State Leg.

Finding A Way To Pay

Adam Doster — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:16:57 -0800

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). The bill frees up $120 million from the state's Hospital Assessment Program to make payments to hospitals treating a high level of Medicaid patients, as well as pharmacists and smaller medical providers previously shafted by the stop-gap state budget. Making good on those payments could trigger additional matching funds from Washington, totaling an estimated $1.1 billion over the next two years. Here's Schoenberg's statement:

“Hospitals and other health care providers are key economic engines in communities all over the state, with hospitals employing nearly a quarter of a million Illinoisans and supporting many other businesses, including suppliers and vendors,” said Sen. Schoenberg. “At a time when unemployment continues to climb, this legislation will also create an immediate economic stimulus to preserve jobs and provide the residents of our state continued access to quality health care.”

Accessing all of the available resources is smart policy. And hopefully, Congress will ante up more state aid shortly to counteract the boom/bust budgetary pressures here in Illinois.

But let's be clear: These are short-term fixes to a problem that's dogged Illinois since well before the economy collapsed. Contrary to the talking points you'll hear from the Illinois Republican Party, the state is making solid progress at controlling rising Medicaid costs. We just need sustainable revenue to ensure we can pay the bills going forward.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user Big Grey Mare.

"A TIF Geek If There Ever Was One"

Josh Kalven — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:40:49 -0800

That's how the Reader's Ben Joravsky describes our own Angela Caputo in his latest article on Chicago's tax increment financing (TIF) network. And you can bet she's wearing that badge with pride.

Joravasky's piece also details how state legislators used a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) bill to quietly extend the lifespan of four Chicago TIF districts by 12 years. With little to no debate, the bill was passed by both chambers in the final days of the regular session and signed by the governor in late August. Joravsky later notes that the projects to be subsidized by these districts during the extended period appear worthwhile, at least when compared with "some of the stuff the mayor comes up with, such as the recent $35 million handout to United Airlines." But the process of approving the extension should nonetheless raise eyebrows:

You'd hope that in these calamitous economic times, Governor Quinn, house speaker Michael Madigan, and senate president John Cullerton would feel compelled to hold hearings and engage in debate before effectively raising Chicagoans' property taxes. But you'd hope in vain.

Joravsky further writes about Cook County Clerk David Orr's new TIF search engine and gives some great instructions on how to research the amount of individual property taxes that go into Daley's slush fund. Read the whole thing here.

Straight Talk On The State Budget From Pagano, Placko, And Kacich

Angela Caputo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:34:53 -0800

After watching again and again as Illinois lawmakers relied on financial gimmicks to pay for core services, budget experts knew it was only a matter of time before Springfield would be forced to confront the state's ballooning structural deficit.

Last week, the Pew Center on the States confirmed that the moment of reckoning is near, ranking the Land of Lincoln among 10 states now on the brink of financial peril. The Pew researchers recounted how Illinois lawmakers -- in order to avoid generating more revenue by modernizing the income and sales tax systems -- have resorted to short-sighted budget maneuvers, such as delaying bill payments and skimping on the state's annual pension contributions.

Now the nation is in a recession and those bills are coming due, leaving Illinois' an estimated $12.8 billion in the hole in FY 2011.

"It's like a balloon mortgage," University of Illinois at Chicago public policy professor Michael Pagano explained during a budget roundtable on WTTW's Chicago Tonight last Thursday. "At the end of the period you have to make a big payment for what you've been consuming. We've now been consuming a lot of state resources for the past eight years without paying for them." Watch it (full video here):

For some perspective consider this: On a per capita basis, Illinois is one of the lowest-spending states when it comes to core services. Yet we still can't generate enough revenue to cover our obligations. Why? Because we are one of a mere mere seven states with flat income tax system. Moreover, our 3 percent rate remains lower than the other six (Colorado: 4.63 percent, Michigan: 4.35 percent, Tennessee: 6 percent, New Hampshire: 5 percent, Pennsylvania: 3.07 percent, and Utah: 5 percent).

Over the weekend, the News-Gazette's Tom Kacich called out the Republican gubernatorial hopefuls for remaining in denial over the need to raise revenue:

The Republican gubernatorial candidates can pretend otherwise, but one of them may "discover" upon taking office early in 2011 that things are worse than expected and we can't just cut our way out of this long-developing financial predicament.

It's happened to other Republicans (remember Govs. Ogilvie, Thompson and Edgar), and it could – depending on which party wins next year's election – happen again.

Meanwhile, Fox Chicago Sunday host Dane Placko took Illinois Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno on this past weekend, attempting to get her to acknowledge that "some sort of revenue increase" will be necessary. As you can see in the video below, she insisted on keeping her head in the sand:

PLACKO: There has to be some sort of revenue increase. We've had a number of Republican gubernatorial candidates on this show over the past few weeks. Isn't it a little disingenuous for everyone of them to say we can cut our way out of this. We can't cut our way out of this, can we?

RADOGNO: The problem is there is a limit to what you can cut. But there are many other areas of state government where we can do things much better and much more efficiently. For examples pension reforms. And my problems is, when I represent my constituents, I can't go to them and look them in the eye and say "we're too afraid to means test senior rides, we're too afraid to reform the pension system. So you just send us your money to the same old rotten, corrupt system."

PLACKO: It's true that there are efficiencies that are going to be made and pension reform is a big matter. Look at the deficits we're facing. You can't cut your way out of those deficits, right? There's going to have to be some revenue increase.

RADOGNO: I can't say that with certainty because we haven't even tried to do things more efficiently.

Every public official who takes to the airwaves this campaign season asserting that this budget can be balanced without new tax revenue, the reaction from media figures should be one of incredulity. As the State Journal-Register editorial board wrote several weeks ago: "Those candidates who promise you no pain, those who say things can be solved by just making nips and tucks and magically creating private sector jobs — they have just lied to you."

The Road Lobby's Influence

Adam Doster — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:05:48 -0800

With the Chicago Transit Authority and state officials reeling to plug a $300 million budget hole this week, there have been some questions raised about the systemic funding challenges facing the region's transit agencies. We've proposed some solutions in the past, as have other transit wonks. But one option that's too often overlooked is the need to rebalance the state's surface transit funding formula.

There are several reasons why transit projects don't draw the same interest as road projects, but money is first among them. Last year, the transportation industry spent $1.12 million lobbying state lawmakers, according to a new study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). Construction interests dished out $2.43 million. Their outsized influence, argues the study's authors, adversely effects how projects are prioritized:

“In our current campaign system elected officials must raise huge sums from major donors to win reelection,” said U.S. PIRG Democracy Advocate Lisa Gilbert, one of the authors of the report.

“In part because of this, we believe that transportation spending is skewed toward road-widening and new highway projects favored by developers, road builders and the other interests who make those contributions,” she added.

PIRG advocates for two federal fixes, both of which could (and should) be implemented concurrently at the state level. The first is the creation of a voluntary system of public financing for elections, which Sen. Dick Durbin has introduced in Washington. While Illinois is a long way away from experimenting on a broad scale with this approach, the campaign finance bill that was sent to Gov. Pat Quinn two weeks ago does establish a bipartisan task force to examine the feasibility of creating a voluntary public campaign finance system for all state offices.

PIRG also suggests that federal transportation money be spent "only on projects that produce real results over the long haul," including reducing oil use, curbing carbon emissions, easing congestion, and improving safety. Last year, transit reformers in the House wrote a bill (HB 2359) that would have done just that. By establishing a new advisory committee to the Illinois Department of Transportation, spending decisions would be prioritized based on performance measures and criteria for project evaluation under the measure. Like a lot of other promising ideas in Springfield, it got buried in the House Rules Committee. It now faces a shaky future, given that the primary sponsor, Rep. Kathy Ryg (D-Vernon Hills), and a slew of co-sponsors -- Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Wilmettte), Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), Rep. David Miller (D-Lynwood), and Rep. Arthur Turner (D-Chicago) -- are all vacating their seats in the Assembly. It would be wise for someone to pick up the fight next session.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user rebecca anne.

Round Two In The Fight Over Outsourcing Chicago Schools

Angela Caputo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:44:41 -0800

With less than a week to go before the Chicago Board of Education votes on whether or not to authorize six new charter schools, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) held a round of public hearings last night. School reform advocates have long complained that CPS handpicks which charters will get the green light long before the hearings begin. And the opaque nature of the process generated a lot of criticism last year. As a result, officials are treading more lightly as they move forward this year.

Unlike in the previous years of Mayor Daley's Renaissance 2010 program, only a handful of new charters are being considered this time around. Still, CPS chief Ron Huberman is recommending that an additional 8,130 charters seats be made available next fall, according to an analysis by the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE). Alexander Russo reports that the established private school operators appear to have a leg-up:

Just six new schools are being recommended for approval -- most of them add-on campuses of existing networks. Fourteen did a full application only to get rejected. Meanwhile, a slew of existing contract schools are vying for charterization thanks to the newly lifted charter cap.

Contract schools -- which are also privately-managed but allow teachers to join collective bargaining under the Chicago Teacher's Union -- began to spring up when CPS nears the cap on the charter schools (originally set at 30). Regular readers may recall that the General Assembly agreed to lift that cap last spring, effectively allowing the number of Chicago charters to double. Under that same legislation, lawmakers also agreed to allow these schools to hire non-certified teachers to fill 25 percent of their classrooms. Tim King, founder of the all-boys Urban Prep on the city's West Side, tells Catalyst that he's among those hoping to transition from contract to charter status this year so he will have the "same freedoms as charter schools" (i.e., the ability to hire non-traditional, uncertified staff). That has members of CORE -- a grassroots, pro-labor coalition -- justifiably upset. "These so-called reform efforts have nothing to do with reform," high school teacher and CORE spokesman Kenzo Shibata tells us. "They're just a way of busting our union."

Indeed, am influential report recently revealed that there is no evidence that Mayor Daley’s school “reform” program is actually improving district performance. Not only is academic achievement flat, but the Consortium for Chicago School Research reports that a vast majority of the elementary students uprooted between 2001 and 2006 were merely shuffled into other failing schools. No wonder CPS has been so secretive about the closing process.

Shibata describes the school board's vote on the latest charters as the first of a 12-round fight. The second round will come in January as more school closure recommendations are announced. That's when Chicago Democratic State Rep. Cynthia Soto's hard-fought battle to bring transparency and create clear criteria over the closure process will likely come to a head.

In the meantime, CORE is setting its sights on overturning a 1995 state law that gave Mayor Daley control of Chicago's schools in the first place. "Labor law doesn’t allow a company to close down a union plant and open up a non-union one across the street," teacher and CORE member Jackson Potter writes in a release, "but that’s exactly what Chicago Public Schools has done for the last six years without pause."

Stay tuned ...

Nursing Home Reform And The Need For New Revenue

Angela Caputo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:45:10 -0800

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.

Because of poor tracking by the state, it is impossible to tally the violence taking place at nursing homes. But a Tribune analysis of preliminary Chicago police data -- which do not always specify whether the alleged offenders and victims were residents, staff or visitors -- gives a clue.

Those police reports show that since March 2008, police reported 511 cases of assault or battery, 27 cases of criminal sexual assault and 24 narcotics violations in city nursing homes.

Noting "shocking and unconscionable gaps" in state regulations, Attorney General Lisa Madigan last month began pressuring the Illinois Department of Public Health to ramp up nursing home inspections and begin working with state police to identify and review the criminal history of felons who are currently living in these facilities. Gov. Pat Quinn has also created a Nursing Home Safety Task Force led by Michael Gelder.

Last Thursday at an Illinois Senate hearing on nursing home reform, Gelder unveiled an preliminary set of proposals to improve nursing home safety. The most noteworthy recommendation is that Illinois invest enough money in long-term and community-based services to provide mentally-ill patients with the care they need. A more concrete plan will be turned over to the governor by January 31.

Already, state senators on the relevant committees -- such as Jacqueline Collins, William Delgado, Susan Garrett, Heather Steans, and Mattie Hunter -- seem gung-ho about crafting and advancing legislation on this issue. The true test is whether they and their colleagues can also reform the state's antiquated tax structure during next year's session. (All but Garrett voted in favor of HB 174 last May.)

After all, absent new revenue, it's certain that the state will be cutting -- not investing in -- the sort of critical services that can solve this problem.

More State Pension Hyperbole

Adam Doster — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:50:41 -0800

This week, the 19-member Pension Modernization Task Force will finalize its report on how Illinois should reform its retirement benefit program for government employees. The panel includes lawmakers, labor leaders, business representatives, and public pensioners. Because they're still deliberating, we aren't sure exactly what their recommendations will be. But details are beginning to emerge. According to reporting from Doug Finke of the State Journal-Register, those hoping to move to a two-tiered system won't be happy with the results:

Another task force on Illinois’ massive state pension problems is set to wrap up its work next week, but it appears the group will not formally recommend changes to pension benefits as a way to save money. [...]

A draft copy of the task force report specifically blames lack of state funding — not too-generous benefits — for the financial problems facing the systems. The draft report says comparisons were made to public employee pension systems in other states and that Illinois’ systems “were generally found to be in the statistical median.”

The draft report also asserts that the cost of public pensions, measured as a percentage of payroll, are comparable to or less costly than private-sector retirement programs. The Civic Committee and Civic Federation of Chicago disagreed with that analysis. One version of the draft report included those disagreements; in another draft version circulated last week, the disagreements were deleted.

While we credited the Tribune editorial board for their TIF commentary today, their reaction to this news wasn't as reasonable. Blaming organized labor for stacking the panel and producing a "less than candid document," the paper blasts the report for failing to consider the size of pension benefit packages offered to state workers:

In a swift vote, though, the task force's labor sympathizers nixed all of [the proposed reforms]. In their view, the pension crisis has one root cause: Lawmakers haven't fully funded the system. In other words, taxpayers haven't put up enough money to pay all the benefits. The sheer size of those benefits? No problem there.

Amazingly, the Tribune declined to include any data about the average pensions received by Illinois state employees. Why? Because those numbers blow a huge hole in their argument.

Indeed, it's hard to make the case that overly-generous pension benefits are sucking the state dry. When you combine workers in all five plans, the average retired Illinois state employee takes in just $17,112 a year. Most of that money is generated from employee and employer contributions (with the remainder generated by interest). And because roughly 75 percent of Illinois workers (most of whom are teachers) don't pay Social Security taxes while employed, they don't get any Social Security benefits when they retire.

As we've said before, there a plenty of reform proposals that make good sense. But the reason we're facing a pension crisis in this state is that Illinois lawmakers have avoided raising adequate revenue by intentionally underfunding the system for almost 40 years. All the while, the employees themselves have continued making their full contributions.

If the Tribune thinks that hardworking state employees should live off of considerably less than $17,000 per year, that's fine. But their readers should be able to decide if that amount is too much. By leaving out those underlying numbers, the editorial board just perpetuates the myth that greedy state workers are driving the state into the ditch.

We'll offer a full analysis when the details of the report are released.

Budget Crisis Creeps Into Illinois Schools

Angela Caputo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:58:57 -0800

Two weeks ago, state lawmakers wrapped up the fall veto session and headed home with hopes that Illinois' financial crisis wouldn't follow them back to their own districts. So far, the bad budget news has trickled in slowly enough that many have been able to distance themselves from the severity of the state's financial situation. But they won't be able to dodge blame forever. For example, adding millions in school reimbursements to the growing pile of unpaid bills is weighing heavy on cash-strapped districts. And in places like the Central Illinois town of Pekin, the backlog -- coupled with other uncertainties and cutbacks -- is growing too big to sweep under the rug. The Pekin Daily Times explains:

The state has a multi-billion-dollar deficit. Inflation is down so far that school districts are limited in how much they can raise taxes to bring in new revenue. Corporate Personal Property Replacement Taxes and sales taxes are down.

General state aid funding for schools is running three months behind. Programs like special education and transportation will not be funded at the full levels. The state has not yet received an application for additional federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, which was used in lieu of state-generated general state aid payments.

Illinois State Board of Education Chair Jesse Ruiz summed it up best when warned that if the state doesn't generate new revenue for schools next year, "we fall off the cliff." That's why the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) is busy educating members of the Assembly about the devastating effects more cuts would have in districts across the state. Pekin's State Sen. David Koehler has gotten the message, pointing out the there is simply no way to cut next year's projected $12 billion deficit from the state's $26 billion overall budget without eviscerating public education. Too many other lawmakers have taken the decidedly cowardly approach, pushing off a vote on an income tax increase until after the February 2 primary election. Unfortunately, next year's projected $12.8 billion deficit will soon be simply too large to ignore.

The only responsible alternative is to find a new revenue source. Encouragingly, Koehler supports HB 174, the most viable tax plan to date. As regular readers may recall, that measure -- which would impose sales taxes on certain services and raise the personal and corporate income tax rate from 5 percent while doubling the state property tax credit and providing targeted tax credits to low- and middle-income families -- cleared the Senate back in May. The hurdle is the House. But it's not just finding 60 votes to pass the measure that's posing a challenge. Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) has hinted that he won't even lift the bill from the Rules Committee until between 10 and 12 Republicans jump on board.

Encouragingly, we hear that a handful are ready to cross the aisle, but there's still work to be done on that front. "It's only going to get worse until all of us take responsibility for what we need to do," State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) told his Republican colleagues during a roundtable earlier this week, "and bite the bullet."

Number Of The Day: $12.8 Billion

Angela Caputo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:11:42 -0800

If there's one thing observers of Illinois politics can agree on, it's that next year's state budget deficit is going to be extraordinary. Not only are billions in federal stimulus money scheduled to dry up, but state officials will soon have to pay out $3.5 billion in pension notes and cover $3.9 billion in unpaid obligations from the current fiscal year. Compounding the problem are tanking revenues and the need to pay back $205 million in short-term loans used to cover college aid. Now the projected 2011 shortfall has hit a whopping $12.8 billion, according to the Voices for Illinois Children's (VFIC) latest policy memo.

VFIC puts the staggering deficit in perspective:

How much is $12.8 billion? This amount is equivalent to total state General Funds spending for the State Board of Education and the departments of Human Services, Children and Family Services, and Public Health. The entire General Funds budget — aside from mandatory spending for pension costs, debt service, and other statutory transfers — is about $26 billion. Closing a $12.8 billion gap without new revenue would require devastating spending cuts, on top of those enacted this year. If such reductions were applied across the board, they would slash 50 percent of funding from every state program; if not distributed equally, many specific cuts would run far deeper.

Earlier this week, we highlighted a series of backdoor cuts to core human services that are already occurring as a result of the General Assembly's failure to pass a responsible budget this year. And in a letter today to the Sun-Times, Illinois Action for Children's Maria Whelan reiterates the need for added revenue to avoid more devastating cuts to the state's safety net:

To ensure that Illinois' working families and their children are not left behind in the wake of this terrible economic recession, our elected officials need to stand up on their behalf and address our state budget crisis by passing a tax increase that will ensure that these vital safety nets are in place for all children.

For the average Illinoisan, the cost of this increased state revenue would be comparable to the cost of a few cups of gourmet coffee, for example, each week. Which is more important -- a few cups of fancy coffee or the lives of children and families in Illinois?

Her letter is titled: "Tax hike would hurt us a little, and help Illinois children a lot."

Missing Walkers, Broken Wheelchairs: Two More Reasons For A Responsible Budget

Angela Caputo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:47:48 -0800

This morning we flagged an ominous warning from State Sen. Donnie Trotter (D-Chicago), who predicted that "drastic cuts" to state services are on the horizon. With the backlog of bills already topping $3.7 billion and an estimated $11 billion shortfall looming over next year, there's no question that Illinois is running on fumes at the moment. During a roundtable on WTTW's Chicago Tonight yesterday, Chicago Democratic Reps. Art Turner and Greg Harris pointed out the backdoor cuts that are already occurring across the state as a result of the General Assembly's failure to pass a responsible budget this year. To illustrate the ripple effect, Turner reported that there is a severe shortage of amenities -- such as walkers -- at Stroger Hospital in Cook County, spurring some local residents to search for donations.

Host Carol Marin later asked the panel -- which included GOP Reps. Jim Durkin (Western Springs) and Suzie Bassi (Palatine) -- "Does it feel like the state's on fire and nobody can find the hose?" Watch an excerpt from their conversation:

TURNER: Absolutely. I have a relative that was just admitted to the hospital who informed me that he did not get a wash cloth, toothbrush, or any welcome to the hospital kit. And here was there for three days. It wasn't until they found out that his parents were there that they brought out the gowns and things. I went by to visit him and the nurse told me that the vendor has not been paid. So they're not dispensing walkers, slippers. My neighbor is a physical therapist and she's actually collecting walkers in the community to take to the hospital.

MARIN: Do you hear this from other constituents, Rep. Harris?

HARRIS: We hear service organizations are not able to pay their employees and take holidays because the state is not able to pay its bills. And they're behind in paying people in a timely manner who are doing the after-school programs for our children. It's only going to get worse until all of us take responsibility for what we need to do and bite the bullet.

"The numbers keep getting worse," Turner said elsewhere in the segment. "We have not seen a baseline for how bad it is." Indeed, late fees are now being tacked onto state employees and retirees' medical bills, which are piling up on the comptroller's desk. Meanwhile, some agencies have begun refusing services. Felice Dworkin, an 83-year-old state retiree whose wheelchair has been broken for five months, for example, will have to keep waiting for repairs, as the Tribune reports today:

Before the budget crisis, the state was paying claims in about 15 days. By September, Illinois' Quality Care Health Plan took 185 days to pay in-network providers. Out-of-network claims took 212 days [...]

The wait for in-network payments is now more than 200 days; out-of-network claims take 230 days, [Annie Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services said].

"If the state's going to be able to pay these providers in a timely manner, we're in desperate need of new revenue streams," Thompson said.

Other agencies, like Senior Services of Central Illinois, have cut another 30 percent from their budget and laid off 17 employees this week. The agency projects exhausting all of its reserves by the end of the year if the state continues to fall behind, which is looking almost inevitable. “We have to have revenue coming in,” executive director Karen Schainker told the State Journal-Register.

The same could be said for our the state government.