* The Illinois Policy Institute, which has often teamed up with the House Republicans on policy issues, has published its new “Piglet Book.” It’s supposed to be a list of pork, but pork, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder.
For instance, the IPI publication flat-out states while it “exposes” a relatively small grant to WTTW…
Unfortunately, there is no need for public broadcasting in an era of cable television and streaming Internet videos
That’s more than just a debatable point.
* Nurses…
The state is funding nurses’ tuition for $75,000 and nurse educator fellowships for $150,000. There is evidence that aspiring nurses are not in dire need of financial assistance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics, the median salary for nurses in May 2008 was $62,450, well above the 2008 median family income in Illinois of $54,141. Tax dollars of less well-off Illinoisans should not be funding education for people who will go on to make far more money than they ever will.
OK, first, they aren’t telling the whole story. The $62K figure is for registered nurses. Licensed practical nurses made, on average, $40,110, according to the stats. But that would be below the median family income, so it likely didn’t fit their meme. Nursing aides made $24,620.
What the IPI either fails to understand or ignores is that many, many lower-income people have historically turned to the nursing profession to improve their lots in life. But IPI can’t really come out and say “taxes for well-off people shouldn’t be helping low-income folks improve their lives.”
…Adding… Since the state partially funds universities, law schools and medical schools, how does that hold up to the IPI’s goal of: “Tax dollars of less well-off Illinoisans should not be funding education for people who will go on to make far more money than they ever will”? Using that logic, we’d be putting almost no money into higher education at all, and absolutely zero money into medical schools and law schools.
More tuition stuff…
Overall, the state has paid $1,049,639 from August 1, 2009 through January 7, 2010 in employee tuition and fees. If state employees are interested in taking classes to burnish their resumes or to bump themselves up to the next pay grade, it should be incumbent upon that individual to decide whether the long-term investment in additional schooling is worth the money. Many private employers subsidize education, but not with taxpayer dollars.
* Race and ethnicity play a pretty big role in the IPI report…
The state should be colorblind, treating all of its citizens equally. Unfortunately, in allocating tax dollars to specific ethnic service organizations, it runs the risk of looking, in the words of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, like “some are more equal than others.”
Certainly, many of these organizations are worthy causes; yet the unequal distribution of funds leaves some groups flush, and others underserved. Some ethnic groups should not receive more state money because they are better at applying for state grants. Organizations should be self-sufiicient, raising money from their communities in proportion to their need.
The IPI doesn’t seem to understand that distributing money to human service groups on the ground - like their listed Jewish Child & Family Services, Asian Human Services of Chicago, American Hispanic Wellness Services and Arab-American Family Services - means that the state can save money because it would cost more to deliver the services itself. They have the expertise and the constituencies.
* More race and ethnicity…
To many Illinoisans, preserving their cultural heritage is a priority. In such a diverse state, however, it becomes problematic when legislators start doling out funds to support the artistic legacy of special ethnic groups or regions. Instead of picking “winners” and “losers” based on subjective criteria, the state should encourage communities to work together to honor their traditions.
For whatever reason, no Irish-American groups are on its pork list. Huh.
* To be sure, as with its Public Television slam, they also go after “elite” culture, like a $61,500 grant to the Art Institute of Chicago.
And they ridicule a $72,750 grant to the grape growers…
Illinois may have good growing conditions, but it is certainly not temperate enough for wine production.
Tell that to all those southern Illinois vintners who are bringing more tourists to the region every year.
* Look, I agree that in extremely tight budget times a lot of this stuff isn’t necessarily affordable. Maybe the state can’t afford to give WTTW a grant, but to just flat-out say things like cable TV and the Internet can replace Public Television tips their hand to where they are really coming from.
…Adding More… From comments…
It appears that about a third of their so-called savings would stem from ending the payments to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Company. I suspect that the $123,000,000 payment that they cite represents the amount of special local sales taxes that go to MPEA that are used, to pay off bonded indebtedness.
So, are they suggesting that the state violate existing law and keep these tax receipts and also cause MPEA to default on the indebtedness?
The “logic” of defaulting on debt in order to save cash that’s statutorially linked to paying off said debt is more than a little bit odd.