Suffredin Wants Budget Transparency, Health Care Reform in Third Term as Commissioner

Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (13^th District) easily beat Republican challenger Linda LaFianza and Green candidate George Milkowski in last week’s election, winning a third consecutive term on the 17-member board.

With all 197 precincts reporting, Suffredin, a Democrat, won nearly 68 percent of the vote. LaFianza took 27 percent and Milkowski garnered about 6 percent.

Suffredin said in his upcoming term he wants to make it clearer how long trustees on an independent health board can serve. He said he also expects Cook County Board President-elect Toni Preckwinkle to push for increased budget transparency.

“I expect Toni Preckwinkle, when she presents her first budget, that there will be a lot more materials available and people will be able to really understand how this budget was put together,” he said.

The controversial 2008 sales tax increase proposed by outgoing Board President Todd Stroger has been another issue for Suffredin. While he originally voted for the sales tax, he said he now wants to repeal the remaining half-cent of the increase.

“I voted for it so that I could get the independent health board and try and stabilize the government and take the place where the biggest $287 million shortfall had been generated by Todd Stroger’s incompetence,” he said. “It was never intended to be permanent.”

But LaFianza argued that it was inappropriate for Suffredin to vote for the increase regardless of whether his support was linked to the creation of the new health board.

“There just was no need for that tax increase, under any circumstances,” she said. “That kind of reform should not have been tied to a tax increase.”

LaFianza said she was uncertain the repeal of the remaining tax increase would be a priority for Suffredin.

“That’s up to him and Toni Preckwinkle. Based on their track record, there’s no guarantee they will,” she said.

Preckwinkle has already said she doesn’t foresee a repeal of the sales tax increase in her first year of office, citing a Civic Federation report that places Cook County’s budget deficit at $285 million.

The report recommends repealing the remainder of the sales tax. If the tax is repealed in 2011, the report predicts the budget deficit will approach $300 million.

Aside from the sales tax issue, Suffredin said he would continue attempting to secure health care for undocumented immigrants. He said obtaining federal funding is key to that reform.

“It’s going to have to be federal dollars because there is absolutely no way local government can afford to provide the health care for this large a group,” he said.

When asked how he thought Cook County residents would react to aiding undocumented immigrants using federal money, Suffredin said he does not expect it to be a popular decision.

“I think I have a duty to point out that this is a problem. Right now within the community there are large numbers of undocumented people and they’re saying to each other, ‘The only place we can go to get health care is county,’” he said. “I know it’s unpopular and I know this is going to be something that’s difficult to put together.”

Suffredin said the number of people seeking health care from Cook County has increased 8 percent in the last several months.

Dr. Quentin Young, a Cook County health expert, said that statewide in 2009 there were 1.9 million people without health insurance, up 250,000 from 2008.

He said it’s hard to say exactly what percentage undocumented immigrants contribute to those without health care.

“It’s not too precise. It’s thought to be 20 percent of the uninsured. It is difficult because undocumented immigrants tend to conceal their status,” Young said.