
Eye on NY: GOP Savings May Cost State $5B
The stakes for New York 'are high' as Republicans eye Medicaid savings from targeting the 'so-called expansion population,' notes the Empire Center's Bill Hammond.
These are under-65, non-disabled adults 'with income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.'
ObamaCare made them Medicaid-eligible, with the feds funding 90% of the costs, instead of the 50% it pays for most Medicaid recipients in New York.
Republicans may make the feds' share 50% for these people as well, which could cost New York state 6% of its funding, or $5.3 billion, based on 2023 numbers.
Amazingly, such changes 'would be unlikely to reduce' federal Medicaid spending for New York 'in absolute terms.' They'd merely 'slow growth compared to current trends.'
Ed desk: The School-Closures Obscenity
Teachers and administrators simply 'didn't care about having kids in school' during COVID, David Zweig recalls at New York magazine; 'a series of falsehoods' related to risk birthed the 'fantastical list of demands' from teachers unions and others around reopening.
Recall too that the American Academy of Pediatrics was 'very strongly in favor of getting kids into schools, but as soon as Trump came out in favor of reopening, they completely reversed their position.'
'Childhood is achingly brief.' The pandemic saw little kids miss a year or more of 'running around in a playground with friends' as they were forced to wither away 'in the gray light of their Chromebooks.'
The idea that this 'wasn't a tremendous harm is absurd.'
Space beat: The Trouble With Hubble
'Without question, the Hubble Space Telescope is a marvel of technology,' gushes Mark Whittington at The Hill.
The last mission to the 35-year-old instrument was in 2009; it 'has been operating ever since then without a servicing mission.'
Now 'not only is Hubble's orbit starting to decay,' but just 'two of its six gyroscopes are functioning.'
Yes, 'the Hubble was designed to be serviced by a space shuttle orbiter.' But the option of 'using a SpaceX Crewed Dragon' to 'boost the telescope's orbit,' after which 'spacewalking astronauts would perform repairs and enhancements,' risks 'the astronauts breaking the space telescope.'
Bigger-budget ideas: a SpaceX Starship could simply 'lift huge space telescopes with many times the Hubble's capabilities' into orbit.
Libertarian: Ax Regs That Limit US Workers
'At the core of Trump's economic vision is sincere worry about the decline in prime-age male labor-force participation,' observes Reason's Veronique de Rugy.
That decline 'has real social consequences' as 'economic insecurity among non-college-educated men fuels declining marriage rates, weaker communities, and more public health crises.'
Yet the issue is 'more complicated than Trump's 'China stole our jobs' narrative,' and is 'rooted in problems that tariffs and industrial policy won't fix.'
A 'thicket' of government regulations has erected 'huge hurdles to interstate mobility, effectively locking people into stagnant local economies.'
'We must remove the obstacles and perverse incentives that make living with economic stagnation too rational a choice for too many people.'
The key to 'restoring work force participation' would be 'tearing down barriers' erected by the government.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
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Politico
20 minutes ago
- Politico
Why Jeffries' redistricting idea is so unlikely in NJ
Good Wednesday morning! Last week, CNN reported that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was looking to several Democratic states, including New Jersey, for potential mid-decade redistricting to counter the move to redraw the map in Texas to further favor Republicans. But by the time the report surfaced, it was probably already too late in New Jersey. This would have been difficult no matter what. New Jersey's Constitution mandates that congressional redistricting takes place after the Census conducted at the beginning of each decade. To change that, you'd have to change the Constitution. To guarantee a favorable map for Democrats, you'd also have to change the constitutionally assigned system from a redistricting commission with equal party representation and a tiebreaker to one that favors Democrats. It is, of course, possible to change the state Constitution. Democrats have slightly more than the three-fifths majorities they need in both houses to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot this November. But even if they were to get all their members on board with the plan — far from a given — I still doubt they'd be able to pull it off. The state Constitution requires constitutional amendments be published in newspapers in each county 'not less than three months prior to submission to the people.' Notwithstanding the dearth of newspapers, that makes the deadline Aug. 4, according to the Division of Elections, which I trust more than myself to do the math. But even if Democratic leaders got virtually all their members to come back from vacation and support an amendment before Aug. 4, they still likely wouldn't be able to get it on the ballot in time to affect the 2026 midterms. The constitution requires lawmaker to wait at least 20 days following an amendment's introduction, then hold a public hearing, before they can vote on it. I'm no lawyer or constitutional scholar, so I called law professor Ronald Chen, who's also worked on congressional and state redistricting commissions. And he agreed there's no way to do it in time for the Nov. 4 general election. Chen noted one possible way to do it: If the Legislature passes a law to delay the general election. And Democrats did delay the primary a week so as not to conflict with the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. But this would require an election delay of at least three weeks. And given that Democrats already have a friendly congressional map with very few options to gain more than the nine seats they hold, it seems like an extraordinarily unlikely gambit. But perhaps there's a way for Gov. Phil Murphy fire the First Assistant Constitution and replace it with an Acting Constitution. FEEDBACK? Reach me at mfriedman@ SHOW ME THE WAY: Acting Gov. Way has no public schedule QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'This is smart. As things stand, McGreevey is on track to be the next mayor. Unless the other candidates show some vision or courage, which they haven't, he'll keep gaining ground. The rest are stuck recycling tired lines: 'developers bad,' 'everyone's corrupt,' 'Jersey City is a mess.' with no vision beyond those talking points. Their cautiousness on every issue including MLK/Bergen and Baldwin/Summit speaks volumes about how they would lead' — outgoing Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop on candidate Jim McGreevey's transit plans. (Fulop last year expressed doubts about McGreevey's chances.) HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Kevin McCabe, Elissa Schragger, Christian Fuscarino, Felicia Hopson, Robert Basmadjian WHAT TRENTON MADE J-J-J JIM 'N DALE RESCUE CAMPAIGNERS — 'Do NJ lt. governor candidates matter? Do Gannon, Caldwell help their tickets?' by The Record's Charles Stile: 'Last week's rollout of lieutenant governor candidates demonstrated how the volatile debate — and concerns — over diversity shaped their selections.. Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli's selection of Jim Gannon, the popular Morris County sheriff, was widely seen as a tactical move to siphon away some suburban support from his rival, the Democratic nominee, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who has represented a large swath of Morris since her blue-wave election in 2018. Yet by choosing a White county sheriff and ex-Boonton cop, Ciattarelli is also rejecting the familiar expectation that the governor's lieutenant must be a diversity pick. … Every nominee since the first lieutenant governor campaign in 2009 has followed the diversity script … Yet Ciattarelli is ignoring precedent — despite candidly lamenting in a postmortem symposium that his 2021 campaign was 'too White.' … Sherrill, meanwhile, had little choice but to follow the Democratic Party's diversity playbook by choosing Dale Caldwell, a pillar of the party Democratic establishment and the first African American president of Centenary College in Hackettstown.' SCHOOL FUNDING — Coughlin proposal is latest to address school funding woes, by POLITICO's Matt Friedman: With cuts in state education aid hitting some suburban school districts hard and driving up property taxes, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin is seeking to alter New Jersey's school funding formula and give the Legislature more power over it. Coughlin and Assemblymember Sterley Stanley, a fellow Democrat from Middlesex County, last week introduced legislation, NJ A5966 (24R), that would make significant changes to how education aid is calculated, and require the Legislature to affirmatively approve of the governor's office's determination of per-pupil funding amounts. 'This bill attempts to provide both school districts and the public with more clarity, predictability and time as to how much School Aid their districts can expect for each succeeding school year,' Coughlin said in a statement. The bill comes as education aid, always a tense political issue, threatens to rile up voters ahead of the November election, when all 80 Assembly seats are up. And it follows efforts from the Murphy administration and Senate to address the recent controversies. CIATTARELLI FINDS A DISAGREEMENT WITH TRUMP — 'Ciattarelli opposes ICE plan to house detainees at N.J. base, but blames Dems for 'crisis',' by NJ Advance Media's Steve Strunsky: 'Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli opposes a plan to use part of a sprawling U.S. military base in Burlington County to temporarily house immigration detainees, though he blames Democrats for the situation, the candidate and his campaign said this week. Ciattarelli's campaign issued a statement by the GOP gubernatorial nominee and former state senator from Somerset County on Monday night accusing his opponent and other Democrats of creating a 'crisis' that forced immigration officials to obtain permission from the Pentagon to house detainees in tents at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. … On Tuesday, Ciattarelli campaign manager Eric Arpert clarified that his candidate opposes housing detainees at the joint base, while reiterating his assertion that Democrats were to blame for the situation.' KEVIN TOMAFSKY — 'Ex-Gov. Christie aide sentenced to prison for possession of child sex abuse material,' by NJ Advance Media's Victoria Gladstoine: 'A onetime aide to former Gov. Chris Christie pleaded guilty on Monday to first-degree endangering the welfare of a child after police found images of child sexual abuse material on his personal devices, authorities said. Kevin Tomafsky, 43, of Washington Township, was arrested in 2022. … Tomafsky accepted a plea deal that will require him to serve 10 years in prison. He will have to serve five years before being eligible for parole, authorities said. … Tomafsky worked in the governor's office from 2010 to 2012.' —'Homelessness up again in New Jersey, as federal cuts loom' —'ELEC awards first gubernatorial debate to N.J. Globe, On New Jersey And Rider University' —'Lawmakers rejected phone tax to fund NJ's 988 crisis hotline' —'New Jersey gun law challenged in lawsuit seeking to end the suppressor ban' —'Vineland gun shop loses court decision to NJ AG. What this means for Butch's Gun World' TRUMP ERA FROM BEDMINSTER TO BEDLAM — Trump fired court-appointed Habba replacement, records show, by POLITICO's Ry Rivard and Kyle Cheney: President Donald Trump moved to fire the career federal prosecutor New Jersey judges picked to be acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, according to court records filed Tuesday. The Department of Justice revealed Trump's decision in an email filed with a federal judge in Pennsylvania, who is preparing to weigh in on an escalating fight between the Trump administration and the federal bench in New Jersey. The filing underscores Trump's direct involvement in a bid to keep his former personal attorney, Alina Habba, as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor, despite the expiration last week of her 120-day tenure as interim U.S. attorney and New Jersey judges selecting prosecutor Desiree Leigh Grace to serve in Habba's place. … Trump's workaround is now creating uncertainty across the federal criminal justice system in New Jersey. A defense attorney, Thomas Mirigliano, is trying to get 2024 drug and gun charges against his client thrown out by arguing the Trump administration's maneuvering was irregular and unconstitutional. … In a 29-page response made Tuesday at noon, the Department of Justice said Habba is legally the acting U.S. attorney and walked through each step of the workaround that it says allows Habba to continue serving. But the department made lengthy arguments meant to keep criminal cases from unraveling in the event a judge decides that Habba's authority is dubious.' —'Has Trump's naming of Alina Habba created a crisis in the federal courts?' THIRD CIRCUIT — Senate confirms Emil Bove to Third Circuit, as Dems fail to thwart Trump pick, by POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs: Emil Bove, President Donald Trump's former criminal defense attorney, has been confirmed to a lifetime seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals — the culmination of a tumultuous campaign from his detractors that ultimately fractured his support among the Senate GOP. The Senate voted 50-49 to confirm Bove, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska defecting from the rest of their party to join all Democrats in opposing. Bove was plagued by reports of whistleblowers alleging that he recommended the administration ignore court orders that would disrupt Trump's aggressive immigration agenda. His nomination became a flashpoint battle for Democrats, who argued the current principal associate deputy attorney general had made clear he valued fealty to the president over the law and was therefore unfit for the federal bench. 'Look at his record: Emil Bove has shown time and time again his disrespect for the very office he seeks to hold,' said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), pointing to the allegations, during a recent speech on the Senate floor. TIRED: MASTRO. WIRED: MASTO — 'Booker feuds with fellow Senate Dems in surprise dispute over police bill package,' by New Jersey Globe's Joey Fox: 'What might have been the fairly routine passage of several police-related bills on the Senate floor this afternoon turned into a surprisingly bitter intra-Democratic argument, with Senator Cory Booker sparring with two of his fellow Democratic senators over how willing their party should be to work with Republicans and President Donald Trump. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) took to the floor to ask for unanimous consent to pass seven bills related to policing and public safety, all of which have a bipartisan list of co-sponsors and one of which even lists Booker himself as a co-sponsor. But Booker objected to five of the bills, accusing the Trump administration of shifting police grant funding away from states like New Jersey in retaliation for their Democratic-leaning politics and their hesitance to cooperate with the president on immigration enforcement. 'Why would we do something today that's playing into the president's politics, and that's going to hurt the officers in states like mine?' Booker said. 'I believe in these bills – I'm a co-sponsor on some – and that's why I'm standing here to fight to ensure police departments in New Jersey aren't excluded from accessing these vital funds.' Booker asked to pass an amendment ensuring that grant money is equally allocated; Cortez Masto objected, calling it a 'poison pill' to the package.'' —Booker: 'There's a lot of us in this caucus that want to fucking fight. And what's bothering me right now is we don't see enough fight in this caucus.' — 'Thousands of legal immigrants in NJ could be thrown off Medicaid' —'N.J. Reps. want details from Hegseth, Noem about immigration detention center plans at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst' LOCAL EDISON — '3 N.J. cops were charged with stealing. Not one will serve a day in prison,' by NJ Advance Media's Riley Yates: 'The charges against the Edison police officers were meant to send a message. Cops accused of falsifying off-duty work to add tens of thousands of dollars to their pay checks would face serious consequences, Middlesex County prosecutors announced in 2018. Theft charges. Racketeering allegations. Years of scandal inside the township's long embattled police department would finally come to an end in the kind of corruption case that puts police behind bars. Then the charges languished for seven years. Until last week, when authorities cut a deal with their three final defendants, concluding a costly prosecution that began with fanfare and ended with none of the three former cops spending a day in prison. Two of the accused officers — Gregory Makras and James Panagoulakos — saw their charges dismissed on July 23 in exchange for their resignations from the police force, where they haven't worked since they were charged. Another former officer, Sgt. Ioannis (John) Mpletsakis, pleaded guilty on the same day to a tax charge for failing to report income.' THE HOUSE UN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER AND POOL ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE — ''He is trying to divide us:' How a dispute over American flags turned this small N.J. town upside down,' by NJ Advance Media's Glenn Epps: 'More than a dozen residents in Belvidere say they have become the target of a local politician's hostility, causing them to become more concerned about their safety in their small town. During a public meeting on Monday night, several residents accused Councilman Christopher Allen, 24, of doxxing addresses. … The controversy began on July 19 when Allen posted images on Facebook showing front yards with campaign signs for council candidate Josh Johnson alongside American flags hung in a distress-signal style. In his post, Allen explained that he was highlighting disrespect to the national symbol. … Days after the social media post, Allen introduced a resolution requiring the United States flag be prominently displayed in all municipal building meeting rooms and mandating the pledge of allegiance as the first order of business for any public meeting performing governmental duties … Currently, the Belvidere Community Center and Pool Committee, where Allen serves as council liaison, do not regularly read the pledge of allegiance at meetings.' LIKE ERASING HISTORY WITH LIGHTNING — 'New Brunswick will rename Woodrow Wilson school to 'better reflect the community',' by MyCentralJersey's Cheryl Makin: 'The Board is Education is seeking nominations to help rename Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, named for the 28th president who is said to have had questionable ties to the Ku Klux Klan and racist leanings. On the heels of Princeton University, where Wilson served as its president for from 1902 to 1910, Monmouth University and the Camden School District which all have erased his name from buildings, New Brunswick Public Schools is seeking the same change 'that would better reflect the community.'' TOWN HALL EMPLOYEES GET SURPRISE INVITATION TO TURKISH BATH WITH PAULIE WALNUTS — 'Are there rats in Brick Town Hall?' by Jersey Shore Online's Bob Vosseller: 'Usually when someone says there are rats in town hall it is meant as an insult aimed at those serving in public office but recently that question has come up in a more literal sense. Mayor Lisa Crate and Business Administrator Joanne Bergin both told The Brick Times that despite commentary to the contrary by township employees, there is no rat infestation within Town Hall located at 401 Chambers Bridge Road. Bergin didn't rule out that a mouse might have found its way into the building that was built in the 1970s. Three employees who spoke anonymously with The Brick Times, saying they feared losing their jobs if they went public, made it clear that someone witnessed more than one rat in the building.' — 'Atlantic County homelessness surges 60% — officials cite 'housing affordability crisis'' —'Atlantic City Housing Authority votes to authorize response to HUD takeover' —'Glassboro-Camden Line closer than ever, but hurdles remain before construction can begin' —'Paterson police named in wrongful-death lawsuit by Najee Seabrooks' family seek dismissal' —'Camden police are now deploying social workers to city streets' —'DEP to unveil Liberty State Park Plan at open house next week' —'Essex prosecutor arrested for drunk driving still trying cases' —'Bayonne hospital workers & Jersey City nurses avoid strikes, ratify new contracts' —'Massive AI data center with major energy needs under construction in [Vineland]' EVERYTHING ELSE MILLZINNS — 'Rutgers set to make Keli Zinn its highest-paid athletic director ever,' by NJ Advance Media's Steve Politi and Brian Fonseca: 'The Rutgers Board of Governors is expected on Wednesday to approve a five-year contract for Keli Zinn that would make the longtime college administrator the highest-paid athletic director in school history, a person with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media. Zinn, who is currently the executive deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at LSU, is set to make a base salary of $1.35 million that can rise if the athletic department hits any of the multiple incentives in the deal, the person said.' COUP D'WAH — 'Chief of Ramapough Lenape Nation in Mahwah unseated, arrested in tribal dispute,' by The Record's Marsha Stoltz: 'Dwaine Perry, principal chief of the 5,000-member Ramapough Lenape Nation since 2007, has been permanently removed from office by its Tribal Council and arrested for trespassing for trying to enter its Community Center on Stag Hill Road. The Tribal Council first announced Perry's 'temporary suspension' for alleged 'serious violations' in a May 27 statement. A hearing was reportedly held on June 1, and the Tribal Council announced on June 13 that it had 'voted unanimously to permanently remove, ban and disqualify former Chief Dwaine C. Perry from holding any current or future office.' Perry was arrested on July 22 for attempting to enter the tribe's Community Center, police reports show. … Perry, through his attorney Lydia Cotz, characterized the Tribal Council accusations as part of an attempted 'illegal coup.'' —''Jeopardy!' champ with 16-game streak addresses theory he deliberately lost final match' —'Meet the N.J. lifeguard who has been patrolling the Jersey Shore for decades' — 'Tolls could rise on Delaware River bridges connecting NJ and Pennsylvania'
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Letters: Why would Illinois want to be like Texas? Consider these statistics.
The editorial on Texas tax cuts would have us believe everything is bigger in Texas due to its low taxation. Yet, I can name a few basic benefits we should all expect to be afforded in a prosperous society, which are, in fact, very scarce in Texas. Want to live in a state where you're assured of basic quality health care? Don't move to Texas, which, unlike Illinois, refused the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion and, as a result, has the highest uninsured rate in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Want to live in a state that provides your children access to a quality education? Again, don't move to Texas, where, according to the Education Data Initiative, Texas invests one third less in their pupils than Illinois. ACT scores were five points higher in Illinois compared with Texas in 2024, according to the ACT. Want to live in a state that acknowledges the effects of climate change and does all it can to protect you from its pernicious effects? Moving to Texas will put you on a collision course with climate change's dangers, as evidenced by the millions of Texans left without power in the freezing winter during the deadly 2021 energy grid crisis due to a lack of regulatory oversight. Additionally, more than 130 lives may have been saved in the recent flash flood disaster in Texas had its leaders chosen to invest in siren networks and flood alert systems. While the Tribune Editorial Board would have you believe Texas' lower taxation leads to a windfall of savings for its residents, when accounting for the higher median incomes of Illinois residents and Illinois' superior social safety net, this claim turns out to be weak. A 2023 Council for Community and Economic Research report showed that while Texas's nominal cost of living was 7% to 10% lower than Illinois, the difference in effective purchasing power for the average family was only 2% to 3% lower. I know I am willing to pay 2% to 3% more to ensure my family benefits from better health care, stronger educational opportunities and improved disaster readiness to help us live longer and more fulfilling to the Tribune Editorial Board for continuing to promote the Republican Party line: tax cuts good and tax hikes bad ('Texas is talking tax cuts. Illinois? More hikes,' July 23) . It was one of the most tone-deaf editorials the board has done since it endorsed third-party candidate Gary Johnson over Hillary Clinton in 2016. I know we have short attention spans these days, but is the board really going to hold up as a role model the state where 138 people just died from floods because of a lack of infrastructure investment that could have been paid for with taxes? The state where 246 people died in 2021 when its power grid failed, also for lack of investment in infrastructure? The state that ranks second worst in the country for quality of life in 2025, according to CNBC? The CNBC article states that 'according to the United Health Foundation, Texas has the nation's lowest number of primary care doctors per capita, the second-lowest number of mental health providers, and it consistently has the highest rate of people without health insurance. The state has among America's strictest abortion bans, and crime is on the high side.' And regarding the abortion bans, was the editorial board aware of the following statistics? According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 'between 2021 and 2022, infant deaths in Texas rose from 1,985 to 2,240. … This corresponds to a 12.9 percent increase in infant deaths in Texas versus a 1.8 percent increase in infant deaths in the rest of the U.S. during the same period.' Public education, according to the World Population Review? Texas is 40th; Illinois is 17th. So go ahead, editorial board, continue to glorify tax cuts and encourage Illinois to become more like Texas, a state that chooses policies that kill people by default. Me? I will continue to cheer on our governor and other local and state officials who use the taxes they raise to give Illinois citizens a solid quality of Brandon Johnson has ruled out a property tax increase and instead is looking for 'progressive revenue.' The mayor once was a teacher, but he seems incapable of learning lessons from history. The facts are clear: High taxes drive people out of cities and states. Tens of thousands of residents left Illinois each year from 2019 to 2024, and high taxes were a major reason for many. Illinois only avoided losing population due to immigration, largely people from Venezuela. In the old Soviet Union, the system controlled where people could live and work. China has the system of household registration, severely limiting educational and job opportunities and access to services to residents who do not stay in their assigned permanent residency. Thankfully, in the United States, people are free to choose where to live. The mayor was cagey about what specifically 'progressive revenue' means. It is worth considering what taxes Chicagoans already pay. In addition to federal and state taxes, the sales tax in Chicago, a portion of which goes to the state, is 10.25%, among the highest of American cities. Property taxes are already higher than the national average. There are real estate taxes, utility and telecom taxes, amusement taxes, hotel taxes, restaurant taxes, alcohol taxes, a shopping bag tax and cannabis taxes. Businesses are struggling because of high taxes. Tax the wealthy? Fueling the exodus of wealthy taxpayers will further weaken the tax base. Wealthy corporations? Boeing, Caterpillar, Citadel, Tyson Foods and others have already left. A bailout from Springfield or Washington is a pipe dream. Borrow more money? The debt per taxpayer is already among the highest in the country. There is only one responsible option for Chicago: Cut expenses. Unfortunately, the mayor lacks the nerve to do Harvey grapples with mounting debt, it recently made the difficult — but fiscally responsible — decision to lay off 10% of its workforce. And what has Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker done to address the finances of Chicago and the state, respectively? Johnson has not addressed this city's bloated workforce. Instead, he told the city's contractors to reduce their charges and advocated for the Bring Chicago Home initiative, which would have raised the real estate transfer tax on the wealthy and corporations, spurred their departures and ultimately reduced the city's tax base. Likewise, Pritzker has not addressed this state's dismal pension and financial outlook. He has yet to address this state's number of governmental bodies — more than 8,500 — and attendant costs, which are more than even more populous states. Instead, our governor advocated for a graduated income tax scheme, which would have had the same effect as Bring Chicago Home, and now he simply baits President Donald Trump in national forums. Chicago needs to reduce municipal expenditures by examining and eliminating its bloated workforce, and it further needs to consider the need for 50 wards and aldermen and the attendant expenses. And Illinois needs to get its financial house in order by consolidating and/or eliminating some of its more than 8,500 governmental bodies. The elimination of bloated workforces and governmental bodies would be to the benefit of overburdened and overextended taxpayers and thus would be in the public interest.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Bipartisan group launches latest effort to remove partisanship from how Illinois legislative boundaries are drawn
For the third time in little more than a decade, a bipartisan group is being formed to launch a voter initiative aimed at amending the Illinois Constitution to try to remove the heavy partisan influence of lawmakers in the once-per-decade redrawing of state legislative boundaries. Unlike the current controversy in Texas, where Republicans are looking to redraw congressional boundaries to maximize GOP seats in the U.S. House for the 2026 midterm elections, the Illinois effort is aimed solely at Illinois House and state Senate boundaries. And unlike two earlier efforts, in 2014 and 2016, that were struck down by the courts, the current proposal is more streamlined and designed to fit through the very narrow window that previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings have left for a constitutional amendment by citizens' petition to appear on the ballot. The formal unveiling of the effort is set for Aug. 19, when the Lincoln Forum and the Union League Club of Chicago will host a discussion with the movement's leaders, former White House chief of staff William Daley and former congressman and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the co-chairs of Fair Maps Illinois. Daley is a longtime Democrat who is the brother and son of Chicago's two longest-serving mayors, while LaHood was a Republican congressman from Peoria who served in President Barack Obama's cabinet. He's the father of current GOP U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood. Co-counsels for the effort are veteran election attorney Michael Dorf, a former general counsel for the state Democratic Party, and former GOP state election board member and chairman William Cadigan. The latest effort comes as the current process for redrawing Illinois House and Senate boundaries has received serious scrutiny and follows years of criticism after its adoption as part of the state's 1970 Constitution. Its reliance on the legislature to formulate and adopt a map has been described as lawmakers choosing their voters rather than voters selecting their representatives in Springfield, resulting in sharp, partisan gerrymandered lines that have produced few contested general election contests as primaries have become the de facto elections. 'We are in such a situation now, partly because of the way things are redistricted, where every seat is safe, members don't have to ever attempt to reach a constituency other than their core supporters,' Dorf told the Tribune. 'This is the first step to finding a way to create, not politics-free redistricting, but at least more rational redistricting where there is a chance that members of the General Assembly will have to talk to the other side, will have to reach constituents who don't necessarily agree 100% with them, and it's a first step,' he said. Under one-party rule in the last two redistricting years of 2011 and 2021, Democratic majorities in the House and Senate passed and sent to Democratic Govs. Pat Quinn and JB Pritzker map lines designed to favor the election of Democratic candidates and reduce Republican representation. As a first-time candidate for governor, Pritzker said he supported an independent mapmaking commission to curb partisan gerrymandering, but he signed the 2021 remap passed by Democrats. Last week at an unrelated news conference, the governor said he was still in favor of a commission but said, 'It's not like I can force the legislature to do something like that.' The current map adopted after the 2020 federal census has led to the election of overwhelming Democratic legislative majorities — 78 in the 118-member House and 40 state senators in the 59-member chamber. Under the state constitution, when the legislature and governor are unable to implement a map into law — which has occurred during periods of partisanly divided governance — an eight-member redistricting commission is formed with the four legislative leaders each naming a member of their caucus and a non-member of the General Assembly. If the commission deadlocks, the Supreme Court submits two names, and the Secretary of State conducts a random draw for the crucial ninth partisan tiebreaking member. The state constitution's authors thought the threat of a random draw would be so severe it would force Democrats and Republicans to compromise. But the winner-takes-all aspect of redistricting has proven too strong. Other than the initial 1971 map, commissions went to tiebreakers in 1981, 1991 and 2001. Democrats won the draw in 1981 and 2001, while Republicans won it in 1991. Under the latest commission proposal, the legislature would no longer be able to approve its own map and send it to the governor. Instead, the mapmaking process would go directly to a 12-member commission with the four legislative leaders each appointing one member of their caucus and two non-members of the General Assembly. If the commission were to deadlock, the same tiebreaking drawing method would be used, according to the proposal. But unlike the way maps are currently drawn, commissioners could not consider voters' past voting history in which they vote in Republican or Democratic primaries in configuring the map lines. 'Specific people' also could not be considered, except to adhere to federal laws, such as Voting Rights Act protections for racial and ethnic groups. Instead, districts would be based more on geographic lines in which an emphasis would be placed on compactness. According to the proposal, county, municipal and township boundaries would be followed to the 'greatest extent possible,' with an emphasis on smaller counties being contained in a single district. The state Supreme Court has previously limited citizen-initiated changes to the state Constitution to issues that both affect the structure and procedure of the legislature. To comply with that restriction, the size of the General Assembly would be determined by a formula that divides the state's federal census population by 215,000 and would reduce the result to the nearest odd whole number. As is currently the case, each state Senate district's boundaries would include two House districts. Under the state's 2020 census, the formula would leave the current number of 59 state Senate districts and 118 House districts — but the size of the two chambers could change in future decades based on population changes. To get on the ballot, the proposition would need at least 328,171 valid signatures from registered voters by May 2026. Traditionally, supporters try to seek double the minimum number of signatures. The previous attempts to change the Constitution's redistricting provisions were cumbersome and involved a multi-step process to choose commission members — factors the courts decided went beyond the limited scope of structural and procedural changes in the legislative process. Those rulings also came in court challenges mounted by allies of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan, who served as speaker from 1983 to 2021, fiercely opposed efforts that would have taken the power of drawing the districts out of his hands. He was sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison in June on federal corruption charges related to a scheme that helped utility giant Commonwealth Edison. Demonstrating Madigan's close relationship with the utility, the plaintiffs recruited to fight the redistricting proposals in court were Frank Clark, former president and CEO of ComEd, in 2014 and John Hooker, the company's executive vice president of legislative and external affairs and later a lobbyist, in 2016. Hooker was among the 'ComEd Four' who were convicted of conspiring to bribe Madigan to ensure his support for utility initiatives. Hooker was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $500,000 fine. .
