Gov.-Elect Blagojevich Names Members of Budget Advisory Panel

RELEASE DATE: December 3, 2002

CHICAGO - Governor-elect Rod Blagojevich today announced the appointment of a team of leaders with extensive experience in the private and public sector to serve on his budget advisory board. The panel members will work during the current transition period to examine in detail the state's current fiscal condition, identify the state's most urgent budget challenges and report their findings to the incoming governor.

"I am pleased that these outstanding leaders have agreed to offer their energy and ideas to assist me in our effort to move the state of Illinois toward a more sound fiscal situation and an era of sensible spending," Blagojevich said.

The team will help Blagojevich carry out one of the key priorities that he spoke about during the campaign - addressing the state's current budget crisis and implementing sound, sensible spending practices. While unveiling the panel members, Blagojevich also reiterated his commitment to achieve fiscal discipline without creating new burdens on taxpayers.

"Each member of this team must be aware of my dedication to the premise that we cannot improve our state's difficult fiscal and economic condition by adding to the burdens of the people who pay the state's bills and who use our businesses' goods and services," he said.

In addition, specific areas of study to be undertaken by the panel will include: revenue issues (tax policy, collections); public finance (debt, bonding, and cash management); state government expenditures; federal funding; and pensions.

The board will be led by three co-chairs. They are: Ralph Muller, Sharon Gilliam and John Filan. They will be joined by seventeen advisory board members and eight ex-officio members.

The governor-elect said Wednesday, that the serious state's fiscal condition required not merely the identification of areas of potential savings, but also a comprehensive reform of the procedures now used to craft state budgets. During the campaign, he spoke about the need for greater sunshine on the budget process, more public scrutiny and involvement.

Despite the severity of the current deficit, Blagojevich nonetheless expressed optimism that the situation could work to the advantage of the people of Illinois.

"The magnitude of this problem means that we not only face an important challenge, but also a rare opportunity," he said.

"Clearly, we must start fresh, with a brand new approach to state spending issues. We cannot debate whether or not the current system works as well as it should—it clearly does not," he added.

"In the weeks and months ahead, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to thoroughly reshape our state's spending priorities, provide the people with a stronger and more solid financial future, and recreate state government to better reflect the values that we all share."

"I welcome that opportunity," the governor-elect said.

Board co-chairs:

• John Filan is a founding principal and management partner of the firm FPT&W with thirty years experience in the state and local government. He previously served in state government as a department cabinet officer and as a member of the Governor's staff; and later he served as a special budget consultant to the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate. He has also served as a cash management consultant to the State Treasurer's Office.

• Sharon Gilliam is currently Chief Operating Officer at Unsion-Maximus, Inc. and chairwoman of the Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. She has extensive experience in local government, previously having served as city of Chicago Budget Director, city of Chicago Chief Operating Officer, and Chief of Staff to former Mayor Eugene Sawyer.

• Ralph Muller was previously the president and chief executive officer of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System, and chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the organization that represents medical schools, teaching hospitals, academic and professional societies throughout North America.

Board members:

• Dean Barringer: the Educational Institutions Program Administrator for the Illinois State Treasurer's Office, who helped lead the effort to enroll some 39 regional school superintendents, 33 community colleges, and 26 school district township treasurers into the Illinois Public Treasurers' Investment Pool.

• Edward Bedore: president of E.B. Enterprise, Inc. Bedore previously served as Chief Financial Officer of the City of Chicago and also served as Chicago Budget Director for three different Chicago Mayors, and Treasurer of the Chicago Transit Authority.

• John Bouman: deputy director for Advocacy/Welfare at NCPL. He previously spent 21 years at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago where he supervised the welfare team from 1985.

• Clark Burrus: has held a variety of key roles in local government including Comptroller and Chief Fiscal Officer of the City of Chicago, Chairman of the Chicago Transit Authority, member of the Board of the Regional Transportation Authority and trustee of five public pension funds. He also held a number of leading positions in the banking industry, before retiring in 1998 as Vice Chairman of First Chicago Capital Markets.

• Adela Cepeda: Founder and President of A.C. Advisory, a financial advisory firm whose clients include the City of Chicago, Cook County, the Illinois Sports Authority and O'Hare Airport. Ms. Cepeda was also previously co-founder and Managing Director of Abacus Financial Group, Inc. as well as Vice President of the Corporate Finance Department of Smith Barney.

• Garrett Deakin: the Executive Assistant for Government Relations at Southern Illinois University. Previously, Deakin served as Director of the Illinois Senate Appropriations Committee staff.

• Walter Knorr: served for 16 years with the City of Chicago as City Comptroller and Chicago Chief Financial Officer. He has had thirty years experience in finance. Prior to joining Salomon Smith Barney, Mr. Knorr was an auditor with Arthur Young, a public finance broker with Northern Trust, and. He has also served as a trustee for several public pension funds.

• Barbara Lumpkin: Senior Vice President for Corporate and Institutional Services at Northern Trust Bank. From June 1999 to April 2000, she served as Chicago City Treasurer; as Chicago Budget Director from February 1998 to June 1999; and City Comptroller from August 1995 to January 1998.

• Richard Mark: Vice President for Customer Service at Ameren, and was formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of St. Mary's Hospital of East St. Louis. He was appointed in 1994 as chairman of the state financial oversight panel for the East St. Louis school district.

• Ralph Martire: executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability - a bipartisan think tank devoted to studying the Illinois tax system and budget. He has authored many budget policy proposals and is regular columnist and lecturer on budget issues.

• Ronald D. Picur: professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is also a Partner with FPT&W. Mr. Picur also currently serves as Director of the Center for Governmental Accounting Research and Education.

• Henry Scheff: Director of Research and Employee Benefits for AFSCME Council 31, which represents more than 95,000 active and retired public employees in Illinois. He currently serves on several labor/management committees on employee benefits and is now serving his fourth term as a public member of the Illinois Pension Law Commission.

• Lois Scott: Chief Strategy Officer of Homeboyz Interactive. Ms. Scott has over 19 years experience in management and finance, having completed over $10 billion of public sector programs in the fields of education, affordable housing, and health care, chaired a management committee of a major U.S. agency responsible for an annual operating budget of $800 million, and managed one of the top transportation finance practices on Wall Street.

• Michael Seibold: was head of sales and marketing for Health Care Service Corporation, the parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. He was also President and Chief Operating Officer of Blue Cross / Blue Shield Illinois as well as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

• Leo Smith: an attorney and founder of the Illinois Birth to Five Political Action Committee, which focuses on the impact of public policy on young children. He also served as the CFO for the Ounce of Prevention Fund. As a prior Dunn Fellow, he served as a human services planner for the State of Illinois.

• John Stevens: a partner with the law firm of Freeborn and Peters. He has experience in issue areas such as drug formulary determinations, Medicaid issues and State procurement matters. He served as general counsel to the Illinois Bureau of the Budget and as legal advisor to the Illinois Procurement Policy Board.

• Paula Wolff: Senior Executive at Chicago Metropolis 2020. She previously served as President of Governors State University; as Director of Policy and Planning for Governor James R. Thompson; and directed Governor Jim Edgar's transition team.

Ex-officio members:

• Alderman William M. Beavers (7th): currently Chairs the Budget Committee of the Chicago City Council. He is Vice Chairman of the Aviation Committee, and sits on the Finance Committee. Ald. Beavers is also a 21-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department. He joined the City Council in 1983.

• Terri Coombes: Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Programs and Policies for the Illinois Secretary of State. She served in the past as Director of Research and Operations for the Office of the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.

• State Representative Gary Hannig (D-Benld): represents the 98th legislative district. He serves as the Assistant Democratic Leader and Chief Budget Negotiator for the House Democrats. He holds a degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Champaign and is a Certified Public Accountant. He was elected to the House in 1978.

• Carol Lampard: director of the Illinois Secretary of State's Department of Budget and Fiscal Management, where she prepares the Secretary's budget for presentation to the State Legislature and prepares all agency financial statements. Ms. Lampard has also served as Executive Director of the Legislative Audit Commission, and Manager of the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission.

• State Representative Dan Reitz (D-Steeleville): representative from the 116th legislative district and chair of the Committee on Cities and Villages, vice-chair of the Agriculture Committee. He is also a former Randolph Co. commissioner and former president of the Illinois County Board Association.

• State Senator-elect Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston): representative from Illinois' 58th legislative district for the past six terms. He serves as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee for General Services and Government Oversight, Chairman of the House Special Committee on State Procurement. He has sponsored legislation calling for comprehensive contracting reform and has called for fiscal policy reforms such as the Illinois Performance Review.

• Ann Sundeen: assistant Comptroller for Fiscal Policy, advising the Comptroller on the state budget and related issues. She has also served as Fiscal Advisor to the Illinois House and Senate Democratic Leaders, Assistant Director for Fiscal Affairs at the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and Chief of the Revenue Unit at the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission.

• State Senator Donne E. Trotter (D-Chicago): represents the 16th Senate district. He was elected to the Illinois House in 1988 and to the Illinois State Senate in 1992. Mr. Trotter serves as Democratic Spokesman on the House Appropriations Committee as well as the Illinois Audit Commission and the House Task Force on Public Investment.