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Letters to the Editor

Capitol Fax

Rich Miller’s commentary on State Government

One of the main reasons the Democratic Party did so poorly across the nation last year and lost ground in Illinois was the defection of senior citizens to the Republican Party.

On election day, 2006, national exit polling showed voters 65 and older split their ballots 49-49 between the two parties. In Illinois, however, senior citizens went with Democrat Rod Blagojevich over Republican Judy Baar Topinka by ten points, 50-40.

Last year, national exit polling showed Republicans with a huge 59-38 margin over Democrats among seniors. In Illinois, the exit polls showed that Pat Quinn lost the senior citizen vote to Republican Bill Brady by 17 very big points, 55-38. Quinn ended up beating Brady by less than 32,000 votes. Blagojevich won his last election by more than ten times that amount: 367,000. The lost senior vote accounted for more than half the difference between those two margins.

So, some Democrats may be forgiven for cringing last week after reading the headlines about how Senate President John Cullerton was floating the idea of taxing retirement income. Their party needs to woo that all-important and rapidly growing demographic back to the fold, not alienate it even more. Those stories probably didn’t sit well at all with the oldsters. There’s a reason why only five states tax all retirement income, and it ain’t fiscal.

To be fair, the headlines didn’t tell the whole story. Cullerton told me that he had no intention of moving forward with the proposal unless the Republicans joined him. And, he said, he would only use the new tax revenues to lower rates for everyone. It would have to be revenue neutral, he said.

Cullerton also said he was open to limiting the tax to annual retirement income above $100,000. But the Department of Revenue told the Chicago Tribune that taxing only those higher income seniors would net the state just $70 million. Revenue that meager wouldn’t budge the overall rate at all.

It turns out that the real money is in the low-income brackets. All but a small fraction - $276 million - of the $1.9 billion raised by taxing retirement incomes would come from seniors making less than $50,000 a year, according to Tribune numbers obtained from the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

Chicago’s two newspapers both editorialized in favor of it because of the “fairness factor.” Why should well-off oldsters get a free ride on income taxes while lots of working families are struggling to stay afloat in these trying times?

There’s something to be said for spreading the burden around and lowering overall tax rates.

But exempting out lower retirement incomes wouldn’t bring in any real money. Not to mention that it probably wouldn’t be allowed under the Illinois Constitution, which prohibits graduated rates and is generally held to frown upon exempting lots of income. As a result, Cullerton backed almost totally away from the idea the day after he floated it.

The better idea was passed by Cullerton’s Senate two years ago, but it went nowhere in the House. The Senate bill would’ve broadened our narrow state sales tax to cover more things like services. If you buy shampoo for your dog, you pay a sales tax. If you take your dog to one of those swank grooming boutiques, you don’t pay any sales tax. If you buy disposable diapers for your baby, there’s a tax, but diaper service is not taxed.

Keeping the tax base so narrow means that rates have to go up that much higher in a crisis. Widen the base and rates can be stabilized or even lowered. Lots of people don’t even know that they currently pay no state sales tax on food and medicine. And I personally know some retired seniors who were furious about this year’s income tax hike even though it didn’t cost them a dime.

The idea would be to spread a little bit of tax “pain” around to lessen the overall sting. But, hey, it’s all academic now. The General Assembly raised the income tax two percentage points back in January. And a big reason why they they had to jack it up so high to reach the revenue they needed is that our screwed up tax system exempts so much income and just about all services.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com.

Stay With Fifteen

I would like to take this opportunity to recommend that the number of Carroll County Board members remain at 15.

I would further recommend ending the election of the County Board Chairman by the Board members. This would enable the people of Carroll County to choose their Board Chairman independently, thereby promoting a better selection and representation process.

To support the above recommendations, I refer to an incident that pertains to the dismissal of two Board Members, and myself (Democrats, mind you), from several committee posts. I believe we were not only treated unfairly, but we were replaced with less experienced people. It appears that this practice, if not discouraged, will lead to a one-sided Carroll County Board.

I would like to see an update and tightening-up of the present rules and procedures that are currently on the books. If the Chairman forms a committee, it should have to be approved by the full Board before it is put into action.

In conclusion, reducing the Board from the present 15 members will hurt the process of committee action. More people mean better ideas - less people mean fewer ideas, which in turn, makes for potentially bad decisions, and less representation for the people.

Please voice your opinion at the Carroll Co. Board meeting this week, Thursday, March 17 at 9:30 a.m. at the Carroll Co. Courthouse to maintain your representation!

Thank you,

Kurt Dreger

Carroll County Board

District 1 - Savanna, IL

Empowering the People or, The Case of Using Middle Class Angst to Secure the Financial Elite’s Money Grab of America?

We’ve all heard the rallying cry of the Tea Party. The government has bankrupted our children’s future. Too many tax dollars are bloating inefficient programs. Too much regulation, at the cost to the taxpayer, is stifling financial creativity. Government is feeding upon itself to create more government positions with no effectual end products.

Government has, and is creating, laws to restrict the constitutional rights of its citizens. Government closes its eyes to illegal immigration and its corresponding grab of jobs and social entitlements at the expense of the American worker. Government wants to take away our choice, our faith, our guns and replace it with Socialism!

The huddling middle-income masses are embracing this mantra with whole hearted, righteous enthusiasm. Finally, they’ve found their voice after years of shouldering the expense and in the process, being marginalized in the political power game of running this nation. But is it truly the voice of the people? Or is there a certain whispering in the collective ear of America. A susurrus [murmuring] emitted not from the outraged and overtaxed, but from the inhabitants of that financially elite stratosphere known as “the top 1%ers”?

There are several charts floating about in the electronic media demonstrating the increasing gap in income between the top tier, encompassing 1% of the citizenry and the lowest tier. The bottom 90%ers who as a family of 4 make less than $32,000 per year. Myself, I can’t stand charts. From a very painful remembrance of the statistics class long ago I was forced to take, I know that charts only reflect the quantitative analysis of information fed in to them. Instead, I’m going to broach some correlations between a citizenry where 1% control 90% of the wealth, and the resulting disenfranchisement of today’s middle class.

Prior to Nixon removing our currency from the gold standard, the sum of all financial assets (stocks, bonds, mortgages, loans et al) was in direct correlation with the Gross Domestic Product (value of all our goods and services). Then along came de-regulation. Financial speculation became profligate, real wages flattened. Commencing with the Reagan years tax cuts, the top 0.5% of all families saw an increase in wealth of $1.45 trillion from 1983 through 1989. At the same time, the bottom 40% of families went down by $256 billion. And at the same time, the federal debt rose by $1.49 trillion.

The “Trickle Down” theory believed that if the wealthiest had more money to invest, the investment would reflect on the middle and lower classes with an increase in the GDP. Production did rise, but without the corresponding rise in real wages. The Financial Elite, now with more money than they could ever spend were searching for ways for that money to make money. Because of inflation due to high production and less buying power of the masses, the traditional assets did not provide the high rate of return for the investors.

So instead of investing in America, in our people and our products, in our education - they speculated. Enter short sales, leveraged mergers and aquisitions, hostile takeovers and the piecing up and selling of companies, along with global currency speculation that wreaked havoc on third world nations, and the Savings and Loan fiasco. All courtesy of deregulation. And the rich became richer . . .

This opened the door to certain financial products – products that were not regulated, products that were like an addictive drug to the uber rich investors, products that did not require an investment in “real” assets. These products are called “derivatives”. There is no fathomable way I’m going to get into the nuances of explaining these things – they are way too complicated and opaque to the point of “Ponzi-ishness”. Lets just say the uber rich investors ate them up, as they were predicted to have awesome returns. The more the investors gambled, the higher the return possiblity. And guess what set these financial products on fire? Yep, the sub-prime housing market.

Now I’m not saying that it’s okay to spend beyond your means, or to have an unreasonable debt ratio. Just because we live in America doesn’t mean we automatically qualify for “the American Dream”. Especially if your income will not support it. Back when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came into being, these government regulated mortgages required a substantial down payment and vetting of the borrowers income.

Enter privatized lending facilities, mortgage brokers and investment banks. They weren’t constrained by the regulations on Fannie and Freddie. They could lend to sub-prime borrowers, bundle up all their sub-prime mortgages and sell them off to investors. And they made instant coin on the points. Their partner brokerage firms made nice change too on putting together these securities and managing them. Very nice change . . . supply and demand kicked in and the uber rich investors clamoured for these products, which in turn inspired more lending institutions to lend to sub-prime borrowers, get the points paid and sell them off. Those nasty sub-prime mortgages never made it onto the lending banks books, so they maintained their high S&P ratings.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw how much was being made by these companies and got into the act – somewhat. They still were under the scruples of government regulations so they in fact still had to investigate their borrowers and have the paperwork. But with these highly rated private lenders approving these mortgages at record speed, then getting them off their books by selling them as derivatives, Fannie and Freddie didn’t have the investigative means nor the quality of personnel to vet these transactions, so they took them at their word and guaranteed the loans.

Enough of that. These financial products/derivatives went toxic when the housing market crashed. America over-bought, over-built and over-assumed during the housing boom and got burned. The derivatives? They burned from the bottom up. The investor/gamblers who took the highest risk on the lowest rated slices of the pie lost their money first.

Unfortunately, a lot of these investors weren’t the high powered brokerage firms and money savvy corporations – they were state and local pension funds and school district funds. Mind you, there were some giants that did get burned – AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros, Bank of America etc. Why? Can you say, GREED? And yep, we the middle class bailed them out (except Lehman Bros). We were told they were too big to fail.

On to part 2. Fellow citizens, Tea Party advocates, Joe “I’m having a had time paying my mortgage without a job” Average – we did not cause this problem! We, the 99% that don’t make billions of dollars a year and gamble with other people’s money, did not tank the economy! Illegal immigrants did not tank the economy. Union workers did not tank the economy! Pension funders did not tank the economy!

What tanked the economy was greed. What tanked the economy was the unholy alliance of too much money wanting more money to make money without the investment in goods and services. What tanked the economy was an all out free-for-all of speculation without regulation.

They have the audacity to blame us for it. And sadly, we’re buying that line. Maybe it is also some new, obscure financial product dreamed up by some cleverly astute money marketeers to keep us in the bottom tier. Once again we take the risks and they take the profits. But the risks this time involve us, America becoming a Plutocracy.

Is it so much to ask for a little of our money back? Really? How about if all these “grass roots, Power to the People” organizations set their sights on what really is wrong in America today? Quit biting your own necks and demand that the uber-rich insure . . . and I mean actually be required to purchase, an insurance policy, payable to all Americans for the privilege of letting them gamble with our money and standard of living.

Lisa Bloom

Morrison, IL

Who is That Masked Man?

Imagine you’re walking down the street, minding your own business, and a masked man wearing a trench coat sticks a gun in your face and demands you give him $100. I think we’d all agree this is a crime. If the thief is wearing a thousand dollar suit under the coat, is it somehow less criminal? No, in fact, some would say it’s even more despicable. What if this criminal re-phrases his demand, and forces you to “loan” him $100, when you both know there is no intention of repayment; is it now acceptable?

Cloaked in the mantle of good intentions, and hiding behind the mask of a benevolent government, this is exactly what our elected officials are perpetrating. However, instead of taking our money, they demand payment from our children, grandchildren, and generations yet unborn.

When asked about the Democrat’s proposed federal budget cut of 0.28%, our own Senator Durbin replied “We’ve pushed this to the limit.” The remaining deficit of $1,400,000,000,000 will be “borrowed” from future generations, with no intention of repayment by the thieves currently running our government.

Is there any sacrifice you would not make to protect your children from a thief? Folks, our heirs did not volunteer to repay our debts. They have no say in this; it falls on us to fix this. With our inaction, we tell politicians “everything is fine”. Conversely, we can stand up on our hind legs and protect our children’s future. We can tell politicians to “STOP SPENDING!”

On April 5th, we have one of our infrequent opportunities to change course. Are we too cowardly to defend our children? Are we afraid of making waves?

“A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” - Benazir Bhutto

Do you want to know more about local politicians and spending? The next Stephenson County TEA Party meeting is Thursday night March 17th. at 6:30 PM. Dietz’s Old School Apartments, Lena.

Terry Smith

Lanark, IL

Accountability In Government

Let’s face it. The government really doesn’t want you, the taxpayer, knowing what it’s doing with your money. It really doesn’t.

In the newspaper business, we deal with it all the time. A police department won’t release an arrest record. A school district fires a superintendent and pays him a six-figure settlement but won’t say how much it is. Public meetings are held without giving notice or are improperly held in closed session. These aren’t occasional problems. It’s all the time. It’s every day.

Just recently, a worker’s compensation hearing for a high-profile case in Southern Illinois was rescheduled without notice. An e-mail from an arbitrator to a court reporter revealed the message, “We are going to do it on the sly with no press.”

In a Chicago suburb, a mayor is also the liquor commissioner and owns an insurance company. Is the mayor forcing tavern owners to buy insurance from him in order to renew their licenses? We don’t know; he keeps the documents in a safe in his office and won’t release them.

In Rockford, a school board member has resorted to filing Freedom of Information Act requests to gain information from the school district he was elected to help govern. Sadly, that’s a common occurrence across the state.

Every year, legislation is introduced to try to whittle away at the public’s right to know. Every time an exemption to Illinois’ access laws is passed, that’s one more area where corruption can breed in the dark. How likely is it that the public will learn of such corruption when the information is legally shielded from public disclosure?

Not everyone in government is lurking in the dark. There are many wonderful public officials who are diligent in their roles as keepers of the public trust. These are the people who welcome public scrutiny because they have nothing to hide. These are the people who understand that they work for the public and are accountable to the public.

But there are some real problems out there, too. Serious problems that cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year.

This week is National Sunshine Week. It’s a time to draw attention to access laws and how they benefit the public. It may surprise you to know that in Illinois, citizens file more Freedom of Information requests than the media. While the media tends to carry the torch for access laws, transparency in government isn’t about the media; it’s about you and your right to know.

To learn more, please visit online at www.sunshineweek.org.

David Porter

Director of Communications and Marketing

Illinois Press Association

Illinois chair for Sunshine Week

What Is Quinn Thinking?

No more death sentences? There will be more crimes and killing now because the criminals know they can not be put to death. It will be so much more dangerous for our policemen now. The criminals won’t be punished by death for killing our policemen so they will make targets of our policemen.

Our jails are over crowded now! Where will we put the ones that have no fear of death anymore? Our state is so far in debt now, how will we feed, clothe and care for those that will be coming into our jails on murder charges? There will be many more now. Can someone explain all this to me?

Virginia McClain

Morrison, IL

Japan’s Disaster: A Humanitarian Opportunity

Japan’s disaster presents Savanna Depot Park, surrounding Towns, Counties, and our State, a humanitarian opportunity beneficial to receivers and givers alike.

Japan lost for an extended period, living - working space and infrastructure needed to support a major part of their citizenry.

We have living - working space and infrastructure to temporarily support their afflicted people and businesses.

World citizens and governments will convey many resources to Japan to aid them in their long road to recovery.

Depot stake-holders should be among the first to extend to Citizens of Japan, through our elected officials at all levels, help in the form of space for living - working, giving them opportunity to temporarily relocate themselves and their businesses here during time it takes their country to rehabilitate its devastated parts.

It is humanitarian, and the right thing to do on so many levels.

Comment and questions are invited.

Thanks.

Scott Lombardo

Chicago & Galena, IL

SENATE WEEK IN REVIEW

March 7-11, 2011

Republican lawmakers laid the groundwork during the week for budget cuts that State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-Dixon) says will total between $4 billion and $6 billion.

Also during the week, Gov. Pat Quinn made national news when he approved controversial legislation to abolish the death penalty in Illinois.

On March 10, Senate GOP lawmakers said that unless significant cuts are made to Gov. Quinn’s budget proposal, Illinois will face an annual deficit of $8 billion and a cumulative deficit of more than $22 billion within five years. Senate Republicans released a budget review that shows Illinois’ spending and revenue trends indicate it will take $4 to $6 billion in additional spending reductions to the Governor’s proposed budget to get the state back on track.

An analysis of state spending and revenues shows that even with the recent 67 percent income tax increase, these massive deficits will occur if lawmakers adopt the Governor’s recently proposed budget. Senate Republicans emphasized the “spending caps” included in the budget plan are far more generous and optimistic than the state’s revenues can sustain.

Bivins said the spending plan advanced by Gov. Quinn would create a deficit every single year for the next five years. Additionally, the single-year deficit of $8 billion at the end of Fiscal Year 2016 would be greater than the $6 billion deficit Illinois had at the end of Fiscal Year 2010.

Senate Republicans are working to identify a menu of realistic cuts ranging from $4 billion to $6 billion to bring state spending back in line with available revenues. Senate Republicans plan to outline needed reductions as early as the week of March 14-18. In addition, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) has set a goal of providing half the necessary votes in the Senate to implement the savings.

In other news, historic legislation to abolish the death penalty was signed into law March 9. Senate Bill 3539, which will take effect July 1, only applies to future death penalty sentences; however, Gov. Quinn commuted the death sentences of the 15 prisoners currently serving time on death row. Illinois is now the 16th state to ban capital punishment.

Supporters of abolishing the death penalty maintain that even with reforms, there is still the possibility of an innocent person being convicted and executed. However, legislators who support capital punishment contended that the death penalty is an important deterrence tool that should be available to state’s attorneys. Many lawmakers criticized the fact that such a controversial bill was passed during the lame-duck legislature in January.

The Governor also acted during the week on redistricting legislation intended to protect minority rights during the upcoming legislative remap process. Senate Bill 3976 makes it more difficult to divide communities where there is a significant racial minority or language minority. In the past these communities have frequently been divided into different districts as a way to split votes.

This component of the new law will require map creators to preserve these communities, which are known as crossover districts, coalition districts and influence districts. Crossover districts are communities where the minority population doesn’t constitute a majority of the voting-age population, but is large enough to elect the candidate of its choice with the help of the majority population’s “crossover” support. Coalition districts are composed of a minority population that is large enough to elect the candidate of the coalition’s choice. Influence districts refer to a district where a minority group can influence the outcome of an election, even though the minority population doesn’t have enough influence to elect its preferred candidate.

The new law also establishes new requirements that supporters of the legislation say offer the public an opportunity to participate in the redistricting process. However, many lawmakers and political reform organizations criticized Senate Bill 3976, which requires four statewide public hearings on the Illinois’ current legislative districts before the remapping process begins.

Republican lawmakers praised efforts to incorporate the public into the remap process; however, they criticized the legislation for not requiring any public hearings after a potential map has been created and offered for legislative consideration by a redistricting committee. Many good government groups contend that while the new law is a small step in the right direction, if lawmakers draw the map without public oversight or participation, Illinois voters will be deprived fair representation.

On March 10, the Governor signed another controversial measure that has come to be known as the “Amazon Tax.” The measure requires “affiliates” of major Internet retailers, such as Amazon.com or Overstock.com, to collect sales tax and turn the revenue over to the state. These affiliates make money through interest earned on the profits the larger Web site earns from the business the affiliates referred.

Proponents of House Bill 3659 say the bill levels the playing field for brick-and-mortar businesses that are required to collect the sales tax, and there have been estimates circulated that the measure could bring in more than $100 million in new revenue. However, opponents of the bill contend that imposing the tax will drive businesses away, pointing to other states that imposed similar taxes, after which Amazon terminated its contract with that state’s affiliates. Amazon cautioned it would cancel its Illinois contracts if the law was signed.

In legislative action, a number of bills that will impact all areas of state government were advanced by Senate committees. Bipartisan legislation to support school choice for Chicago children was approved by the Senate Education Committee. Senate Bill 1932 would allow parents to place their children in better-performing schools if the student is enrolled in one of the 50 most underperforming or overcrowded schools.

The Senate Criminal Law Committee advanced measures that will increase oversight and improve public safety considerations associated with the state’s Meritorious Good Time (MGT) program. The MGT Push program drew heavy criticism last year when the Department of Corrections (DOC) quietly released 2,000 prisoners, including violent offenders. Because some inmates were released through MGT Push after spending very little time in custody, Senate Bill 1341 will require inmates to spend at least 60 days in DOC custody before they can receive a meritorious good conduct award.

Another measure, Senate Bill 1338, requires DOC to establish uniform procedures to provide the sheriff of the county where the prosecution took place with advance notice that the offender will be released. This legislation was introduced in response to cases where DOC failed to notify the proper authorities of an MGT Push inmate’s release.

The Senate State Government and Veterans Affairs Committee advanced Senate Bill 1728, which could save the state as much as $31 million per year by requiring the Illinois Comptroller to use electronic fund transfers instead of paper checks to pay interest on the state’s overdue bills. Bivins is the sponsor of this legislation. Currently, the state spends millions of dollars on interest payments on the state’s overdue bills. In many cases the cost of paper, printing and postage to send the interest payment costs more than the interest payment that’s due. By requiring interest payments to be made by direct deposit, the state could realize substantial savings.

Additional legislation approved by Senate committees during the week includes:

Ag Research (SB 2012): Changes how funds are appropriated for Food and Agriculture Research to be appropriated among all public and private Illinois universities. The amount of distribution would be determined by the board of directors of the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research.

Big Truck Speed Limit (SB 1913): Provides that outside the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will, the speed limit for big trucks is uniform with cars (65 mph) on four-lane divided highways.

Bodily Harm (SB 1962): Provides that any person who has served two prior prison sentences for inflicting great bodily harm on a person and commits a third offense involving the infliction of great bodily harm is to be sentenced to life in prison.

Contaminated Property Tax Credit (SB 1900): Creates a credit for 100 percent of the eligible project costs for the remodeling, rehabilitation, modernization, or remediation of abandoned or underutilized Illinois property that is contaminated with hazardous substances, petroleum products, or lead-based paint, or a combination of those factors.

DCEO Quarterly Report (SB 2082): Requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to issue a quarterly report to the Senate Commerce Committee that will include the number of new businesses incorporating in Illinois, the number of businesses not seeking renewal of their registration or having lapsed registration in Illinois, and the number of businesses renewing registrations in Illinois.

Defendant Fee (SB 1697): Implements a $2 fee on defendants to go to state’s attorneys in all counties but Cook, to pay for automated record keeping systems.

Discrimination (SB 1943): Adds language to hospital patient’s rights statement to include the right not to be discriminated against due to race, color, or national origin where such characteristics are not relevant to the patient’s medical diagnosis and treatment.

Dry Cleaners (SB 1617): Prohibits the installation or operation of dry cleaning machines that use perchloroethylene, and makes other significant regulatory changes relating to dry cleaners.

Farmers’ Markets (SB 1852): Forms the Farmers’ Market Task Force to assist the Department of Public Health in enacting statewide administrative regulations for farmers’ markets.

Feral Hogs (SB 2190): Prevents the importation of feral hogs into the state.

Fertilizer Research (SB 2010): Establishes the Nutrient Research and Education Council to establish research and education programs to address nutrient efficiency and water quality challenges.

Information Safeguards (SB 151): Prohibits the use of a radio frequency identification device to steal personal identifying information from a radio frequency identification chip – now found in some credit cards – to commit a felony. Bivins is the sponsor of this legislation.

Interest (SB 2148): Eliminates state interest payments on wage claims that are under $5.

False Information Against Police Officer (SB 1243): Provides that a work-related complaint and sworn affidavit filed against a police officer that is found to contain false information must be referred to the state’s attorney for determination of prosecution.

Job Posting (SB 1869): Requires the Illinois Department of Central Management Services to accept job postings from all local units of government and post those job openings on its Web site.

Juvenile Detention Center Assault (SB 1754): Increases the penalty for an assault on a juvenile detention center employee.

Labor Disputes (SB 1952): Privatizes labor dispute resolutions, requiring the employer and employee to foot the bill instead of the state.

MGT Report (SB 1562): Requires the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide the Governor with monthly written reports, and the General Assembly with an annual written report, on the award of good conduct credit for meritorious service. Stipulates the reports must be published on DOC’s Web site.

MGT Rules (SB 1560): Requires the Illinois Department of Corrections to implement rules not only to revoke good time credit, which is credit that all inmates receive for good behavior while incarcerated, except for murder, but also to revoke additional meritorious good time credit, extra time off the prison sentence that can be given at the discretion of the Director.

Overdose Immunity (SB 1701): Gives prosecution immunity to drug overdose victims or persons seeking help for drug overdose victims.

Parole Terms (SB 1740): Requires that a defendant’s “parole” or mandatory supervised release terms must be written as part of the sentencing order.

Pregnancy Discrimination (SB 1122): Makes it a civil rights violation for any employer to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions in hiring or personnel decisions.

Real Estate Discipline (SB 1830): Strengthens the ability of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to revoke or suspend a real estate license holder for violations, as well as for the conviction of a felony or a misdemeanor of which an essential element is dishonesty or which is directly related to the practice of the profession.

Repo Registration (SB 1306): Requires the licensure of repossession agencies and recovery managers, and the registration of their employees.

Sex Offender Regulation (SB 2151): Prohibits an adjudicated juvenile delinquent child sex offender from being present in a school building, school property, school bus stop or to loiter near parks or other public places while persons younger than 18 are present.

Student Athlete Safety (SB 150): Requires each school board and park district to adopt a policy regarding student athlete concussions and head injuries.

Student Transportation (SB 1669): Places numerous requirements on buses and cab used to transport students including, among other things, stipulating that individuals who apply for a school bus driver permit must not have been under an order of court supervision or convicted of two or more serious traffic offenses within a year of applying; requires all companies that contract with school districts for student transportation to carry personal liability insurance in the amount of $1 million for any one person in any one accident and $5 million for two or more persons injured; requires all vehicles used for a purpose that requires a school bus driver permit to submit their vehicle for a “safety test” and secure a certification of safety from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Tax Database (SB 43): Directs the Illinois Department of Revenue to create an online searchable database of all tax rates in the state.

Veteran Police (SB 1587): Allows honorably discharged veterans who have been awarded an Afghan or Iraqi campaign medal through military service to substitute that experience in lieu of the completion of two years of law enforcement studies at an accredited university, as currently required by the State Police.

Vender Vouchers (SB 1836): Requires within 10 business days after a state agency receives a vendor’s bill or invoice, the agency must submit the voucher to the Comptroller for payment, or return the bill or invoice to vendor for corrections. Also requires the Comptroller to post a copy of a voucher on the official Web site within five days of receipt of the order in which they were received by Comptroller, and must be searchable by the date and the name of vendor.

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

As we totally immerse ourselves into another legislative session, I need to “clear the air” on several issues that have come to my attention.

More and more of you contact me by email. Every one that I receive at first goes to Sally, my Legislative Aide. Sally gets rid of the Viagra ads, off colored jokes, the hate mail, and prints every other email for me.

Yes, I personally read and respond to every one. Fault me for killing trees, but it’s a very efficient system for Sally and me, realizing that we receive over a hundred per day in many cases. I just received an email from an angry person stating I didn’t respond, but rather Sally did. Emails from Sally’s computer are identified as coming from Sally, but the response is from me.

I never send a form letter to you unless that is what we received from you. Often, on significant issues, we will receive upwards of a thousand identical letters or emails. You will receive a similar response.

Bottom-line, every one of you who contact me personally hears from me personally. Much like your phone calls to me, you will receive my personal call. It may take several weeks, but I always respond. Be patient. I am writing this Saturday at 2 PM and I have been responding to emails since 5 AM (I write my response and Sally sends it out the next business day).

In fairness, there are three of you to whom I will no longer respond. You know who you are and you certainly know why.

Sally always tries to help you when you call or email. Some of you are insistent about talking only to me. That’s fine, but if it’s a liaison issue or a matter involving a state issue, Sally has daily contact with all of our state agencies and she is very good at it. You finally get me after several days or weeks. I listen carefully then must tell you “I’m going to put Sally back on the line.” Let her know your issue when you call in as it truly may speed up the process.

For what it’s worth, I never read the blogs. I understand there are cheap shots at me from time to time. You are wasting your time if you are hoping I’ll see them.

Any time someone sends a form letter without signing their name, it isn’t worth the time it would take to read it and that’s obviously why newspapers publicize no letters without identifiers. Blogs mystify me, why would anyone publish them?

Never forget, the purpose of my office is to be responsive to you and to advocate on your behalf. There are times when we philosophically disagree. Issues such as the death penalty, my pro-life stance, my support of the 2nd Amendment and concealed carry are issues that have formulated my strong commitment based on life experience.

I have always mentioned it’s acceptable to disagree, but not to be disagreeable. I try hard to live up to that.

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at or e-mail us at . You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.

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