Illinois lawmakers approve major Medicaid reforms

Iowa physician involved in Florida Medicaid fraud surrenders license
A 55-year-old Iowa physician who formerly practiced in Fairfield has voluntarily surrendered his state Medical License in the wake of a Florida-based criminal conviction on grand theft and racketeering charges related to treatment of individuals with HIV and AIDS. Robert David was arrested and charged in September 2004 with criminal racketeering, 1st degree grand theft and 2nd degree grand theft for engaging in Medicaid Fraud in Miami-Dade County, Fla. Charges brought against the physician indic...

How the death penalty abolition bill passed on the second try
* As you know by now, the House passed a death penalty abolition bill on the second try yesterday. Democratic state Rep. Pat Verschoore voted against the bill the first time, then changed his vote after the bill’s sponsor appealed to him… “I’d been back and forth on this since they started talking about abolishing it,” Verschoore said. State Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Maywood, the proposal’s sponsor, asked him to reconsider his vote, he said. “She’s helped me o

Illinois House Passes Death Penalty Ban, Senate Next
Source: Reuters Illinois House passes death penalty ban, Senate next Thu Jan 6, 2011 11:18pm EST Chicago (Reuters) - The Illinois House on Thursday voted to ban the death penalty, moving the measure on to the Senate a decade after a Moratorium on executions was put into place by former Governor George Ryan. Thursday night's vote came after a first vote failed, according to Illinois State Representative Elaine Nekritz, a Democrat who voted in favor of the ban. The final vote was 60-54 in favor of...

Illinois about to institute massive tax hikes
There's no question that Illinois is in an economic basket case. It might be in the worst fiscal shape of any state in the union. So how does Illinois plan to dig itself out of the hole it's in? Taxes, taxes and more taxes: Springfield sources are confirming that Democratic legislative leaders and Gov. Pat Quinn have struck a deal to almost double the state Income Tax, boosting the individual levy from 3% now to 5.25% and hiking the corporate rate to 8.4% -- the highest of any state in the unio...

Illinois House Votes To Abolish Death Penalty
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois House has approved a plan to abolish Capital Punishment in a whirlwind reversal on a historic vote. The Legislation to halt state-sponsored execution gained the necessary 60 votes Thursday after an earlier vote fell short. The landmark action comes nearly 11 years after then-Gov. George Ryan cleared death row and declared a Moratorium on Capital Punishment in Illinois. The Legislation now moves to the Senate, where President John Cullerton says he support...

Amazon threatens to dump Illinois associates over unconstitutional bill - Tenaska threatens to abandon project
* The so-called Amazon Tax also passed the House yesterday… Now, some large Internet Retailers such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com don’t collect Illinois sales taxes because they don’t have a physical Illinois presence. Shoppers technically still owe the taxes, but the vast majority don’t pay because they’re unaware. The Legislation would force Amazon to collect the taxes because they have certain kinds of contracts with Illinois companies. It was approved by a 88-29 vote. I

The Amazon Tax
The Amazon Tax It seems the State of Illinois is so desperate for revenue that it is instituting an Internet Sales Tax. Chicago, Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internet Tax Bill (HB 3659) was passed in the Illinois Senate on January 5, by the House of Representatives on January 6 and brought to the Governor, who may sign it into a law as early as Friday, January 7. The tax Legislation relates to out-of-state merchants like Amazon.com and Overstock.com that do not have a physical presence in ...

Gov. Pat Quinn (D, IL) about to destroy IL Amazon affliliates?
It’s certainly looking that way: the Democrat-run (Democrat-dominated) State Legislature has just passed a bill to tax online purchases (via Points and Figures, via Instapundit): the bill is just waiting for Governor Pat Quinn’s (D) signature, which is almost certainly inevitable.  In fact, the state of Illinois is going to raise taxes across the board - because that’s what Democrats do .  Business is good; raise taxes.  Business is bad; raise taxes.  Business is in a

Illinois lawmakers agree on income tax hike
 It looks like it’s a done deal, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the lawmakers of this fine state have come to an agreement, income taxes will be increased by 75%. No, that’s not a typo; it’s your new reality. In dollars that means that if you paid $1000 in income taxes at the current rate you’ll pay $1800 at the new rate, and it gets worse. The Illinois Tea Party has reported that on top of the gigantic Income Tax hike Illinoisans will also receive a 7% to 10% tax i...

Liberals in Illinois will give you a huge 75% tax increase,
The people on the Titantic did not vot to hit the iceberg. People in Homer Glen did not vote for this, nor did the people of Will County. The takers in Illinois voted for this garbage. There are more people in Illinois taking from the Taxpayer than paying taxes. I guess Illinois reached the point where the takers can vote raises for themselves while the producers are forced to give even more to the never ending appitite of the takers. How about forming the State of South Illinois by di...

The most overlooked story of the week
* I told subscribers about this bill after it passed the House Wednesday. It was approved by the Senate yesterday and has received zero media coverage outside of myself and the Champaign News-Gazette. Here is the paper’s story… A Budget reform process that proponents say will help bring fiscal discipline to Illinois cleared the House Wednesday, 85-26. It would generally limit spending to revenue projections, require the Governor to set annual Budget priorities and would require reg...

Illinois Dems Push Plan To Boost Income Tax By 75%, Double Cigarette Taxes...
SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Top Illinois Democrats have agreed to push a plan that would temporarily boost income taxes by 75 percent and double Cigarette taxes, Senate President John Cullerton said Thursday. Illinois’ Personal Income Tax Rate, now 3 percent, would climb to 5.25 percent for four years under the plan Cullerton outlined. After that, it would drop to 3.75 percent. That means someone who now owes $1,000 in state income taxes would owe $1,750 at the new rate, then $1,250 after fou...

House leaves town and the Taxpayers Federation posts the rates
* As you’re probably aware of by now, the House has left town without acting on the proposed tax hike… “The votes aren’t here in the House yet,” said Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, a House Budget expert. “There’s not 60 votes.” House Speaker Michael Madigan has not commented on the proposal yet, but was expected to meet with Gov. Pat Quinn behind closed doors today to fine-tune the plan. The Governor also has been asking individual lawmakers into his o

Medicaid threatens budgets of states: governors
"Every Governor, Republican and Democrat, will face unprecedented Budget challenges in the coming months," the 33 governors and governors-elect said in a letter to congressional leaders and Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. They added that efforts by federal health agencies "to regulate state operations impose greater uncertainty on our budgets for oncoming years." Medicaid, which is partially reimbursed by the Federal Government, is one of the biggest spending pressures for states and can eq...

Medicaid threatens budgets of states: governors
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State Governments cannot handle the current costs of Medicaid, and federal requirements to expand the Health Insurance program for the poor will create "a perfect storm" in state Budgets, a coalition of Republican Governors said on Friday. "Every governor, Republican and Democrat, will face unprecedented budget challenges in the coming months," the 33 Governors and governors-elect said in a letter to congressional leaders and Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. They added ...

GOP Governors team up to fight Obama's Medicare requirements
Republican governors are pressing the Obama Administration to make it easier for states to cut Medicaid enrollment, setting up a fight over one of states' costliest programs. On Friday, 33 Republican governors and governors-elect plan to send a letter to the White House and congressional leaders asking them to remove a part of the health-care overhaul law. Under the rule, states that drop enrollees from the program would lose the federal money that accounts for the bulk of Medicaid funding, an u...

Ohio Gov.-elect Kasich among GOP governors asking Obama to ease Medicaid rules
COLUMBUS, Ohio (CGE) - Thirty-three GOP Governors and governors-elect, including Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich, will be signatories on a letter to the White House and congressional leaders Friday asking them to remove a part of the health-care overhaul law, The Wall Street Journal reported. At stake is billions in federal help to states that would disappear as a result of states dropping enrollees from Medicaid rolls, as elected leaders make Spending Cuts to balance their Budgets. Ohio lawmakers h...

Words To Remember: 'We Won't Pay For Their Crisis'
In 2010, the new theme of the Washington elites was that the U.S. had spent itself into a financial mess. President Obama's "Deficit Commission," Republicans in Congress and even some Democrats were all saying that the country was broke and that it was going to be necessary to put Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social programs at risk to balance the books. That's right. They want working Americans to sacrifice in order to pay off the debts they ran up on their wars and Bailouts? A...

Petitions to watch | Conference of 01.07.11
On Jan, 7, the Court will consider issues such as whether the Sixth Amendment requires a unanimous jury verdict to convict a person of a crime and whether certain provisions of RLUIPA violate the First Amendment. We are reposting this edition of “Petitions to watch,” which features cases up for consideration at the Justices’ January 7 conference.  These are petitions raising issues that Tom has determined to have a reasonable chance of being granted, although we post ...

Lawmakers hear pleas
Roberta Johnson, whose 25-year-old, intellectually disabled son, Joshua, can't take care of himself, had a question for the eight legislators attending a state Budget public hearing Thursday in Chesterfield County. "How many of you pray every night that your child will die before you?" asked Johnson, who attended the hearing to urge lawmakers to support mental-health funding. Members of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees held five public hearings around the state Thursday, ah...

Mississippi Releases Scott Sisters from Life Sentences: Too Expensive to Keep Them in Prison
In 1994, Jamie Scott and her sister Gladys were convicted of armed Robbery and sentenced to life in Prison in Jackson, Mississippi. Since then, Jamie, now 38, has undergone Dialysis treatments, which are provided to her gratis by the state, as a Prisoner. The state estimates that the additional cost of imprisoning her is $200,000 per year because of this. So, Haley Barbour offered the sisters a deal that the sisters accepted. For Jamie, she is released today, and is moving to Pensacola, where ...

Lawmakers hear pleas
Roberta Johnson, whose 25-year-old, intellectually disabled son, Joshua, can't take care of himself, had a question for the eight legislators attending a state Budget public hearing Thursday in Chesterfield County. "How many of you pray every night that your child will die before you?" asked Johnson, who attended the hearing to urge lawmakers to support mental-health funding. Members of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees held five public hearings around the state Thursday, ah...

Is Gov. Dayton a TEA Party Politician?
One of the things Tea Party Activists insist on is that politicians listen to them. Based on what Scott Wente wrote in this article , it almost sounds like Gov. Dayton is a Tea Party kind of guy, with the key word being almost. Cottage Grove resident Leon Moe is critical of federal Health Care expansion and on Wednesday was given a big platform to express that view. Gov. Mark Dayton yielded his microphone to Moe and other Protesters at a highly unusual ceremony during which the Governor signed ...

Recession Accelerates Shift Towards Greater Control of Washington in Health Care
While overall Health Care spending slowed in 2009, it is the underlying trend that is more troubling: the continuing decline in private coverage and the steady increase in government health care. These trends will only accelerate under ObamaCare. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), total Health Care spending grew by 4 percent in 2009 to reach $2.5 Trillion. This represents a slower rate of growth from 2008, but the slower increase still outpaced spending as an ov...

Cuomo names Medicaid redesign team
The panel, to be helmed by Jason Helgerson of Wisconsin fame, will also include lawmakers Kemp Hannon, Tom Duane, Richard Gottfried and Joe Giglio — the nominees from the majority and minority conferences of the Senate and Assemblu, doubly respectively. Here’s the Governor’s release: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the members of his Medicaid Redesign Team. The Team, established by an Executive Order announced by Governor Cuomo in his State of the State address, is charg...