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The Illinois Patriot Plan,
Senate Bill 2060, is a Senate Republican proposal that would
ease financial pressures on the thousands of active duty servicemen
and servicewomen from Illinois who have been deployed to protect
U.S. interests abroad. Provisions of the plan include prohibiting
creditors from charging or collecting interest or finance charges
exceeding 6 percent per annum while the service member is away and
allowing deployed military personnel to terminate cellular phone
contracts without a penalty.
The Patriot Plan also allows Central Management Services to purchase
bulk long-distance telephone services and make them available at
cost to members of the immediate family of deployed service members.
The plan prohibits insurance companies from forfeiting the life
insurance policy of a deployed service member for any reason.
Additionally, utility companies would not be allowed to shut off
service to the residence of a deployed service member.
Finally, the Patriot Plan allows a
court to delay eviction proceedings for a period of 90 days or
adjust the rental obligations of deployed service members or their
family, and mandates that any service member who is deployed on
active duty for 180 days or more may terminate any motor vehicle
lease.
Ethics reform also dominated Senate
business early this week, as Republican legislators unveiled
legislation aimed at curbing contractual abuses by the Blagojevich
administration. The "Responsible Public Contracting Act" is a
comprehensive package of legislation that targets questionable
contractual and political fund-raising activities by the Blagojevich
administration in awarding state contracts, as well as other ethical
breaches.
The legislation would:
- Require that all leases and
subleases of the Illinois Toll Highway Authority be considered
public information and requires that all leases, subleases,
contracts and subcontracts be competitively bid (SB 2003).
- Halt the administration's abuse
of "sole source" and "emergency" exemptions to bidding
requirements (SB 2004).
- Require greater public disclosure
of contractors and related businesses and key executives who make
campaign contributions, to make it easier for the media and the
public to identify potential links between campaign contributions
and contract awards (SB 2004).
- Encourage more competition on
state contracts by strengthening contract notification procedures
(SB 2004).
- Force the governor to post
conflict-of-interest waivers in a timely fashion (SB 2004).
- Require timely posting of
contract awards on the Internet (SB 2004).
- Give the state comptroller and
treasurer the power to void illegal contracts (SB 2004).
Senate Republicans also introduced
measures aimed at other questionable Blagojevich administration
contractual and ethical practices, by:
- Banning the use of state funds or
resources for out-of-state trips by public officials if any
portion of the trip involves political fund-raising (SB 2010).
- Expanding the disclosure
requirements of statements of economic interest in order to
capture a public official's interest in out-of-state businesses,
instead of just those doing business in Illinois (SB 2011).
- Using language proposed by State
Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka to tighten the existing ban on the use
of public service announcements and promotional items (SB 1662).
- Prohibiting constitutional
officers from appearing in commercial solicitations (SB 2007).
- Enhancing the capabilities of the
State Board of Elections website to make it easier to
cross-reference contributors' names and their employers (SB 2005).
- Requiring more timely disclosure
of contributions of $1,000 or more (SB 2009).
- Amending the crime of official
misconduct to include special government agents identified under
the "shadow government" reforms enacted by Senate Republicans (SB
2008).
[to top of second column in this article] |
 In other news, representatives from
the medical community and insurance industry met in front of a
special Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, in what was the first
in a series of three special hearings on the medical malpractice
issue. Thursday's hearing focused on the need for a meaningful
medical malpractice solution and included testimony from individuals
supporting a wide range of reforms.
Medical and insurance
representatives alike explained that setting insurance rates would
not get to the root of the problem. They contended that the only way
to lower the cost of medical malpractice premiums is to reform the
state's legal system. Brady explained that the second hearing on
March 10 is expected to feature testimony from opponents of legal
reforms, and the final hearing on March 17 will focus on developing
a procedure to advance the suggested reforms.
Also last week, persistent problems
with the state's current pharmaceutical provider, Caremark Rx Inc.,
have prompted members of the Republican Caucus to call on a
legislative oversight committee to examine the state's new contract
with Medco. Republicans want to know how the contract will affect
the ability of state employees and retirees to access quality care
and how it will affect their ability to harness potential cost
savings from a trusted health care provider. Senate Republicans hope
to solve any problems in advance if the state's contract with Medco
begins in July 2005.
Finally, legislation was introduced
to further protect Illinois citizens from convicted sex offenders.
Senate Bill 1234 tightens the provisions of the Sex Offender
Registration Act, as well as increases penalties for offenders who
do not comply with registration requirements. The Legislature and
Attorney General Lisa Madigan have been working for several years to
strengthen the requirements of the Illinois Sex Offender Registry
and expect this bill will provide the tools to ensure convicted sex
offenders obey the law.
These measures were passed by the
Senate during the week of Feb. 28 through March 4:
Veterans amnesty (SB 79): Extends a
90-day grace period on the payment of Illinois property taxes to all
active duty members of the armed forces.
Ticket for the Cure (SB 1): Creates
a new lottery game in which proceeds from tickets sales would go to
fund breast cancer research.
Firearm owners (SB 53): Allows
registered gun owners to purchase ammunition from a person outside
Illinois.
Testimony (SB 78): Provides that
prior statements from witnesses who refused to testify and deceased
witnesses can be used only if they were under oath and subject to
cross-examination.
Controlled substances (SB 102):
Makes it Class A misdemeanor for any manufacturer, wholesaler,
retailer or other person to sell a dietary supplement containing an
ephedrine group alkaloid or other specified dietary supplements to a
person under 18 years of age.
[Illinois
Senate Republican Caucus news release] |
