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Executive Report

Task forces

Three of the governor's many study groups issued reports in late January and early February, respectively recommending fewer state required local programs, a shift in medicaid fraud investigation, and higher pay for top state government officials.

The first report was a preliminary recommendation of large pay boosts for the governor and the three top bureaucrats in state government. It was issued January 20 by a subcommittee of a 28-member blue ribbon task force studying salaries of lawmakers, judges and executive officers. It proposed a 50 per cent salary boost for the governor, to $75,000 a year from the present

$50,000. The directors of the departments of Public Aid, Mental Health, and Transportation should get $60,000 a year instead of the $44,000 they now receive, the subcommittee advised.

The Commission on State Mandated Programs called on the legislature January 27 to curb the number of programs the state requires local governments to administer. It

also said the legislature should include a fiscal note describing the fiscal impact on localities for every new program it establishes. A permanent commission is needed to prepare such fiscal notes, the cominission said.

"The major source of local revenue, the property tax does not keep pace with the increased cost of providing existing services, let alone new ones," the commission at, explaining the need for curbing state-mandate programs.

A local government subcommittee also advised some specific areas where state burdens should be shifted from localities, including: removing authority from the Department of Corrections for setting county jail standards; making the state pay the full cost of circuit and associate judges' salaries; and demanding that the

Illinois Items Atty. Gen. William J. Scott announced in January a new program that would allow attorneys from his revenue litigation division to file and prosecute tax evasion cases through the authority of the Sangamon and Cook County state's attorneys. Most state tax evasion suits are filed in those two counties because state offices are located there. The program is intended to ease the burden of tax cases on the state's attorneys. Up to 425 low-income unemployed and underemployed persons from 30 downstate counties will be eligible for a Skill Training Improvement Program under a $2.82 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Administered by the Governor's Office of Manpower and Human Development (GOMHD), the program will provide training in coal mining technology, fiber glass technology and nursing. The goal is to help people get unsubsidized, high-demand jobs. GOMHD is subcontracting the training programs to various downstate colleges and training centers. Ten Illinois dams classified as having a high disaster potential will be inspected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This rating refers to the risk to nearby communities if the dam should fail rather than to the condition of the dam. The dams cited are: DunlapLake, Madison County; Kincaid Lake, Jackson County; Pinkneyville Reservoir, Perry County; Raccoon Lake, Marion County; Lake Vermilion, Vermilion County; Spoon Lake, Knox County; Last Fork Lake, Richland County; Lake Marion, Kane County. The building of a coal gasification plant in Perry County has been delayed while the federal Energy Research and Development Administrativ decides how to distribute funds betwen two projects. Congress approved the building of two plants but allocated funds sufficient to build only one. In competition for the money are the Illinois Coal Gasification Group and Conoco, which has selected a site in Ohio for its plant. It is estimated that $6-$16 million worth of valuables (cash, jewelry and papers) have been left in safe deposit boxes and forgotten. The Department of Financial Institutions has begun a drive to return the property to owners. Names of owners will be printed in newspapers, and legislators have been asked to contact persons in their districts. Any unclaimed property is invested in the state employees pension fund, but owners may cliam their property at any time. Encouraged by recent purchases of Illinois products by Taiwan, Gov. Thompson announced in February that he will send a trade mission there later this year. In January a delegation from Taiwan made a $29 million purchase of Illinois corn and wheat. In March the Illinois Trade Mission visited the People's Republic of China to seek new markets. Department of Law Enforcement Director Tyrone Fahner said January 31 that an eight-month investigation turned up no evidence to support allegations that a child pornography ring existed in Chicago and that some state child welfare employees were involved. The Illinois List of endangered and threatened species was adopted by the Illinois Department of Conservation effective December 31, 1977. The list includes 13 species of fish, 11 reptiles and amphibians, 40 birds and 8 mammals. A list of plants is still in the works. The list is required for obtaining federal funds for research and protection tion of endangered species and can be used in assessing environmental impact for government funded building projects.

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departments of Public Health and Public Aid pay the entire cost of mandated county health, aged, and medical care programs.

A third report, this one an interim document from the Illinois Fraud Prevention Commission, said that medicaid fraud investigation should be carried out by the state Department of Law Enforcement instead of the Department of Public Aid. Also, people claiming unemployment compensation benefits should report for them in person, rather than receiving them in the mail, and more severe punishment should be meted out to those who fraudulently claim such benifits, the report said.

Former U.S. attorney Samuel Skinner, who heads the commission, described the Illinois Department of Public Aid's fraud investigation unit as "ineffective." He said the "most important ingredient in fraud prevention and detection is good people doing their job at the initial stage." He also chaimed that "every dollar put into fraud detection will pay for itself in fraud prevention." A final report on fraud detection is expected by the end of the calendar year.

Forecasting income, job trends

Illinois needs an economic forecasting system based upon changing statewide economic forces rather than national trends. Such was the recommendation of a study of the past 20-year history of Illinois' economy. The study, released by Comptroller Michael J. Batakalis last December, showed that private industry in Illinois has grown at only half the national average over the last two decades. The state's lagging economic growth has "not resulted from the state participation in slow growth industries," and " is not the result of declines or slowdowns in a few critical industries," the study concluded.

As a first step toward establishing a state data-based economic forecasting system, the comptroller's office released a follow-up study to the General Assembly in January. It described a computerized model being devoloped to predict employment and personal income for Illinois residents. The model, while not designed to forecast state revenues, may "be used in conjunction with an Illinois Tax Revenue Module, which is currently being developed, to more accurately forecast state revenues for the seven largest tax sources," Comptroller Bakalis said. Based on six basic economic sectors in Illinois, the model lists nearly fifty function-al equations that should pinpoint trends in income jobs of state residents. A computerized "prototype" is now being tested "to work out the bugs," according to a spokesman for the comptroller. Implementation of the new perfected module is expected soon, "probably within the next 30 days," the spokesman said January 30.

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