Illinois Editorial Roundup:

April 12, 2020

The (Champaign) News-Gazette

No kings here

On March 17, Illinois held a primary election, one of three states to do so.

The election was held after Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus, had closed schools, restaurants and bars and banned mass gatherings. Criticized for not canceling the election, Pritkzer defended what some considered to be his mistaken inaction by explaining that he did not have the authority to halt the election process.

Earlier this week, Wisconsin held a primary election that Gov. Tony Evers, on the eve of the election, sought to cancel by fiat. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, blocked the move because it ruled he did not possess the legal authority to cancel an election.

Perhaps Evers, Pritzker and other governors should possess such authority. Maybe special circumstances require special emergency powers.

If that's the case, let the legislatures in the various states learn a lesson from the coronavirus pandemic and pass laws giving the executive branch this kind of authority. Until then, the notion that governors can do what they see fit under these kind of circumstances and expect the courts to rubber-stamp their actions should be summarily dismissed.

Those who suspect there's a partisan tinge to the question of canceling the election are correct.

Democrats, apparently concerned that more of their voters would stay home, wanted the election postponed. That action may well have served their electoral interests.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that 'œvoting in most cities appeared to go smoothly,'ť including in heavily Democratic Dane County, where Madison is located. At the same time, there were complications in Milwaukee, another Democratic stronghold. The Journal reported that so many poll workers failed to show up that the number of polling places was reduced from 188 to five, resulting in long lines.

That, of course, is regrettable. But concerns about the coronavirus were hardly new, and voters had other options besides going to the polls. Wisconsin permits no-excuse absentee voting and early voting. Motivated voters have options in the event of special circumstances.

But one of those options is not the cancellation or the postponement of an election - unless, of course, authorized by the state's policymaking branch of government in the legislature.

This country has gone through hard times before. It's held elections during the Civil War, the Depression and World War II. New York City had a mayoral election shortly after the 9/11 attacks that devastated the city. NYC officials explicitly rejected proposals to cancel the municipal election and permit then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani to remain in office after the expiration of his term.

Our public officials must be constrained by the limits of their authority. They can go up to the edge but no further, no matter how benign or malign their intentions may be.

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April 12, 2020

The Rock Island Argus and The Moline Dispatch

Health insurance in a time of need

With coronavirus layoffs surging, there is a danger that millions of Americans will lose their health insurance. More than half of all Americans are insured through their employers, so the loss of a job is not just a hit to household budgets; it also means exposure to higher health care costs.

A study by Health Management Associates in Michigan projected that, if unemployment hits 10%, a total of 128,000 Iowans could lose the insurance they now receive through their employers; in Illinois, that figure would be 487,000.

As a result, the study said, Iowa could see 115,000 new people enroll in its Medicaid program, or the expanded Medicaid option created through Obamacare. In Illinois, it could see a increases totaling 452,000 people.

Others who lose insurance would probably seek coverage through the Obamacare marketplace or, unfortunately, join the ranks of the uninsured.

These are big numbers; and if the jobless rate goes higher, the numbers get even bigger.

We've said it before. We don't know how bad the economic fallout will get from this public health crisis, or how long it will last, but the financial implications are big. Medicaid is already one of the biggest line items in state budgets across the country, and this could push the costs even higher. The federal government picks up the vast majority of the bill for those who enroll through the Obamacare-related expansion plans, but the states also see a financial impact.

The federal government has taken unprecedented action to backstop businesses and workers to try to tide them over during this public health crisis, promising to deliver money soon to help sustain employment and pay bills. Congress and the White House also must treat health insurance as vital to the well-being and health of all Americans. As such, this, too, needs to be part of the calculus when deciding on a future aid package.

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April 10, 2020

Chicago Sun-Times

Illinois is hurting. Red states and blue states are hurting - and desperate for a real federal rescue

The coronavirus pandemic is a stress test of our nation's most fundamental systems, institutions and safety nets, just as the Great Depression was during the 1930s.

And while the $2 trillion federal stimulus package approved last month marked the beginning of a national response, Americans must face the fact that it'll take a massive, sustained - and far more expensive - federal effort to truly set things right again.

The pandemic has exposed deep pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequities. In just weeks, the virus has thrown 17 million people out of work in an economy that already had been tough on low-wage workers.

Our nation's poor and unemployed have been left particularly vulnerable because of a health care system that already was unfairly skewed toward better care for the middle class and wealthy.

Now, on top of this, comes the news that the first federal stimulus package won't begin to set things right, certainly not for Chicago or the state of Illinois. A massive second stimulus package already is necessary - and it needs to go further to help state and local governments.

Here's why: The first stimulus is to be spent only on COVID-19-related matters - and not be used to narrow budget gaps. This effectively handcuffs governors and mayors who are desperately in need of flexibility when it comes to spending.

The coming financial crisis for cities and states will result not only from unforeseen pandemic-specific expenses, such as the need for a $100 million emergency hospital facility at McCormick Place. It also will result from a devastating decline in normal revenues - from sales taxes, corporate and individual income taxes and the like - that will make it tougher to pay routine bills and provide services.

The city of Chicago, for example, will receive about $572 million in federal stimulus funds. But, as Fran Spielman of the Sun-Times reported Thursday, that money is largely earmarked for coronavirus-related expenses, such as police and fire overtime.

The state's share of the stimulus funds, $2.7 billion, won't begin to make up for lost tax revenue or cover escalating expenses, such as the growing number of people being pushed by unemployment onto Medicaid. A new study by the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs estimates that state revenues could plummet by $1.9 billion to $6.4 billion in this calendar year alone. Over the next four years, that drop could reach between $10 billion and $28 billion.

For perspective, the state's 2020-2021 budget is $42 billion. Its backlog of unpaid bills totals nearly $8.3 billion.

And amid all this, there might be a glimmer of hope: The Washington Post reported Friday that federal officials have pledged to buy 'œup to $500 billion in short-term notes directly from states as well as larger cities and counties, pledging to take further action if local government finances continue to sour.'ť

This could be the beginning of the type of government action needed to help stop the financial bleeding.

'œIf it's the start of something, it's good news, and it definitely helps in easing the liquidity crunch states and local governments are facing,'ť Vikram Rai, the head of Citi's municipal strategy group, told The Post. But, 'œIf the Fed is going to stop here, it's a bitter disappointment.'ť

We agree wholeheartedly that the feds can't stop. A much larger federal government initiative to make financing available to states and municipalities is a must. It would allow these governments to refinance mountains of debt at lower interest rates, thereby reducing costs.

Red states are hurting. Blue states are hurting. A larger program could help them both.

Beyond that, government should seize on this moment to address historic structural inequities - such as wildly uneven access to health care, a living wage or a financially secure retirement - that have been exposed and exacerbated by the coronavirus' spread.

We're not delusional. We know a modern New Deal - a version of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's massive public works undertaking to pull America out of the Great Depression - will never happen under a President Trump. Nor will it be embraced by the Republican-majority Senate.

But this broader vision should be an aspirational guide to our nation's long-term response to the pandemic, embraced for the moment at least by the Democratic House. We're calling for a return to that spirit.

The coronavirus is real and deadly. It also is a metaphor. In the same way the virus spreads without distinction or favor, most of our nation's biggest social problems hurt us all.

We do our nation no favors allowing poor children to be poorly educated, allowing mentally ill people to live on the streets, forcing low-income workers to hold two or three jobs.

It all comes back to haunt us in the form of more crime, bigger prisons and a nagging conscience during church services on Easter Sunday morning.