November 1, 2011

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Lawmakers: Quinn needs to work with legislature, not fight | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD

“The General Assembly took action today to keep the state’s biggest economic recovery program going, ensuring that thousands of workers stay on the job. Today’s session was about jobs and capital, and I thank the legislative leaders and members of the General Assembly for passing a 12-month capital appropriations bill as I had asked of them.

“A capital construction program was one of the first priorities of my administration, and it is a key component of my plan to bring jobs and economic recovery to Illinois. The plan is Illinois’ first capital program in more than a decade and it is expected to create more than 439,000 jobs over six years.”

Governor Quinn Statement on Capital Bill Passage | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO

“Education reform has been one of the top priorities for my administration. This bill helps us make sure that we have the best teachers in our classrooms and assures effective teacher performance. This bill today is the result of a collaborative effort between my administration, the Legislature and many education groups. I am proud of the method and hard work that has produced this legislation.

I commend Sen. Lightford for her leadership and her tireless work on this reform. I also thank my education advocate Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon for her dedication to our students. I would also like to extend my appreciation to all of the legislators, teachers and education groups who helped put this together.

“In the last two years, I have signed legislation passed by the General Assembly enacting more education reforms than our state has seen in the last two decades. This continues the comprehensive education reform effort in our state, and I urge legislators to support our students by supporting this plan.”

Statement from Gov. Pat Quinn On Comprehensive Education Reform Legislation | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

By Mary J. Cristobal  Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — As the Illinois House of Representatives and Gov. Pat Quinn duke it out in the state budget ring, the House is about $3 billion lighter compared to the governor’s spending fund.

From the House’s $33.2 billion fiscal year 2012 budget plan, lawmakers set aside $23.8 billion to fund state agencies and services.

Quinn has a $26.9 billion spending fund for state agencies and services. The governor said the state should not forget about the “fundamental things in life (such as) public safety, health care and education.” He has strongly criticized the House’s projected “radical severe” cuts in education funding.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago this week outlined the House budget proposal’s spending — for instance $12 billion for human services and $8.9 billion for education. The Quinn administration, meanwhile, would hand out $12.9 billion to human services and $9.5 billion to education.

Stephen Schnorf, who was a budget director for former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, said it’s normal for the General Assembly and the governor to bump heads when the budget deadline, May 31, is nearing. 

“Passage of a budget is a test of wills — healthy tension between the General Assembly and the governor,” Schnorf said. “The governor proposes the budget, only the General Assembly can pass a budget, only a governor can sign and veto a budget. So this is just the normal beginning of the process.”

The House chamber’s bipartisan effort has visibly been noticeable lately with Madigan and House Republican Leader Tom Cross collaborating on plans for next year’s budget. On Friday, the House unanimously passed budget bills that were sponsored by both House leaders.

Madigan has said that the House isn’t trying to “usurp control from the governor over the budget.”

“We recognize our responsibility to give authority to spend money to the governor, the constitutional officers, the judiciary and the Legislature,” Madigan said. “So we’re going to work through that requirement.”

Schnorf, considered an expert on budgets, said neither lawmakers nor the governor can leave Springfield unless they reach an agreement on both revenues and spending.

Kelly Kraft, spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, said the governor’s office wants to work with everyone.

“We look forward working with all four caucuses coming up with a budget — that’s the plan,” Kraft said.

Schnorf said the state has spent more than its revenue, and that it seems that the state is well on its way to getting it under control with the recent corporate and personal income tax hikes that would bring in more than $6 billion dollars annually to the budget.

“There will be plenty of posturing, plenty of partisan sniping — but at the end of the day my guess is that the legislators and the governor are going to agree on a budget that’s pretty much in balance for this year.”

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

House versus governor on 2012 spending | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Video: Quinn on borrowing | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Video: Sen Rezin on Careen Gordon | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

State Senator Bill Brady’s statement on death penalty repeal | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Senate GOP: No Borrowing | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

By Bill McMorris   Illinois Statehouse News

CHICAGO — In a Great Recession that has seen billions of taxpayer dollars pumped to keep companies afloat, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has two words for anyone talking bailout for the state: No thanks.

Brie Callahan, spokeswoman for the governor’s office, said Quinn would turn down all offers of federal bailout if the state finds itself out of cash.

“We believe that the states have an obligation to pay their bills and to meet the demands they have put upon themselves,” she said. “We don’t want any federal assistance in terms of bankruptcy.”

Republicans in the U.S. Senate are considering several proposals that would allow state governments to declare bankruptcy in the event of fiscal collapse.

States, unlike local governments and corporations, are unable to declare bankruptcy. This could pose problems for state governments trying to maintain current services, while paying vendors for services already rendered and making pension payments for retirees. Illinois fell behind on each in 2010.

In June, the state’s five pension systems began liquidating about 10 percent of assets per month to make payments to retirees. These checks generally come from current tax revenue, rather than the funds, which are meant to cover long-term costs. Bill Atwood, executive director of the State Board of Investments, which oversees three of the pension systems, said the state’s inability to pay cost the funds dearly in 2010.

“You’re going to have lost opportunity costs. We transferred out $340, $350 million [in 2010] and the market’s been very favorable,” Atwood said. “So not only have we lost the $350 million, we’ve lost the return potential of $350 million. It’s a real drain on the portfolio.”

The state also faces $6 billion in unpaid bills since the 2011 fiscal year began in July. In December, the Quinn administration was forced to borrow and issue bonds to help pay off several billion in unpaid bills from the previous fiscal year.

The recently approved 67-percent personal income tax hike is expected to generate $6.8 billion annually. But that’s a drop in the bucket in the face of a projected $15-billion budget deficit and an  unfunded pension liability of at least $80 billion.

The worst-case scenario could see Illinois defaulting on current debts and turning to the federal government for a bailout, which is what Republicans in the U.S. Senate, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, are trying to avoid.

Bankruptcy measures would allow states to renegotiate contracts protected in state constitutions, such as pension benefits to retirees. As it stands, states cannot renege on such benefits, even when facing fiscal uncertainty. This has produced conflict between states and retirees. Colorado, Minnesota and South Dakota are being sued in federal court by retirees for trying to amend the benefit system.

Illinois, the state Forbes Magazine dubbed the most indebted state in the country, has a direct interest in the proposals making rounds in the U.S. Senate.

This was news to freshman Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican elected in 2010.

“I don’t know of any bills,” Kirk said, outside Chicago’s Ronald Reagan Centennial celebration on Saturday. 

Kirk has been kept out of the loop by party leaders in Washington. He serves on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and subcommittees for  Department of State and Foreign Operations; Financial Services; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; and Labor, Health, Human Services and Education.

Quinn is not interested in federal help or retracting benefits.

“One thing we’re pushing for right now at the state level is a debt restructuring plan that would allow us to pay our bills right now,” Callahan said. “The plan that Gov. Quinn has been pushing for is to get Illinois’ financial house in order.”

Illinois senior Senate member, Democrat Dick Durbin, did not return calls for comment.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Quinn to feds: No thanks on any bailout | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley are expressing skepticism about a plan by owners of the Chicago Cubs that seeks state help with the renovation of Wrigley Field.

Daley said Monday he likes the idea of keeping the Cubs at Wrigley Field for at least 35 years.

But he says he will not saddle his successor with a plan that hobbles amusement-tax growth.

The Ricketts family wants Illinois to float up to $300 million in bonds to finance renovations at the 96-year-old ball park.

The bonds would be paid off with the amusement tax currently paid by fans attending Cubs games.

Quinn says he is “very skeptical of the whole thing.”

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts tells the Chicago Tribune he doesn’t have a Plan B if the state rejects his proposal.

Originally reported by Yahoo. Read the original story here.

Quinn, Daley nix Ricketts’ plan for Wrigley Field | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said he is dubious about a request from Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs for the state to sell $300 million of tax-exempt bonds to finance renovations of Wrigley Field.

“I’m skeptical of the whole proposal,” Quinn told reporters today at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. “They haven’t shown it to me. Apparently they don’t think I’m as important as some others, and I am important in this matter because I’m a goalie for the people of Illinois to make sure they get their priorities addressed.”

The state Senate is to consider authorizing the bond sale tomorrow.

Illinois faces a current-year budget deficit of at least $13 billion and an unfunded pension liability of at least $79 billion. The state’s unemployment rate, 9.9 percent in September, hasn’t been less than 9.5 percent since the first quarter of last year.

Thomas Ricketts, the Cubs’ chairman, approached legislative leaders and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority with the proposal to update the privately owned ballpark. Ricketts wants to repay the bonds by tapping future growth in a Chicago and Cook County amusement tax.

Burdening the Future

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called the proposal “well-intentioned,” adding that it has “some serious problems.”

Daley, who announced in September he wouldn’t seek re-election after 21 years in office, said he wouldn’t want to “burden the next mayor” by committing future tax revenue when the city faces a $654.7 million budget deficit.

“I think we have to really talk about how you finance it without jeopardizing, whether it’s $5 million, $7 million, $8 million of future growth to the city of Chicago,” Daley said in response to questions at a news conference.

Chicago’s mayoral primary is in February. Daley is to leave office in May.

Ricketts told the Chicago Tribune editorial board today that if lawmakers don’t approve the plan, he doesn’t have an alternative idea for renovating the 96-year-old ballpark.

Quinn said no one from the Cubs talked to him before his Nov. 2 election.

“These are private owners of a baseball team,” Quinn said. “They spent almost a billion dollars buying it. They knew what they were buying. And then to be coming to the people of Illinois for assistance now, after an election, I think it isn’t a top priority.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy Jones in Chicago at tjones58@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net

Originally reported by Yahoo. Read the original story here.

Illinois Governor Quinn `Skeptical’ of Chicago Cubs Ballpark Bond Proposal | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

By Benjamin Yount, Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — Democrats will control most of the process to craft a new state budget next year.  But the only two Republicans to win a statewide office last week say they will have their say as well.

Comptroller-elect Judy Baar Topinka and Treasurer-elect Dan Rutherford both plan to flex their muscle as the state’s fiscal officers, with an aim at Gov. Pat Quinn’s borrowing.

Quinn has called borrowing one of his “budget pillars.”  But state law requires both the state treasurer and comptroller to sign-off on short term borrowing in Illinois.  Topinka said that means she’d better get answers to her questions.

“I have a number of questions about any type of short term borrowing,” she said.  “What will the money be used for, how long will it be out, and is there money for the state to pay it back?”

Topinka vowed she won’t be issuing any blank checks to the governor.  Rutherford has the same criteria as Topinka when it comes to borrowing.  And he thinks he has a mandate to be tough.

Rutherford said voters picked Republicans to hold the fiscal offices of the state for a reason.

“[One] thing that I think is going to be impactful is to have people who are willing to articulate what may be a differing opinion on the finances of the state.”

Rutherford said that not all borrowing is bad, but he does worry about Illinois’ mounting debt and the state’s ability to repay what it borrows.

Illinois will have billions in short term loans to repay.  Quinn borrowed $1.3 billion over the summer.  That bill will come due within a year, and will have to be factored into the FY12 state budget.

The Quinn administration is also planning to add to the debt load by privatizing Illinois’ share of the tobacco settlement.  That will require $1.2 billion in bonds,  And then there are a billion dollars in fund transfers from last year that have to be paid back next spring.

Both Topinka and Rutherford insist their view of the governor’s borrowing strategy is based on fiscal policy, not politics.

“I was kicked out of George Ryan’s office for refusing to sign off on his plans to borrow.  It has nothing to do with they party of the governor,” said Topinka.

Rutherford said Illinois is too broke for him to play games.

“If [the borrowing plan] is something that makes sense, there’s a means to pay it back, we understand where the money is going to go to, is there a revenue stream, all of those, I’m willing to look at it.  I’m not going to be an obstructionist just to be an obstructionist,” added Rutherford.

Rutherford and Topinka will not have to sign off on longer term borrowing, or proposals that go before the General Assembly.  But both say they still expect to weigh in on ideas like the pension borrowing plan Quinn has asked lawmakers to approve.

A Quinn spokesman said the administration is still calculating how much money may need to be borrowed for the upcoming budget.  But added, “The Quinn administration is looking forward to working with the newly elected Constitutional Officers to do what is in the best interest of Illinois taxpayers.”

The new Treasurer and Comptroller said it remains to be seen what is in the best interest of the taxpayers.

But Topinka and Rutherford do know that there will be cheesecake at the Capitol next spring.  Topinka brought the annual cheesecake day to Springfield, where she handed out free slices of the dessert, during her tenure as state treasurer.  Topinka said she will definitely bring the tradition with her to the comptroller’s office.  Rutherford said he may have to find his own outreach, or free dessert day.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Rutherford, Topinka: No Blank Checks For Quinn Borrowing | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD — A gambling package that could raise $1 billion annually for the state appears “top-heavy” and should take a back seat in the upcoming fall veto session to raising the income tax, Gov. Quinn told the Chicago Sun-Times.

In the coming weeks, Senate Democrats intend to push legislation authorizing casinos in Chicago, an undetermined south suburban location, north suburban Park City and Downstate Danville. T

he expansion plan also would allow slot machines at six Illinois racetracks and expand the number of gambling machines now in use at existing casinos.

The package is similar to what the Senate passed in May 2009. But in an interview with the Sun-Times, the governor expressed pessimism over the new gambling plan and said his push to raise the individual income tax rate by 1 percentage point — to 4 percent — should take priority.

“I haven’t seen the proposal, but it sounds top-heavy to me,” Quinn said of the gambling plan. “I’ll look at anything. I have an obligation to examine any bill that at least passes.”

But speaking of the income tax plan, the governor said, “That should precede everything else.”

In a series of post-election interviews with print and broadcast media, the governor has said he views his defeat of Republican Bill Brady, an ardent opponent of the income tax hike, as a mandate from voters on how to deal with a state budget deficit that could reach $15 billion.

“We have to deal with hard realities. This is the truth. The truth won on Tuesday, and I intend to keep telling the truth to the Legislature,” the governor said, justifying his continued push for the income tax hike.

Quinn’s plan would raise roughly $3 billion annually. He has said the increase, which he calls a “surcharge,” would go toward education and property tax relief.

“I think we will have a requisite majority in both Houses” to pass an income tax increase, “and we have to do it as soon as possible. That’s the lesson of Tuesday to me. I was hammered by my opponent on this issue, but I got more votes.”

Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills), the main architect of the gambling package, said he didn’t regard Quinn’s statements about the gambling package as a setback.

“I feel the governor has been a little bit busy, so he hasn’t had time to sit down and talk to us about this,” said Link, who made clear his revenue package has more legislative support at this point than an income-tax hike in the lame-duck legislative session.

“Let’s put it this way: This bill has a very good chance of passing, and I’ll just leave it at that,” said Link, noting that part of the revenues could help prop up the state capital plan, whose funding source has taken a hit as dozens of communities have opted out of allowing video poker.

The last time an income-tax hike proposal surfaced in the House, it obtained 47 of the necessary 60 votes needed for passage, as Republicans opposed it unanimously. House Speaker Michael Madigan continues to insist that Republican support is necessary to pass Quinn’s tax-hike plan.

Told of Quinn’s push for deliberations on an income tax hike to precede any talk of gambling expansion, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said, “I would have no view of what’s first and what’s second.”

Brown said he had not discussed with his boss whether either revenue option will be on the House’s veto session agenda, but he stressed, “I think everybody will need to sit down and start from square one.”

Meanwhile, on other issues, Quinn hinted he is likely to sit out Chicago’s mayoral election, where former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is considered the front-runner.

“We should let the voters decide. Having just gone through an election where pollsters were ready to anoint my opponent, they were badly off. That outfit Rasmussen had me down by 13 points. I think there has to be a robust contest for mayor in Chicago,” Quinn said. “I can get along with anybody.”

Quinn says election win means voters want tax hike | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD  –  The scramble for campaign endorsements continues in the tight gubernatorial race between GOP nominee Bill Brady and Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn.

Both candidates have garnered significant support from public employee unions in the lead up to the Nov. 2 general election.

The state is struggling with a $13 billion budget deficit and the candidates are appealing to organizations and voters that they have the best vision for state government.

Quinn is running on a platform of preserving education and state services with a 33-percent income tax increase.

In late September, Quinn received the endorsement of AFSCME, the state’s largest public employee union. Just days later, Quinn reached an agreement to not lay off any AFSCME workers.

The new deal consists of cost-cutting measures identified by the union itself in the form of furloughs, elimination of overtime, delayed raises and reductions in medical insurance. The Quinn administration claims the agreement could save the state up to $100 million, though the union has not approached that figure as of yet.

But the plan is short on specifics.

Brady attacked the negotiation as a move that handcuffs the state’s fiscal options.

“Like his former boss Rod Blagojevich, Pat Quinn has sold out the people of Illinois. After weeks of public denials to the contrary, Pat Quinn now admitted he long ago signed this eleventh hour, backroom deal with the same union leaders expected to pour millions of dollars into his campaign,” Brady said in a statement.

But the Quinn campaign denies any exchange of endorsement for political action taking place.

“The suggestion of a relationship between the timing of AFSCME’s endorsement and the money-saving agreement between the state and union is incorrect.  This is the opposite of a ’sweetheart deal’, the Governor secured cost-saving concessions from the union, which was under no obligation to give them,” a Quinn spokeswoman said in a statement.

Brady has countered by saying he will bring fiscal responsibility back to state government.

In his first gubernatorial debate with Quinn last month, Brady made one notable exception to his promise of widespread ”dime-out-of-every-dollar” cuts. The Bloomington state senator pledged to allow public safety departments to identify their own spending reductions.

The announcement came weeks after the 34,000-member Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Brady.

The Brady campaign maintains that the GOP candidate will be able to cut public safety while maintaining protection for Illinois families.

“Bill has said everything is going to be looked at when he makes the budget cuts, and he has been told there has been waste, fraud and abuse and that reasonable cuts can be made to public safety,” Brady spokeswoman Patty Schuh said.

The Quinn campaign expressed doubts that Brady would follow through with his campaign promises.

“We are identifying savings and making them contingent, unlike Brady who is not identifying any savings until after the election,” a Quinn spokeswoman said in a statement. “Governor Quinn is taking a “common sense” approach to dealing with the budget crisis.”

But Schuh said Gov. Quinn has failed to make any meaningful budget cuts.

She added, “You only need to look at the latest report of the Illinois comptroller to see that is the case.”

Voters will choose between the candidates during the general election on Nov. 2.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Brady, Quinn Seeking Public Employee Support | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The day after raising cash for Democrats in New Jersey, Obama is headed Thursday to a rally for Gov. Martin O’Malley in Maryland and a pair of fundraisers in Chicago for Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, who’s trying to keep the president’s old seat out of GOP hands.

It’s a seat Democrats need as they try to avoid losing their grip on Congress — and with it, control of Obama’s agenda.

In Maryland, the afternoon rally on the campus of Bowie State University aimed to boost O’Malley in his rematch with Bob Ehrlich, the Republican he ousted in 2006. A series of recent polls have shown O’Malley in the lead.

But in Illinois, the Senate contest is considered neck-and-neck. Giannoulias, the state treasurer and a longtime Obama friend, is battling Republican Rep. Mark Kirk.

Also scheduled to appear with Obama in Chicago is Gov. Pat Quinn, who took over when Rod Blagojevich was impeached over corruption charges and trails Republican state Sen. Bill Brady in the polls.

The White House said Obama had no plans to see Rahm Emanuel, who quit as White House chief of staff last week to launch a bid to succeed Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Emanuel has been touring Chicago neighborhoods ahead of a formal announcement.

The two-state day trip comes as Obama ramps up his campaign travel in hopes of limiting Democratic losses in midterm elections now less than four weeks away.

A key goal is closing the wide gap in surveys of how excited party loyalists are.

“Right now all the reports out there are that the main challenge we have is closing an enthusiasm gap,” Obama told a Democratic National Committee dinner Wednesday night in Cresskill, N.J. “We’re not finished unless we lose sight of that long game and start sulking and sitting back and not doing everything we need to do in terms of making sure our folks turn out.”

The small dinner at the home of public relations executive Michael Kempner was expected to raise roughly $1 million, Democratic officials said.

Obama warned donors that gridlock would strike if Democrats can’t keep their majorities in both the House and the Senate.

“We’re going to be stalled for two years or four years, and we’re going to start going backwards,” he said.

Obama said Democrats are “in a very tough election season because the country is going through a very difficult time.” But he added that if their candidates make their case “robustly” they’ll do well.

Obama to campaign in Maryland, Illinois | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

By Benjamin Yount   Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD  –  The first debate between Illinois’ two candidates for governor was little more than a condensed version of the nine-month, meandering campaign Bill Brady and Pat Quinn have waged against each other.

Brady, the Republican challenger and state senator from Bloomington, met Quinn at Chicago’s Union League Club for a Wednesday morning debate.  But the two covered very little new ground, and at times sounded as if they were just reciting the same old campaign speeches voters have been hearing since the February primaries.

The audience asked questions ranging from how Quinn and Brady would fully fund public schools and the state’s pensions to their plans for Asian Carp.  But the two candidates spent most of their time talking about the main issues of the campaign and the debate: jobs and each other.

Quinn found the message that critics say has been lacking for most of the campaign, and pointed to numbers that show Illinois is starting to crawl back from the recession.

“Our state has grown jobs this year, more than any other state in the Midwest.  We’ve had eight straight months of consistently declining unemployment…We’ve put together ‘Put Illinois to Work,’ the most successful program of its kind.  Since early May we’ve gotten 25,990 people jobs.”

Brady, though, said “Put Illinois to Work” is little more than using money Illinois doesn’t have to put people to work in jobs that the government shouldn’t be creating.  The GOP candidate said Illinois needs to let businesses create jobs.

“We have a problem in Illinois.  In the last decade we’ve lost the opportunity to create nearly 800,000 jobs.  In the last 15 months of the Quinn administration we’ve net lost over 200,000 jobs, and in the last two months we’ve net lost over 26,000 jobs.  That’s not a national problem, over 35 states have created more jobs with fewer assets and opportunities than Illinois.”

Brady placed blame for those lost jobs, and Illinois’ sluggish recovery from the recession, at the feet of Quinn and other Democrats at the statehouse.  He once again dusted off his campaign pitch that smaller government, fewer taxes, and a more business friendly state is the solution to Illinois’ unemployment.

“We need to define what we’re going to look like, not just next year but in the next 20 years…Businesses walk out of Illinois and turn to other states because of the fiscal crisis they see in this state.  We have to have the fiscal discipline to live within out means,” said Brady.

Quinn also reached into his bag of past stump speeches to shoot down Brady’s claim that Democrats are driving jobs out of the state.

“I think you’d better tell that to Ford…they decided to stay in Illinois and grow in Illinois.  They didn’t go to another state.  They created 1,200 new manufacturing jobs right now, and that will magnify into 12,000 supply, contracting, and distributing and servicing jobs,” stated the governor.

None of the claims, or counter-claims, about jobs and unemployment are new for Brady and Quinn.  Most of the debate sounded re-hashed and neither candidate offered any details as to how they’d create jobs, pay for schools, or deal with Illinois’ massive $13 billion deficit.

The only off-script moments came when Quinn and Brady jabbed at each other.  Brady tried to sting the governor for the no-layoff agreement with AFSCME that came very close to the massive union’s election endorsement, saying the deal is “wrong and you know it.”

But it was Quinn who had the most stinging words, saying repeatedly that Brady and his plans for the state are little more than a fantasy.

“We’ve got to have people with common sense, not with nonsense.  This is a pretend world that you’re hearing of from Senator Brady. A world that doesn’t exist.”

Wednesday’s debate in Chicago is the first among the two candidates, but as fitting with the campaign, they blame each other for the short list of future debates.  Voters will have their final say on Nov. 2.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Quinn, Brady Spar Over Jobs, Each Other at First Debate | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

MARKHAM — Sept. 20, 2010 — Gov. Pat Quinn today joined Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Secretary Gary Hannig to announce the start of the $28 million reconstruction of the Interstate 57 overpass at Interstate 294 – a critical first step towards building a full interchange at the site. The new overpass will reduce travel times, boost economic development, and create and retain more than 350 jobs.

Replacing the overpass is a necessary step that must be taken before building the interchange between I-57 and I-294, one of the few locations in the country where two interstate highways meet without connecting.

Once completed, the $600 million interchange will greatly reduce travel times and help preserve local roads by rerouting truck traffic onto the interstate system.

It will also create an estimated 6,000 permanent and indirect jobs, along with more than 7,500 construction jobs.

“Hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks use those two highways every day. The safety of this overpass is extremely important to the entire Chicago area and anyone traveling these roads,” said Governor Quinn. “I am committed to making sure work begins on this overpass as soon as possible, because it will make these roads safer, create good construction jobs and will cultivate long-term economic growth across the entire region.”

Plans for constructing the full interchange are awaiting federal approval, but Governor Quinn is committing Illinois Jobs Now! capital funds to get the overpass reconstruction underway now. The overpass project calls for removing and replacing I-57 northbound and southbound over I-294.

Approaching the overpass, I-57 will be widened to accommodate the traffic movements of the future interchange. Preliminary work starts this fall with construction on the overpass beginning in the spring and ending in 2013. The contractor was selected on Friday.

The interchange will be built with a mix of state and federal dollars. The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority have committed approximately $50 million each. Pending approval from the Federal Highway Administration, the state will build the interchange in phases over a number of years. To construct the interchange’s eight movements, a total of 11 contracts will be awarded.

“We are extremely proud to see this project moving forward,” said Secretary Hannig. “This project will help stimulate the local economy, improve safety in the area and create jobs.”

IDOT is currently leading Illinois’ largest road construction program in state history through Governor Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program. From 2009 through the end of this year the state will have invested approximately $8 billion to repair or rebuild 4,800 miles of roads and 566 bridges. These projects are creating an estimated 155,000 short-term and permanent jobs.

Gov. Quinn Announces $28 Million Project to Advance Interstate 57/294 Interchange | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

VILLA PARK

“As many Muslims in Illinois celebrate the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, I wish everyone a happy Eid,” said Gov. Quinn.

“As Governor, I believe strongly in every individual’s right to practice their faith and we must do everything we can in Illinois to make sure that everyone is in and no one is left out. We must work together to break down barriers that keep us from working and living together in peace.”

Ramadan is observed during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is considered the holiest month of the year in the Islamic faith.

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast each day from sunrise to sunset. Ramadan ends with a three-day festival known as “Eid,” which means “the feast of the breaking/to break the fast.”

More than one billion Muslims throughout the world and approximately 400,000 people in Illinois observe Ramadan, which is a time for spiritual purification brought about through fasting, self-sacrifice, reflection and prayer.

Gov. Quinn observes end of Ramadan in Illinois, attends prayer service to mark Islamic holiday | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD  –  Gov. Pat Quinn could select a private firm to manage the Illinois State Lottery as soon as next week, but some lawmakers would rather keep the lottery under state government.

Two bidders are vying for the right to privately manage the Illinois State Lottery. Earlier this week at a public hearing held in Chicago, the Northstar Lottery Group and the Camelot Group both presented their proposals to a state commission.

The Northstar Lottery Group is a combination of three different companies that already work with the Illinois Lottery, while the Camelot Group is based in the United Kingdom and oversees the United Kingdom National Lottery.

The Illinois Lottery receives more than $2 billion in annual sales, with more than $600 million going towards the state’s Common School Fund.

Whichever firm obtains the contract would stand to gain up to 5 percent of all ticket and share sales, depending on the agreement. In turn, the private firm would be expected to contribute manpower and funding towards the Lottery, market to a wider range of participants and ultimately bring in more revenues.

But state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, would rather have the state continue to manage the lottery. He also questioned the bidding process altogether, wondering how the field of bidders was whittled down to two finalists so quickly.

Intralot S.A., a Greece-based company and one of the largest lottery firms in the world, was eliminated just a week after it had submitted a bid, with no reason being given.

And since Northstar already has contracts with the Lottery, Franks questions how it would regulate its own services if it also managed the business.

“There are way too many questions here that have not been answered and I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the taxpayers of the state of Illinois,” he said.

Quinn is scheduled to name the winner of the 10-year management contract next Wednesday.

Last year, Quinn signed into law a multi-year, $31 billion package of public works legislation. The legislation called for a number of funding sources, including lottery privatization as well as expanded video gaming and increases to liquor taxes and motor vehicle fees.

State Rep. Jerry Mitchell, R-Rock Falls, voted for the public works package because of the widespread need for new state roads and bridges. But he remains opposed to privatizing the lottery as a means of funding projects.

Mitchell said the state would not be able to take full advantage of the lottery’s potential growth.

“The lottery, once it’s privatized, it brings in new people. The increases (in the lottery) are going to go to a private institution, not particularly to the state of Illinois,” he said.

State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, voted against the public works package but is open to the concept of opening the lottery to private management and possible growth.

“Like so many other rather complicated policy matters, it’s all in how you do it. It’s got great potential, the question is, are you going to carry it out in such a manner that you actually…realize that potential. And I think that question is still out,” he said.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Quinn Within Days of Privatizing State Lottery | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

ROCKFORD, Ill., Aug. 19 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn arrived at Wanxiang America Corporation’s newly built solar panel manufacturing plant in Rockford, Illinois today to announce an over $4 million stimulus grant award for an up to 62 Megawatt (MW) Rockford Solar Project, the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar development in the Midwest and one of the largest in the United States, and to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Wanxiang America Corporation’s solar panel manufacturing plant.

“The state’s investment will help ensure Illinois remains a leader in renewable energy development, while continuing to build on the state’s energy independence goals,” said Governor Quinn. “With partnerships with companies like Wanxiang and New Generation Power, we’re creating hundreds of sustainable, green-collar jobs and providing an economic boost to the entire state.”

Earlier in the day, Governor Quinn was in Chicago to sign House Bill 6202 into law, which establishes interim solar targets to help Illinois successfully scale up to reach the state’s solar renewable portfolio standard of 6% by 2015. The new law marks a landmark achievement for solar energy in Illinois and will create over 5,000 solar panel installation, manufacturing, and maintenance jobs and significantly reduce Illinois’ carbon footprint.

The up to 62 MW Rockford Solar Project will generate enough electricity to power over 10,000 homes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions at a rate of 113,000 tons annually, equivalent to the emissions from nearly 20,000 cars. The Project will significantly help electricity suppliers achieve the required 0.5% solar target by 2012.

“We thank Wanxiang for their investment in its North American solar panel manufacturing facility,” said City of Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey. “We are equally enthusiastic about New Generation Power’s potential Solar Farm at Chicago Rockford International Airport. Investments in green technology such as these will help reinvent Rockford’s economy.”

The Project is the effort of Rockford Solar Partners, LLC, a joint venture between Wanxiang America, the U.S. subsidiary of one of the largest non-state owned companies in China with $8 billion in revenues worldwide, and Chicago-based renewable energy developer, New Generation Power to develop and operate an up to 62 MW photovoltaic solar generation facility in Rockford, Illinois.

“Thank you to Wanxiang and New Generation Power for its investment in our region. This is the perfect example of how the city and county came together to create jobs and promote the renewable energy industry. Currently we have locally made Wanxiang solar panels, purchased by Winnebago County, producing energy at Freedom Field,” said Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen.

The Rockford Solar Project not only creates jobs in construction, installation and servicing but also countless additional jobs are generated in the sale and marketing of green power. The Project will also source PV solar panels locally from the Wanxiang solar panel plant.

“We are helping to establish Illinois as one of the largest producers of solar energy in the country and generating much-needed jobs for the Rockford area,” said Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, President of New Generation Power.

Production has already begun on Wanxiang’s solar panels in the newly constructed flagship manufacturing facility located in the Rockford Global Trade Park adjacent to the Rockford International Airport. Rockford officials have indicated the facility is designed for expansion on the 10-acre Wanxiang campus.

“Solar energy is becoming more and more popular in America, and in the world as well. We believe the market is poised for rapid growth,” said Pin Ni, President of Wanxiang America. “We appreciate the State and City governments to support the solar business. Our goal is to expand the plant threefold to meet the demand of Illinois’s new solar energy mandate.”

In March 2010, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) awarded a grant of $4,025,000 to Rockford Solar Partners, equivalent to 1.26 percent of the Project’s total cost. 68 percent will be financed by nongovernmental sources. The federal funding was awarded pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Community Renewable Energy Program to create and retain jobs.

ABOUT ILLINOIS SOLAR RAMP-UP LAW

House Bill 6202, the Solar Ramp-Up Bill, passed the Illinois General Assembly on May 27, 2010 and established interim solar targets to help Illinois successfully scale up the solar portion of Illinois’ Renewable Portfolio Standard: 0.5% in 2012, 1.5% in 2013, 3% in 2014 to reach 6% in 2015.

ABOUT WANXIANG AMERICA CORPORATION

Wanxiang America Corporation, headquartered in Elgin, IL, is the U.S. subsidiary of Wanxiang Group Companies, one of the largest companies in China with $8 billion in revenues. Wanxiang currently has 4,100 employees in the U.S. and over 45,000 worldwide. Wanxiang Solar is a major player in renewable energy production, including wind and solar, and is the largest manufacturer of medium/large size silicon ingot and wafer cutting in China. http://www.wanxiang.com/

ABOUT NEW GENERATION POWER

New Generation Power, headquartered in Chicago, IL, produces renewable energy for sale to retail and commercial users across the United States. Founded by experienced entrepreneurs and renewable energy experts, New Generation Power produces green energy and provides renewable energy credits to our customers across the country. New Generation works in partnership with a number of the world’s leading renewable energy developers and manufacturers. http://www.newgenerationpower.org/

Acknowledgement: “This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number(s) DE-EE0000119.”

SOURCE New Generation Power and Wanxiang

http://www.newgenerationpower.orghttp://www.wanxiang.com

Illinois Governor Quinn Signs Solar Ramp-Up Law and Announces Largest Solar Development in U.S.A. | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.