Progress Illinois

The backlog of payments to Medicaid providers is a serious problem in Illinois. When these notoriously low reimbursements to primary care physicians administering care to Medicaid patients don't arrive on time, it makes the doctors increasingly reluctant to treat that population. That diminishes health care access for some of the state's most vulnerable citizens, thus raising the potential for public health outbreaks and preventive disease and deaths. It's an unsound system, both economically and morally.

Since the recession hit, Illinois has been making payments to most providers by the skin of its teeth, thanks almost exclusively to President Obama's stimulus bill, which provided $2.9 billion in short-term federal aid. Congress could pass along a little more help if the Democrats' health care reform bill passes; the version that the House approved provides $23.5 billion for state legislatures to pay a higher share of all Medicaid costs -- 66 percent on average, up from 57 percent prior to the stimulus -- for an additional six months in 2010.

This morning, the state also took some independent action aimed at solving this problem, as Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law HB 542, sponsored by Rep. Dan Reitz (D-Sparta) and Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg (D-Evanston).

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A new video from the Dan Hynes campaign has been making the rounds online today. It splices together some footage from yesterday's Campaign for Better Health Care forum in which Gov. Pat Quinn appears a bit tired and distracted as Illinois resident Midge Hough recalls the tragic story of her 24-year-old daughter-in-law's death. The video ends with the tagline: "Illinois can't afford a governor who is asleep at the wheel."  Watch it:

This afternoon, the Quinn campaign responded quickly with some footage of their own.  It shows the governor talking one-on-one with Hough following the event.  He can be seen giving her his card and telling her, "I know this is the cause of your life," adding, "I want to help tell Jenny's story."  Watch it:

In a release accompanying the video, the Quinn campaign accused the Hynes campaign of "deceptive" editing and further stated:

We all commend Midge Hough for her extraordinary courage and her indomitable belief that this personal tragedy may ultimately serve to help millions of other people, like Jenny and her baby, who still do not have health care coverage.

Yesterday afternoon, as part of the Campaign for a Better Health Care's annual conference, Gov. Pat Quinn and Democratic primary challenger Dan Hynes engaged in an hour-long debate on health care reform. Because it costs the state money to provide coverage to the poor and to protect public health, the debate routinely veered into discussion about the state deficit and the gubernatorial candidates' competing tax reform proposals. When it did, things got snippy. Watch this compilation:

Notice how neither candidate even broaches the most important aspect of this debate: how they plan to convince the legislature to go along with their respective proposals next year. In a sense, this debate is taking place solely in the abstract.

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Lots of new campaign advertisements and web videos out in the past few days.  Here's a rundown ...

Gov. Pat Quinn has a new ad out, titled "Finally," which hit the airwaves yesterday, according to Capitol Fax:

After yesterday's fiery debate in Rockford, the Quinn campaign also released this clip from the governor's remarks (under the title: "Quinn wins at Rockford Forum"):

You can read the Hynes campaign's take on the debate here.

In the 10th Congressional District primary, Julie Hamos is airing a new biographical spot on the cable airwaves:

U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias also has a new web ad up today, highlighting how the treasurer's Employ Illinois program helped a Springfield child care center create jobs:

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Illinois' prison system is finally making major headlines.  But not for the reasons we had hoped.

Over the weekend, the White House announced that the near-empty Thomson Correctional Center in rural northwest Illinois has emerged as a potential candidate to house terrorism suspects from the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Federal officials, at the behest of the White House, are scheduled to inspect the facility today. Gov. Pat Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin will hold a series of press conferences outlining the potential plan, which they argue would spur the local economy. If approved, the federal government would purchase the 1,600-cell, maximum-security prison and fill it with regular inmates. They would then set aside a section for the less than 100 Gitmo detainees as a way to help close the controversial prison in Cuba.

Yesterday, like clockwork, GOP lawmakers pounced on the issue, unleashing a barrage of attacks on Quinn and the White House for even considering such a move.

In a letter signed by the seven-member GOP congressional delegation, Rep. Mark Kirk warned that "our state and the Chicago Metropolitan Area will become ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization."

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Back in July, The Chicago Reporter exposed one of the Prairie State's dirtiest secrets. Not only are dozens of Illinois nursing homes ranked among the worst in the nation (PDF), but African-Americans are increasingly likely to receive sub-standard medical care and be housed in facilities with dangerous criminals.

Social service providers were not surprised. For years, they've witnessed firsthand the way the poor have been dumped into these homes simply because affordable housing, drug treatment programs, and mental health facilities are in increasingly short supply. The private nursing home industry has been more than eager to fill this void (and, of course, cash in on the flow of Medicaid reimbursements).

In a subsequent investigation, the Tribune revealed how lax state regulation paved the way for the current situation. More from the Trib's investigation:

Mentally ill patients now constitute more than 15 percent of the state's total nursing home population of 92,225, government records show, and the number of residents convicted of serious felonies has increased to 3,000. Among them are 82 convicted murderers, 179 sex offenders and 185 armed robbers [...]

Just 50 nursing homes in Illinois house more than half of the 3,000 offenders, according to the Tribune's analysis. In Chicago, many of those homes are clustered in a few ZIP codes in Uptown and on the South Side.

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It's a little under three months until the February 2 primary, but the Democratic gubernatorial battle has already been chock full of negative attacks.  The most recent round started late last week.  Check out our play-by-play below:

Friday, October 30
Comptroller Dan Hynes released yet another ad whacking Quinn for the income tax hikes included in his original budget proposal:

For the second time, the Hynes team uses a clip from Quinn's April interview with the Rockford Register-Star editorial board.  One important aside: Quinn clearly stated elsewhere in the discussion that he "thinks we should have a graduated income tax" -- the type of structure now being proposed by Hynes -- but also pointed out that such a policy would require amending the constitution.  Due to those limitations, he told the board that he would instead attempt "to find a progressive way to raise revenue."  An examination of Quinn's actions during the budget process shows that this is exactly what he attempted to do while also trying to reach some form of compromise with the tax-wary General Assembly.

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State legislators headed back to Springfield today to begin the second and final week of the fall veto session. Here's a quick rundown of the issues they are taking up:

Borrowing

In case you hadn't heard, Illinois' tax base might as well be quicksand. According to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability's latest quarterly report, personal income taxes fell 18 percent, corporate income taxes dropped 29 percent, and sales taxes revenues shrunk by 15 percent since July. At the same time, the legislature has passed legislation requiring that the state fund the Monetary Award Program (which provides scholarships to low-income college students) without identifying a revenue source. As a result, Gov. Pat Quinn is looking for another lifeline, this time in the form of a $900 million loan. The Tribune has the specifics:

Lawmakers might put the borrowed money into a special pot that would be used to pay state health-care costs, generating potentially another $400 million in matching federal funds. That also would free up money elsewhere to pay for the scholarships in Illinois’ Monetary Award Program.

Borrowing is normal when revenues are smaller than expected. But Illinois has already taken out $2.25 billion in loans ($1 billion in May and $1.25 billion in August) and also delayed payment on $3.7 billion in backlogged bills to "shore up" its budget. That money, as well as this new short-term borrowing scheme, needs to be repaid by June 30, 2010. In other words, the plan just digs a deeper hole.

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Though you wouldn't know it from their recent back-and-forth on the airwaves, when it comes to the need for fundamental tax reform in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn and Democratic gubernatorial challenger Dan Hynes actually agree more than they disagree. Both understand that the state has borrowed far too much. Both realize that our inefficient and unfair tax system places a disproportionate burden on poor and working people and generates far too little revenue to cover core services and debt obligations. And they've both put forward competing proposals that, while far from ideal, would improve the state's fiscal strength and the lives of Illinois residents. (In his first budget proposal, Quinn sought to increase the state's 3 percent income tax rate to 4.5 percent and offset the impact by hiking the personal exemptions from $2,000 to $6,000; Hynes has proposed amending the constitution to just raise the income tax on those making more than $200,000.)  The question voters really need to focus on is which candidate can more effectively usher their plan through the state legislature.

A DC-based think tank says Illinoisans shouldn't have to choose. In a new paper (PDF) released this week, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) argues that the best policy approach would be to combine the two proposals.

In theory, it's an interesting and balanced idea. But as Capitol Fax noted yesterday, it's likely unrealistic considering the current political climate. Furthermore, Quinn's original proposal has no real support at this point. When he introduced it early last year, it represented a political non-starter for every major constituency in Springfield. Even Quinn's modified, temporary plan failed to generate sufficient support in the House. So why would lawmakers return to it now?

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The latest from the Illinois electoral landscape ...

IL GOVERNOR

A poll released by the Paul Simon Institute on Public Policy late last week showed Gov. Pat Quinn with a sizeable lead over comptroller and Democratic gubernatorial challenger Dan Hynes:

Quinn:  33.9%
Hynes: 16.5%
Someone else: 14.2%
Don't know/No answer: 35.4%
MOE +/- 5/4%

Since our last 2010 round-up, this race has also seen its share of additional endorsements.  A week ago, Quinn accepted the backing of Rep. Phil Hare, who said that the "Illinois Congressional delegation finally has a partner inSpringfield, instead of a punch line."  Watch a video put together by the campaign: 

Today, Quinn is scheduled to receive the endorsement of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. Last week, that same union's state council announced their support for challenger Dan Hynes, who also received the endorsement of the sheet metal workers union.

IL SENATE

In the nation's Capitol last week, reporters spotted Alexi Giannoulias leaving the White House where he told them he'd been huddling with senior adviser David Axelrod to discuss the Democratic Senate primary. At this point, Giannoulias is leading in the polls and in the fundraising race, but doubts remain about his viability among the Democratic establishment in D.C. Yesterday, the Washington Post reported on that dynamic:

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