Iowa lawmakers have once again crushed a proposal to expand the state's 1978 bottle bill.

A panel of lawmakers on February 22 heard testimony on House Study Bill 652, which would expand Iowa's beverage-container-control law - the anti-litter law more commonly known as the "bottle bill," - to include water bottles and sports drinks.

But the bill's floor manager made clear that the legislation isn't going anywhere this year.

The pro-choice group Personal PAC has filed suit to kill off Illinois' campaign-contribution limits to certain political action committees. If the group succeeds, some candidates may start justifiably quivering.

Currently in Illinois, contributions to state political action committees are capped at $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for corporations, groups, and unions.

Personal PAC's lawsuit wants those contribution caps wiped out, arguing that the controversial Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court case and the Wisconsin Right to Life Seventh U.S. Circuit case mean that the caps are unconstitutional. The two cases declared that spending and contribution limits on federal and state PACs that are engaged in independent expenditures are unconstitutional.

Living in a representative democratic republic such as ours means that each person has the right to stand outside the halls of government and express his or her opinion on matters of state without fear of arrest. That's what the First Amendment is all about.

It gives every American the right to "petition the government for a redress of grievances." It ensures, as Adam Newton and Ronald K.L. Collins report for the Five Freedoms Project, "that our leaders hear, even if they don't listen to, the electorate. Though public officials may be indifferent, contrary, or silent participants in democratic discourse, at least the First Amendment commands their audience."

As Newton and Collins elaborate: "'Petitioning' has come to signify any nonviolent, legal means of encouraging or disapproving government action, whether directed to the judicial, executive, or legislative branch. Lobbying, letter-writing, e-mail campaigns, testifying before tribunals, filing lawsuits, supporting referenda, collecting signatures for ballot initiatives, peaceful protests, and picketing: All public articulation of issues, complaints, and interests designed to spur government action qualifies under the petition clause, even if the activities partake of other First Amendment freedoms."

Unfortunately, through a series of carefully crafted legislative steps, our government officials - both elected and appointed - have managed to disembowel this fundamental freedom, rendering it with little more meaning than the right to file a lawsuit against government officials. In the process, government officials have succeeded in insulating themselves from their constituents, making it increasingly difficult for average Americans to make themselves seen or heard by those who most need to hear what "we the people" have to say.

Governor Pat Quinn outlined a plan last week to reform the state's troubled pension systems. In doing so, Quinn appeared to outright reject some pension ideas offered up by House Republican Leader Tom Cross and Senate President John Cullerton.

The governor said pension-reform negotiations, which have dragged on for well over a year, are in need of a fresh start. Republican Leader Cross' reform proposal raises employee pension contributions to force public employees into either a lower-cost system or to a 401(k)-style plan. The state's pension plans have billions of dollars in what's called unfunded liability, and the idea is to lower that liability by reducing retiree pension payouts.

The governor all but said Leader Cross' plan, which is hotly opposed by labor unions, needed to be tossed out. "I don't think there's a lot of enthusiasm by members of either party and either house for that particular bill," the governor said. "We're going to start from scratch, and everybody will have a voice and we'll get to a good place."

??The gap between the promises Iowa has made for public employees' retirement benefits and the money set aside to pay for them has grown to $5.7 billion - a 1,643-percent increase over 11 years, State Auditor David Vaudt said Monday.

"We had just a $327-million liability at the end of 2000. That has now grown to $5.7 billion, and that's equal almost to one year's general-fund budget," Vaudt said. "We're going to need substantial resources in the future to improve the funded status of this particular plan."

A report last year by State Budget Solutions, a national not-for-profit advocating for fundamental reform of state budgets, pegs Iowa's unfunded liability as even larger - $21.3 billion as of last March.

After more than a decade of extreme scandal and gross government mismanagement, far too many Illinoisans seem to be wallowing or even perversely reveling in our state's embarrassing failures. Just try to point out a positive aspect of this state and you'll be shouted down by all sides as a naive homer.

But accentuating the positive is just what Governor Pat Quinn tried to do last week, and, man, was he ever hammered for it.

Putting aside all the resulting uproar for a moment, the governor's State of the State address was probably the best speech I've ever heard Quinn give, at least on a technical basis. It was well-written (his 2010 speech was horribly ad-libbed), well-delivered (he's given some real snoozers), and, as far as a State of the State speech goes, it hit all the right high notes.

Jody Miller played online poker for three to four years before the government cracked down on the practice a couple of years ago.

Before that, Miller said, online poker was technically never legal, but the laws were rarely enforced. Increased government enforcement, he said, made it more difficult to play and caused some online poker Web sites to shut down. Some players saw their assets frozen and become tied up in online accounts.

Miller, 34, of Indianola, said it's time for Iowa to legalize online poker.

"I think it's an opportunity to capture some funding if you can legalize it - for the state to capture the revenue. Now's the time to do it," Miller said. "I think people are doing it anyway."

Iowa Senate State Government Committee Chair Jeff Danielson (D-Cedar Falls) said the federal government has done a poor job of telling Americans what is legal in terms of online poker.

Danielson said he plans to introduce a bill this month that would legalize online poker in Iowa. He said the nation had a tremendous rise in poker activity until 2009. At its peak, he said, Iowans were spending close to $100 million outside the state on online poker.

If students enrolled at Iowa's state universities have to pay higher tuition, university presidents should share the pain, some House Republicans said.

"This is about making accountable a person that is receiving a half a million dollars in tax dollars to run an institution," said state Representative Jeff Kaufmann (R-Wilton). "This is not about denigrating the university. This is about improving it on behalf of the taxpayers and the students of the state."

Especially infuriating some House Republicans was University of Iowa President Sally Mason's hiring of two highly paid assistants during tough budget times. Tysen Kendig was hired as vice president for strategic communication in February 2010 and is paid $280,000; Mark Braun was named Mason's chief of staff in October 2008 and makes $200,000, lawmakers said. Kaufmann called the hirings "absolutely indefensible."

State public-employee pension systems are grossly underfunded in general and are financial time bombs for most states. According to the 2010 paper "Are State Public Pensions Sustainable?", 31 state pension systems will run out of money by 2030 at current benefit and funding levels. (Illinois topped the list, going broke in 2018; Iowa is in better shape than most states, with an estimated expiration date of 2035.)

What's happening in cities across Iowa with police and firefighter pensions, though, shows the flip side - the short-term budget pain that accompanies a well-funded system when investments perform poorly.

In Davenport, the cost of police and firefighter pensions will increase from roughly $3.3 million in Fiscal Year 2010 to $5.5 million next fiscal year and an estimated $6.6 million in Fiscal Year 2014, according to city Budget Director Alan Guard. Over the four-year period ending in 2014, Guard said, the cumulative additional cost is $7.75 million.

In Bettendorf, the cost of police and fire pensions increased from roughly $747,000 in Fiscal Year 2010 to $1.22 million next fiscal year and an expected $1.36 million in Fiscal Year 2014, according to City Administrator Decker Ploehn. Over the four-year period ending in 2014, the cumulative additional cost is $1.62 million.

Last week, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared to all but endorse an idea to force Downstate and suburban school districts to pay a significant share of their state pension contributions for the first time in anyone's memory.

Senate President John Cullerton floated that very proposal last year, and Governor Pat Quinn added his support not long ago.

Needless to say, if all three Democratic leaders are talking about it, you can probably expect some action this year. However, there will be strong pushback from suburban and Downstate legislators who'll undoubtedly fear a voter backlash over potentially massive local tax increases to pay for the idea.

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