Senate Week In Review

August 11-15, 2008

A view from the Illinois Senate Republican Press Office

SPRINGFIELD ­ Despite being called back to the Capitol by Gov. Rod Blagojevich for two more special session days on August 12 and 13, Senate Republicans anxious to get to work on fixing the state's numerous problems found that Democrats would rather party and politick.

In fact, on Wednesday ­ day two of the two-day Special Session ­ the majority party opted to spend the morning and afternoon at the State Fair and not come to work until well after 5:00 p.m., said State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-Dixon), and even then, no progress was made on any of the topics the special session was meant to address.

However, the special session did bring about one positive development: a vote to reject the legislative and state official pay raises that were set to go into effect automatically. On Tuesday, the Senate voted to reject the recommended bump in salaries, which ranged from 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent. The House had voted to reject the pay hikes in May.

Many Senate Republicans urged Senate President Emil Jones ­ a Chicago Democrat who had previously stated to the media that he needed a pay raise ­ to allow the resolution to be given a fair, up-or-down vote. With Illinois facing a budget deficit and funding for various programs being either reduced or cut completely, now is not the appropriate time for a pay raise, Sen. Bivins said.

This week, a number of legislative measures passed by the General Assembly this spring were signed into law by the Governor, including,

License plates (SB 1850) ­ Allows the Secretary of State to issue license plates for the U.S. Navy.

Veterans (SB 2302) ­ Creates the War on Terrorism Veterans Act, which provides that a memorial to be constructed in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Lemon Law (SB 2422) ­ Amends the Buyer Protection Act to include vehicles purchased by a fire department, fire protection district or township fire department.

James "Shib" Miller & William Grant's Law (SB 2488) ­ Authorizes fire departments to close traffic to protect the safety of people and property and increases the penalty for a reckless homicide that includes failing to follow the procedures required when approaching an emergency vehicle.

Vehicle ownership (HB 1915) ­Allows the owner of a vehicle to indicate on the car's title to whom should own the car in the event of the owner's death.

Brass knuckles (HB 2757) ­ Expands definitions for "brass knuckles" ­ which are already illegal to sell, make, buy, carry or possess ­ to include any kind of "knuckle" made from any material (such as plastics).

County Boards (HB 2913) ­ Allows county boards to enter into leases for computer equipment, data processing machines and software.

Mental health (HB 4199) ­ Authorizes a clinical professional counselor who examines a minor to make a written statement that the minor can be admitted to a mental health facility.

Farm tractors (HB 4251) ­ Allows farm tractors to drive on the shoulder of the road.

School attendance (HB 4309) ­ Provides that if a school district must close one or more school buildings because of a condition beyond the control of the district, the district may claim a full day of attendance for a maximum of two school days based on the average of the three prior school days before the closing.

Exploitation of the Elderly (HB 4506) ­ Changes the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly person by deleting the definition of a person with a disability must suffer from a permanent physical or mental impairment.

Wind energy (HB 4646) ­ Allows municipalities and counties to own and operate a wind generation farm.

License plates (HB 4648) ­ Allows the Secretary of State to issue license plates for those who have received the Distinguished Service Cross. The money collected from the fees for this plate will go to provide benefits for the Circuit Breaker Program.

Fire protection district (HB 4674) ­ Provides that fire protection district trustees who complete a training program on administration may receive additional compensation.

Sprinkler grants (HB 4687) ­ Allows fire protection districts to pass an ordinance to establish a grant program to award money for fire suppression sprinkler systems for single family residential properties.

Leasing (HB 4766) ­ Allows counties to lease space on one of their telecommunications towers to a public or private entity.

Oversized loads (HB 4811) ­ Sets fees for when State Police escorts are needed for oversized loads.

Water utilities (HB 4838) ­ Prohibits a water or sewer utility from recovering advertising costs in any general rate case, unless the expense is deemed in the best interest of the consumer.

Speed limits (HB 4839) ­ Allows county boards to post new signs when they change the speed limit on a road.

Hearing notification (HB 4936) ­ Provides that the county must notify the owners of properties next to a telecommunication or AM radio tower if a hearing concerning the tower is to take place.

License plates (HB 5607) ­ Allows the Secretary of State to issue license plates for the Illinois Police Association. The money collected from the fees on this plate will go to providing benefits for the families of officers killed in the line of duty.

Firefighters (HB 5909) ­ Makes it a criminal offense to resist or obstruct a firefighter who is performing their duty.

Legislation amendatorily vetoed by the Governor this week includes:

Veterans (HB 4201) ­ Rewritten by the Governor to propose a property tax exemption for disabled veterans. An estimated 16,000 veterans statewide would be impacted by the Governor's proposal. Late on Aug. 13, the House accepted the Governor's changes and sent the measure to the Senate. The Senate must act on the measure within 15 days of receiving it or the proposal will die.

Legislation which received a complete veto by the Governor includes:

Community colleges (HB 4189) ­ Amends the State Officials and Employee Ethics Act to redefine community colleges as a "governmental entity" instead of a "state agency."

Capitol Fax

Rich Miller's commentary on State Government

The genesis for this week's legislative special session on education funding s Rev. Sen. James Meeks' call for a boycott of the Chicago Public School system's first day of fall classes. But a campaign threat is what really seemed to motivate Gov. Rod Blagojevich to take some action.

Meeks' boycott idea was widely dismissed at first as a potentially harmful stunt. Reinforcing the notion among students that their schools are so lousy that attending classes is a waste of time is probably not a great message to send, no matter how bad the schools are.

Even so, Sen. Meeks (D-Chicago) has been able to sign up a growing number of fellow African-American ministers to his boycott idea.

African-American ministers represent one of the last bastions of support for the breathtakingly unpopular Blagojevich. So, if some of them are ready to revolt, he's gotta be ready to listen.

The most interesting part, though, was when Meeks appeared on Fox Chicago Sunday, one of those "newsmaker" interview shows.

Meeks announced that he would run against Blagojevich if the governor ran for reelection in 2010.

"If he runs again, I'll definitely run against him," Meeks told the show's hosts.

Meeks blasted Blagojevich during the program for not keeping his campaign promise to put $2 billion into education funding.

"He has failed in the area of education," Meeks said.

Blagojevich always seems to respond best to threats like this. Meeks' threats to run against Blagojevich in 2006 prompted the governor to pledge that aforementioned $2 billion for schools, which never materialized.

So when Meeks made yet another campaign threat, the governor didn't wait to ask "How high?". He jumped.

Blagojevich quickly called a one-day special session and then said he was considering bringing lawmakers back in September until they came up with a plan to fund education, even if the special sessions lasted until the November elections.

That's pretty extreme, but the governor apparently wanted to head Meeks off at the pass. Right now, Meeks is the only potential black gubernatorial candidate in the 2010 Democratic primary. Keeping Meeks out would give Blagojevich a shot at the African-American vote, which could prove decisive in a multi-candidate race against a bunch of white Democrats.

Whatever happens, the special sessions will certainly provide a more constructive and positive outlet for the growing protest. Meeks and other members of the Black Caucus plan to showcase legislation that would "sunset" (the legislative term for allowing a law to die on its own by a certain date) local property taxes for schools by 2010.

The idea, based on the state of Michigan's experience, is to create a "doomsday" deadline to spur some sort of action. Michigan sunsetted its own property tax several years ago and eventually settled on the sales tax as a replacement.

The obvious question is whether, and for how long, the governor will remain focused on this issue. He's infamous for bouncing around from one bright, shiny ball to another without any serious follow-through. And Meeks is right that school funding reform has never been much of a Blagojevich priority.

Indeed, when the governor was asked last week about Meeks' property tax sunset idea, he said he opposed it. When asked repeatedly by reporters if he had any funding reform ideas of his own, he dodged the questions.

The property tax sunset idea was opposed by just about every school group and union when it was introduced in the House earlier this year. But the Illinois Federation of Teachers is taking a second look at the plan in the wake of the latest developments. That doesn't mean it will actually pass, but the proposal may have a little more life in it than some of us may have initially expected.

And if nothing happens? Well, the governor is off the hook because he called the special sessions. Blagojevich can revert to his favorite game of blaming House Speaker Michael Madigan for all the troubles in the world.

And Meeks will have demonstrated to his allies and the community at large that he has the influence to drive the state's agenda. He might even be able to use this as an eventual springboard to higher office.

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

Employment Concerns

This is a rebuttal against the "Odor Concern" in the August 6, 2008 Prairie Advocate

Is the City of Lanark so wealthy that they don't need the tax dollars that the feedlot north of Lanark generates for the schools or the other businesses, whether they are the gas stations, restaurants, stores, banks, feed supplies, tractor supplies? If the people of Lanark were to force the business to close, would the city be willing to pay for the employees' mortgages, children's educations, groceries, and other necessities? Will they give us new employment in this day and age where jobs are hard to come by? What if every community complained about feedlots, and we followed a trend of buying everything overseas?

Maybe the people of Lanark should ask local farmers if they would rather buy commercial fertilizer, or use organic fertilizer that is available right here. What if the local farmers quit buying in Lanark altogether? I realize that a lot of people in Lanark might not feel this way, but sometimes people need to start thinking of others. Yes, feedlots and farms smell. They are farms. They have farm animals on them. What about the other large farms in the area: the large Hog farm on Highway 72, or what about the Dairy Farm on 73? What about the large Hog Confinement on Cyclone Ridge? Are you going to go after them, too? What would you like to do about them?

The feedlot has been here for over thirty years, yet people are still buying houses in Lanark. The city has not been ruined.The difference now is that now the EPA is involved in everything that the NWIF does. People need to remember that we are an agricultural community.

Thank you,

Mark Bennett

Mt. Carroll, IL

Happy 40th To Special Olympics

Less than one month ago, Special Olympics celebrated the 40th anniversary of the worldwide movement that began with the first games right here in Illinois in 1968. The games were the beginning of recognition of the abilities of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. As our athletes will tell you, it has been an uphill battle to fight negative stereotypes and the hurt caused by the word "retard."

The movie "Tropic Thunder" which opens this week takes us several steps backward, using the character of "Simple Jack" and multiple uses of the R-word to make crass jokes in the name of adult comedy.

Please help make much needed change and acceptance in our community. Don't say the R-word. And help Hollywood get the message that this usage is unacceptable by boycotting "Tropic Thunder." To learn how to become a fan of dignity, visit www.r-word.org.

Doug Snyder, President/CEO

Special Olympics Illinois

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

Springfield, August 12, 2008; our second day of special session ordered by the Governor to come to agreement on a jobs and infrastructure (capital) bill and education reform. We came to order at 3pm with wishful anticipation. After three representatives (from both sides of the aisle) took verbal shots at the Governor, we adjourned at 3:20pm.

The good news from Tuesday's session is that the Senate finally voted down the obscene pay raise for legislators, the Governor and other statewide officials as we in the House had done previously. You will recall that I had previously explained that if it had not been rejected by the Senate, it would have automatically become law.

On Wednesday, August 13, the House got down to serious business and we addressed several very important issues. Senate Bill 1460 creates a mechanism to ensure the State of Illinois receives approximately $1.25 billion in Federal funds for road, bridge and mass transit projects. Under the legislation, the state will provide the needed matching funds through the sale of general obligation bonds totaling $360 million. Of that sum, $240 million would be earmarked for highways and $120 million for mass transit. House Democrats advised that debt service would be paid out of the General Revenue Fund (GRF) and the road fund. Deputy Majority Leader Gary Hannig (D-Gillespie) noted that there hasn't been a capital bill in nine years, and so many of the current bonds are being retired because they have reached their expiration. He says the state can afford the new bonds. His math might be somewhat fuzzy, but I have great respect for Representative Hannig. He is the chief budget negotiator for his caucus.

The legislation we passed on Wednesday essentially "frees up" the $1.25 billion for the 80% match from the Federal government for our highways. That's important. However, this bill doesn't begin to address our total capital needs. It does nothing to create jobs, nor does it include any construction assistance for schools, hospitals or universities.

Senate Bill 1116 is the companion bill and simply creates reappropriations to various agencies.

I do believe that prior to Labor Day, we will continue to inch closer to the $34 billion Poshard/Hastert capital plan. Solid sources tell me that a counter proposal of approximately $25 billion is being put together that perhaps has a better chance of passage. I will keep you apprised of any new developments.

At the State Fair this week I was once again privileged to be one of the guest auctioneers at the Governor's Sale of Champions. I was able to entice the Governor to join me at the podium and test his auctioneer skills. He was a good sport, and the crowd seemed to appreciate his involvement.

My mobile office will be in Durand near the Town Square from 10:00 to noon and in Forreston in front of Buzzard's Motorcycle Shop from 2:00 to 4:00 on Friday August 22.

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at 815/232-0774 or e-mail us at jimsacia@aeroinc.net. You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

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