 Agriculture paying price for governor's fiscal mismanagement
Illinois agriculture is paying the price for Gov. Rod Blagojevich's
continued mismanagement of the state's budget. After two days of
discussion by lawmakers last week about the need to protect funding
for key agriculture and conservation programs, it's clear that the
main problem is the Legislature cannot trust the governor.
The governor can find all the money he needs for the Chicago
area, but when it comes to the needs in the rest of the state, he
seems to come up short. The governor has continued to spend beyond
his means on his pet projects. He is not managing spending in
certain areas, and he is making other areas important to the state
of Illinois pay the price for his fiscal mismanagement.
The governor has frozen funding for Soil and Water Conservation
District offices, University of Illinois Extension services, 4-H
programs, and CFAR agriculture research, but has released
approximately $7 million for new projects in Chicago. Time and time
again over the last six years, the agriculture industry -- along
with the rest of the business community -- has paid the price for
pork projects in Chicago.
My downstate legislative colleagues and I will continue to
pressure the governor to release agriculture and conservation
funding. When the legislature passes a budget and the governor signs
that budget, it should be put into effect and not ignored as this
administration has done.
Kudos
Please join me in welcoming Mike Levin, who is now working as my
new chief of staff. Mike started working for me April 7.
He was previously employed with the Illinois and Nevada
Association of Realtors, acting as a government affairs director.
Quick facts: earthquakes and Illinois
Early Friday morning, central Illinois was rattled by an
earthquake estimated at 5.2 on the Richter scale. As Midwesterners,
we have heard a lot over the years about tornadoes; however, many of
us do not know much about earthquakes. Tips from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency on earthquake preparedness and
earthquake safety can be found at
http://www.fema.gov/hazard/
earthquake/index.shtm.
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 |
 Thanks to the Pantagraph for providing the following
information:
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The U.S.
Geological Survey says 796 earthquakes have occurred in the U.S.
to date in 2008, including 21 on the level of 5.0 and three at
6.0.
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Illinois
experiences one earthquake a year on average. Only one quake in
20 years causes damage.
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The last reported
damage-causing earthquake measured 5.0 and centered in
southeastern Illinois near Lawrenceville and Olney in June 1987.
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Serious damage
from a quake in the state occurs only once in every 70 to 90
years.
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The Illinois
Geological Survey says devastating earthquakes in the central
U.S. occur only once in every 700 to 1,200 years.
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The last major
quake in the Midwest happened on Halloween 1895 and was centered
just south of Charleston. The magnitude was estimated 6.8, and
people as far away as Pennsylvania reported feeling the tremor.
Sill, no one was killed or injured and no buildings collapsed.
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The New Madrid
Seismic Zone, of which portions of Illinois are a part,
experienced three huge quakes estimated at more than 8.0 on the
Richter scale during the winter of 1811-12. The region was
sparsely populated so only a few injuries are known. But, the
force appeared to reverse the course of the Mississippi River
for a time and rang church bells in Boston. The powerful quakes
opened fissures, formed lakes, uprooted and snapped trees, sunk
or raised large sections of land more than 20 feet, and affected
600,000 square miles.
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U.S. Geological
Survey scientists think a major quake occurs on the New Madrid
Fault about once in every 500 years. In 2003, the USGS predicted
a 7-10 percent chance of an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.5
to 8.0 occurring along the New Madrid Fault in the next 50
years.
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Scientists
estimate the likelihood of a damaging quake measuring 6.3 or
greater in the Midwest in the next 15 years at 40-63 percent.
The likelihood that one will occur in the next 50 years is
nearly 100 percent.
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey and Illinois State Geological
Survey
[Text from file received from
Sen.
Bill Brady] |
