I thought Speaker Mike Madigan was the most powerful person in Illinois. I was wrong. David Vite is.
Mr. Vite is the king of the lobbyists for business. I think he's worth more than his weight in gold to his employers. He seems to believe that if you say a lie enough times, everyone will come to believe it. And no one we elect seems to have the guts to stand up to him. No one. I'm willing to bet that the enormous amount of contribution money he controls has something to do with it.
As a result of Mr. Vite's formidable talent, the Illinois General Assembly voted in the 2011 fall veto session to continue state-approved age discrimination against older workers.
They voted for a very long, multi-paged bill that had item 611.1 in the middle of it all -- allowing the unfair Social Security Offset provision to continue. Under the provision, if a person on Social Security is eligible for unemployment, one-half of that person's Social Security payment is deducted from his or her unemployment payment. The provision was enacted in 1980. It was a mistake then, it's a mistake now.
More than 17,500 older workers in Illinois are affected by this provision every year. Many seniors receive absolutely no unemployment payments at all because of it. Zero. And it creates incredible hardship.
Illinois and Louisiana are the only places left in the United States that still impose this unfair and cruel provision. It has been repealed everywhere else.
Business traditionally tried to block repeal in every other state and territory, claiming that the employment tax will go up. The employment tax never went up anywhere when the Social Security Offset provision was repealed. Didn't happen.
But that didn't keep Mr. Vite from insisting it would.
The amount of money taken from seniors amounts to less than 1.5 percent of the total amount IDES -- the Illinois Department of Employment Security -- pays out. It's about $50+ million. Sounds like a lot of money -- but it's not.
It costs IDES money to administer the provision, which it does very badly, I might add. Even IDES wants the provision repealed -- even though they get to keep the money they are forced to take from seniors.
Mr. Vite insisted there is no money to be fair to older workers because Illinois is broke. But Mr. Vite and his fellow labor lobbyist kept repeal off the floor of the Assembly for years when Illinois was flush. And this time, even the labor lobbyist supported repeal.
I know Illinois is broke. But I also know $50 million or more is available somewhere. That's just the way things work in government. We're talking about discrimination here, not something arbitrary.
Repeal had strong bipartisan support. Didn't matter. When it came down to it, the legislative sponsors gave impassioned and sincere speeches but voted against repeal anyway. They couldn't bring themselves to vote against the whole package just because of one little section that hurt seniors.
Under 611.1, repeal can't even be introduced for two years. IDES is ordered to hold three public meetings in 2012 and report back to the Assembly in 2013 -- all of which IDES has to pay for out of the money it isn't supposed to have. A task force is being appointed -- all of whom have to be reimbursed for expenses and staffed, and for whom meeting rooms and materials have to be paid.
And what will the public meetings report? That the provision is discriminatory and damaging and that citizens don't have the knowledge to tell the State government where to find the money to be fair to older workers but that it should?
The cynicism in this state is breathtaking. You would think exposing the super secret inner sanctum cabal that had killed repeal for the last 11 years would have meant something. But no. No one seems to care that Mr. Vite and the labor lobbyists killed every attempt to introduce appeal.
Speaker Madigan and Governor Thompson established the agreed bill process in 1982. It isn't what you think it is. It's not a process to create a compromise bill. It's a process that allows lobbyists from business and labor to decide in secret without any legislators which bills about unemployment insurance and workers comp are released to the floor of the Assembly.
It was marvelous that Eric Zorn at the Trib wrote about this super secret ad hoc group. Rich Miller at Capitol Fax also wrote about it. Readers posted blogs. It was promising.
It resulted in four legislators being appointed to at least give the appearance that someone other than lobbyists were familiar with the offset repeal bills. I know older workers contacted them, but I have no idea if they ever actually discussed the bill in real meetings.
I thought Speaker Madigan could have gotten the bill released. After all, it's his process and his legislature. But he didn't.
There's a terrific article in today's Sun-Times by Mark Brown that may shake things up a bit. It's about a woman whose unemployment should be $235, but because of the Social Security Offset provision, it's $70 a week.
It's not too late. If enough legislators have the courage to sign up to support repeal now, 611.1 could be kicked to the curb. Repeal could in fact be introduced in 2012 after all. They should contact State Representative Karen May before she retires and/or State Senator Heather Steans.
Or maybe a lawyer will read Mr. Brown's article and decide to file a class action suit -- which will cost Illinois a whole lot more than $50 million.
After all, our employers paid the whole amount for each of us into the employment fund. They didn't pay less because we get Social Security. (If they did, every senior in Illinois would have a job.)
I have always been a good government person, a believer in the American promise. I have never been so disheartened in my life. It's getting tougher and tougher to get up and dust myself off and rejoin the fray. I'm pretty sure people like Mr. Vite count on that.
