Illinois Comptroller Halts Payments for Governor’s Top Initiative
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza Seth Perlman / AP Photo
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Tennessee sues feds over refugee resettlement; Texas lawmakers target local taxes; and Jacksonville’s battle with Formosan termites.
STATE GOVERNMENT | Here’s another fiscal skirmish in the ongoing budget wars in Illinois: The state’s Democratic comptroller, Susana Mendoza, has stopped payments for a top priority for Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner: his $250 million state government IT modernization initiative. On Monday, Mendoza suspended around $27 million in payments, including $21.6 million that’s owed to consultants. It’s been 21 months since Illinois had an operating budget and in that time, the state has racked up $12.3 billion in unpaid bills. [Reuters; Fox Illinois]
Tennessee became the first state to sue over refugee resettlement citing the 10th Amendment—new legal ground—which grants states powers not delegated by the Constitution to the federal government. The suit claims the feds aren’t complying with the Refugee Act of 1980 in that states are paying more than their fair share for the resettlement program, and holds all resettlement should be halted until the U.S. government incurs all costs. It’s unclear what stance the Trump administration will take toward the case, considering the president recently signed a second travel ban barring travel from six Muslim-majority countries—a de facto “Muslim ban,” according to opponents. [The Tennessean]
STATE LEGISLATURES | The Texas Senate is mulling a bill that would limit the amount of property tax local governments can collect without voter approval. Local government officials argue the tax relief that will come from the legislation is limited, and it would hurt their ability to fund public safety and schools. “The hidden tax is the state’s over-reliance on property taxes to fund schools,” said Bennett Sandlin, the executive director of the Texas Municipal League. “If we fix that problem that would be real, meaningful tax relief.” [The Texas Tribune]
Montana state Senate President Scott Sales criticized cyclists as "self-centered” and “rude” before legislation failed Monday that would have established a safe distance between motor vehicles and cyclists on roadways. The bill defined that distance as at least 3 feet between vehicle and cyclist at 35 mph or less, and 5 feet at faster speeds. “They’re some of the most self-centered, rude people navigating on the highways and county roads I’ve seen,” Sales said. “They think they own the highway.” [Billings Gazette]
COUNTY GOVERNMENT | In Mesa County, Colorado, a difficult budget situation prompted the county clerk to vow that she’ll close offices one day a week if she’s forced to cut an additional 5 percent from her budget after just her operation just completing a voluntary 8 percent budget cut. Clerk Sheila Reiner said that a new call from Mesa County commissioners to cut more “is disincentivizing the good work that my team has done to find efficiencies to do more with less, to work harder, to push harder, to do with less budget. Because we came together, made a goal, my team got on board with it and they got behind their leader, and now they’re going to get cut deeper. So that feels extremely bad.” [Grand Junction Daily Sentinel]
TRANSPARENCY | Since last year, Rock Island County, Illinois improved its Quad-City Times transparency grade from an F to an A, in large part due to a new county administrator and board revising policies. Governments were graded on records processes, meetings, document availability and a posted budget. Often governments use excessive fees and labor charges to deter undesirable public records requests, according to the report. [Quad-City Times]
INSECT CONTROL | The Environmental Protection Board in Jacksonville, Florida, approved a $3,250 expenditure on Monday to deploy up to 50 glue traps around the city to better understand the movements of destructive Formosan termites, which can swell to 10 times the size of a normal termite colony. The Formosan termites are “the equivalent of 10 teenagers eating on your house,” according to a technical director for a local pest control company. [Florida Times Union]
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