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Staff reports | Saturday, January 27, 2007 1:06 AM CST | () comments

Illinois transportation secretary resigns

SPRINGFIELD — State Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin, whose agency is part of a federal investigation and which was hit by scandal over a pressure-washing contract, resigned Friday.

Milton Sees, the director of highways, was named acting secretary.

Martin, who joined the administration in February 2003, oversaw IDOT’s $10 billion annual highway improvement program that combines state and federal money.

But road improvement was hampered by bickering between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the General Assembly, which has refused to approve billions more for annual infrastructure improvements since the Democratic governor took office.

Blagojevich praised Martin, saying he “was instrumental in modernizing and making IDOT more efficient, and focused the agency on better using technology to accomplish its goals.”

In a statement, Martin, who makes $128,000, thanked Blagojevich but gave no indication of why he is leaving or what he plans to do next.

Spokesman Matt Vanover said he will take a private-sector job.

Blagojevich acknowledged in October 2005 that IDOT was one of several agencies that federal prosecutors subpoenaed for hiring records. The others were Blagojevich’s office and the Departments of Corrections and Children and Family Services.

No one has been charged with wrongdoing, but U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said last summer he had credible witnesses to “endemic hiring fraud” in the Blagojevich administration.

Martin’s director of finance and administration, Robert Millette, resigned in summer 2005 after The Associated Press reported that Millette was instrumental in getting a $500,000 contract for his brother-in-law’s company to pressure-wash IDOT buildings, interstate rest area structures, bridges and even the interiors of salt-storage domes.

The AP reported that the company was paid $7,000 to pressure-wash a brand-new, unused salt barn and spray the concrete with a corrosion-resistant chemical, repeating work that had been done by the builder months before.

Martin and Blagojevich initially stood by Millette, saying he had recused himself from anything dealing with the firm, but the AP reported Millette had sent e-mails the previous fall wanting to know whether the deal had been signed.

Martin also was personally responsible for hiring a man last spring to travel Chicago-area streets and report on whether traffic lights were functioning. The AP reported earlier this month that the man walked out on the contract and was paid $3,000 for data that IDOT has not used.

Martin, 50, had been chief operating officer of the Chicago Public Schools before joining the Blagojevich administration.

Sees, who came to IDOT from the private sector just over a year ago, will assume Martin’s responsibilities until Blagojevich nominates a permanent secretary, who must be confirmed by the Senate.

The 60-year-old Sees makes $101,000.

Cigarette tax likely to figure into health-care debate

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Plans to expand Iowa’s health care system could cost $90 million and may depend on passage of a $1 per pack increase in the cigarette tax.

Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, said the likelihood that lawmakers would approve the health care expansion are improving, as are the chances that they’ll support a $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax.

“I think the genesis of all these health care plans is Gov. Culver’s commitment to raise the cigarette tax by a dollar,” said Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, who heads a budget panel considering the health care proposals.

Rep. David Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, the ranking Republican on the budget panel studying the issue, said GOP resistance to the cigarette tax increase may be fading.

“I think now there is a sense of inevitability of an increase,” said Heaton.

The two spoke during a taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program, which airs this weekend.

Some Democrats had resisted Gov. Chet Culver’s call for the $1 per pack increase, arguing instead for a 40 cent to 60 cent increase. But Hatch said more Democrats are siding with the governor, who wants to fund health care efforts in part with the increased tax.

“I’ve already seen legislators move from noncommittal to $1,” said Hatch, adding that one legislator has proposed raising the tax by $1.17 and some have talked about a $2 increase.

“I believe in the end we’re going to get it,” said Hatch. “In the beginning we had a problem.”

Hatch and Heaton conceded the health expansions being discussed will be costly.

One proposal that would expand a program that offers health care to children of the working poor and provide dental coverage to children who lack coverage would cost from $60 million to $70 million a year.

Another measure that help small businesses offer health coverage to workers also would be expensive.

“We’re thinking about maybe as much as $90 million,” said Hatch.

A key factor for lawmakers crafting a health care expansion will be Iowa’s large and influential insurance industry, which will be closely consulted throughout the process.

“We have an insurance industry in this state that cannot be harmed by how we set this up,” said Hatch.

The state’s cigarette tax is now 36 cents per pack, one of the lowest in the nation.

Iowa health officials see rapid increase in flu cases

DES MOINES — Iowa health officials have noticed an apparent spike in the number of flu cases in Iowa, with school-aged children bearing the brunt of the outbreak.

The number of school children who have missed school because of illness has doubled over the last week, according to school officials, and health officials suspect that flu is the cause for the increase.

“It is pretty unusual,” Patricia Quinlisk, the state’s epidemiologist, said Friday. “It happens now and then, and it seems to be determined by what strain we’re seeing, but this year we’ve got three strains, and that’s very unusual.”

Typically, Quinlisk said, the state only sees one or perhaps two strains of the flu. She said that of the three strains circulating in Iowa, one seemed to be affecting children in large numbers.

Health officials said the recent uptick in flu cases highlighted the need for everyone, and particularly children, to get a flu shot.

Vaccinations will protect against three strains of flu that are circulating in Iowa, and are available in both as the traditional injection or as a nasal spray.

—The Associated Press

About 1,000 Iowans die of influenza and pneumonia each year, health officials said, so it’s important to seek medical care as soon as symptoms are shown.