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Senate week in review
(Nov. 3-7)
Fall veto session
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[NOV. 10, 2003]
SPRINGFIELD -- The first
half of the six-day fall veto session began last week with the
resolution of differences the governor and the legislature had on
the death penalty reform legislation approved last spring, according
to state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield.
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In his veto of the legislation, Gov.
Rod Blagojevich had recommended some changes because, in his view,
the measure did not protect police officers from scurrilous
accusations of perjury. The Senate this week approved legislation (HB
576) giving the state's Law Enforcement Training and Standards
Board the opportunity to decide which accusations of perjury against
police officers need to be investigated.
The Senate also overrode the governor's
veto of the original death penalty legislation (SB
472). That bill prohibits the execution of mentally retarded
people, gives wrongly accused defendants greater access to DNA
evidence and allows judges to file dissents from jury verdicts.
Senate Republicans held up legislation
to create a hospital bed tax as a means of leveraging federal
matching funds for Illinois hospitals. The action was because of
concerns that there were no provisions to prevent hospitals from
passing this tax on to patients. There also were concerns that the
governor could use the money for purposes other than what was
originally intended, as has happened with the road fund and the Toll
Highway Authority.
The purpose of the hospital bed tax
legislation is to increase Medicaid reimbursements to about 92
percent of actual Medicaid costs. The tax would generate about $430
million, which would be used to leverage another $430 in federal
matching funds that would be paid as an increased Medicaid
reimbursement to hospitals.
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In other news, Senate Republicans are
working with the other caucuses and the governor to get an ethics
reform bill passed. Senate Republicans believe unpaid advisers to
the executive branch should file a "Statement of Economic Interest"
so that the public has the assurance that those individuals are not
using their position to profit economically. Senate Republicans are
also proposing a prohibition on state legislators receiving
compensation from a private group to lobby the federal government.
Senate Republicans have made a commitment to help this process and
get an ethics reform bill passed.
Finally,
Senate Republicans defeated an attempt to override the veto of
legislation requiring various indoor physical fitness facilities to
have defibrillators on-site and requiring facilities to have at
least one trained staff member who is qualified to use the devices.
The original bill had a broad definition that would apply to
churches and even to day cares with playgrounds. The governor
offered some changes to narrow the scope of the legislation, but the
sponsor of the legislation refused to accept those changes and tried
to completely override the veto. That attempt failed.
[News release]
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