BRIEFLY

Edited by Donald Sevener

ELECTION YEAR BOTTOM LINE

How do you spell tax relief?
R-e-e-l-e-c-t-i-o-n

Don't rush out on a spending spree just yet, but you may be — able to bank on some tax relief out of Springfield this year. With the state's current budget flush in surplus, candidates right and left see a chance to spread the wealth to Illinois voters ... er, taxpayers. In fact, as soon as the legislative session started, many candidates were touting their tax relief plans.

House Minority Leader Lee Daniels, an Elmhurst Republican, unveiled his proposal early last month. By doubling the income tax credit from 5 percent to 10 percent for property taxes paid, Daniels promises to save middle-class families nearly $1 billion over the next four years. The plan applies to homes valued under $500,000, a ceiling high enough to benefit his DuPage County constituents. Just two days after Daniels, flanked by more than a dozen of his fellow Republicans, announced this plan, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, expanded on it. Quinn also wants to double the personal income tax exemption from $1,000 to $2,000 for everyone and establish an independent taxpayer commission to fight "waste and corporate welfare."

State Sen. Barack Obama would also like to increase the personal exemption, but only for those who need it: the working poor.

"Now is a good time to address this issue," says the Chicago Democrat. "Not only because of our current budget surplus, but because of our commitment to move more people from welfare to work."

Illinois' personal exemption hasn't increased since 1969 — the year Illinois adopted an income tax.

"For a family of four, the exemption was quite substantial in 1969 dollars," Obama says. "But its value has eroded drastically."

True, says Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Klemens, but to double it would cost the state $690 million. But to just increase it for a particular class of people raises the risk of a legal challenge, he adds, referring to Illinois' flat tax structure.

Further, a family earning $16,021 a year — last year's federal poverty level — pays $361 a year in state income taxes.

"That's a dollar a day," says Klemens. "I think the question is: Are those families more interested in saving that dollar or in having subsidized day care or good schools? That's the true public policy question. The state income tax isn't the problem. The problem is the sales tax, property tax and excise tax."

Nonetheless, the combination of an election year and a burgeoning state treasury may prove too tempting for lawmakers to resist.

Jennifer Davis

CULTURE, SMULTURE
At least we're ahead in indicted elected officials

In what surely is an insult to civic pride, 20 states outrank Illinois in civic culture.

This is the astonishing conclusion of a University of Iowa political scientist who measured citizen involvement, public attitudes and community spirit and found — Do people get paid to spread such slander? — Illinoisans to be civically challenged.

Tom Rice, clearly a professor with too much time on his hands, based his measurements on four characteristics: participation in public affairs, belief in the equality of citizens, readiness to trust others and accept diverse ideas or lifestyles, and willingness to join community groups.

Vermont, Massachusetts, Wyoming, Maine and North Dakota weighed in as the five most civic states. And, in general, Rice found that the most civic states are located in the northern portion of the country, running from New England to the Northwest. The least civic states are located in the South, with Mississippi and Louisiana rated the lowest. Jessica Winski

Republicans told to put away their magic markers Two months after throwing out a Republican-drawn judicial district map, the Illinois Supreme Court finally explained why. In an opinion issued last month, the State's high court said the Illinois Constitution prohibits the subdivision of Cook County's judicial districts. Republicans, who rammed through the map early last year before losing control of the House, drew boundaries that would help them win one of the county's three seats. The Illinois Supreme Court has been mostly Democratic for almost 30 years. Jennifer Davis

8 / March 1998 Illinois Issues

All agree: Stale is doing a lousy job forcing cleanup of hazardous waste

Every state, including Illinois, is doing a poor job in forcing companies to clean up their hazardous waste, according to a recent federal study. And Illinois Environmental Protection Agency officials agree.

"We would be the first to admit we haven't done anything with our medium- and low-priority facilities," says William C. Child, bureau chief of the IEPA's bureau of land. But that's mostly because there is no money or staff to do the job, he says. And Child also disputes the U.S. General Accounting Office's most critical finding: that 42 percent of Illinois' high-priority facilities have yet to start cleanup.

"It's less than 10 percent. Actually, of our 43 high-priority facilities, only three have yet to start cleanup. The report doesn't reflect that because they relied on federal data. They didn't look at our information."

An average high-priority facility is one with a substantial or known risk of chemical release into the water, air or land. On the other end, a low-priority facility would be one where officials are almost positive there is no risk, "but we just want to check out the place to make sure," says Child.

The report, released in October, said "about 56 percent of the [nation's] facilities — including about 35 percent of those posing the highest risk — have yet to begin the formal cleanup process."

The problem is the process, which is sometimes time-consuming and costly, and states often don't have the resources to make sure companies are following the law.

Indeed, Child estimates Illinois could use another $5 million and 10 more people.

"We didn't get anything, really, when we took this program over from the federal government, just a one-time $100,000 bonus," says Child. "We're the first to admit we need a new influx of resources."

Jennifer Davis

New path for old idea on school repair

Democratic U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun has been down this road before. This time, however, her plan to save the nation's crumbling schools is taking a different route, one she hopes will be more palatable to Republicans.

Instead of using $5 billion to help finance $20 billion in nationwide school repair and construction — last year's failed plan — Moseley-Braun wants to let school districts issue $21.8 billion in zero-interest bonds over the next two years beginning next October. This would cost the federal government $10 billion over 10 years in lost tax revenue, her office says.

"This is just a different way of getting to the same goal," says Michael Briggs, Moseley-Braun's spokesman. "This Congress is more interested in offering tax incentives than in spending money. If this is more palatable to Republicans, then great."

A 1996 U.S. General Accounting Office survey Moseley-Braun commissioned showed an estimated $112 billion is needed for school repairs. (See Illinois Issues, March 1997, page 24.) So, as Briggs points out, "This is not enough to solve the problem, but it is a significant step toward addressing it."

Illinois would get an estimated $795 million of the bonds, with $461 million going to Chicago and $23 million to East St. Louis. Exactly how many schools or school districts that would help, Briggs couldn't say. Illinois was also the only state with any numbers available.

President Bill Clinton, as he did last year, mentioned Moseley-Braun's proposal in his January State of the Union address.

"Illinois has $13 billion in outstanding school repairs," says Briggs. To cover that, he adds, the average Illinoisan's property tax bill would have to double. "We're talking going from paying an average $1,342 in real estate taxes to $2,695. We have a better solution."

Jennifer Davis

Illinois Issues March 1998 / 9

BRIEFLY

HELLO BIRDIE

Volunteer effort overcomes housing shortage,
bringing flock of new residents to Illinois

Big Blue is back.

Thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers, Sialia sialis — known perhaps to you as the bluebird — is making a comeback in Illinois because it has more places to lay eggs and nurture its nestlings.

The bluebird had become rare in Illinois because it had to compete for nesting sites. Vern Kleen, an avian ecologist at the natural resources department, says bluebirds nest in holes created by other birds or animals. Old wooden fenceposts and dead trees, especially those visited by woodpeckers, are bluebirds' favorite nesting sites. But metal fence posts have replaced many of the wooden ones, and old trees are often seen as something to tear down rather than preserve as homes. And other cavity-nesting birds such as house wrens, tree swallows and house sparrows competed with bluebirds for fewer places to nest.

The Illinois Bluebird Project was launched two years ago as a joint effort among volunteers and the Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Illinois Audubon Society and the Chicago Academy of Sciences. The academy, which collects the data from the volunteers and the other co-sponsors, reports that the number of bluebird eggs that survived to fledglings was about the same this past year as the year before. Mary Hennen, an ornithologist at the academy, says that is good news "because it means that productivity did not go down." Laura R. Lee, a visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who just completed five years of bluebird research in central Illinois, agrees that the nesting houses built along trails favored by bluebirds — they like open spaces with scattered perching places — have helped. A workshop for volunteers interested in helping the bluebird continue to succeed in Illinois will be held at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield on March 14. Call Vern Kleen at 217-785-8774 for more information. Beverley Scobell

The Eastern Bluebird Courtesy of the Chicago Academy of Sciences

ELECTRIC MARKETPLACE
Illinois on the bandwagon but not leading

The bandwagon that added Illinois to the roster of states deregulating electricity service stopped in nine other capitals before making it to Springfield last December. Observers expect two other states — Connecticut and New Jersey — to join the parade this year. For some consumers, full competition has already begun, although residential users in Illinois still have a wait.

Under the plan signed into law by Gov. Jim Edgar, residential consumers can choose their electricity suppliers beginning in 2002. (See Illinois Issues, December 1997, page 11.) Competition for industrial and large-business consumers will begin in 1999. Like Illinois, which has an average residential cost of 10.4 cents per kilowatt hour, other states with high electricity rates were among the first to deregulate. Nationally, the average residential cost is 8.39 cents a kilowatt hour. These numbers, which fluctuate, are from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Some states have required residential rate cuts, while others are counting on competition alone to reduce electric rates.

Full competition begins in Maine in 2000, in Nevada in 2001 and in Oklahoma in 2002. Details of the other plans include:

• California: Competition for retail customers began January 1. Competition for all consumer classes will be phased in by 2002. Residential and small commercial consumers receive a 10 percent electric rate reduction. Consumers, however, will be responsible for a competition transition charge through March 31, 2002. Average residential cost: 11.3 cents per kwh.

• Massachusetts: Full competition is slated to begin this month. The legislation provides for a 10 percent rate cut this month, with another 5 percent cut 18 months later. Average residential cost:11.3 cents per kwh.

• Montana: Large industrial customers can choose a supplier beginning in July of this year. A pilot program for small customers will also begin in July, but competition won't start until July of 2002. Average residential cost: 6.3 cents per kwh.

• New Hampshire: Retail competition was slated to begin this year, but power companies have taken the matter to court in a dispute over recovering certain costs. Average residential cost: 13.6 cents per kwh.

• Pennsylvania: Competition for one- third of Pennsylvania's customers will be phased in by January 1999. The remaining customers will be phased in by January 2001. Average residential cost: 9.7 cents per kwh.

• Rhode Island: Competition for large industrial and government users is already in place. All customers should be phased in by July. Customer transition charges will apply through 2009. Average residential cost: 11.9 cents per kwh.

What can be expected in the future? "Things will be moving a bit more slowly, as they [state legislatures] watch what happens in California and Massachusetts," says Matthew Brown of the National Conference of State Legislatures. And this is an election year, another reason Brown predicts a "wait and see" approach. Jessica Winski

10 / March 1998 Illinois Issues

Juvenile justice overhaul aims crackdown on kids

Children who commit crimes in Illinois would face tougher sanctions, should Gov. Jim Edgar sign a bill recently passed by the General Assembly.

"This bill outlines an approach to dealing with juvenile crime that is nothing short of revolutionary in many ways," Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine testified to legislators last May when he first pushed for the bill. Devine, who pointed out that Illinois led the nation with its adoption of juvenile laws nearly a century ago, says it's time for a major overhaul. "Juvenile crime no longer involves kids stealing apples from a pushcart."

The bill revamps the juvenile justice system and makes youthful offenders more accountable for their actions, its supporters contend. The following changes are included:

Blended Sentencing: Under the bill, some youthful offenders may receive "blended sentences," in which a judge imposes a lighter juvenile sentence and a suspended adult sentence at the same time. If the juvenile doesn't meet the terms of the juvenile sentence, the adult sentence would take effect.

Victim's Rights: The victim's bill of rights would be extended to juvenile courts, giving victims of juvenile crimes the right to attend court proceedings and confront their aggressors face to face.

Reporting: Another major provision of the bill requires the establishment of a statewide computerized database to help law enforcement officials track juvenile offenders. Juveniles at least 10 years old who commit crimes will be fingerprinted and added to the database.

Station Adjustments: The bill limits the number of times a police department may issue "station adjustments," or verbal warnings, to youthful offenders. Police would be required to contact the local state's attorney after the ninth warning.

If signed by Edgar, the bill will take effect next January 1.

Jessica Winski

Who is the most accountable state official? With the MSI bribery trial fresh in memory, Gov. Jim Edgar may have had accountability on his mind when he stood before lawmakers last month for his final annual State of the State address. Whatever the genesis, the governor urged the legislature to put before voters constitutional amendments he said would increase accountability in two institutions he believes are too remote from public scrutiny: courts and the schools bureaucracy. First he asked the General Assembly to give the next governor authority over a cabinet-level Department of Education, saying: "If education is state government's top priority, and I think we all agree it is, the individual who should be most accountable is the state's chief executive: the governor." Then he asked for the Illinois Courts Commission to be expanded "so that the judging of judges is not left up entirely to their fellow judges." If Edgar wants to see these amendments on November's ballot, the General Assembly will have to work fast. Both chambers must pass the proposals on a three-fifths vote by early May at the latest. If either proposal is placed before voters, it will then take either three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election for approval of the constitutional amendment. Since 1971, the General Assembly has introduced more than 650 resolutions to amend the Constitution, according to David Miller, a lawyer and deputy director of research at the Legislative Research Unit. Only 15 of those proposals made it to voters, however. Of those, eight have been adopted, including two in 1994. (One dropped the required face-to-face confrontation at criminal trials between witnesses and defendants. The other changed the legislative adjournment date from June 30 to May 31.) The Constitution has been amended through public initiative just once: the House cutback amendment of 1980. Three other initiative amendments were struck down by the state's high court. Jennifer Davis

Illinois Issues March 1998 / 11

BRIEFLY

THANKS FOR THE MIRACLES
Exhibit of 'retablos' tells stories of trials,
tribulations and answered prayers

Call him Juan. He crossed the Rio Grande at night during high water. He didn't want to be wet and cold and afraid. He wanted to be home with his mother and father, sisters and brothers, and especially Maria, the girl he hoped to marry. But three years of drought had left him with little choice. He avoided the helicopters, patrols and dogs. He ignored the hunger and the people who scowled when he didn't answer in English. He found work, back-break- ing, dawn-to-dusk field work. He lived on as little as possible and sent his family the rest of his pay. When he returned to his village two years later, his mother painted a retablo thanking her son's patron saint for protecting him and helping him save his family. This Juan is fiction. But his story is typical and true for many Mexican immigrants, says Jorge Tarpida, a psychologist at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Chicago. More than 50 such stories are told in the unique genre of art called retablos now on exhibit at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago. The exhibition, "Milagros en la Frontera, Folk Paintings of Mexican Migrants to the U.S.," will run through April 12.

Mextcan Fine Arts Center Museum I dedicate the present retablo to the Holiest Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos for having saved me from a Texan who tried to carry me off. I hid under a tree by the side of the fl-iemselves their relatives road with my little brother. Conception Zapata. San Luis Potosi. May 10, 1948

Usually created on small pieces of tin or sturdy wood, retablos are drawn by the immigrants themselves, their relatives or professional retablo artists. Offered in thanks for a miracle granted or a favor received, the images are flat, colorful and composed in three sections: a drawing depicting the immigrant's experience; a likeness of the saint prayed to; and a written text at the bottom thanking the saint for the received favor. The retablos are posted on walls inside Catholic churches in Mexico. The word "retablo" is from the Latin meaning "behind the altar." The genre developed from a tradition brought to Mexico by Europeans and adopted by Amerindians.

Though the retablos tell very personal stories — some dating back to the early 1900s — Tarpida says the exhibition also presents the universal experiences that concern all migrants: the hazards of border crossings; the trials of finding work in an alien country; the frustrations of working through legal problems; the tearfulness of illness and accidents in a foreign land; the gratification of small successes; and the relief felt in returning home to family and friends.

"Looking at a retablo gives the sense of reading a personal letter or an entry from a diary," says Tarpida.

Beverley Scobell

12 /March 1998 Illinois Issues

Q&A Question & Answer

TEACHING TEACHERS

State panel nears action on contentious
policy changes for classroom teachers

In his January State of the State address, Gov. Jim Edgar suggested what he wants for and from Illinois teachers: More practical experience in the classroom, more guidance from seasoned teachers and fewer teachers working outside their areas of expertise. In particular, Edgar mentioned Ted Sanders, a former state superintendent now president of Southern Illinois University, and the policy group Sanders is co-chairing with Sally Pancrazio, dean of education at Illinois State University. Illinois Issues tallied with Sanders recently about the Illinois Policy Group on Teacher Quality.

Q Can you tell us a little more about your group?

Gov. Edgar appointed us in the fall. He served on a national commission on teaching and America's future for three years, which released its report in September, a year and a half ago. Out of that, there was talk of states which would be committed to examining themselves and making changes. He committed Illinois to being one of those states. He appointed this policy group to look at their report and find out where we are against it and what would be appropriate actions.

Q. So when will the group release its recommendations and what will they be?

The plan was to have the recommendations to him early in this calendar year, and I believe we're just a few weeks away from doing that. Early March if we're lucky.

As to what will be in the report, I think it's a little bit premature to say. There is not a consensus in the policy group as to what the recommendations should look like. But I can tell you some of the things we've discussed.

For one, an issue that's been fairly significant is whether there should be an autonomous professional standards board deciding what individuals ought to be able to know and do before they become teachers. There is a lot of division in the house about that one, which should come as no surprise.

Another is, once standards have been set, how should they be enforced. Nationally, about one in four teachers is teaching outside their expertise. In inner city schools, it's about one in two. It's about one in 10 across the board in Illinois. It seems to me, and I'm speaking for myself, we can't expect children to learn algebra from a teacher who didn't even minor in mathematics.

Third, we have opinions about how the state board ought to carry out its new responsibilities in the legislation passed this fall.

Q. Sounds like a lot to do in just a few weeks.

Yes, but we've had deep discussions about all these issues. We just need to come to a consensus.

Q. What will happen after you issue your report?

That depends on what the governor or others want to do with the recommendations. We might see legislation introduced. Some of the recommendations might not require legislation, so the governor could just pass along the information to the State Board [of Education].

Jennifer Davis

MORE ABOUT THAT

Hogs

The hog farm controversy (See Illinois Issues, April 1996, page 16; September 1996, page 11) has wafted to the upper reaches of state government. First, Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra recommended plugging loopholes in the Livestock Facilities Management Act and allowing local communities to veto new operations.

Then, House Speaker Michael Madigan announced he would sponsor legislation sought by city and county officials to require local approval before the state can authorize siting of a new hog facility.

Anyone smell politics? Donald Sevener

MSI

Illinois State Police Director Terrance Gainer confirmed his agency is reviewing testimony in the latest federal fraud and bribery trial for possible "discrepancies." In that case, James Berger was acquitted of any role in the ongoing Management Services of Illinois Inc. contract scandal.

Berger, a deputy director at Public Aid on unpaid leave during the trial, is now working for the Department of Human Services as bureau chief of financial support policy. His salary is $85,404, which is what he made at Public Aid. He will also receive back pay from the time he was on unpaid leave. Gainer suggested to the governor's office that Berger not be rehired, but, as Edgar spokesman Eric Robinson said, "He's entitled to his job."

State police are investigating Berger's statements, as well as those of Michael Belletire, a former Edgar higher-up who now runs the Illinois Gaming Board. Belletire was not charged, but he testified at Berger's trial.

"This is really an ongoing thing, part of our three-year investigation," says State Police spokesman Mark McDonald, who couldn't say when officials will know whether to pursue further charges, such as perjury or official misconduct. "That's really putting the cart before the horse." Jennifer Davis

Roby

While Roby resident Shirley Alien spent time tuned to public radio, Illinois state police spent theirs — and about $650,000 — trying to listen in on her. That's the final bill for the 39-day standoff that garnered national attention before ending October 30.

State Police Director Terrance Gainer said the bulk of the cost — $450,000 — went to pay officers. Another $200,000 was spent on surveillance equipment and nonlethal weapons. Jennifer Davis

Illinois Issues March 1998 / 13