Electric relief bill wins approval - Some lawmakers say $1 billion plan not enough remedy
Electric relief bill wins approval - Some lawmakers say $1 billion plan not enough remedy
By Jeffrey Meitrodt and Ray Long
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
July 27, 2007
SPRINGFIELD - The $1 billion electricity rate relief package passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly on Thursday despite protests from Republicans, who complained consumers deserved far more.
The electricity votes took place as the Senate also advanced legislation that would increase the state cigarette tax by 90 cents a pack and authorize counties outside Cook County to impose local cigarette taxes.
DuPage County already is prepared to impose a $1-a-pack local tax -- meaning smokers there could be socked with a $1.90 increase in taxes -- if the legislation is signed into law.
Looking for leverage in budget negotiations, Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) was seeking support for a vote on a spending plan that would increase school funding by $900 million but depend on revenues from new casinos proposed in a bill that has stalled in the House. A record eight weeks into a legislative overtime session, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and state legislators face a July 31 expiration of a temporary budget that could lead to a government shutdown.
Under the terms of the electricity deal, ComEd customers would receive a one-time rebate worth an average of $50 on their September bill, with a typical credit of about $7 per month for the rest of the year.
Downstate, where all-electric customers of Ameren Corp. were socked with the biggest rate increases this year, total rate relief could be worth as much as $1,200 for a customer in 2007, according to Sen. James Clayborne (D-Belleville).
The credits would drop sharply in 2008 and disappear in July 2009, when the full impact of this year's rate increases finally would be phased in. ComEd and Ameren may seek approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission for rate increases at any time.
"This is crumbs being thrown to our constituents," said Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro).
But Jones and Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton), a sponsor of the package, argued the settlement is the best the state could get.
"Is this perfect? Absolutely not," Forby said.
In exchange for the settlement, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan agreed to drop lawsuits against ComEd, Ameren and affiliates over alleged bid-rigging and price manipulation.
Some Republicans argued she should have pursued the lawsuits because a court victory could have returned billions more in relief to Illinois rate payers.
But Rep. George Scully (D-Flossmoor) said consumers are better served by the legislation because it provides "true reform" in the way power is purchased in Illinois.
Instead of a complex system called a reverse auction, which was widely blamed for this year's rate increases, utilities would obtain power from a new state agency charged with buying electricity at the cheapest price available.
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) said new approach would keep costs down because there will no longer be any "collusion" between the utilities and the power generators, but Madigan and other supporters acknowledge there's no guarantee the new agency will save the state's consumers any money.
Jones predicted this week that Blagojevich would sign the deal, but the governor's office did not respond to inquiries Thursday.
Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago), who voted against the utility relief package as insufficient, also blasted Jones' spending plan as "charades and dog-and-pony shows" and urged him to work with Madigan on a proposal that could pass both chambers.
The measure to increase the state cigarette tax to nearly $2 a pack won approval in the Senate Revenue Committee on Thursday, which had endorsed the smaller 75-cent hike a day earlier.
Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), the sponsor, also added a provision that gives 101 counties outside of Cook permission to impose local cigarette taxes up to $2 in addition to state and federal taxes.
Cook County already has a $2-a-pack tax, while Chicago has a 68-cent-a-pack tax and the federal tax is 39 cents a pack.
The new provision for the counties outside Cook is aimed partly at helping DuPage County officials put in place a local cigarette tax, legislation that has been thwarted in Springfield before.
DuPage County Chairman Bob Schillerstrom testified his county needs its own cigarette tax to help pay for health-care programs.
Supporters said boosting the state cigarette tax by 90 cents a pack would generate an estimated $350 million to $380 million a year. But critics questioned whether the higher taxes would mean fewer people would buy cigarettes in Illinois.
The first increase proposal was aimed at boosting state construction projects, but the extra 15 cents would help pay down the state's backlog of overdue Medicaid bills.
In other action:
*the House sent to the Senate a predatory-lending bill that would require financial counseling for first-time home-buyers and those refinancing their mortgages in Cook County if they have certain types of loans.*the Senate sent to the governor a proposal aimed at helping Illinois' effort to land the $1.4 billion FutureGen coal-to-energy project.
----------
jmeitrodt@tribune.com
rlong@tribune.com
By Jeffrey Meitrodt and Ray Long
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
July 27, 2007
SPRINGFIELD - The $1 billion electricity rate relief package passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly on Thursday despite protests from Republicans, who complained consumers deserved far more.
The electricity votes took place as the Senate also advanced legislation that would increase the state cigarette tax by 90 cents a pack and authorize counties outside Cook County to impose local cigarette taxes.
DuPage County already is prepared to impose a $1-a-pack local tax -- meaning smokers there could be socked with a $1.90 increase in taxes -- if the legislation is signed into law.
Looking for leverage in budget negotiations, Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) was seeking support for a vote on a spending plan that would increase school funding by $900 million but depend on revenues from new casinos proposed in a bill that has stalled in the House. A record eight weeks into a legislative overtime session, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and state legislators face a July 31 expiration of a temporary budget that could lead to a government shutdown.
Under the terms of the electricity deal, ComEd customers would receive a one-time rebate worth an average of $50 on their September bill, with a typical credit of about $7 per month for the rest of the year.
Downstate, where all-electric customers of Ameren Corp. were socked with the biggest rate increases this year, total rate relief could be worth as much as $1,200 for a customer in 2007, according to Sen. James Clayborne (D-Belleville).
The credits would drop sharply in 2008 and disappear in July 2009, when the full impact of this year's rate increases finally would be phased in. ComEd and Ameren may seek approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission for rate increases at any time.
"This is crumbs being thrown to our constituents," said Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro).
But Jones and Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton), a sponsor of the package, argued the settlement is the best the state could get.
"Is this perfect? Absolutely not," Forby said.
In exchange for the settlement, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan agreed to drop lawsuits against ComEd, Ameren and affiliates over alleged bid-rigging and price manipulation.
Some Republicans argued she should have pursued the lawsuits because a court victory could have returned billions more in relief to Illinois rate payers.
But Rep. George Scully (D-Flossmoor) said consumers are better served by the legislation because it provides "true reform" in the way power is purchased in Illinois.
Instead of a complex system called a reverse auction, which was widely blamed for this year's rate increases, utilities would obtain power from a new state agency charged with buying electricity at the cheapest price available.
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) said new approach would keep costs down because there will no longer be any "collusion" between the utilities and the power generators, but Madigan and other supporters acknowledge there's no guarantee the new agency will save the state's consumers any money.
Jones predicted this week that Blagojevich would sign the deal, but the governor's office did not respond to inquiries Thursday.
Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago), who voted against the utility relief package as insufficient, also blasted Jones' spending plan as "charades and dog-and-pony shows" and urged him to work with Madigan on a proposal that could pass both chambers.
The measure to increase the state cigarette tax to nearly $2 a pack won approval in the Senate Revenue Committee on Thursday, which had endorsed the smaller 75-cent hike a day earlier.
Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), the sponsor, also added a provision that gives 101 counties outside of Cook permission to impose local cigarette taxes up to $2 in addition to state and federal taxes.
Cook County already has a $2-a-pack tax, while Chicago has a 68-cent-a-pack tax and the federal tax is 39 cents a pack.
The new provision for the counties outside Cook is aimed partly at helping DuPage County officials put in place a local cigarette tax, legislation that has been thwarted in Springfield before.
DuPage County Chairman Bob Schillerstrom testified his county needs its own cigarette tax to help pay for health-care programs.
Supporters said boosting the state cigarette tax by 90 cents a pack would generate an estimated $350 million to $380 million a year. But critics questioned whether the higher taxes would mean fewer people would buy cigarettes in Illinois.
The first increase proposal was aimed at boosting state construction projects, but the extra 15 cents would help pay down the state's backlog of overdue Medicaid bills.
In other action:
*the House sent to the Senate a predatory-lending bill that would require financial counseling for first-time home-buyers and those refinancing their mortgages in Cook County if they have certain types of loans.*the Senate sent to the governor a proposal aimed at helping Illinois' effort to land the $1.4 billion FutureGen coal-to-energy project.
----------
jmeitrodt@tribune.com
rlong@tribune.com
posted by Carlos T Mock at 6:52 AM
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