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Receiving strong bipartisan support,
Senate Bill 3086 would give property owners more rights when
government seizes their property.
Bomke explained that the legislation results from a recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision, Kelo v. City of New London, that gave
government the ability to use eminent domain to take private
property for not only public purposes, but also for the gain of
private individuals.
The bill responds to the ruling by establishing clear guidelines
on the eminent domain process in Illinois, specifying the options
property owners have when government uses condemnation procedures to
claim private property. Furthermore, it restricts communities in how
they can use eminent domain by requiring local government bodies to
prove the property in question is blighted in a court of law.
The senator hopes that this common-sense approach to leveling the
legal playing field will restore the balance between government and
people subjected to government and make sure that individuals are
given the chance to fight for their home fairly in a court of law.
Also passed unanimously in the Senate,
Senate Bill 2847 targets questionable contracting practices like
those the media have repeatedly attributed to the Blagojevich
administration.
The legislation seeks to restrict the administration's ability to
negotiate and award emergency contracts without going through a
competitive bidding process. The bill limits the awarding of those
contracts to emergencies affecting "critical" state services and
sets a time limit of six months on those contracts. Furthermore, the
legislation enhances public disclosure of contractors and related
businesses that do business with the state, their key executives and
lobbyists, and encourages timelier posting of contract awards on the
Internet. It also forces public posting of conflict-of-interest
waivers in a timely fashion.
Additionally, Senate Bill 2847 prohibits spouses and immediate
family members of state officials, or employees with control or an
interest in state contracts, from accepting employment or receiving
compensation from anyone who was awarded a state contract over
$25,000. It makes it harder for constitutional officers and
legislators to use public service announcements as a way to promote
themselves at public expense.
The senator said many of the provisions included in the bill were
introduced by Senate Republicans in their "Responsible Public
Contracting Act" of 2005, which was crafted to try to establish some
hard-and-fast ethics rules and give all businesses a fair chance,
based on their products and prices.
The following pieces of legislation were also approved by the
Senate last week and now head to the House floor for further
consideration:
Agriculture (SB 2333) -- Ends the practice of allowing the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to accept anonymous
complaints about farming operations. Provides that the agency may
not accept citizen complaints that are anonymous and unaccompanied
by the name and mailing address of the complainant, in order to
limit the number of false charges.
Blind vendors (SB 2330) -- Creates the Blind Vendors Act, which
provides that blind vendors will be given priority in the operation
of all vending machines on state and federal property in Illinois.
Courts (SB 2374) -- Allows the statements of murdered, bribed,
kidnapped or intimidated witnesses to be used in court proceedings
in the event the individuals are killed or secreted by the person
they planned to testify against.
Emergency workers (SB 2778) -- Requires public universities and
community colleges to adopt a policy that reasonably accommodates a
student who is a volunteer emergency worker with regard to absence
from class due to performance of his or her emergency worker duties.
Education (SB 2455) -- Requires the Comprehensive Health
Education Program to include course material on the Abandoned
Newborn Infant Protection Act. This replaces the current requirement
that the material be taught in sex education classes under the
School Code.
Ethanol (SB 2236) -- Reduces the state's sales tax incentive on
ethanol from its current rate of 80 percent of the state sales tax
to a rate of 90 percent of the state sales tax. Increases the
requirement that 8 percent of all motor fuel consumed in Illinois be
pure ethanol to 10 percent by 2008 and establishes that it is a
state goal for 15 percent of all motor fuel consumed in Illinois to
be pure ethanol.
[to top of second column] |
 Fire protection (SB 2302) -- Creates the Cigarette Fire Safety
Standard Act to require sale of self-extinguishing cigarettes and
establish standards and requirements for testing, packaging,
performance and certification of cigarettes sold in Illinois.
Fuel standards (SB 2716) -- Provides that the quality of
gasoline-oxygenate blends sold or offered for sale in the state
shall meet the standards determined by the Uniform Engine Fuels,
Petroleum Products and Automotive Lubricants Regulation, as
specified under the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Handbook 130.
Good Samaritans (SB 2303) -- Provides that any person who is
certified in first aid or has completed a course of instruction in
first aid, who in good faith provides emergency care without fee to
any person, shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions,
except willful and wanton misconduct on the part of the person in
providing the care, be liable for civil damages to a person to whom
such care is provided.
Homestead exemption (SB 2691) -- Extends assessment cap until
2010 in Cook County and until the 2008 assessment year in all other
counties. The annual limit of the exemption increases from $20,000
to $60,000. Creates the returning veterans' homestead exemption,
which allows a one-time $5,000 reduction in equalized assessed
valuation for the residence only.
Identity theft (SB 2456) -- Requires the Department of Financial
and Professional Regulation to create and provide a brochure on
identity theft to individuals 61 years and older upon their
application to renew their driver's license or their Illinois
identification card at a driver services facility.
Income tax (SB 2137) -- Allows a tax credit for individual
taxpayers in an amount equal to 25 percent of the premium costs paid
by the taxpayer during the taxable year for each qualified long-term
care insurance contract purchased on or after Jan. 1 that offers
coverage to either the taxpayer or to the taxpayer's spouse, parent
or dependent.
License plates (SB 2130) -- Authorizes the secretary of state to
issue a new "Support Our Troops" license plate as a means of raising
money for a charitable assistance fund for troops and their
families.
Methamphetamine (SB 2391) -- Creates the offense of
methamphetamine trafficking, which makes it illegal to bring in any
precursor of methamphetamine, anhydrous ammonia or methamphetamine
for the purpose of manufacturing or distributing methamphetamine.
The measure further enhances the penalty for trafficking in
Illinois.
Police (SB 2971) -- Increases the penalty for impersonating a law
enforcement officer from a Class 3 felony to a Class 2 felony and
makes it a Class 1 felony for an individual to attempt a forcible
felony -- that is, an act of violence against another person --
while impersonating a law enforcement officer. It would also allow
courts to impose consecutive sentences for crimes individuals commit
while in the act of impersonating a police officer.
Sex offenders (SB 3016) -- Strengthens Illinois' Sex Offender
Registration Act by allowing the state police to include several
additional identifying characteristics of sex offenders to the
existing online database; makes the online system searchable in
closer proximity to a home or school.
Smoking (SB 2465) -- Prohibits smoking in any portion of the
living quarters of a student dormitory, including but not limited to
sleeping rooms, dining areas, restrooms, laundry areas, lobbies and
hallways of a building used in whole or in part as a student
dormitory in a public or private institution of higher education;
exempts commercial areas within the building.
Smoking (SB 2400) -- Allows non-home-rule counties and
municipalities to regulate smoking in public places in a manner no
less restrictive than regulation under the Illinois Clean Indoor Air
Act.
State facility staffing (SB 2674) -- States that it is the
General Assembly's intent to monitor staffing levels in all
executive branch agencies under the authority of the governor and
develop a system to ensure the effective delivery of vital state
services. The act further establishes minimum staffing standards in
prisons operated by the state, as well as facilities operated by the
Department of Human Services, including Family and Community
Resource Centers.
[News release from
Illinois Senate
Republicans] |
