Bomke's Senate week in review

[February 10, 2009]  SPRINGFIELD -- Lawmakers returned to Springfield for the first time following Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial and began to focus on more routine legislative matters such as introducing new legislation. In fact, more than 1,000 proposals for new legislation had been filed by week's end.

In addition, the top legislative leaders had their first meeting with new Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.

State Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, stressed that there is an eagerness on the part of all the leaders to work together in a spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship. He said that will be imperative to address the state's budget crisis, which is worsening.

Though the state is looking for ways to cut corners, a recent study shows that closing the beleaguered Pontiac Correctional Center will not result in substantial savings. The Blagojevich administration had advanced the closure of the facility as a way to save an estimated $4 million. However, Bomke said that the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University found closing the facility may result in $16 million to $26 million in lost revenue, jobs and economic opportunity.

The project manager for the study said that he wants the new governor to be aware of these updated numbers before Quinn makes a decision on the fate of PCC. Quinn has said he will review the closure.

A report released by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency this week shows that attendance at Illinois' historic sites fell by almost 13 percent in 2008. Fewer than 2 million people visited historic sites last year, as opposed to nearly 2.3 million in 2007.

Twelve historic sites were closed by the former governor in late 2008. Blagojevich shuttered the sites in an attempt to free up the revenue to fill an estimated $2.5 billion budget hole. The closures were highly criticized, particularly closures associated with President Abraham Lincoln as the state prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Quinn also signed Senate Bill 2757, which exempts health-related research facilities from the smoking ban, as well as common smoking rooms in veterans' long-term care homes and workplaces in retail tobacco stores. It also requires the Department of Public Health and law enforcement agencies to issue citations to enforce the smoking ban.

[Text from file sent on behalf of Sen. Larry Bomke by Illinois Senate Republican staff]