Editorial Roundup: Illinois
Arlington Heights Daily Herald. March 31, 2022.
Editorial: Legislation revising rules for development tax incentives in Illinois deserves serious attention
The mere phrase 'œTax Increment Financing District'ť has the kind of aural sting that can rupture the eardrums of even the most dyed-in-the-wool, acronym-addicted government bureaucrat. Yet, TIFs, as the system is generally abbreviated, can have a profound impact on a community's quality of life.
A TIF can help restore a timeworn declining downtown, or it can suck much-needed funds from an elementary school classroom. Sometimes, it does both. Sometimes, it's only the schools or the parks or the libraries or some other taxing body that pay the price.
Legislation under consideration in Springfield aims to reduce the chances of the latter, and it deserves serious review. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that since Illinois first approved the TIF mechanism in 1977, it has become one of the most if not the most common means of encouraging development. The Illinois Municipal League estimates there are now nearly 1,500 such districts across the state spread across more than 500 cities and villages, most of them in the city of Chicago and the suburbs.
How do they work? It's a bit of a procedural sleight of hand that can take some study to understand, but the simple answer is that a community's governing board identifies the property tax revenues within certain boundaries at a certain time, then declares that for the next up to 23 years, any increased taxes collected within that area will be used solely for encouraging development there.
Since taxes always go up, this can be a nice incentive for developers who might not otherwise be inclined to take a risk on a certain section of town. But it also means that for up to 23 years or more, all those public schools, libraries, parks and other bodies relying on tax income lose a sizable chunk of revenue and have to adjust their own programs and taxing policies accordingly.
For years, these taxing bodies have complained that they and their constituents suffer because municipalities -- often competing with each other to lure developers -- rush to employ a mechanism originally designed to fight blight as a means of bolstering infrastructure in fine areas where development could be supported in other ways.
Legislation sponsored by Arlington Heights Democratic Sen. Ann Gillespie originally sought to reduce the potential 23-year period for a TIF's duration, but that portion of the reform appears to have been abandoned, unfortunately.
Developers have a legitimate concern about the viability of getting a return on their investment, but the prospect of giving up 23 years of property tax income remains a burden it would be worthwhile to address. Even with that removal, though, the bill's provisions still call for involving local taxing districts more in the creation and oversight of districts and, importantly, strive to more precisely define 'œblight.'ť
These are all key issues. It is obvious to anyone who has watched the advancing tide of TIFs that the tool can be too handy for planners to resist and too painful for local taxing bodies to endure. It is long past time the legislature began scrutinizing the TIF process, no matter how uncomfortable it can be just to hear the arcane term or, worse, try to plumb its real impact.
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Chicago Tribune. March 31, 2022.
Editorial: Governor after governor has failed to reform the Illinois Tollway. When will promises become action?
Reform is meaningful only when the politician pledging it actually follows through. In the case of the Illinois Tollway, governors on both sides of the aisle have vowed to reform the troubled agency dating back to the 1990s. Yet each one of them proved to Illinoisans that their promises were nothing but political blather.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is the latest to join the line. After taking office in 2019, he appointed former Peoples Gas President Will Evans as the Tollway's board chairman and backed former Chicago Housing Authority chief operating officer Jose Alvarez as the agency's executive director. 'œIt's a new day for the Illinois Tollway,'ť Pritzker said after appointing Evans. 'œI'm proud to usher in a new wave of transparency and accountability at this critical agency.'ť
New wave of transparency and accountability? Far from it.
Evans embarked on a power grab in which he commandeered authority over the agency's day-to-day operations as well as billions of dollars in contracts. That left Alvarez's authority significantly weakened. Evans also voted on a hefty Tollway contract involving an engineering firm where he once worked, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Meanwhile, Alvarez made sure nine of his former CHA colleagues got well-paying jobs at the agency amounting to an overall tab of $1.3 million, the Daily Herald reported Wednesday.
Both men got their jobs after receiving strong endorsements from former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, according to the Sun-Times. As it turns out, Hooker had his own baggage. In the fall of 2020, he joined the list of people under indictment for their alleged role in the ComEd bribery scheme that ultimately led to charges against former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
New wave of transparency and accountability? Far from it.
Evans embarked on a power grab in which he commandeered authority over the agency's day-to-day operations as well as billions of dollars in contracts. That left Alvarez's authority significantly weakened. Evans also voted on a hefty Tollway contract involving an engineering firm where he once worked, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Meanwhile, Alvarez made sure nine of his former CHA colleagues got well-paying jobs at the agency amounting to an overall tab of $1.3 million, the Daily Herald reported Wednesday.
Both men got their jobs after receiving strong endorsements from former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, according to the Sun-Times. As it turns out, Hooker had his own baggage. In the fall of 2020, he joined the list of people under indictment for their alleged role in the ComEd bribery scheme that ultimately led to charges against former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
As far back as the 1980s, the Tollway had a reputation for pinstripe patronage. Republican Jim Thompson was governor at the time, and the agency doled out lucrative no-bid bond deals to insiders and firms that generously donated to Big Jim's campaign fund. In the 1990s, fellow Republican Jim Edgar took over as governor and promised to reform the agency. But the actions he took amounted to anything but reform. He hired his buddy and former campaign fundraiser, Robert Hickman, as the agency's executive director. A bevy of conflict-of-interest scandals at the Tollway ensued, including news that an engineering firm that Hickman's son had joined was awarded millions of dollars in Tollway contracts. Edgar ended up firing Hickman.
When Democrat Rod Blagojevich became governor, he promised Illinoisans he would, you guessed it, reform the Tollway. But under Blagojevich's watch, business partners of the governor's chief fundraiser, Tony Rezko, began getting the rights to run fast-food franchises at newly renovated tollway oases. The feds started an investigation into those contracts. And the 2009 indictment of Blagojevich included allegations that he tried to use a major tollway expansion to extract $500,000 in fundraising help from a highway contractor. Blago's out of prison but don't expect Tollway officials to look to him for reform advice anytime soon.
Under GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner, little changed at the Tollway. In 2018, a state Senate committee looked into questionable no-bid contracts and patronage at the agency. In one instance, a multimillion dollar no-bid public relations subcontract was given to a company owned by the wife of Michael McAuliffe, a longtime GOP Illinois House representative. The committee also asked about the agency's decision to give an engineering job to Laura Durkin, a former furniture designer and the sister-in-law of House Republican leader Jim Durkin, as well as a $157 million contract awarded to a company that employed the adult children of two prominent Tollway officials and donated to charities run by two people who were on the Tollway board at the time.
Voters don't elect Tollway leadership. But they do elect governors, and they put their trust in those governors to make the right choices about who is on the agency's board, who chairs that board, and who is the Tollway's executive director. And for as long as we can remember, the agency has been mired in mismanagement and scandal.
It's worth reminding, by the way, that the tollways aren't even supposed to be tollways anymore. Tolls were supposed to be temporary until the bonds used to build the highways were paid off. By 1973, they were supposed to become freeways. 'œToll free in '73'³ was the agency's slogan back then.
We're not holding our breath for those freeways, even for '23, but we're still waiting for the Tollway reform that governor after governor has continued to promise. If it doesn't come, it'll be on the shoulders of voters to hold Pritzker and the rest of Springfield accountable.
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Chicago Sun-Times. April 2, 2022.
Editorial: '~Ghost' guns are a gift to criminals. It's time to ban them
Without the ability to track the chain of custody, law enforcement will have a much harder time solving gun crimes. That's unacceptable at a time when gun violence is plaguing so many Illinois communities.
Self-built 'œghost guns'ť are a growing threat to Illinois communities. Before the Legislature ends its abbreviated session on April 8, it should ban them.
Ghost guns are firearms purchasers assemble themselves without serial numbers, making them easy to obtain and hard to trace. Some are 'œprinted'ť on 3-D printers and include no metal, allowing owners to carry them through metal detectors undetected.
It's just too easy, and too life-threatening.
Ghost gun assembly is typically simple - the guns are shipped disassembled just enough to get around the law - and the resulting firearms are well-made. They look and operate just like traditional guns, whether they are handguns or assault weapons. And they are every bit as deadly.
Gun manufacturers and importers are required to put on guns serial numbers and markings that identify manufacturer or importer, make, model and caliber. If a gun has been recovered at a crime scene, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can trace it to the person who originally bought it. Although the original purchaser might no longer own the gun, it helps the ATF and law enforcement agencies track the guns,possibly all the way to the person who used it in a crime. In 2017, the ATF traced more than 408,000 firearms.
It's an important way to track down gun criminals.
Without the ability to track the chain of custody, law enforcement will have a much harder time solving gun crimes. That's unacceptable at a time when gun violence is plaguing so many Illinois communities.
Last week, state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, introduced a bill to make the transfer, purchase, manufacturing, importation or possession of ghost guns illegal. The bill was endorsed by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. Ten other states and the District of Columbia already have laws to stop the proliferation of ghost guns. Illinois should join them.
Ghost guns are a growing threat. Even individuals who are barred from buying guns can order an easy-to-assemble ghost gun online, using nothing more than a shipping address and payment information, or they can print a less durable one with a 3-D printer. The Giffords Law Center says a 3-D printed assault rifle can fire over 600 rounds, three times the number fired in Florida's 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, which left 49 dead and 53 wounded. The code for printing up a gun is posted on the internet.
Because there is no limit on how many ghost guns an individual can buy, they can be assembled in mass and sold to others, including criminals. Ownership can be passed from one person to another without a trace.
Young people can order them on a phone without needing an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification Card. That means there is no need for a background check. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says ghost guns are intentionally marketed to people who want to avoid background checks or who are gun traffickers.
Police say ghost guns are a growing problem. Last year, they confiscated 455 ghost guns in Chicago. In 2019, law enforcement agencies recovered 10,000 ghost guns nationwide. In 2020, 41% of the ATF's cases in Los Angeles were ghost guns.
Ghost guns also are becoming the weapons of choice for domestic terrorists, gun safety activists say. Criminals who turn to ghost guns can get around the entire system of federal and state gun laws,
On the federal level, President Joe Biden has announced an executive order to regulate ghost guns. Public comment ended in August, but the rule-making process is dragging along slowly, and even when the rule is finally in place, it can be undone by a future president.
Illinois should not sit by in the face of a new deadly threat. It's time to send ghost guns on a one-way trip to the graveyard.
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