Senate Week in Review

Feb. 28 – March 4, 2011

A decision by the Attorney General to make information available to the public about citizens with Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) cards incited a firestorm of controversy during the week at the Illinois Capitol, according to State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-Dixon).

Also during the week, new State Sen. Darin LaHood (R-Peoria) was welcomed by his colleagues and the beleaguered Acting Director of the Illinois State Police was moved to a new position as Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA).

State law enforcement officials and lawmakers alike oppose a decision released Feb. 28 by Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office that the names of FOID card holders are considered public information. The ruling came in response to an Associated Press Freedom of Information Act request for information on Illinois’ FOID card holders.

The Illinois State Police have refused to release that information, citing public safety and privacy concerns, and reportedly plan to challenge the Attorney General’s opinion in court. Many Senate Republican lawmakers are pushing for passage of Senate Bill 27, which would restrict public disclosure of the names and information of people who currently possess or who have applied for a FOID card.

Opponents say that FOID card information could be used by criminals looking to burglarize homes in search of firearms, or criminals seeking to target homes without firearms. Others said that the decision, if upheld, could lead to more straw purchases of guns or total non-compliance with firearm registration requirements. Concerns that the information would be used by commercial solicitors were also raised.

On March 1, Darin LaHood was sworn in to represent the 37th Senate District, replacing retiring State Sen. Dale Risinger of Peoria. The ceremony was held at the Peoria County courthouse at 8:15 a.m. and by 10:00 a.m. LaHood was in Springfield, where he got right to work attending committees and preparing to vote on legislation.

Senate lawmakers spent much of the week in committee hearings, considering testimony and voting on proposed legislation. The Illinois Senate also acted on pending gubernatorial appointee Jonathon Monken, voting March 1 to approve his appointment as IEMA Director.

The appointment confirmation comes two years after Gov. Pat Quinn initially appointed Monken to head the Illinois State Police. Lawmakers never confirmed that appointment, citing Monken’s lack of law enforcement experience, so he served as Acting Director.

In approving Monken as IEMA Director, lawmakers said his background as a war veteran better suits him to head the state’s disaster response and preparation agency.

Also during the week, consumer complaint information released by the Attorney General shows that Illinois residents have their money on their minds. Of the 170,000 consumers who contacted the Consumer Protection Division in 2010, more than 7,000 of the complaints were related to debt. The Attorney General reported that complaints relating to residential mortgages were the most common consumer debt concern. Credit card debt and abusive collection practices were also reported by many consumers.

Identity theft was the second most common consumer complaint, which commonly involved fraudulent activity relating to the illegal opening of credit card accounts and fraudulent credit card charges, fraudulent utility accounts and bank fraud complaints.

The remaining top ten complaints filed with the Attorney General’s office include construction home improvement, telecommunications, motor vehicles/used auto sales, promotions and schemes, mail order, fraud against business, motor vehicle repair, and travel.

In other news, an audit of the state’s financial reporting system continues to generate controversy. Last month, the Auditor General’s office reported that the state’s extensive and unwieldy system of reporting fiscal information is both “antiquated” and “costly to operate.”

According to the report, Illinois has more than 260 individual financial reporting systems for tracking state dollars. Half of the systems are more than 10-years-old, and only 16 percent of the systems comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. More than 50 percent of the money tracking systems are not interrelated, so employees are forced to manually enter financial information when data is transferred, which is time-consuming and prone to human error. Though the total cost of maintaining the systems could not be determined, estimates show that maintaining only 56 percent of the state’s systems costs approximately $24 million.

The report concluded that the lack of a centralized financial reporting system negatively affects Illinois’ ability to access timely and accurate reports on the state’s financial position. This information void makes it difficult for legislators and other oversight bodies to effectively oversee the state’s finances. It also has a negative affect on the state’s bond raiding and places federal funding opportunities in jeopardy.

Legislation approved by Senate Committees this week includes:

Abuse Hearing (SB 106): Requires professionals who are mandated reporters of abuse or neglect, but who are not the actual reporter, to share information in abuse or neglect investigations.

Defendants (SB 73): Requires that a hearing for defendants who are unfit to stand trial or be sentenced must be held within 14 days of the court’s receipt of the defendant’s treatment report unless good reason is given for the hearing to not take place.

Driver’s Education (SB 1643): Allows school districts to increase their driver’s education fee up to $250 by school board resolution following a public hearing on the increase, though the increased fee must be waived for students who can’t afford the course.

Hate Crimes (SB 1708): Requires that any individual convicted of a hate crime must attend an educational program discouraging hate crimes as a term of probation or conditional discharge.

Health Care Worker Sex Crime (SB 1762): Revokes a healthcare worker’s medical license if he/she is convicted of a sex crime.

HFS Efficiencies (SB 1784): Promotes efficiencies within the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and medical assistance programs by eliminating duplicative services, streamlining healthcare payment processes, ensuring federal law compliance and promoting administrative efficiencies through technical and other changes.

Homestead Exemption Expansion (SB 1648): Expands the senior assessment freeze on homestead exemptions to include persons with disabilities.

Mandatory Prison (SB 1589): Requires prison time for a convicted felon, Department of Corrections’ inmate, parolee or person on mandatory supervised release who is found to have unlawfully used or possessed a weapon.

Property Tax Petition (SB 1386): Increases the number of years taxpayers have to petition for a refund of overpaid property taxes from five years to 20 years.

Quarterly Taxpayer Refunds (SB 1741): Allows quarterly taxpayers entitled to a refund after the payment of the fourth installment to apply the refund to the first installment due in the next taxable year.

Quincy Veterans’ Home (SB 1640): Allows a veteran who is a resident of a state bordering Illinois to be admitted to the Quincy Veterans’ Home.

Senior Insurance Sale (SB 1607): Requires individuals who want to sell insurance policies to have special certification or training in advising or serving seniors in the sale or purchase of a life insurance or annuity product.

Capitol Fax

Rich Miller’s commentary on State Government

If you thought that Illinois government might get a tiny breather after raising income taxes, think again.

The Illinois House’s new revenue projection for next fiscal year, which begins in July, is $759 million lower than the governor’s. However, the House’s forecast is also $2.2 billion below Gov. Pat Quinn’s projected spending for the coming fiscal year.

Quinn’s proposed budget was whacked last month by Democrats and Republicans alike for its brutal slashing of several human service programs. But even with those Quinn cuts, if the House revenue forecast is used in the final product, they’ll still have to find $2.2 billion in additional spending reductions.

The bad news doesn’t end there. According to some revised numbers issued by the Auditor General this past Friday, next year’s required state pension payment, including debt service, will be $6.2 billion.

Overall, that pension payment next year will eat up all but about a few hundred million dollars of the recently approved state income tax hike.

And there may not be anything that anybody can do about it.

The Senate Democrats released an opinion by their well-regarded chief legal counsel Eric Madiar last week which claimed that pension benefits for current employees are a constitutionally protected contract which cannot be altered.

But could the “contract” with those workers be changed via collective bargaining with government employee unions?

“No,” says Madiar. .

As Madiar points out, Illinois’ Public Labor Relations Act does not allow public employee unions to bargain on pension issues. New York’s state law does allow union pension benefit negotiations, Madiar said, adding that New York’s Democratic governor is currently attempting to strike a deal with the unions to roll back pension benefits.

Madiar says his interpretation of current Illinois law is that the pension obligation is an “individual right.” He compared it to the US Constitution’s 1st Amendment, which he pointed out is not a “pooled” right that can be collectively negotiated away.

Madiar didn’t completely rule out the possibility of a change to the state’s labor relations law to allow unions to bargain away pension benefits on behalf of their members. But he said there would likely also have to be some “acceptance mechanism” by individuals included in the law for it to be constitutionally valid.

It’s also possible, even probable, that if a union did agree to pension givebacks, it could face decertification elections among its various units. Such a move would likely then exempt the newly non-union employees from any new pension agreement.

In other words, if Madiar’s read is correct, then there may be almost nothing that can be done about the state’s pension payment problems.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the House’s five appropriations committees will get to work on the new budget this week, using their chamber’s revenue estimates as a spending cap. So far, the Senate has not come up with its own revenue estimate, but it’s expected to be somewhere around the House’s forecast. But the two chambers aren’t even sure as of yet how they intend to reconcile any differences between their revenue forecasts and appropriations levels.

Quite a few Republicans believe the Democrats’ budget exercise is all for show. The Democratic leaders and the governor, the Republicans predict, will eventually cave to pressure from House and Senate members and activists and eventually agree to use the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s revenue projection, which was $1.7 billion higher than the House’s projection. They could very well be right, but, so far, House Speaker Michael Madigan seems bound and determined to proceed with the lower figure.

And if all that news isn’t bad enough for you, the state has borrowed almost $300 million more from the federal government for its unemployment insurance program just since the beginning of January. The state’s total federal debt is close to $2.7 billion. The debt was interest free until a federal loan program expired January 1. The interest payments are now starting to pile up.

Indiana just enacted a law to pay off its $2 billion in debt by 2019 which resulted in a 21 percent average cut in unemployment checks and a 13 percent tax increase for business. Illinois’ unemployment insurance rate is already one of the highest in the country.

Welcome to Illinois, where the lousy news just never seems to stop.

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

Morrison: Polluted Groundwater

On Feb. 28, 2011 I missed the Morrison City Council meeting. My sister, Mary, was killed in a car accident on Feb. 24th and my sister, Dee, was hospitalized in Kansas. Therefore, I have not been quite with it.

So, trying to get back to normal, I know that this will be mostly hearsay, but am filling you in on what I know. I saw the news about Morrison’s groundwater being contaminated (how true is this?). I would like more information on this myself. I am sure we will find out more as this situation progresses. (Was the $650,000 enough to cover unforeseen expenses??? or what was that for???)

I am glad to hear that Harvey Zuidema is still trying to get clarification on the budget/treasurers report. I appreciate his hard work so that we can understand Morrison’s finances. If we get easier to read reports, everyone (council members, department heads, the mayor, and the Morrison citizens) will be on the same page and know exactly what where we stand.There was discussion on the wording of the contract with Moring Disposal. The contract was not approved…still waiting on corrections.

Hiring a new City Attorney or Firm is under consideration. Lester Weinstine has worked for the city for 35 years. I was sorry to hear of the death of his father and wish him the best in the future as he takes care of family business. I am sure we will still count on his counsel until we can find a replacement.

Bills payable were $69,322.20 for 2 weeks. Illinois Dept. of Transportation received their $9,987.00 payment toward the Rt. 30 bridge. Baxter and Woodman, Inc. collected $5,035.00 for Water System improvements, engineering service, legal service Well #5 and Well #4 Series 2010 alt Rev IEPA loan payments. I.D.E.S received $962.50 for Salaries-part time for the Sport Complex???

The next Morrison City Council Meeting is March 14, 2011 at 7:00pm at City Hall. Hope to see you all there.

Thought for the day: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. (Reinhold Niebuhr)

A Morrison Taxpayer

Marti Wood

Consolidation and the Whiteside SWCD

The topic of SWCD consolidation has been thrown around by various state officials during the last two years. This year the Governor’s budget mentioned drastic cuts to push SWCD’s toward joining forces.

This idea has been used with school systems for years to increase class size and education opportunities. Comparing an SWCD to a school district would be a mistake. With students they are bused to a central location and bused back home afterwards.

With the SWCD we work with 100’s of people each year in various locations. Adding another county to our work load would result in fewer people being served and higher expenses for travel. The efficiency being brought up is false since at least 2-3 hours each day would be spend driving from project to project.

Fewer tax payers would be served and less program funds would be spent. How does that increase efficently?

Besides the two reasons listed above, a large portion of each day would be spent trying to return phone calls and emails from tax payers remembering that the message may be several days old. These delays would result in frustration on the land owners part and possible cancellation of projects from lack of service. In a dynamic county like Whiteside the Directors and employees pride themselves on customer service and getting state funds spent in a timely matter. Adding another county to our work load would do nothing but stop the conservation progress we have made in our 60 plus year history.

The final reason for stopping consolidation for Whiteside would be the millions of dollars in Conservation Reserve Program funds that the SWCD assists FSA and NRCS administers. Our employees work with land owners and both agencies to establish and maintain their plans as required. In return, landowners receive annual payments of $2 million dollars, much of which is spent in the county. If SWCD employees are forced to split duties between at least two counties the assistance to tax payers would be severely curtailed or stopped.

In addition to the money that is at risk, CRP slows or stops the majority of sediment coming off of fields improving water quality and improves wildlife habitat. Wildlife habitat has become an economic generator for small businesses in the county selling gas, food, and sporting goods.

There you have it, my take on SWCD consolidation more driving and mileage expense with fewer projects getting done. How does destroying a dynamic active SWCD improve efficiency? If you have a good answer I would certainly like to hear it.

Dave Harrison

WCSWCD Resource Conservationist

A Tale of Two Parties

During the 20th century a “party” was born called the Labor Union. At the time of its birth, this new “party” was necessary to ensure that American workers were treated fairly, compensated fairly, and remained safe in the workplace. This was a good thing. American workers were sorely taken advantage of. Oh, how this new “party“ was loved!

Since that time however, the union was hijacked by extremists such as Richard Trumpka and Andy Stern, who had many ulterior motives and none of them involved protecting worker’s rights. This only involved pure power over the people, and changing America into a Socialist Nation. Working with such movements as the Communist Party USA. There use mandatory union dues to buy votes from democrats, in what he (Trumpka) calls “their continuing efforts of ‘independent’ union organizations operating in, or for political campaigns”. These people hate America and want to bring her down. They condone and encourage violent behavior (Google it, the proof is there).

Some examples of the violence perpetrated are: Comparing Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) to Hitler, Mussolini, and Hosni Mubarak. Signs with Scott Walker in crosshairs that said “reload” (see, http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/17/the-historical-illiteracy-of-wisconsin-teachers/). One that says “Wuck Falker”. Then there is the incident within the halls of Wisconsin’ General Assembly, just after a vote was cast on WI’s budget, Democrat Assemblyman Gordon Hintz pointed at Republican Assemblywoman Michelle Litjens and shouted “she’s f---ing dead!”. An angry mob of union protestors tried to block Sen. Glenn Grothman from entering his place of work, chanting “shame, shame, shame”. Someone in crowd yelling F--- You. After 3.5 minutes some cooler heads finally prevailed and started shouting “peaceful”. See video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu839yIS83w. Video is 12.17 minutes and it is ugly, so viewer discretion is advised.

These protestor’s are becoming more angry with each passing day, disrupting the Capitol building workers by beating of tom toms, chants, yelling, screaming and threatening of elected officials. The complete lack of respect is mindboggling. And yet, the media is completely silent about the anger and violence associated with the Union protestors. This is not the case when it comes to media coverage concerning our next party, the Tea Party.

The Tea Party was birthed in the 21st century, just after the 2008 election cycle. The Tea Party formed as a direct result of the massive power grab and the unsustainable spending by the Majority Democratic Party. The new majority was eroding our freedoms, taking rights away, manufacturing new rights that do not exist anywhere in our Constitution or founding documents. The Tea Partier’s protest peacefully, without disruption of buildings, workplaces, or streets. Their main objective is to restore honor and integrity in our government and keep our rights as Americans intact, without the heavy hand of an ever increasing Government, as America was meant to be by the men who died to create her.

This new party was hated, scorned, ridiculed, mocked, and lied about by the media, progressives and democrats. This new party was deemed racist, bigoted, and violent. Yet there is no such evidence of violence perpetrated by Tea Party members, in fact it is the opposite.

Anti-Tea Party people have been violent and extreme in their rhetoric against the Tea Party:

- Harry Reid Supporters Threaten Violence Against Breitbart at Tea Party Protest, March 28, 2010.

- MoveOn.org member bites pinky finger off of a 65 year old Tea Partier 09/03/2009 is another example.

- Kenneth Gladney was beaten up by SEIU member on August 6, 2009 at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall meeting in South St. Louis County, see: http://stlouisteaparty.com/2009/08/07/union-thugs-deliver-unprovoked-beating-on-black-conservative-at-carnahan-town-hall/

There are obviously many more examples I could put in this letter and fill the entire newspaper, but the main point is, which party would you to prefer to belong to? The peaceful one or the angry and violent one? Do you want freedom, or do you want a nanny state? Are we as Americans self-sufficient, or do we need Big Brother holding our hand and making our decisions for us?

One last thought: seems there is some major hypocrisy going on with the lack of condemnation from those on the left concerning the Wisconsin protests. The left hails them as heroes of democracy because it’s “their side” doing it. What say you Chuck Wemstrom? Where is your condemnation of this “name calling” and violent rhetoric? Seems to me you couldn’t wait to chastise me for using much more mild adjectives!

Kathy Hood

Stephenson Co. Tea Party

Whose Business Is It To Consolidate Our Schools?

Over the past few weeks, debate has been raging on whether or not it is a good idea for the State to be able to force local school districts to consolidate. There are arguments on both sides of this issue.

The funding of education in the State of Illinois is rated as the least equitable in the Nation, because of the great differences in local property tax bases, which form the foundation for financing public schools. In that light, I can understand why a legislator from a district in southern Cook County, with a relatively small amount of property-value-per-student, would want to have that equalized with the property-rich school districts in northern Cook County. I also understand that some Superintendents – especially in the wealthy suburban school districts – earn very high salaries.

Perhaps those issues should be addressed directly, rather than through the guise of saving money through consolidation. In 2007, the Morrison School District and the Riverbend School District hired an independent consultant to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of consolidation for these two school districts. The report indicated that without the one-time, incentive funding, from the State of Illinois, there was no financial gain through consolidation.

Perhaps it is not always understood that, although there is one less Superintendent, most large districts have a number of Assistant Superintendents. Also, with the State reducing the financial support for transportation, having larger, rural districts with larger transportation expenses shifts more financial burden to the local tax payers.

Let’s look at some of the issues.

With larger consolidated districts, there is less opportunity for local contractors, such as R.C. Smith Transportation or Bogott’s Plumbing, to be utilized by the school district. This can send more local dollars outside the community.

Consolidation can, but does not always, benefit districts financially, as was demonstrated by the research into the consolidation of Morrison and Riverbend.

There could be fewer opportunities for students to participate in extra-curricular activities, as consolidating schools would reduce the number of athletic teams.

Local control over the education of children would be reduced.

On the other hand, additional elective course offerings or sports could be possible, if the High School were larger.

It makes sense to look at consolidation. In Illinois, there are some very small school districts that are very close to other small school districts, where financial and academic benefits can occur as a result of consolidation.

It just does not make sense for Springfield to dictate to local communities what should happen in their schools, without understanding the ramification of the changes on those communities.

I always welcome your input and appreciate your communication. My e-mail address is .

Sincerely,

Suellen Girard

Morrison Supt. of Schools

Lanark Volunteer Fire Dept. - They’re Great

Hey citizens of Lanark and local community, what a great Volunteer Fire Department we have standing by to assist anyone in need of help. Let us tell you - during the height of the recent snowstorm, ComEd’s power supply failed us and left us in total darkness. After a couple of candle lit hours, we felt blessed and relieved when a Volunteer Fireman who had been dispatched to our home to start our emergency generator and had defied the 50+ MPH wind driven blizzard and two to four foot drifts of snow to reach us, quickly started the device.

Thereafter, in the wee hours of the coming day, two Volunteer Firemen had wallowed through the storm and drifts with a supply of fuel to ensure that our generator would continue to serve us, and again, in the morning after the storms passage, they appeared again to refuel the generator because our commercial power supply had not been restored.

We are grateful, indeed, for their gallant efforts to rescue us and thank them very much. We know that these dedicated and highly capable young Volunteers had worked all night long during the storm, rescuing and helping people throughout our community. We are lucky to have them in our midst and should at all times honor them with encouragement and respect.

Ethel & Grant Young

Lanark, IL

WC Supt. Responds Re: 1% SFO Tax

I feel that I need to respond to questions I have continued to receive on the School Facilities Occupational Tax, the 1% sales tax. The letter in last weeks’ Prairie Advocate (3/2/2011 Letters to the Editor) is correct, it is a 15% increase on the rate, not the total cost. It will not cost 15 cents more per dollar spent, it will only cost 1 cent per dollar spent.

I had one resident of the county tell me he could not afford another $300 of sales tax because he is living on a fixed income. That person would have to spend $30,000 in the county to generate $300 in taxes.

The business owners do support the local school districts in many ways. They are correct that many of them pay property taxes on businesses and homes. That is another reason to support the sales tax!

The funds can be used to abate bond and interest payments on the local school district levy. Both West Carroll and Chadwick-Milledgeville have stated publicly, by the Boards of Education, to use proceeds for that exact reason. It is projected to lower the tax rate in West Carroll by 15-18 cents, 3-4%. The business owners would receive a double reduction when you consider they pay taxes on business and personal property.

The only way this is not accurate is if they are not paying taxes already because their home and/or business is located in a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) area. Those properties do not generate tax revenue for the area for a specific number of years as a way to generate growth in the local municipality.

You can evaluate the numbers every way, but 1% on a dollar seems like a lot less than the projected savings of 3-4% on the total tax rate on your property.

Sincerely,

Craig A. Mathers

Superintendent

West Carroll C.U.S.D. #314

Clarification

In the Letter to the Editor, “3 Chambers of Commerce Respond…” in the March 2, 2011 edition of The Prairie Advocate News, one of the signers of the letter, “John Huggins, Lanark Chamber member,” should have read “John Huggins on behalf of the Lanark Chamber”.

At the Lanark Chamber of Commerce February 16th meeting, the group of business men and women voted not to support the proposed county-wide 1% sales tax proposal that will be on the April 5 ballot.

Guest Commentary . . .

FY12 Proposed SWCD Funding Reductions: Where Are The Savings?

By Wendy Roman, Whiteside County Soil and Water

The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget has determined that the state can save an estimated $600,000 from consolidation of the 98 soil and water conservation districts into an unspecified number of regional offices. We are as yet unsure where those savings will come from.

Soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs) are local units of government, authorized by state statute (70 ILCS 405/) and created by local public referendum. To consolidate one or more SWCDs requires each of the consolidating districts to submit a petition signed by 25 persons who own land within the district requesting that the district consolidate with another district (70 ILCS 405/26a). When such a petition is filed, the Directors of each of the affected SWCDs must pass a resolution approving of the consolidation. Resolutions are submitted to the Department of Agriculture which then has 30 days to hold a public referendum on the question of consolidation. A majority of land owners and occupiers voting in the referendum shall determine if the SWCDs shall be consolidated or not.

To hold 98 public referendums, we believe would cost the state much more than $600,000.

Additionally, ninety-seven SWCDs do not pay rent on their office space. Ninety-four SWCDs are co-located with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and have an agreement to provide assistance to NRCS in exchange for office space. Three SWCDs are not co-located with NRCS and have their own office space. One SWCD does rent its space.

Considering then that the primary cost must be for employment of personnel, it appears that the projected savings may be in the reduction of staff. Each of the 98 SWCDs has two staff positions; an Administrative Coordinator (AC) and a Resource Conservationist, paid by the state. SWCDs do not have the ability to tax and must rely on state government for their operational funds. There are 196 positions paid by the state and another 25 positions paid by grants and funds from other sources. Staff holding these positions are generally not available to assist with the district’s daily workload because of job duties tied to their funding source. Fifty-three positions are currently vacant. Thirty-four employees are currently working part time and twenty-two SWCDs currently have only one employee.

SWCD employees are generally paid between $28,000 and $45,000 with the average falling around $35,000. To save $600,000 another seventeen employees would have to lose their jobs. Since the savings would be in state dollars then a total of 39 positions or about 20% of the workforce positions would have to be vacated or remain vacant.

ACs and RCs have very different training and job responsibilities. ACs: serve as the office secretary, receptionist and financial manager; assist clients with applications for technical and financial assistance; collect, print, copy, assemble and explain materials necessary for completing applications for assistance; schedule appointments for technical staff; administer programs for the district and NRCS; perform data entry for NRCS, the SWCD and occasionally the Farm Service Agency; take orders for materials the SWCD sells to augment state allocations; coordinate with other local, state and federal agencies and organizations to provide referrals to the organizations and to the citizens seeking assistance the SWCD can’t provide such as permits or other specialized assistance; and, perform many other functions depending on the programs the district is able to provide.

RCs: serve as technician to plan, design and oversee installation of conservation practices; perform onsite assistance to landowners, developers, planning and zoning officials, contractors and others working on or with soil and water resources; provide designs and specialized mapping utilizing CAD and GIS software; survey proposed construction sites to assure practices are designed to accommodate slope, rainfall, soil limitations and drainage area; assist agricultural landowners with rental equipment; serve as a resource person for schools, civic groups and others interested in natural resources; develop funding proposals for grants or other funding mechanisms to assist local interests in addressing natural resource issues; provide adult and student educational programs; and, perform many other functions depending on the programs the district is able to provide.

It is difficult to understand how efficiencies can be gained by reducing the availability of the services these employees provide on a daily basis. By regionalizing these services, employees will only have to travel further and spend more time on the road instead of assisting clients.

The loss of 20% of the districts’ employees will only make it more difficult for users of the districts’ services to obtain those services leading to inefficiencies in utilizing state and federal funding targeted toward protecting the natural resources.

Illinois’ economy is bolstered by approximately $475 million in federal program dollars every year. About two-fifths of that amount is made available to the state every year in the form of Farm Bill program dollars that are allocated to the state. The remaining three-fifths is money form previous years allocation that is tied up in conservation contracts that must be addressed each year.

SWCD employees spend the majority of their time assisting individuals who participate in those federal programs. Without the assistance provided by those employees a significant amount of the annual allocation will not be able to be used and will eventually be reallocated to other states. Contracts that can not be addressed due to insufficient technical assistance may have to be cancelled and the money will be lost to Illinois. The result will be a loss in jobs, a loss of taxes from the sale of goods and services that help support local economies and economic gain for the state.

A study completed in Utah by the Natural Resources Conservation Service showed that every dollar spent on conservation practices generates additional $.70 in goods and services. With Illinois’ higher labor costs we would expect that amount to be even more in Illinois.

Guest Commentary . . .

Who Objects to Free Speech?

By Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

Free speech has always been one of our most cherished rights. It has come under attack repeatedly by those who find it to be an inconvenient and unwanted obstacle to the attainment of their political goals. Sometimes, those in positions of power ignore the First Amendment and issue laws and regulations to silence their opponents. Other times, politicians or citizens work on an unofficial level, resorting to influence or intimidation to achieve censorship.

President John Adams signed the Sedition Act to criminalize “false, scandalous, and malicious writing” against the government or its officials. Americans didn’t like the federal government censoring expression or presuming to determine truth, so they canned Adams in the next election.

Abraham Lincoln jailed newspapermen whose comments on the Civil War were not to his liking.

In 1935, Franklin Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, effectively curtailing employers’ freedom to talk with their own employees about their company’s financial condition and the affordability of wages and benefits.

Both Roosevelt and Richard Nixon imposed various wage and price controls. Since prices are the language through which present value is communicated between potential buyers and sellers, they essentially banned a form of free economic speech.

The assault on free speech seems to have accelerated in recent years. Freelance censors on the left have prevented dozens of conservatives from giving scheduled speeches on college campuses by shouts, chants, and even physical aggression.

A favorite tactic of global-warming propagandists has been to try to suppress dissenting views by urging reporters to ignore opposing viewpoints. Stephen Schneider, from his well-funded government perch at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, called it “journalistically irresponsible to present both sides” of the story. Al Gore used to tell journalists not to waste time interviewing global-warming skeptics.

Under the Patriot Act, the FBI is empowered to issue gag orders against those whom they investigate—even harmless little old ladies. (See Judge Andrew Napolitano’s YouTube clip.)

The Obama administration seems particularly unfriendly toward free speech. Consider just a few examples:

— The president’s FCC diversity officer, Mark Lloyd, has lamented that private media companies almost thwarted Hugo Chavez’s “incredible” revolution in Venezuela, and wants to impose punitive fees on radio stations that broadcast conservative talk shows, lest they interfere with the accomplishment of the Obama revolution.

— The president’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, publicly warned health-insurance companies that there would be “zero tolerance” for statements that contradicted the official party line on Obamacare.

— In December, the Federal Communications Committee (on a party-line 3-2 vote) imposed “net neutrality”—an innocuous-sounding phrase that disguises the elementary fact that the government wants some control over the Internet, the kind of power that the Chinese government has. (Incidentally, Verizon has filed suit against this unconstitutional power grab.)

— In his book, Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech, President Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Cass Sunstein, asserted, “the First Amendment … is not so much a matter of protecting rights as ensuring sound public judgment through the process of public deliberation.” Sunstein believes that “people should be exposed to materials that they would not have chosen” and favors policies like federal guidelines for coverage of public issues and taxpayer-funded panels of “experts” to insure “diversity of views.” So much for the principle of letting Americans listen to what they want.

In November, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) mused publicly about the FCC shutting down Fox News and MSNBC (not exactly an equal trade, since relatively conservative Fox has multiples of the viewers of relatively liberal MSNBC) so that Americans could “have some faith in their government.” Yep, don’t let the people hear about what our great leaders are doing in Washington!

More recently, some voices on the left have exploited the tragedy in Tucson to rail against free political speech. (Personal disclaimer: I can’t stand strident rhetoric and am on record in advocating self-restraint from hateful rhetoric.) The left shows a remarkable lack of confidence in the attractiveness of its agenda by resorting to attempts to suppress opposing points of view. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”

Rather than attempt to censor those with whom we disagree, let us welcome a vigorous debate. If you don’t like what you hear, turn it off, but don’t deny others the freedom to speak or hear various viewpoints. Jefferson again: If an opinion or argument “be false in its facts, disprove them; if false in its reasoning, refute it. But for God’s sake, let us freely hear both sides if we choose.” Amen.

— Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty member, economist, and fellow for economic and social policy with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College.

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

Our local animal shelters are so deserving of your support.

Some national organizations are bilking the public out of millions of dollars by appealing to their kindness and sympathy for abused animals. It’s far too lucrative for them to quit asking you for your money.

Spin it any way you want to folks, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) contributes far less than one percent of the donations it receives to your animal shelters. This is not data made up by Jim Sacia. It comes from credible agencies such as the Center for Consumer Freedom, humanewatch.org, animalallegience.com, dairyherd.com, the local Illinois Farm Bureau offices, and numerous others.

Recently, the “Big Dog” himself, no pun intended, challenged my recent article regarding the fleecing by HSUS of you the citizens, who buy into their swill.

Interestingly, he did not challenge my factual information on the amount of money contributed to them that actually finds its way to animal shelters. Rather, it was an attack on my support for horse slaughter in the United States, which should be termed the humane termination of unwanted horses.

Due to the efforts of HSUS and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, horse slaughter was ended in the U.S. in 2007. Before you rejoice, think of what your support for that did.

The same number of horses (or more) are still being slaughtered. We now have a decimated horse market. Horses that previously brought $1000 at auction now bring less than $100. The “killer buyers” are stuffing them in trailers and transporting them more than forty hours to Mexico with little food and water.

In Mexico their end of life is anything but humane. It would sicken you to know the way in which many are put to death. Nearly 100,000 U.S. horses a year face this plight there, but you can rejoice - out of sight out of mind.

“Big Dog”, his crew, and like-minded national animal rights organizations continue to steal your money and fatten their larders by appealing to your sense of kindness and counting your hard earned money. Their goal - the destruction of livestock agriculture! Yes, they would love us to all be vegans.

I have been writing weekly articles for nearly my entire eight years in office, I often receive responses. Never have I received more positive responses than my recently published article on the fleecing of you by HSUS. They number in the hundreds from across the entire United States. Finally a negative one and it comes from the “Big Dog” himself – go figure.

Give your support to area shelters.

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.