Progress Illinois

The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) released a report this month outlining which states are most vulnerable to the rising price of oil, and which are doing the most to ween themselves off oil dependence. All told, the news is encouraging for Illinois, though there is plenty of room for improvement.

The NRDC finds that the Prairie State is better off than 35 other states in terms how hard it has been hit by skyrocketing crude costs. These rankings are determined by pinpointing the percentage of an average citizen's annual income devoted to fuel costs. Generally, people spend more on gas in rural states, states with more farming, and states with less public transportation. Poorer states are also among the hardest hit, as residents generally spend a greater proportion of their incomes on oil.

According to the report, the average Illinois resident spends $1933.79 a year on gas, approximately 4.8 percent of their annual income. Below is a list of the ten worst hit states and how they ranked last year. Two of our neighboring states, Indiana and Iowa have found themselves in much worse shape as prices have gone up:

1) Mississippi (also #1 last year)
2) South Carolina (also #2 last year)
3) Georgia (also #3 last year)
4) Louisiana (up from #8)
5) Kentucky (down from #4)
6) New Mexico (down from #5)
7) Indiana (up from #12)
8) Arkansas (up from #9)
9) Oklahoma (down from #6)
10) Iowa (up from #17)

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As you might remember, efforts in the General Assembly to crack down on predatory "payday" lenders were unsuccessful during the spring legislative session. With such broad measures shelved until the fall, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) is doing its part to improve oversight on one element of this industry: car title loans, in which a borrower uses their vehicle as collateral.

As with other predatory lenders, the major problem with title loans is the combination of exorbitant interest rates and meager regulation. Indeed, title loan borrowers are often charged a 300 percent APR and can lose their vehicle even after they've paid back more than they took out. Nowhere is the lack of regulation worse than in Illinois, as McClatchey recently reported:

Of the 16 states that permit high-interest auto loans, Illinois is the only state where there is no limit on the interest rates lenders can charge, and it is the only state without a single consumer protection linked to auto title loans, according to the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based community think tank.

To protect Prairie State residents, the IDFPR today filed these proposed rule changes:

- Restrict loans to $4,000 or less.

- Limit the number of times a loan can be refinanced to two times and allow that only when the outstanding balance of the loan has been reduced by at least 20 percent.

- Require the lender to make sure the borrower has not had a title or other short-term loan in at least 15 days.

- Require the lender to give the borrower a toll-free number for the Illinois Financial and Professional Regulation Department, so that any borrower with problems can get help.

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It's not often that you see a school district come up with a plan to cut costs and help the environment at the same time, but that's what's happening in New Berlin.

According to the State Journal Register, the school district there is considering building a wind turbine to help power its elementary school, a similar project was already approved in the nearby Petersberg Porta school district:

The Petersburg Porta School District expects to cut average monthly power bills of $25,000 for the junior and senior high schools to $5,000 to $10,000 a month when a wind turbine is switched on next spring, said School Superintendent Matt Brue.

The Petersburg district, which has an enrollment of 1,250, also is installing a geothermal system and a small solar project.

Brue said the turbine would supply about 80 percent of demand for the all-electric high school and middle school. Districtwide savings from alternative energy are projected at $400,000 per year. [...]

Only about a half-dozen public school districts statewide — there are a little more than 870 — are using wind energy, but the executive director of the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation in Chicago said the list is bound to grow as natural gas and electric bills continue to increase.

As we noted earlier this week, wind farms are becoming increasingly popular in Central Illinois as the cost of energy rises.

As the summer election season hits its stride, we're seeing more and more evidence that Barack Obama is benefiting from the cross-country battle he waged with Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary. Yesterday, National Journal's Carrie Dann reported on how the drawn-out contest helped Democrats cement their presence in important battleground states:

A glance at the primary calendar offers a list of red to purple states where Obama and Clinton stumped feverishly after McCain accepted the party mantle against the backdrop of the White House lawn on March 5. Democrats battled in Indiana, North Carolina and Montana -- all states touted by the Obama campaign as potential electoral pickups -- as well as in Oregon and Pennsylvania, Democratic-leaning states where McCain hopes to gain ground. [...]

[T]he difference in simple ground covered in the five contested states that held post-March 4th primaries is striking. In the Tar Heel State, for example, Obama held a total of 14 events over nine campaign days. McCain has spent only three days there, one in a private meeting with evangelical iconBilly Graham and his son. In Indiana, Obama made 26 appearances over 20 days, to McCain's two. McCain trails Obama by more than five campaign stops in Montana, 10 in Oregon and 25 in Pennsylvania.

All told, in those five states, Obama has campaigned for a total of 54 days to McCain's 13, giving Obama a net lead of 41 campaign days. That lead has grown, not shrunk, since Obama clinched the nomination and began campaigning in nontraditional regions as part of his campaign's avowed 50-state strategy.

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Over the last few months, we've watched state after state join the Great Lakes Compact, a regional agreement aimed at protecting the waters from outside exploitation. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed off on legislation approving the compact yesterday. Pennsylvania, the last holdout, passed the compact last Thursday and Gov. Ed Rendell has promised to sign it into law.

Now that all the Great Lakes states are on board, Congress must ratify the agreement. A report Tuesday from National Public Radio highlighted how important it is that federal lawmakers act soon:

"The chances of the compact passing in Congress are better the sooner it gets there," according to Noah Hall, executive director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and a professor of water law at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. He says that while Congress usually defers to the states most affected by water compacts, this compact is unique because it governs so much of the nation's fresh water supply.

"As we're seeing droughts and water shortages in other parts of the country, I think that there's a legitimate concern that Congress might be reluctant to lock up the Great Lakes and prevent diversions to other parts of the country," Hall says.

He and other Great Lakes advocates want to get the compact through Congress before 2010. That's when a new census will be taken, which will likely result in the Great Lakes states losing anywhere from a few to a dozen seats in Congress, seats that will likely shift to states in the growing — and parched — South and West.

It's no surprise that the growing Southwest looks to the Great Lakes with thirsty eyes. Last year, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson famously proposed importing water from this region into the Sun Belt. One of the problems with that plan is that the Great Lakes themselves are already shrinking. The compact would allow the export of water from the region, but such diversions would require approval from all the Great Lakes governments.

It's been compared to a poker game, a multi-act play, and a three ring circus. No matter what you call it, the special session is back.

At 1pm today, lawmakers convened in Springfield to consider strategies for funding the $2 billion deficit Gov. Rod Blagojevich has identified in the the state budget. If legislators don't support the governor's revenue plans, he has threatened to use his veto pen to cut $1.5 billion out of the spending plan.

Blagojevich's proposals include: tapping into more than $400 million in protected state accounts and privatizing the state lottery system. The House, under speaker and Blagojevich nemesis Michael Madigan, rejected the measures during the spring session. Last year, disagreement between the governor and the legislature left Illinois without a budget until August.

Here's what capitol-watchers are saying about this year's standoff.

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Last week we learned that the Obama campaign will be doubling its presence in Indiana in an effort to win there. This week, we have more details about the campaign's ground game in another neighboring state -- Missouri.

According to the Kansas City Star, Obama will have 150 paid staffers in 30 field offices across the Show Me State. Missouri has already been the focus of an early advertising by both Obama and McCain, but in terms of boots on the ground, Obama will have a clear advantage, reports the paper:

The Democrat’s campaign said Tuesday it is tripling its paid staff — to an unprecedented 150 workers, who will fan out from 30 field offices across the state, from West Plains to Maryville.

“It’s unheard of,” veteran Democratic worker Woody Overton of Kansas City said of the effort and expenditure. [...]

Building grassroots, neighbor-to-neighbor networks can be the most powerful means of advertising, easily surpassing those ubiquitous 30-second TV ads, Obama’s aides say.

“That’s the best message we’re ever going to get,” said Buffy Wicks, Obama’s lead Missouri operative.

“At the end of the day, Missouri will be won or loss in the margins,” Wicks said. “Field is what gets you over the top. It’s these person-to-person contacts that really give you an edge.”

Obama narrowly won the state in the Democratic primary, and already has 50 staffers in Missouri compared to around 13 working for McCain.

Missouri is sometimes considered a bellwether state. It has voted for all but one of the presidential victors since 1904. Early polling in the state shows McCain with a thin lead.

Marty Ozinga's image as a capable businessman has been at the forefront of his campaign for the open 11th Congressional District seat. "I am not a politician," the GOP candidate is quick to point out, highlighting his decades-long ownership of a concrete company with business in much of the Midwest. To hear him tell it, this background is exactly what qualifies him to hold elected office. For instance, here's a line from his campaign website:

As someone who has made payrolls and managed budgets---as a successful Illinois job-creator---Marty understands how our economy works and has the experience to help get us back on track.

But a review of Ozinga Bros.' tax history shows that Marty didn't quite "manage budgets" as well as he says he did. As the table below shows, Ozinga-owned companies were late on their Cook County tax payments at least 20 times between 2001 and 2004, leading the county to file numerous tax complaints in circuit court:

(Click here to view a table with links to the source documents.)

Cook County isn't the only government that had to force Ozinga to meet his financial responsibilities. Records obtained by Progress Illinois also show that, between 1990 and 2004, Ozinga Bros. was late on over $45,000 in state taxes in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, leading to legal action against them in each state.

This tax history is only the most recent news to arise about Marty's concrete operation that conflicts with his carefully constructed image as a responsible, community-oriented businessman. Former Ozinga associates have long alleged that he set up front companies to exploit city contracts set aside for minority-owned businesses. And more recently, five witnesses in Marshall County contradicted Ozinga's public statements about a land deal he entered into with family farmers there. That incident is part of an extended legal battle between Ozinga and a group of rural landholders.

In early April, Virginia-based energy company Dominion Resources announced plans to buy 25,000 acres near Springfield for the Prairie Forks Wind Farm. Now the Southtown Star is reporting that Kansas-based developer Trade Wind Energy "has signed leases with landowners for two wind farms in DeWitt County and is in discussions for a third in Christian County." According to the Star, increased interest in wind power is due to technological advances and, of course, skyrocketing energy costs:

[Trade Wind Energy development manager Duane] Enger said improvements in wind-turbine technology have made it possible to operate at lower wind speeds - Trade Wind looks for areas with consistent 10 to 18 mph winds - but that rising energy prices also are a factor.

"There has just been more demand for energy the last few years," he said.

Each project would have capacity to house 100 to 150 wind towers and would produce 100 to 150 megawatts of electricity. A megawatt is typically enough to supply 250 to 300 homes.

A new poll by the Pew Research Center indicates that Americans are beginning to become more supportive of the idea of domestic oil drilling. Driving this shift in public opinion is the idea -- advanced by numerous Republicans -- that increased drilling on U.S. lands will quickly put an end to high gas prices at home. But it's not be that simple.

In an interview today on WRHL's Michael Koolidge Show,16th District Democratic congressional candidate Bob Abboud pointed out why -- contrary to suggestions by his opponent, GOP Rep. Don Manzullo -- drilling is not a quick-fix. Abboud, a nuclear engineer, is running as an energy pragmatist and he raises some very practical concerns. Here's what he had to say:

Internal mp3

ABBOUD: The real question that I ask is: “What does it do for you?” If you look at drilling crude -- crude is a globally traded product. So anywhere that you drill -- whether domestically or on the other side of the globe -- it doesn’t necessarily say that that crude is going to wind up here in the United States.

The second problem is we’re running at essentially 100 percent refinery capacity here in the United States. We have virtually no spare capacity. And so, you know, you can work and create all kinds of new supply of crude, but it’s certainly not going to create new supplies of what you really use and that’s gasoline, diesel fuel, and ethanol.

A recent Time article backed up Abboud's first point:

[T]he U.S. has an estimated 3% of global petroleum reserves but consumes 24% of the world's oil. Offshore territories and public lands like ANWR that don't allow drilling may contain up to 75 billion barrels of oil, according to the EIA. That may sound like a lot, but it's not enough to make a significant difference in a world where global oil demand is expected to rise 30% by 2030, to nearly 120 million barrels a day. At best, greatly expanding domestic drilling might eventually lower the proportion of oil the U.S. imports — currently about 60% of its total supply — but petroleum is a global commodity, and the world market would soak up any additional American production.

As this election cycle continues we will hear more and more about domestic drilling as a cure-all to our energy woes. It's good to see Democras such as Abboud taking that myth on from an economic (as well as environmental) standpoint.

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