As the Bears organization continues to gamble with its taxpaying fan base, Indiana Speaker Todd Huston highlights in an op-ed (“Why the Chicago Bears and many others are considering Indiana,”
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June 23) why “companies, organizations and people (are) choosing to live, grow and invest in Indiana” with claims of favorable cost advantages.Though I am no fan of Illinois’ lack of fiscal accountability, Huston fails to acknowledge some obvious disparities between our two states. Indiana ranks worse in education, household income and life expectancy. Indiana also has a higher infant mortality rate and rate of death by gun violence.
In essence, you get what you pay for in Indiana. That state is offering our Bears organization more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds for the team’s stadium at the expense of Indiana’s own people. These funds would be better served being invested in education, healthcare, roads and public safety (police and fire departments) to ensure that the quality of life for Hoosiers matches ours in Illinois.
Again, we are not perfect in Illinois and can even learn from Indiana by eliminating bureaucracy and cutting the proverbial red tape. Huston unfortunately cherry-picks the best of his state without acknowledging the worst. Perhaps our two states should work in coordination to address our relative strengths and weaknesses together instead of allowing billionaire NFL ownership to extort one state over another.
As a proud former Boilermaker, I have the perspective of both states. Maybe Indiana shouldn’t pit itself against Illinois and visa versa.
As the 250th anniversary of our great nation approaches, we should remind ourselves that we are the United States, not the “Separate States.”
— Ryan Scheck, Chicago
What about the disinvestment?
While reading Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston’s op-ed about businesses coming to Indiana, two words came to mind: revisionist history.
Huston makes bold claims about Republican-led Indiana’s “fiscal discipline, tax competitiveness, regulatory predictability” that deserve further scrutiny.
If government ignores and disinvests from northwest Indiana communities such as Gary for long enough, if it lets enough northwest Indiana companies fail over decades, then it will be left with cheap land to offer to businesses such as the ones Huston mentions are coming to the Hoosier State.
Rather than cheerlead his political party, I invite Huston to govern responsibly when it comes to public safety and regulation enforcement. Ensuring U.S. Steel never again dumps carcinogenic hexavalent chromium into Lake Michigan and stopping the Whiting BP plant’s releases of mercury and PFAs into the lake are two such opportunities for responsible government that come to mind.
And thank you to the Tribune for recent coverage of the Indiana coal ash dumps that lie so close to Lake Michigan (“Rollback of coal ash rules sparks outrage,” June 14). Indiana could prioritize the cleanup of the sites that are dangerously close to the source of drinking water that millions of people rely on.
Finally, regarding the state’s fiscal discipline touted by Huston, federal funds make up a whopping 42% of Indiana’s general revenue. It’s not hard to see where the balanced budgets come from.
As a resident of Illinois, a federal tax “donor” state, I thought the one thing missing from Huston’s op-ed was a “thank you” to states like Illinois.
— Paul Quinn, Mount Prospect
Democrat-led states a disaster
Illinois voters take note of why Indiana is more attractive for business and people in general. Some of the best-run states are under a Republican administration. When Democrats have total control, such as in Illinois, controlling the governor’s office, the state Senate and House, and the state Supreme Court, with no check and balances on their actions, the state is a disaster.
— Robert Johnson, Palos Heights
Survival of safety-net hospitals
The article “Safety net hospital debt ignites debate” (June 21) raises serious concerns about the long-term survival of safety-net hospitals. Unfortunately, a new law that affects hospitals seeking loans does little to address the fundamental challenges threatening these institutions.
Safety-net hospitals in Illinois and across the nation face a common problem: a lack of meaningful and sustained investment in their future. These hospitals exist to serve the most vulnerable members of our communities — individuals and families who often have nowhere else to turn for care. Yet the discussion surrounding their survival is too often reduced to a purely financial debate.
What is frequently missing from these conversations is a commitment to ensuring healthcare access for all, which should be the ultimate goal of public policy. Safety-net hospitals are not simply healthcare providers; they are the front-line defense against preventable disease, unnecessary suffering and avoidable deaths. They play a critical role in maintaining the health and well-being of entire communities.
Operating a hospital requires significant financial resources, and it is difficult to understand why greater attention is not being given to holding the payer community accountable for timely and adequate reimbursement for services provided to their beneficiaries. Delayed and insufficient payments place an unsustainable burden on hospitals that are already operating with limited margins while caring for disproportionately high numbers of uninsured and underinsured patients.
Rather than focusing solely on financial metrics, policymakers, healthcare leaders, payers and community stakeholders should engage in a more serious and collaborative discussion about sustainable solutions. The residents of our cities and state deserve the right to receive quality healthcare in their own communities, regardless of their income, insurance status or ZIP code.
The survival of safety-net hospitals is not simply a financial issue — it is a public health imperative.
— Rupert M. Evans Sr., chairman, The New Roseland Community Hospital
Stop data center near capital
I know that the state legislature is focused on keeping the Bears in Illinois. I support that. But is there anything either state lawmakers or the governor could do to prevent the data center from going up in Sangamon County?
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I’ll drink my plastic with a side of water if I have to, but I’d prefer not.
— Mike Gascoigne, Springfield
Pensions long underfunded
The editorial about the state pension mess (“Illinois spends 65 cents on pensions for every dollar it spends on classrooms,” June 22) neglects to mention that this mess is a result of Michael Madigan as House speaker and the General Assembly not funding the pension funds so they could balance the state budget!
— Virginia Helm, Chicago
Parking meters a moneymaker
Mayor Brandon Johnson says Chicago can’t afford to buy out the awful parking meter deal. Perhaps the question should be: Can the city afford not to, considering the billions the current owners have made and the billions the future owners will make?
— Joanne Zolomij, Evanston
Note to readers
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