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| Illinois lawmakers get eviction notices |
| 2010-03-14 |
| The state's money problems are so bad that lawmakers are getting eviction notices and calls from collection agencies about their offices back home. At least five state senators say they've piled up so much unpaid rent, sheepish landlords are asking them when the government plans to make good on its bills. "He said, 'Ira, I'm sorry,'" said Sen. Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago, recalling a visit from his landlord delivering an eviction notice. "And what am I going to do? I can't argue with the man." While none of the lawmakers has actually gotten the boot yet, they are getting a taste of the frustratingly slow pace at which the state pays bills as it careens toward a $13 billion budget hole. It's a pain that's magnified exponentially for school districts, drug rehabilitation counselors and businesses awaiting tax refunds. "It certainly puts us in a position of looking like deadbeats," said Sen. Mike Jacobs, an East Moline Democrat who got an eviction notice last year from a longtime friend who has rented the same building for years to the senator and his father before him. Payment eventually arrived -- nine months late -- but Jacobs was prepared to pay if the state had failed to come through. A notice threatening eviction startled freshman Sen. Dan Duffy, a Lake Barrington Republican. Unsure when the state will cough up the $10,000 it owes his landlord, Duffy is scrambling to see if he can take refuge in a nearby secretary of state driver's license outlet or a local library should he eventually get evicted. "When they can't pay the rent of a Senate office, there's no way they're going to be able to pay the hundreds of millions of dollars in bills that they have back due," Duffy said. "It just shows what a tragic crisis we're in and how far out of hand this is." In the grand scope of what ails state government, the lawmakers all said they recognized late rent for Senate offices is far from the most pressing budget issue. Each senator receives $83,063 a year as a district office allowance, and the bills end up at the comptroller's office. Every day, comptroller workers sift through bills for all of state government and prioritize what must be paid and what has to wait. Each month, $2 billion is set aside. The state must make payments to schools and repay short-term loans. It must pay hospitals, nursing homes and doctors caring for Medicaid patients within 30 days in order to get the best return from the federal government. Languishing further back in line are the bills to pay rents for lawmaker district offices. Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said he knew of no eviction notices going to House members, but has heard that some legislators "on the brink" have had to dip into their own pockets or campaign funds to pay landlords or keep phone service. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 More eviction notices coming in Washington in November. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-03-14 19:32 |
| #5 "I also don't know why a legislator needs a 'home office' in the district." I'm guessing it's someplace for their year-round staff to park themselves while handling "constituent services," Steve. But, as you say, there are laptops and cell phones. I'm waiting for the first legislator to get smart and announce that his/her staff will work out of their homes as they answer constituents' phone calls, e-mails, and letters. If someone truly needs to meet with the staff, Starbucks and other such places have free wi-fi, as do many libraries. Actual paper letters can be directed to a Post Office box. (For safety, don't announce the addresses of the staff members.) I often work from home, using the internet and my personal computer. I'd do it all the time, but my work is such that my employer usually needs me there physically (though we managed quite well during the winter snowstorms that shut down our area - just took a little planning ahead on my part). The Illinois legislators could certainly work something out that is cheaper for the state than a rented office |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-03-14 18:20 |
| #4 I've driven past some of these places. They aren't much to look at, usually a storefront in some modestly decaying neighborhood. I don't know how much rent is required. I also don't know why a legislator needs a 'home office' in the district. They have an office in Springfield and a second office in Chicago. They have their homes, a cell phone or Blackberry, and a laptop. Not clear to me what a home district office does for them that they can't do elsewhere. The constituents are going to find them no matter what. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-03-14 18:01 |
| #3 I've been evicted. Bum a place off a friend for a while. If they have any friends. I suggest they move their offices to a less expensive place. They are spending |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2010-03-14 13:50 |
#2  Couldn't have happened to a better group of people. Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles
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| Posted by: Tarzan Ulutle8366 2010-03-14 08:55 |
| #1 Awwwwwww - my heart just bleeds.... No, wait - that's just the chili. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-03-14 00:22 |