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Letters Legislation to close loopholes in law for state loans killed Editor: The state of Illinois and its taxpayers are poised to swallow $30 million in losses from soured state loans to political insiders posing as hotel developers. The aim of future state public policy should be to avoid similar financial disasters. I have introduced legislation to close the loopholes in current state law, which permitted state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka to write off $30 million — out of $40 million — in state loans owed by the developers of the Springfield Renaissance Hotel and Collinsville Holiday Inn. The legislation would prohibit any waiver of a personal guarantee of a state loan, diminishing the incentive for a recipient of a state loan to default. A guarantee would remain in effect until the loan is paid in full. Future state contracts sought by any person would be denied if the person is in default of any state Joan. Again, this creates incentives to honor state loan obligations. The names of major partners or stockholders would be disclosed, as well as campaign donations. In addition, the legislation would authorize the attorney general to investigate any state loan default and prohibit any state agency or officer, other than the attorney general, from absolving loan recipients from their financial obligations. If this legislation was currently in place, Treasurer Topinka would have been prohibited from negotiating required public disclosure of the collection efforts. Unfortunately, Republican Speaker Lee Daniels killed this legislation. It is this type of partisan, contemptuous politics that created the hotel loan disaster in the first place and keeps the public cynical about the ability of government to do anything right. Now, it is bound to happen again. In this time of fiscal difficulty in our state, when we can't pay our bills and when we can't fund education, can we afford more giveaways at taxpayer expense! No.
Louis I. Lang
And don't forget Republicans' role in hotel mess Editor: Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka's recent letter attempting to lessen her role in the forgiving of $30 million in bad debts to the state was a mess of accusations aimed at former Democratic state officeholders. Ms. Topinka seems to have forgotten the major role of former and current Republican officeholders in this mess. It was former Gov. Jim Thompson who initially signed on to this deal, and it is current Gov. Jim Edgar who has maintained his usual noninvolvement from any problems surrounding the state government he is entrusted to oversee. And now we hear that Attorney General Jim Ryan's office is investigating Ms. Topinka's agreement to forgive the debt. However, can we count on a fair hearing, considering all of the political partnerships that exist between Mr. Ryan and major players in the hotels? Renaissance Hotel owner Bill Cellini gave in-kind contributions to Mr. Ryan's campaign; Renaissance Hotel attorney Dan Webb was Mr. Ryan's campaign chairman; and former Gov. Thompson is widely regarded as Mr. Ryan's political mentor. I cannot think of a more blatant example of conflict of interest.
John A. Gianulis
State could keep and run hotels Editor: I just read in the June issue of Illinois Issues Judy Baar Topinka's letter to the editor on the Springfield Renaissance and the Collinsville Holiday Inn. I make the following suggestion: Let the state of Illinois retain the hotels under professional management. Let the governor mandate that state agencies use the two facilities to the max. I happen to work for a state agency that spends thousands of dollars annually on expensive hotel rooms throughout Illinois (trainees are housed in hotels that charge high fees, even at the so-called state rate). With all of the state business that comes to Springfield, for example, and with increased business if the governor mandated additional use, the hotel would certainly increase its occupancy rate. If the state has a lemon, as political people want us to believe, then perhaps we need to consider making lemonade. I believe that the political people have not fully investigated options, including retaining the hotels. I just believe that a professional management group that specializes in hospitality industry business might be able to make an interesting proposal. I say Illinois needs to look at long-term cost savings through maximum use of state-owned properties.
Jerry Metzger
Refusal on motor voter a slap at taxpayers Editor: Gov. Edgar's failure to implement the U.S. "motor voter" law is a strike against democratic government and a slap in the face to citizen taxpayers. Illinois is one of only three states that initially refused to comply with the federal law, with Pennsylvania recently conceding. It is important that Illinois fall into line with the rest of the nation, so that citizens have greater opportunity to take part in our great American democracy. It is also necessary to maintain a uniform law on federal voting practices. While the governor blames his opposition on the cost of implementation, he is spending hundreds of thousands of tax dollars fighting the new voter registration act in court. The cost to carry out the "motor voter" measure has been greatly exaggerated. Initially the cost incurred will be a result of printing and delivery of forms, thus, simply a natural part of the registration process. Beyond that, how much can it possibly cost to have someone already employed by the state ask, "Would you like to register to vote today?" We require young citizens to register for selective service as soon as they reach draft age, but God forbid we ask them to register to vote. As for Gov. Edgar's fear of voter registration fraud, there is much greater room for fraud under the current system using deputy registrars. To my knowledge, not as many dead people apply for drivers licenses as are known to vote in Chicago elections. Citizens have a constitutional right to vote; we need to make registration as easy and accessible as possible. However, the 38/July 1995/Illinois Issues governor is squandering our hard-earned tax dollars on a $300-per-hour Chicago attorney in his personal battle against the people's right to vote.
Randy Flowers
Social workers should be part of welfare reform Editor: Charles N. Wheeler III claims that proposed "reforms" in welfare could make life bleaker for our children (see March 1995, page 6). His view makes one wonder if social workers aren't the cause of our welfare mess today. Many social workers have fallen into the trap with the views of many legislators who believe that money will solve our social problems. The United States is the only nation which has a "Department of Welfare." Other nations, being much less wealthy, have taken the road of prevention. As a young social worker just out of Smith College, I observed that half of our social work staff at the St. Louis Provident Association were transferred to the new FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration) in 1939 to provide funds for the one-third of our nation who were without jobs. We were told it was a "stop-gap" measure for two years, after which there would be a well-thought-out program for the destitute based on need (not categories). That day has never come. We are still in the "stop-gap" program throwing money at our failures to deal with this social problem. In 1939 there was a division of opinion among social workers about the resolution of this problem. Some believed that the only solution for a destitute family was money. Other social workers believed that families should be provided professional counseling to aid them to cope with their crises and plan ahead for the realization of their dreams for themselves and for their children. Following the admonition of Mary Richmond [Belleville-born social worker/author], these social workers saw their responsibility not only to aid families with their present crises but to prevent the problem from occurring in the lives of others, even if it took the social workers to "the ends of the world." Social work in America is still centered on throwing money at a crisis. Social workers in France heard the last part of Mary Richmond's warning in a lecture in 1917 by Surgeon General Richard Cabot, chief of the American Army Hospital in Paris. When I was hired by the French Government in 1963 to teach social workers in Tours, France, about casework counseling, they reminded me of Dr. Cabot's inspiring words. Social workers in France created a three-year educational program ending with a diploma from the state entitling them to be labeled "assistante sociale" (social worker). No one without the diploma can be called a social worker. It is as strict as the state medical examinations in America for physicians on completion of their medical education. In the United States we require a graduate of a medical school to have a state license to lance a boil, but only a high school degree to remove children from their homes or dispense public assistance. Why don't social workers insist on the need for a three-year professional degree beginning with one year in undergraduate education to aid families in their social and economic distress? Why don't they educate the legislatures, judges and the public in this endeavor? Will it take another 50 years of anguish and distress before social workers and our legislators stem the tide of self- destruction?
Lillian M. Snyder
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July 1995/Illinois Issues/39
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