Research from UIS raises concerns for underfunded pension systems

According to new research done by the University of Illinois Springfield's Institute for Illinois Public Finance, the state's public employee pension systems and downstate police and fire pension systems are not being adequately funded.

Distinguished Professor of Public Administration Kenneth Kriz said this is a big problem for the state. "Illinois is headed for a lot of pain, and a lot more pain than people even realize," Kriz said. "'There's not enough for them to be able to make payments they promised to workers as they retire." 

Kriz has been doing research on pensions for nearly 10 years and said the contribution levels are crucial, because there are only three levers policymakers can use to try to address pension funding shortfalls.

"You could in a lot of areas, either cut benefits or make workers contribute more for their benefits," Kriz said. "You can increase your contributions or you can get better returns out of your investments."

According to Kriz, the money for these pensions is mainly coming out of taxpayer dollars and ultimately, he said it comes down to the state raising taxes or cutting other services in order to be able to make the payments.

According to Kriz, the pension liability at the state level is estimated to be around $30 billion.

This story aired on WAND on January 30, 2020.

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Illinois House speaker gives student journalists rare access

House Speaker Michael Madigan doesn't make a lot of media appearances, but Monday morning, he talked with student journalists who are covering the Statehouse in a graduate school program.

In his visit with the Public Affairs Reporting program class at the University of Illinois-Springfield, Madigan, D-Chicago, said legislative committees in control of budget appropriations have taken Gov. J.B. Pritzker's proposed levels of spending in next year's budget and "ratcheted them down" in case measures supporting that spending do not pass.

Those supporting measures include legalizing recreational marijuana and sports betting, which Madigan said he's "hopeful" will pass but are "not guaranteed today," although Pritzker is relying on them for more than $400 million in new revenue.

Long-awaited language for a marijuana bill was released Saturday. Madigan said that although he was not yet familiar with it, he does know "there are some very controversial aspects to the proposal," including the expungement of criminal records and other provisions requested by caucuses representing minority interests.

On the other hand, Madigan said, passing sports betting will require the cooperation of many interests, including gaming CEOs, racetracks, video poker representatives and more. "It's always been very contentious," he said. "It's no different this time than any prior legislative session."

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on May 7, 2019.

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C-SPAN bus coming to Springfield next week

A 45-foot customized C-SPAN bus will be in Springfield Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the public affairs channel’s “50 Capitals Tour.”

The tour began in September 2017 and is scheduled to be completed in November.

At each capital city, the bus is opening its doors and also gathering viewpoints on politics.

On Tuesday, the bus will be open to the public from 9:30 to 11 a.m. outside the Statehouse on Capitol Avenue, near Second Street.

Earlier that day, state Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, will be interviewed aboard the bus for the channel’s “Washington Journal” program.

The bus also will be at Springfield High School in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, the bus will be open to the public while parked near the Student Union at the University of Illinois Springfield from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The bus will be at Grant Middle School earlier in the day.

The bus is equipped with a TV production studio, a smart TV and classroom area for conversations with students and teachers, and a D.C.-themed selfie station where visitors can share their bus experiences through social media.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on September 14, 2018.

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Local colleges in a bind again over unfunded MAP grants

Delayed state funding for higher education continues to plague local colleges and universities, forcing many again this spring to replace promised Illinois Monetary Award Program grant funds with institutional money.

The University of Illinois Springfield will continue to cover the unfunded MAP grants as it and the other U of I campuses have done in the past. That will total $2.4 million for 742 students this academic year.

"It's a tough time for students to worry and stress, so when it's time to register for classes, we told students to go ahead and register because we will cover that MAP grant," said UIS spokesman Derek Schnapp. "We've had to dip into reserves, we've done a lot of cost-cutting everywhere we can, and that's how we are continuing to move on.

"It would help the anxiety of many students and families if a state budget could come forward and higher education is fully funded. It would take a lot of pressure off of a lot of families in Illinois."

The story was reported by The State Journal-Register on March 6, 2017.

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Illinois' 100th General Assembly sworn in

Illinois' new General Assembly was sworn in Wednesday. Legislators face another year of budget problems as the state remains billions of dollars in debt.

From the State Capitol to the University of Illinois at Springfield, both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly took the oath of office Wednesday amidst hopes that the body's 100th session may prove more successful than the last in finally resolving the budget impasse that has plagued the state over the last year and a half.

"I believe we can grow the economy, create jobs, without hurting families," State Rep. Mike Madigan said.

Madigan handily won re-election as Speaker of the House, with only one member of his party abstaining. Outside the auditorium, demonstrators both for and against Madigan made their case.

The story was reported by ABC 7 Chicago on January 11, 2017.

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From a different perspective: Springfield hosts international visitors

Dr. Ali Nizamuddin says you may someday face a Muslim with a mask and a blade, but it’s much more likely to be your doctor than a terrorist.

On April 12, Nizamuddin, a political science professor at University of Illinois Springfield, addressed common misconceptions about Muslims at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Midtown Springfield. The meeting hosted seven international delegates, who listened to the discussion as a part of their journey in the United States to learn about advancing minority rights for their individual countries.

The delegates were guests of the Springfield Commission on International Visitors. The commission works with local community professionals and volunteers to host international visitor leadership programs through Congress and the State Department.

Nizamuddin, the keynote speaker, explained that misconceptions can be attributed to the use of powerful imagery and language to depict groups we don’t understand. His presentation used humor to draw a distinction between ISIS sympathizers and Muslims in general.

The story was reported by the Illinois Times on April 21, 2016.

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Illinois college students will march for MAP Grants in Springfield

Illinois college students will march for higher education funding and MAP grants in Springfield on April 13.

At least 60 students plan to take part in the march. That’s according to the march’s Facebook event.

The “March for MAP” was created by a University of Illinois Springfield student. The event was inspired by the legislature's failure to override Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto to a bill to fund MAP grants.

The story was reported by Northern Public Radio on April 8, 2016.

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UIS students and faculty hold Day of Action

As the budget impasse drags on, some universities are struggling to continue helping students.

Some even wondering how they will keep the doors open.

Students at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) say they're sick and tired of the politics coming from Springfield.

They say the state made them a promise and lawmakers and the Governor need to make good on that promise, or they're risking the future of this state.

275 days without a budget and the inaction leaving state universities and low income students without a way to make ends meet.

Educators call it a failure of government.

"The loss of MAP Grant funds represents a loss in students and a really critical failure for public higher education particularly because it's about access. It's about making higher education and a college degree accessible to as many Illinoisans as possible. We don't want to lose those opportunities for our students," said Lynn Fisher, professor, University of Illinois Springfield.

The story was reported by WICS-TV 20 and Fox Illinois on March 31, 2016.

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Bernard Schoenburg: Senate staffer to speak

A graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield who is now a staffer for a member of the U.S. Senate will present a program at UIS Wednesday discussing his work on anti-violence legislation.

Kyle Simpson works as an aide to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. His talk will be about his role working on legislation to address and reduce violence against women and to fight college sexual violence.

The free, public program, part of the UIS Engaged Citizenship Common Experience speaker series, will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Brookens Auditorium, on the lower level of Brookens Library on the Springfield campus.

The story was reported by The State Journal-Register on March 30, 2016.

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Over 250 U of I students to Rally at Capitol on March 2

More than 250 students from the University of Illinois’ three campuses will be in Springfield on March 2 to meet with legislators.

This gathering coincides with U of I Student Day, which is coordinated by Illinois Connection, the legislative advocacy network of the University of Illinois Alumni Association. This annual event allows students to come together to deliver a unified message to lawmakers on behalf of their University.

Students will be meeting with their elected representatives to encourage funding support for the University of Illinois and higher education in general. U of I President Tim Killeen also plans to be present to take part in the effort.

“As an economic engine with a $14 billion a year impact, the University of Illinois provides value to every citizen of the state through a comprehensive range of educational, research and outreach programs,” Killeen says.

The story was reported by WAND-TV on February 29, 2016.

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The issue of climate change has risen to prominence in the past decade

The debate over climate change has gone from a back burner issue a decade ago to a major topic in this year's presidential race.

It's part four of our eight-part series on issues of the 2016 election.

The next President and Congress will be responsible for carrying out agreements made at last year's Paris summit. Depending on who wins, the U.S. may or may not live up to its commitments. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) said at a rally he would make reducing the effects of climate change a top priority.

"We have a moral responsibility to make sure the planet we leave for all of our kids and grandchildren is habitable and healthy,” Sanders said.

University of Illinois-Springfield biology professor Jim Bonacum said more politicians are understanding the seriousness of the issue.

"People are responding much more to the urgency of this,” Bonacum said.

He said people can’t ignore the problem any longer.

"If the average global temperature goes beyond an increase of 2 degrees Celsius, that may be the tipping point,” Bonacum said. “If that happens, we're expecting truly catastrophic changes."

15 of the top 16 warmest years have occurred since 2000. 2015 was the warmest year on record. Bonacum said it’s only going to get warmer.

"Even if right now we completely stop using any and all fossil fuels, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has still not worked its way up to its full heat producing ability,” he said.

The story was featured on WCIA-TV on February 18, 2016

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Durbin, coalition warn of financial crisis in higher education

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and other advocates for higher education in Illinois on Monday urged legislators and the governor to end the state budget stalemate that has created a financial crisis for many colleges and their students.

Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, and representatives of the Illinois Coalition to Invest in Higher Education held a news conference at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Public universities and community colleges haven’t received any state funding since the start of the fiscal year, July 1, and the state hasn’t given schools money to pay for grants to help 125,000 low-income students cover the cost of tuition.

Durbin said higher education in Illinois is at a “breaking point.”

“It embarrasses me and troubles me to think that we’ve reached a point where there are so many innocent victims,” he said.

The coalition -- a collection of business, labor and organizations representing public and private colleges and universities coming together to urge immediate action -- kicked off its push in January to raise awareness of the crisis and build pressure on policymakers for a solution.

At UIS, Chancellor Susan Koch said the state owes the university nearly $18 million. As a result of the budget impasse, UIS isn’t able to fill 25 positions and is implementing a 20 percent across-the-board spening reduction, she said.

If not for increasing enrollment and good fiscal planning, the situation would be much more bleak, Koch said.

“We’re weathering this thanks to increasing enrollment, but we’re spending less in every area,” she said.

The story was reported by The State Journal-Register on February 16, 2016.

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UIS opens training center for DCFS

In Illinois, advocates for child safety and welfare have been working to find innovative approaches to lower the rate of child abuse. The University of Illinois Springfield has found one.

The first statewide simulation lab for child abuse and neglect opened last week at the University of Illinois Springfield, helping new investigators learn how to pinpoint abuse.

In an interview with Illinois Times, George Sheldon, director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, discussed the drawbacks of not having experiential training prior to this program.

“One of the shortcomings of DCFS has been providing ongoing experiential training,” said Sheldon. “From my experience, 50 percent of cases involving a child who was allegedly abused get returned from administrative judges. This is due to investigators not asking the right questions.”

On Feb. 1, the University of Illinois Springfield opened the first Residential Simulation Lab (RSL) in Illinois to be used as a training site for state-certified DCFS investigators. Located on West Lake Shore Drive, at the entrance to the UIS campus, the house offers an innovative approach for investigators in training to practice real-life encounters and build their confidence before they enter the field.

In November 2015, Dr. Betsy Goulet, the child advocacy studies (CAST) coordinator at UIS and other administrators from the university held a fundraiser to promote the Residential Simulation Lab. On Feb. 3, the first group of investigators entered the lab, participating in their first simulation. In the lab, there are cameras in every room allowing participants awaiting their turn to see what is going on as each simulation takes place.

UIS chancellor Susan Koch praised the program as part of the school’s vision to “make a difference in the world.”

“That admirable ambition lies at the heart of this new program that is coming to life this year in a small, long-vacant house on the UIS campus that formerly housed the campus credit union,” Koch said.

The story was reported by the Illinois Times on February 11, 2016.

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UIS Chancellor says campus is doing 'okay', despite lack of state funding

Susan Koch, Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Springfield, says her campus is managing to weather the budget impasse thanks to the school’s push to recruit more students.

Koch says that decision was made five years ago, and it’s paying off now with record-high enrollment.

In a brief speech to faculty senate last week, Koch tried to reassure employees, telling them the university is doing okay, despite eight months without aid.

Asked whether that proves Governor Bruce Rauner’s point — that institutions of higher education have fat they could cut from their budgets — Koch said UIS "has been on a diet for years, and is pretty slim" already.

“I don’t think the fact that, you know, that we’re stable, necessarily feeds into the governor’s argument. I think he has the best interests of our communities in mind, and he also would understand that more college graduates is really the solution, not the problem,” Koch said.

Koch also told campus senators about a recent study showing state appropriations for higher education had gone up nationwide by an average of more than four percent.

The story was reported by NPR Illinois on February 8, 2016.

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UIS program shows challenge of providing nutritious, affordable school lunch

University of Illinois Springfield junior Jessica Fager of Sherman had $2 in simulated money Wednesday to buy five items that someone might find in a public school cafeteria.

She skipped the meat items altogether but still found that her $2 didn't go very far.

"I only have 30 cents left," Fager said. "There wasn't much left even if I did eat meat."

Fager was one of about 150 students who attended a special program called Lunch Hour. The evening event was designed to highlight the difficulties school districts have when trying to buy food that is both affordable and nutritious.

Mark Dochterman, director of the Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center at UIS, said school districts across the country spend between $2 and $2.15 on one lunch for one child.

"Think about that. Even buying in mass, it's difficult to make a lunch for $2," Dochterman said. "It's even more difficult to make it a healthy lunch. A lot of schools are stuck making decisions between an inexpensive protein or something like a nice slice of turkey that would be nice and healthy."

The story was reported by The State Journal-Register on November 19, 2015.

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UIS professor: French, European values attacked

A University of Illinois Springfield professor living in Paris said Friday's coordinated terrorist attacks were an assault on the European and French culture that may be the beginning of things to come.

Rosina Neginsky, an associate professor of interdisciplinary studies and comparative literature and art history, is on sabbatical from UIS and is doing research for a new book she is writing. She is set to return to Springfield in August.

Neginsky was attending a concert on des Champs-Elysees with a friend the day of the attacks. A relative of Neginsky's friend called her to tell her about the events and that they should avoid certain areas of the city.

Neginsky said she was able to return to her home in La Butte aux Cailles, in the southern part of Paris and away from Friday's violence, without incident. She later saw some of the events unfold on her computer and by listening to the radio.

"Here, it's an attack on French values and European values, the joy of life and freedom," said Neginsky, reached in Paris by phone Monday. "Those values are extremely important here."

Neginsky was profiled by The State Journal-Register on November 17, 2015.

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Latino Innocence Initiative aims to prevent wrongful convictions

After spending about half his life in prison, Angel Gonzalez was cleared from a rape and abduction conviction when DNA testing eliminated him as one of the two men who committed the crime.

On Friday, Gonzalez stood proudly alongside the lawyers and staff who aided him in his exoneration as the Illinois Innocence Project announced the Latino Innocence Initiative, which aims to prevent wrongful convictions and help people like Gonzalez who are vulnerable because of language barriers, lack of familiarity with the U.S. criminal justice system and threats over immigration status.

The initiative will include Spanish-language outreach to Illinois inmates who need legal assistance based on assertions of innocence, DNA testing and other investigation, regional or national conferences to explore similar issues and an action or reform agenda for Illinois policymakers.

"We're very proud of this, there's a big need to do this in Illinois," said John Hanlon, executive and legal director, who cited Gonzalez, who was released from prison in March and was granted a certificate of innocence in June, as the inspiration behind the initiative.

The Latino Innocence Initiative is part of the University of Illinois at Springfield's Innocence Project. The group has already created Spanish application forms for its services and is in the process of creating an advisory board.

The story was reported by the Chicago Tribune on November 13, 2015.

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$754K federal grant seeks to help exonerate wrongfully convicted Latinos

The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield is shifting its focus to exonerating Latino inmates who have been wrongfully convicted in Illinois.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin joined UIS Chancellor Susan Koch on Friday to announce that the Innocence Project has been awarded a $753,958 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

John Hanlon, executive director of the Innocence Project, said Latinos are more susceptible to wrongful convictions due to barriers involving language, citizenship and status.

The federal grant will allow the Innocence Project to hire two additional bilingual lawyers, Hanlon said.

The organization, which receives help from UIS students, is primarily funded through federal grants but also receives private donations.

"We hope to address these disparities, which often lead to improper convictions and create difficulties for Latino inmates, by working on cases where the individual can be proved innocent through the use of DNA testing," Hanlon said.

In addition, Hanlon said staff at the Innocence Project will continue to use DNA testing to attempt to exonerate other inmates who they believe were wrongfully convicted.

The story was reported by The State Journal-Register on October 31, 2015.

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Civil-rights icon John Lewis discusses graphic memoir during UIS appearance

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a leader in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, said the story of the struggle is not being passed down to today’s high school and college students.

Lewis, D-Georgia, was at the University of Illinois Springfield Monday to talk to a crowd of more than 1,700 in Sangamon Auditorium about his memoir series “March,” which chronicles his work in the civil rights movement.

The books are "graphic" memoirs, which means the stories are told with illustrations similar to the style of a comic book. “In so many places in America today, people have not been taught anything, or very little about the American civil rights movement,” Lewis, 75, said in an interview with The State Journal-Register before his presentation. “My generation was deeply inspired by Rosa Parks and the leadership of Dr. (Martin Luther) King (Jr.). We studied the philosophy and discipline of non-violence. We were inspired to move, to act, to stand up, to speak out and speak up.”

"March" was written by Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell. Aydin and Powell were on stage with Lewis as he talked about the book Monday evening. Aydin, who also serves on Lewis’ staff, said the idea for “March” came about in 2008 when the congressman told him about a comic book that came out in 1957 about King. The comic book helped educate a generation about the principles of nonviolent protests and inspired some of the earliest acts of civil disobedience. “When we looked at that comic book ... it became self-evident. If this worked once before, why can’t it work again,”

This story appeared online in The State Journal-Register on October 19, 2015.

Read the entire article here.

Budget impasse hurting college students

It's day 84 without a budget and one of the state's constitutional officers says the suffering has gone on long enough. Treasurer Mike Frerichs took that message to the University of Illinois Springfield Tuesday.

Right now, state universities are struggling to make ends meet because they haven't received their portion of higher education funding from the state. Students are facing the same problem because the state hasn't paid out MAP grants either. MAP grants are awarded on the basis of need.

University of Illinois Springfield Senior, Jamie Anderson, spent 11 years as a foster child, without MAP grants she says she couldn't have overcome her situation.

"My family never went to college. I was poor. I was made fun of. I was told I was not going to graduate high school and I wouldn't be where I am today," said Anderson.

130,000 students across the state rely on state funded MAP grants to help them pay for college. 800 students at UIS use them every year and now they're worried politics is getting in the way of their opportunity.

UIS is giving MAP grant students their money with the hopes that once the budget impasse ends the state will make good on their promises.

The story was reported by WICS-TV 20 on September 24, 2015.

Watch the story online.