Politics & Government

Political Rewind: Quinn Says Illinois Economy Not as Bad as 'Complainers' Say

It's always good to be caught up on state politics. Here's an easy guide to what happened this week.

Editor's Note: This article was created by aggregating news articles from Illinois Statehouse News that were written by various Illinois Statehouse News reporters.

Quinn: Illinois economy not as bad as ‘complainers’ say

Gov. Pat Quinn says "complainers" about the Illinois economy need to look past the state's recent income tax increases, and look instead at the positive news about the state's jobs picture. 

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Quinn on Wednesday touted his work in jump starting the state's economy, by announcing a federal program that will make tens of millions of dollars of investment capital available. The governor spoke during a stop on Chicago's southwest side to battery manufacturer AllCell, which is receiving some of that federal assistance.

"The reason, I think, why we're a strong state is our work ethic and our hardworking, well-qualified, well-skilled men and women in our workforce," said Quinn. "They are the heart and soul of the Illinois  economy."

Find out what's happening in Bolingbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Quinn's comments are his first public statements in 20 days. The governor returned last week from a weeklong trip to China and Japan. There he signed agreements that will send Illinois soybeans to China, and help a Chinese company take a more active role in building a wind farm near Dixon.

But while Quinn was overseas, one of Chicago's most well-known companies, the CME Group, made headlines when it announced plans to leave the state.

Illinois' regional superintendents are expecting a paycheck soon, though it's still not clear where the money to pay them will come from.

Regional superintendents looking at veto, waiting for pay

Lawmakers will come back to Springfield on October 25th for the fall veto session. The General Assembly will then have to either override Governor Pat Quinn's veto of $11 million dollars that was supposed to go to the regional superintendents, or approve legislation to pay the superintendents from local tax dollars.

Rock Island County Regional Superintendent Tammy Neurhoff doesn't care which, as long as she's paid.

The governor's office wants to use money from the Personal Property Replacement Tax to pay the regional superintendents. But that would mean less money for counties, park districts, and local school districts.

Pay still in question for Illinois Regional Superintendents

Illinois’ regional superintendents are expecting to be paid by the end of the fall veto session, but how the men and women who oversee schools across the state will be paid remains unknown. 

Gov. Pat Quinn in late June vetoed $11 million from the state budget that was supposed to pay the 44 regional superintendents of schools. In fact, these superintendents have not been paid since June 30.

“A lot of regional superintendents are struggling,” said Hancock/McDonough County Regional Superintendent of Schools John Meixner. “I have worked out an agreement with my local county to form some type of a bridge loan, using the discretionary enterprise funds from our office … so that we can at least make our mortgage payments, our car payments, put food on the table.”

Parents worry about future of College Illinois!

A House Republican task force met at the statehouse as part of an ongoing effort by state Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, to bring transparency to College Illinois!, a 529 prepaid college tuition program that allows parents to invest money or “buy” tuition at current prices to guard against the rising cost of college.

Corrigan said that’s what attracted her to the program. Starting in 1998, she paid $185 a month for 10 years — $22,000 — to guarantee eight semesters at whichever state public university her daughter would attend.

single year at the University of Illinois now costs about $30,000.

But in reality, documents reviewed by Illinois Statehouse News in May showed that College Illinois! was nearly 20 percent underfunded and a number of parents were removing their money from the system out of fear of its collapse.

 

What do you think about the state of Illinois politics? Is Quinn justified in saying that the economy is not as bad as some perceive it to be? Should regional superintendents get their pay? 

Weigh in now by leaving a comment below.


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