BRIEFLY
Edited by Rodd Whelpley
BRICKS & MORTAR
Blueprint for rebuilding Illinois
Illinois will embark on the largest bonding program
in state history, an effort to repair its aging
infrastructure. Transportation will be the top priority in
Gov. George Ryan's five-year, $12 billion plan, including
roads, bridges and mass transit. But schools, parks and
hundreds of other local projects also will be in line for
construction dollars. The work will be funded primarily
through a combination of state tax and fee hikes.
Under the program, dubbed Illinois First, the state will issue $4.8 billion in new bonds, meaning Illinoisans will need to come up with an extra $621 million a year to pay off the debt. Most of those dollars, $572 million, will be generated by increases in vehicle registration fees and liquor taxes.
The plan calls for boosting the annual license plate registration fee by $30, from $48 to $78, which should raise $249 million every year. Truck registration fees will go up an average of 25 percent, garnering $78 million annually. The vehicle transfer fee will jump by 400 percent, from $13 to $65, generating a projected $166 million.
Meanwhile, liquor taxes will rise by $80 million annually. The tax on a six pack of beer will go up a penny a can. And taxes on wine and hard liquor, which have remained the same for decades, will go up. The tax on low- alcohol wine will increase by 3 cents a bottle. The tax on high-alcohol wine will triple from 5 cents to 15 cents a bottle. The tax on a bottle of distilled spirits will go up 50 cents.
But the governor and lawmakers also are counting on the surging economy to make up the $49 million difference each year, at least in the near term. Indeed, the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission, the legislature's budget research arm, reported the state would gain $47 million more in the current budget year than earlier projected. So the governor's budget aides estimate the state will have about $250 million more to play with over the next five years.
Under the plan, $4.1 billion will be spent on roads, including $3.7 billion for highways. Among the projects funded: The Alton Bypass in southern Illinois and the Dan Ryan and Stevenson expressways in Chicago. Another $160 million will be spent for aviation projects, including $75 million to acquire land for a new airport in Peotone south of Chicago.
The plan calls $100 million for railroads, including high speed rail. And officials plan to issue $800 million in state bonds for mass transportation. The Regional Transportation Authority will issue $1.6 billion in bonds. And some $700 million will be used to rebuild two aging elevated train lines in Chicago.
Ryan's plan also calls for an additional $2 billion in bonds for school construction. Those projects will be funded equally through state and local bonds. Another $1.6 billion will be set aside to develop abandoned industrial sites, bike trails, parks, local jails and juvenile centers.
But many of the local spending
plans, left to the discretion of
lawmakers, had yet to be announced.
Burnry Sampson
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The administration's first budget Primary and secondary education, the largest share of program spending, was increased by 8.5 percent. Special education and early childhood programs were boosted. And $5 million was set aside to hire new teachers. Higher education spending was increased by 5.7 percent, though that is down from the governor's initial request. About $161 million will go to building repairs and construction. Home care workers for the aged and disabled got a 1. 6 percent wage hike, while smaller nursing home operators got increases in state support for their services. In response to the release of 12 prisoners from Death Row, the state will launch a four-year pilot program to help pay for public defenders, investigators and expert witnesses for those accused of capital crimes in Cook County. Downstate prosecutors could tap into the fund. The program will cost $20 million annually. The proposed Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield got $40 million for planning, in addition to the $10 million allocated last year. The project cost estimate now ranges between $60 million to $148 million.
And the state set aside $500,000 to fight the Asian long-horned beetle.
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8 / June 1999 Illinois Issues
TUITION TAX CREDITS
Illinoisans will get a break on
their state income taxes to recover
some costs of sending children to
elementary and secondary school. The
credit will start at $250 per year and go
to a maximum of $500, which could
be claimed for expenses up to $2,250.
The estimated cost to the state is $60
million to $150 million a year.
Opponents argue taxpayers who send children to public schools, where the tuition is free, probably won't benefit. Meanwhile, the Illinois Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union vow to sue on grounds the credit violates the principle of separation of church and state. But Elmhurst Republican Sen. Dan Cronin says,"We routinely give out billions in tax credits to farmers and manufacturers and to others."
Arizona, Minnesota and Iowa have tax credits designed to offset the costs of private and public schools.
GUN CONTROL
The governor's 15-20-life
sentencing scheme was approved. It could
add 15 years for anyone convicted of
using a firearm to commit a felony. A
sentence could be boosted 20 years if a
weapon is fired during a crime. And if
someone is shot or killed, the criminal
could get an extra 25 years or life.
Lawmakers also would require adults to lock up guns if a child under 14 could otherwise gain access.
And Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan succeeded in getting five measures through the legislature restricting weapons near schools. Part of his Safe to Learn agenda, the measures would impose tougher penalties for those committing firearm violations within 1,000 feet of a school or a school bus; establish three-year pilot programs to study school violence in a rural community, a midsize city and Chicago; and appropriate $14 million for each of three years for school metal detectors and security officers.
HOG FARMS
Large-scale livestock farms face
stiffer standards. Under provisions
agreed to by lawmakers and the governor
, owners of mega-hog farms must
pass muster with the state Department
of Agriculture and make a case at
local hearings before they can build
new facilities. The new regulations
apply to large operations with, for
example, a minimum of 2,500 sows.
Local activists argue corporate
livestock farms threaten the environment
and the quality of life in rural areas.
The department's eight new criteria for approving new operations will include requirements that they be compatible with the surrounding area and that they won't obstruct traffic or threaten future development. County boards will be authorized to make recommendations about siting.
New operations also will be required to provide odor control plans. Under a separate measure, farmers could be reimbursed for a portion of the expenses for that control.
TEACHER CREDENTIALS
A framework for improving
teaching standards was hammered out
by lawmakers, the State Board of
Education, teachers' unions and advocates
for business and public policy groups.
The measure would revise a 1997 law that requires public elementary and secondary school teachers to continue training to qualify for recertification by the state.
Under these revisions, teachers would be required to write a five-year development plan. Under the plan, they would opt to complete eight semester hours of education-related programs, conduct a research and development project or meet national teaching standards. Teachers could also combine portions of each of the training options. The plan would be reviewed by a local panel of teachers, a district superintendent and a parent or a representative of business.
Currently, teachers can be recertified every one to three years by mailing in a $4 check. The new cost will be $5 per year for a total of $25.
The proposed recertification plan is similar to one used in Ohio.
CHICAGO SCHOOLS
An independent arbitrator would
resolve disputes over the firing of
Chicago school principals under an
agreement reached by lawmakers.
Currently, such decisions are made by
the local school councils that were
established under 1988 Chicago school
reforms. Paul Vallas, the chief of the
Chicago school system, had asked for
authority to make the final call, which
critics saw as a power grab.
OPEN LANDS
The governor will get the $40
million he requested to establish an
open land trust. The money will be
used to set aside undeveloped parcels
for conservation and recreation.
EMISSIONS CHECKS
A proposal requiring annual
emissions inspections of diesel trucks
was approved after proponents
dropped a provision allowing for
random roadside tests. Under the
plan, trucks registered in the Metro-
East and Chicago metropolitan areas
would be tested. A 1992 bill set
standards, but not testing requirements,
for diesel-powered vehicles. Trucking
groups argue new, less polluting
engines are replacing older engines.
California and New Jersey already conduct such tests.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Lawmakers voted to allow
construction on habitats of
endangered species. But the Department of
Natural Resources must be convinced
the projects will not increase the
chances the species will become
extinct. The measure came in response
to an effort by Charles Bidwill III to
build a lodge at Carlyle Lake, an area
inhabited by the endangered Eastern
massasauga rattlesnake.
Burney Simpson
Illinois Issues June 1999 / 9
Gambling
"You pays your money and you
takes your chances," say the card
sharks in Las Vegas. And this spring,
Illinois' gambling lobbyists drew a
royal flush. Lawmakers went for broke
and agreed to allow a riverboat into
Cook County, help the horse racing
industry through riverboat profits and
permit dockside gaming, all for the
first time.
Allowing the casinos to stay moored while the dice are rolling will match the competition offered by boats in Iowa, say supporters.
Under the agreement, the shuttered boat in Jo Daviess County would be allowed to move. Most predict it will go to the tax-rich Cook County community of Rosemont near O'Hare International Airport, where it can tap the wallets of out-of-state travelers. That move would alter the original intent of the riverboat law to provide help for economically depressed river towns. Other sites are free to bid for the boat, but Rosemont strengthened its hand when officials forged a deal with other suburban cities to share the revenue and promised at least 25 percent of the businesses serving the casino will be minority-owned.
Supporters softened opposition by designating $30 million for projects in economically deprived areas, tapping some of the proceeds from a relocated boat for Cook County's criminal justice system and university construction and promising that minorities and women will get a share in the relocated boat. Proponents added a resolution to study minority ownership in the gaming industry.
But the big winners were current
owners of boats and tracks, many of
whom have been important campaign
contributors (see page 12). Arlington
International Racecourse, owned
by politically connected Richard
Duchossois, and the state's other
tracks will split 15 percent of the tax
revenue from the relocated boat. Each
must then share half of their proceeds
with the horsemen.
Burney Simpson
Liquor & soft drinks
Legislation that was seen last fall as protectionism for one or two rich
businessmen became this spring's effort to save blue-collar jobs.
After devising the new strategy, Chicago Blackhawks owner and major liquor distributor William Wirtz got what he wanted from the legislature: approval of a measure making it more difficult for liquor suppliers to sever ties with distribu- tors. Liquor distillers will now have to give distributors three months' notice before they end a business relationship — and show just cause for doing so. In theory, that time-out clause gives distributors a shot at fixing problems in the business relationship. An army of high-powered lobbyists helped sell the idea to lawmakers. They argued foreign-owned operations are dominating the liquor business. According to one consultant, the state's 30 liquor distributors comprise a $1.2 billion industry that pays $112 million in taxes and accounts for 10,600 jobs. Liquor industry workers showed up at the Statehouse to underline the point. As a sweetener, legislative sponsors approved similar protections for the soft drink industry, a move that benefits Harry Crisp, an influential downstate Pepsi-Cola manufacturer and bottler and GOP contributor.
The restrictions are opposed by beverage industry trade groups and the
Federal Trade Commission, which calls them anticompetitive. Gov. Ryan signed
both measures upon passage. They took effect immediately.
Burney Simpson
Managed care
After years of debate, lawmakers agreed to overhaul regulations governing
Health Maintenance Organizations. Among the provisions: • HMOs cannot
prohibit health care providers from telling patients about all treatment options,
not merely those covered by their plans. • Under certain conditions, patients may
visit specialists who are not part of a plan. • Patients may appeal a treatment
decision or file a grievance with an independent review board. • Patients may seek
emergency care without prior approval from HMOs. • Patients will be able to
research information about an HMO through a new central clearinghouse.
The reforms were approved after Democrats dropped a controversial provision
allowing patients to sue their HMOs.
Burney Simpson
Electric utilities
Larger utilities could keep a greater share of profits under legislative revisions
in the state's deregulation law. Chicago-based Commonwealth Edison wants to
keep profits from an announced $4.8 billion sale of six coal-powered plants. In
return, ComEd agrees to create a $250 million fund for environmental projects.
Of that, $50 million would go to help the state's coal industry. Another $7 million
would go to the watchdog Citizens Utility Board. And consumers would see $75
million in savings through earlier-than-expected rate reductions.
Burney Simpson
Tax increment finance districts
Lawmakers approved reforms intended to end abuses and unintended uses of the
state's tax increment financing law.
The law was designed to help blighted areas, but it has been used for other forms of development. So lawmakers tightened the definition of "blight" and added eligibility standards for fixing environmentally damaged areas. For example, the measure would prohibit the use of tax increment financing for constructing a golf course, limit its use for municipal buildings and require reimbursement to school districts for costs related to increasing enrollments resulting from residential TIFs.
Teachers' unions, the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois and the Township Officials
of Illinois are among those endorsing the changes.
Ed Wojcicki
10 / June 1999 Illinois Issues
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Mormons vow to rebuild temple on the bluffs The Mormon Temple at Nauvoo will once again serve the faithful. Gordon Hinckley, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says the temple will be rebuilt "as a memorial to those who built the first such structure there on the banks of the Mississippi." A church member and his family, so far unnamed, made a "very substantial contribution" for the reconstruction. |
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"It will be a while before it happens, but the architects have begun their work," Hinckley says. "This temple will not be busy much of the time; it will be somewhat isolated." But it could be very busy in the summer months when thousands of church members visit Nauvoo.
The original temple sat on the bluff overlooking the river. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, laid the cornerstone in 1841, two years after he and his followers came to Illinois and three years before he was assassinated by a mob in Carthage. But craftsmen had barely finished the temple when most of the Mormons fled Illinois in 1846 for lands in the West. Fire gutted the temple in 1848 and a tornado later knocked down some of the walls. People moving into the area used the limestone blocks to construct other buildings in the city.
Today, many buildings in Nauvoo have been restored by church members. The Nauvoo Temple, like all Mormon temples, will be used for marriages and other functions considered sacred. Mormons go to chapels — not temples — for weekly worship.
The church has 56 operating temples
and 56 in various stages of planning
and construction. The first temple
was built in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1836.
Nauvoo Temple was the second.
Beverley Scobell
Illinois Issues June 1999 / 11
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BRIEFLY LONG SHOT PAYS OFF Gambling interests finish in the money 
In recent years, racing interests that contributed to state lawmakers weren't able to beat the political odds. But this spring, they hit the daily double in the General Assembly by winning a combination of tax breaks and revenue sharing with a boat that has been proposed for the Cook County community of Rosemont. With revenues dropping, horse racing concerns donated $1,97 3,398 to officeholders, candidates and their political parties between 1993 and 1998. But during that time, no major piece of legislation favorable to the industry finished in the money. The industry has long felt threatened by the rise of other forms of legalized gambling, especially riverboat casinos (see Illinois Issues, April 1995, page 22). A recent report by University of Illinois at Springfield political scientist Kent Redfield shows that the total handle for the Illinois horse racing industry fell from more than $1.28 billion in 1993 to $1.18 billion in 1997. During that same period, the gross receipts from the state's riverboat casinos rose from about $606 million to more than $1.05 billion. Despite the horse racing industry's support for state lawmakers, from 1993 to 1998, the legislature failed to allow casino-style gambling at horse racing venues. And, though Arlington International Racecourse owner Richard Duchossois fancied his own casino license, he couldn't get one. During the 1997-98 election cycle, political contributions from the Duchossois family and businesses totaled $632,818. The track suspended racing for the 1999 season.
A last-minute agreement in the legislature amounts to a $69 million political purse for
Illinois' tracks. Arlington, the state's premier track, could reopen as early as next year.
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WEB SITE OF THE MOUTH The state's tourism department has great day or weekend trips already mapped out, so before putting the key in the ignition, make your first visit to the Enjoy Illinois site at www.enjoyillinois.com. Click on the icon to get to the home page, then click the highlighted Enjoy Illinois, then Weekend Getaways at the bottom of the next screen. That will take you to a description of 18 trips, from Tour 1 (Route 66 and the Blue Highways) to Tour 18 (Chicago, America's Heart, Soul, Rhythm & Blues). In between are things to see and do within a short distance of where you live. In southern Illinois you can taste home cooking and local wines along the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, or follow trails through the Shawnee Forest for a closer look at the natural beauty that defines the state's southernmost counties. Central Illinois tours offer lots of Lincoln and western Illinois has a Rolling River getaway that takes you on a historic transportation tour in anything with wheels through Peoria, Galesburg and Rock Island. The Blackhawk Chocolate Trail lets you indulge in chocolate in all its forms — candy, ice cream, waffles, pie and cake — through main street restaurants, country inns and Victorian bed and breakfasts, all the while taking in the scenery of northern Illinois. Work off all those calories by Making Tracks Along the Fox River Valley, Tour 15, which offers nature walks, hiking and biking trails and boating. When you've chosen the places where you want to spend a day or two, go to the Trip Planner and choose your destination by geographic area or interest or directly through the search option. Each attraction has a description, a map, directions, accommodations and details of things to do.
There are only 12 weeks of summer.
Enjoy Illinois! |
12 / June 1999 Illinois Issues
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Supreme Court upholds
legitimacy of guilty
but mentally ill verdict
James Lantz stabbed his wife 68 times in her neck, her chest, her arms and her hands. He then poured a circle of gasoline around the corpse and doused the living room. When the police arrived at his Libertyville home, Lantz put out his hands, which had been burned by repeated attempts to re-enter the house, and told them to cuff him. "I killed her," he said. During his trial, a psychiatrist and a psychologist testified that Lantz, who has bipolar disorder, experienced a psychotic episode at the time of the 1995 murder. But the psychiatrist serving as an expert witness argued Lantz was not insane. Lantz was found guilty but mentally ill, and was sentenced to 38 years in prison for first degree murder. His attorneys appealed, contending the sentence was excessive. In the Lantz case, an appeals court affirmed the verdict. Defense attorneys in another murder case were also appealing a guilty but mentally ill verdict. Eric Robles, a Bartlett teen, was sentenced to life in the 1993 murder of his parents. But in the Robles case, an appellate court deemed the guilty but mentally ill verdict unconstitutional. That court ruled the statute encourages juries to reach compromise verdicts and forces the defense to prove inconsistent propositions at the same time (insanity and mental illness). Both situations interfere with due process, it ruled. The state Supreme Court, choosing to deal with both cases at once, upheld the guilty but mentally ill sentencing option. Justice James Heiple, however, dissented, writing that guilty but mentally ill "is a meaningless verdict which dupes the jury into believing that there is a middle ground between guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. In reality, the ... verdict is no different from a guilty verdict." Heiple noted that a guilty but mentally ill verdict makes the defendant eligible for the same punishment he or she would face if found guilty — including the death penalty — and that it does not guarantee a defendant will be treated for mental illness while in prison.
Randy Wells, state executive director of the Alliance for the Mentally
111, says the court's decision is symptomatic of the larger problem of
unfair treatment of people who are
mentally ill, including those who
are imprisoned but not receiving
treatment. |
Good country Hiving by the book The folks over at the Illinois Farm Bureau were getting complaints. This sort of thing: My new neighbor was mad about the tractor running at 6 a.m. when he wanted to sleep. Or the people at the next farm over don't like dust blowing around when they want to barbecue. So the bureau decided to publish a booklet that spells out just what country living entails. Now don't get the idea they don't welcome city folk; they just want them to be forewarned, says the farm bureau's Kevin Rund. So the 23-page The Code of Country Living was born. It's available now. "It wasn't intended necessarily to discourage folks from coming to the country, but we hope it gets into the hands of people who are thinking about moving so they can think about the realities and make an informed decision," Rund says.
Some of the warnings: Roads are
often poorly maintained and traversed
by slow-moving tractors; even volunteer
firelighters don't cover some areas; and
it may get smelly, so "keep in mind
prevailing winds." |
Illinois Issues June 1999 / 13
The fire that started at the foot of the basement stairs raged through Our Lady of the Angels School just before the day was to end, leaving 92 children and three nuns dead. In the wake of the devastating 1958 fire, school-specific building codes were created for the first time in Illinois, and fire codes were changed across the nation.
Despite the tragedy, the parish rebuilt the school and reopened its doors to students in the fall of 1960. But this month, the elementary school will graduate its final class of eighth-graders.
Located on Chicago's near Northwest Side, Our Lady of the Angels until now survived not only the fire, but the subsequent enrollment and financial challenges that have closed many other Catholic schools.
"When the neighborhood really started changing in the early 1970s, that's when enrollment started to drop precipitously, and it just slowly deteriorated after that," says Jim Dwyer, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Chicago, who adds that in recent years the school has been attended mainly by non-Catholics.
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The neighborhood has slowly changed from a largely Polish and Italian area to one dominated by the Mexican, Puerto Rican and African- American communities. Those changes led to the declining enrollment. The Archdiocese spokesman says the school had only 126 students this past year, down from 1,583 in the 1968-69 school year. The school has historic significance because of that fire, which started in a trash drum at the foot of the stairs and burned undetected for at least 20 minutes. The fire swept through the stairwells and up into the second story hall; it bypassed the first floor halls because heavy wooden doors were kept shut. The hot gases |
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After the fire, the city changed its fire code to mandate automatic sprinkler systems for school buildings and enclosed stairwells with fireproof construction. The code also requires fire doors leading to stairways, fire doors in all corridors and internal fire alarm systems linked directly to the department. At the state level, the fire instigated the development of a building code specific to schools. The state superintendent called together a committee to put the codes together in 1958. In 1965, the new codes were completed and adopted, separately addressing health |
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and safety regulations in new schools and those built before 1965. In particular, the health and life safety code banned the use of combustible materials for interior finishes, as was the case with Our Lady of the Angels, where walls were made of varnished wood. Under the new regulations, bonds can be issued to pay for certain improvements without voter approval.
Ironically, the code is enforceable
only in public schools.
Margaret Schroeder
14 / June 1999 Illinois Issues
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Green flag drops
on Illinois raceway
construction
Motor racing is the best-attended spectator sport in the United States. And in Illinois the race is on to see who can build the best facility to draw thousands of fans. Big money and big names in racing are coming to the Chicago and Metro East areas. Unlike Iowa, where the legislature considered giving several million to a developer for a track in Davenport, Illinois taxpayers won't be on the hook to subsidize construction of the facilities. They will, however, foot the bill for some infrastructure improvements. But enthusiasts argue they can expect a payback. The number of visitors can be impressive. In Indianapolis, more than 300,000 people bought tickets for the Memorial Day Indianapolis 500, a race featuring Indy Racing League open-wheel cars. In August, that same number of fans will again fill the speedway for the the Brick-yard 400, a NASCAR Winston Cup stock car race. Recent studies show a 125,000-seat track brings about $60 million per weekend into an area's economy. Through their respective companies, two of the biggest names in the business have invested $100 million in the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet. Tony George, president and founder of the Indy Racing League, and Bill France Jr., who heads up NASCAR, plan to build a 1.5-mile oval that will accommodate both Indy and stock cars. There will be seating for 75,000 fans for the 2001 season, the target date for opening the new track, but there is room to expand to more than 100,000 seats. The raceway also will house a drag strip and a one-half-mile clay oval for midget cars, sprint cars and motorcycles. And there is a two-mile road course. |
For more information Each of Illinois' tracks also have Web sites. Gateway is at www. gatewayraceway.com; Joliet's track is at www.route66raceway.com; and Cicero's is www.chicagomotorspeedway.com. Chip Ganassi Racing, CART champion for the last three years, is at www.targetracing.com. NASCAR fans can go to www.l800bepetty.com for a real ride. Richard Petty, the driver who has won the most stock car races, offers the chance to drive a race car. |
"It will be the only facility in the world that has all the choices in one place," says Fred Nation, vice president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, George's company "And the Chicago area is an untapped market for stock cars and Indy-style racing."
Indeed, the closest premier race track offering both Indy cars and Winston Cup racing is Indianapolis.
But that could soon change. Gateway International Raceway in St. Clair County has taken on new partners and is planning to expand to 120,000 seats, which may make it an attractive venue for the Winston Cup. Gateway already has a drag strip that draws nearly 100,000 people for a four-day event, and it runs Indy cars through the CART sanctioning body. It also has NASCAR truck races and the popular Busch stock car series. (The Busch series can be thought of as NASCAR's "triple-A level," with the Winston Cup series being the big show.)
A third track, scheduled to be road- ready for a CART Indy-style race in August, represents a unique mix of racing. With the help of Chip Ganassi, owner of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, Charles Bidwill, owner of Sportsman's Park in Cicero, is building an auto track around the existing horse track. The new Chicago Motor Speedway will host the Target Grand Prix on its one-mile track.
None of the tracks has NASCAR's
promise for a Winston Cup race date, but
people in racing are saying it's only a
matter of time before the Winston Cup
crowds — and their money — come to
Illinois.
Beverley Scobell
Illinois Issues June 1999 / 15
