“Moral outrage is the most powerful motivating force in politics.” – Morton C. Blackwell

On Saturday December 3rd, over 50 Illinois conservatives gathered to discuss values, principled leadership and the heart of conservatism at the Illinois Value Voters Forum, moderated by Allen Skillicorn. Conservative Republicans and Tea Partiers discussed the issues of the day with U.S. Congressman Joe Walsh, Policy Expert Bruno Behrend, State Representative Tom Morrison and former State Representative Penny Pullen. Participants also took part in a Presidential straw poll and the results follow:

Newt Gingrich – 48%
Ron Paul – 22%
Rick Santorum – 11%
Michelle Bachman – 11%
Herman Cain – 4%

EXAMPLES OF GOOD STUFF HAPPENING IN WISCONSIN:

Ashland School District – saved $378,000 on health insurance;

http://www.ashlandwi.com/articles/2011/07/18/news/doc4e24f08b80b26580859031.txt

Kimberly School District – saved $821,000 by dropping WEA Trust Insurance;

http://maciverinstitute.com/2011/07/wisconsin-school-districts-are-switching-health-care-providersplans-to-create-savings-in-2011/

Edgerton School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $500,000;

http://gazettextra.com/news/2011/mar/15/edgerton-reaches-teacher-contract/

Here are additional examples. I won’t include all of the links, but this information is easy to check on Google.

Baraboo School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $660,000;

Dodgeland School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save $260,000

Elmbrook School District – changing health care provider, savings estimated at $878,000;

Mequon-Thiensville School District – saving $49,000 on dental insurance coverage;

Marshfield School District – saving $850,00 by dropping WEA Trust;

City of Sheboygan – Mayor Bob Ryan says collective bargaining reforms will provide enough savings to make up for the reduction in state aid;

Wauwatosa School District – tax levy decreasing, no programs will be cut, class sizes won’t increase, thanks to the reforms in collective bargaining;

Manitowoc – Laid-off city workers may get their jobs back due to the wage/benefit reforms contained in Walker’s budget. Changes to overtime rules saving the county $100,000;

Pittsville – will see a 9% decrease in the school portion of their property tax levy. “This is the first year we have not needed to short-term borrow,” stated Board President Strenn;

Appleton School District – will save $3.1 million just in health insurance costs due to being able to bid out the coverage and being able to drop WEA Trust;

Racine County – inmates can now be used to perform tasks such as landscaping, painting and shoveling sidewalks. Executive Ladwig states this is a win/win for the inmates and the county. It frees up county employees for other tasks, gives the inmates a sense of value, and helps the county maintain property that has been neglected.”

Kaukauna School District – hiring additional teachers, reducing class sizes, enacting a merit pay system, and due to Walker’s Budget Bill, Kaukauna’s operating budget has moved from a negative $400,000 to a positive $1,500,000. Much of this savings was due to being able to drop WEA Trust.

Hartland School District – switched from WEA Trust and saved $690,000;

Hudson School District – saved $832,000 on health insurance due to ability to bid the insurance.

KSTP did a study of the savings in Sheila Harsdorf’s 10th Senate District. They found that Ellsworth, Prescott, Menomonie, Somerset and Hudson school districts are all reporting large savings due to the changes signed into law by Walker.

Keep in mind, WEA TRUST is Shelly Moore’s union insurance company, a company that has obviously been ripping off the school districts for years, thanks to collective bargaining that prohibited school districts from seeking insurance coverage from any company other than WEA Trust. How much tax money would we have saved if school districts had been “allowed by the unions” to bid out their insurance over the years? I’d say probably many, many, many millions statewide. It’s the union money train running off the tracks, finally, and Shelly and her union don’t like it.

WANT MORE GOOD NEWS?? Click here…

Crain’s Chicago Business—The high price of political payback at McCormick place, “Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan cost taxpayers nearly half-a-billion dollars by blocking repeated efforts to restructure McCormick Place bonds and finance a much-needed second hotel at the convention center, a Crain’s investigation finds. Between 2005 and 2010, Mr. Madigan stopped five refinancing bills, ignoring declining interest rates that would have saved hundreds of millions. At the time, he never explained why, but his reasons seem petty and political: McCormick Place CEO Juan Ochoa, an appointee of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, had fired a Madigan ally at the convention center, and lawmakers from both parties say the speaker wanted retribution.”

From Representative Tryon’s Veto Session release:

“House Bill 3793: Limits Property Tax Increases in Declining Housing Markets

Limiting property tax increases during times when housing values are declining is a discussion that needs to occur. The same tax cap laws that protected taxpayers in the years of unprecedented growth and prosperity in this area are now causing property taxes to increase while housing values are going down.

I am very sensitive to the issues faced by taxpayers in this declining economy and believe the taxing laws must be changed to protect taxpayers when their property values are decreasing.

As I have said many times, the economy is contracting and people are adjusting their budgets and getting by on less.

I believe the public sector needs to do the same. This week I voted in favor of House Bill 3793.

The bill would have amended the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) to prevent any taxing body in a tax capped county from collecting an increase in funding during a year when the area’s total assessed value decreases.

There was fierce opposition to the bill by

• school districts,
• municipalities and
• other agencies which rely on public funding for their operations.”

Photo courtesy of McHenry County Blog.

By Andrew Coulson

Coloradans have said no to higher education taxes, voting down Proposition 103 by a two-to-one margin. There was good reason for that decision. Total per-pupil spending in Colorado has more than doubled since 1970, even after accounting for inflation. The same is true at the national level. Over that same period, student achievement at the end of high school has stagnated in math and reading and declined in science. So raising taxes has a long record of educational failure. Surprisingly enough, lowering them actually works.

Since 2002, Florida has been cutting taxes on businesses that help poor children attend private schools. If a business makes a donation to a non-profit K-12 scholarship organization, it receives a tax credit in the amount of the donation. The donation thus costs the business nothing, but the tuition assistance it provides throws open a whole new range of educational choices for low-income families.

The academic impact of the program has been studied from two perspectives: what does it do for students who remain in public schools, and what does it do for those who receive scholarships and move to private schools? Both groups of students gain. Public schools face increasing competition to attract and retain students and so they redouble their efforts, with their students’ scores improving significantly as a result. Meanwhile, the students who actually receive scholarships and attend non-government schools learn more than comparable students in the public schools.

by Illinois Review

The issue with the EDA, which is about to expire next year, was passed as a “23-year tax reinvestment zone” to protect the office park Sears moved to back in 1989.  The property is within the boundary of Carpentersville-based Community Unit School District 300 (D300), so D300 property tax payers have been denied the full share of the property tax revenues from this property as the result of the legislation from Governor Thompson.

Continue reading “Missing points about Dist. 300′s EDA controversy” »