Opinion: In Praise of Illinois

Democrats take baby steps on pension reform.

The Pew Center on the States recently honored Illinois as the state with the biggest public pension mess. So it's a minor miracle that the state's Democratic legislature passed, and Democratic Governor Pat Quinn is expected to sign, a pension reform that at least takes baby steps in trimming the state's retirement largesse for its 700,000 government workers. Perhaps bankruptcy concentrates the mind.

A new report by Charles Wheeler of the University of Illinois Springfield summarizes the state's problem this way: "To say Illinois faces a hole in funding its public employee pension systems is like saying the Grand Canyon is an impressive ravine." He finds that the state's five retirement systems "will need roughly $131 billion to cover benefits already earned by public workers, with only $46 billion in expected revenues to cover the costs."

Wheeler's report was featured in a Wall Street Journal opinions article on April 8, 2010. The research was also featured in a February 2010 edition of Illinois Issues magazine.

Download the article as a PDF:
20100408-WSJ-Illinois-and-Pension-Reform2.pdf

What's Illinois voters' mood?

Democrats hold an iron grip on Illinois state government, control both U.S. Senate seats and occupy 12 of the state’s 19-seat delegation in the House of Representatives.

Illinois, remains solidly in that Democrats’ column, said Christopher Mooney, a professor with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield. The state has a lot of union members who tend to vote Democratic and are bolstered by the party in return.

“The political culture here is not ideological. It’s all about where you are pouring concrete, providing services,” he said. Solidly Democrat Chicago still “dominates state politics.”

Given the political makeup of the state, minority Republicans won’t be able to make much headway on national issues like the Obama administration’s passage of health care reform, said Charles Wheeler, director of the Public Affairs Reporting graduate program at the university.

Mooney and Wheeler's comments were featured in a April 5, 2010, article in the Jacksonville Journal-Courier.

Download a PDF of the article:
20100405-JJC-What's-Illinois-voters'-mood.pdf

Pressure: Will the push for an income tax increase work?

Supporters of a tax increase have been undoubtedly banking on fallout sending teachers and parents banging on the doors of local lawmakers to demand a solution.

"I would think cutting education ... is a way to put greater pressure on people for a tax increase," says Charles Wheeler, a former veteran statehouse reporter and current University of Illinois at Springfield program director. "And the way these cuts are designed, whether intentionally or (not), puts added pressure on suburban legislators."

Wheeler's comments were featured in a March 20, 2010, edition of the Chicago Daily Herald.

Download a PDF of the article:
20100320-CDH-push-for-an-income-tax2.pdf

Ethnicity in politics: 1986 and beyond

The last Polish-American to seek a prominent state office was Aurelia Pucinski, daughter of prominent Polish-American politician and community leader Roman Pucinski. He served as U.S. Representative from 1959 to 1973 and alderman (41st) from 1973 to 1991.

In 1986, Aurelia Pucinski ran for secretary of state alongside George E. Sangmeister for lieutenant governor and Adlai Stevenson for governor with the Solidarity Party.

Charlie H. Wheeler, director of the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois Springfield, said that Pucinski and Sangmeister didn’t necessarily lose because of their ethnic names.

Wheeler's comments were featured in a December 1, 2009, article in Medill Reports.

Download a PDF of the article:
20091201-Medill-Ethnicity-in-politics.pdf

Illinois' borrowing bonanza

Facing both an election and the politically unpalatable prospects of raising taxes or cutting social programs, Gov. Pat Quinn and lawmakers increasingly have turned to borrowing as a quick fix and are on track to rack up more than $6.5 billion in loans to keep the state afloat.

As University of Illinois at Springfield state budget expert Charles Wheeler asks: "How are they going to pay that money back?"

Wheeler's comments were featured in an November 2, 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune.

Download a PDF of the article.
20091102-TRIB-chi-state-of-denial.pdf

Wheeler quoted in assessment of Lt. Gov.

As Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces unofficial but increasing talk of impeachment or indictment, people have come to view Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn in a more favorable light.

An article that appeared in the May 11 Bloomington Pantagraph includes an assessment by UIS Director of Public Affairs Reporting Charles Wheeler that Quinn has "shown himself to be a pretty decent state official."

Download a pdf file of the article
20080511-Pantagraph-Quinn.pdf