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Protecting teachers' insurance fund One of the issues
lawmakers will be asked to consider in the upcoming veto session is
a move by Gov. Blagojevich to siphon additional revenue from the
Illinois Teacher Health Insurance Security Fund to help pay the
state's day-to-day bills.
During the spring, lawmakers passed
House Bill 3272 to prohibit the governor from raiding money from
the health insurance fund. The governor already took $4.5 million
from the fund in 2004, so the General Assembly voted unanimously
this spring to protect the fund from future sweeps.
In August, the governor amendatorily vetoed House Bill 3272 --
not only allowing himself to raid the insurance fund, but giving
himself authority to sweep additional revenues from any state fund
not currently protected by law.
Jim Bachman, executive director of the Illinois Retired Teachers
Association, says that overriding the amendatory veto is crucial.
According to Bachman, the governor's office has informed the
association of plans to take an additional $1.3 million from the
fund unless the legislature blocks the governor's changes to House
Bill 3272.
I intend to vote against the governor's amendatory veto, and I
urge my legislative colleagues to do the same.
The Teacher Health Insurance Security Fund is where the four
funding sources for the Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program are
deposited. The Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program is the health
insurance plan for retired educators in Illinois. The program is
already facing financial difficulties and cannot afford to have
additional revenues funneled out of the system.
[to top of second column in this article]
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 Blagojevich borrowing close to level of prior 20 years
Another issue sure to be acted on during veto session is
Comptroller Dan Hynes' request for a $1.1 billion short-term loan to
pay Medicaid vendors who have been waiting many months for the state
to pay its bills.
The public has every right to know why there is a need for such a
huge loan just a few months into the new fiscal year. Was the budget
balanced or wasn't it?
Even more alarming is the fact that if the $1.1 billion loan is
approved, Blagojevich will have compiled $4.2 billion in short-term
loans in less than three years. In the 20 years prior to Blagojevich
taking office, the state of Illinois had a grand total of $5 billion
in short-term loans.
Welcome, Sen. Axley
Welcome to new
Sen. Cheryl Axley. The Mount Prospect attorney replaces Sen.
Dave Sullivan of Park Ridge, who has retired from the northwest
suburban district he had served for the last five years.
Axley was chosen by her fellow Republican township committeemen.
She has been Elk Grove Township's clerk since 1991 and its GOP
committeeman since 2002.
[From
Sen. Bill Brady] |
