Senate week in review

Feb. 19-23          Send a link to a friend

[February 27, 2007]  SPRINGFIELD -- Legislators were welcomed back to Springfield last week with more than 1,700 bills to consider over the next few months. While committees were busy working through piles of new bills, old issues ranging from electric utility rates to the state's Health Facilities Planning Board were also discussed, according to state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield.

Before adjourning on Friday, the Senate passed two pieces of controversial legislation, one regarding stem cell research and the other dealing with property taxes.

The first bill, Senate Bill 4, permits embryonic stem cell research and allows for public funds to be used to fund the research.

Specifically, the legislation requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to develop the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute program to award grants to Illinois' medical research institutions. Institutions receiving the grants are prohibited from cloning human embryos and from selling or purchasing embryos for research purposes.

Additionally, the Senate considered a bill aimed at extending property tax relief for homeowners in Cook County.

The measure, Senate Bill 13, known as "The 7% Solution," caps the annual property assessment increase at 7 percent for another three years. Currently, the cap only affects Cook County, but other counties have the option to adopt the "solution" as well. The bill also contains provisions for homestead-related relief for returning veterans.

Both bills are now sent to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

At a Capitol press conference on Wednesday, a group of lawmakers urged Gov. Blagojevich to request a special legislative summit in order to address the recent Illinois electric rate increases. (See related article.)

Reports of some residents facing rate increases of more than 100 percent prompted the group of lawmakers, consisting of Republican members from the Senate and House of Representatives, to formally request Blagojevich to call on the legislative leaders and the Illinois Commerce Commission to convene and develop a solution to the electric rate increase immediately.

Bomke explained that on Jan. 1, a 10-year freeze on electric rates was lifted by the ICC, prompting rates for Ameren and ComEd customers to dramatically increase. Although the issue was discussed at length during the fall veto session in November, an agreement between the House and Senate could not be reached.

In other news, the results of a study on the effectiveness of a state board that oversees the construction and expansion of hospitals and other health care facilities was released at a hearing in Springfield on Thursday.

In November, lawmakers approved a resolution asking the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability to study the effectiveness of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and the Certificate of Need process in containing health care costs and protecting health care access.

The study, which was conducted by the Lewin Group, stated that there is no evidence that the CON process actually reduces costs or improves the quality of care.

However, the study did note that the CON process may provide protection to hospitals with a large percentage of Medicaid patients and recommended an extension of the CON process for a three-year period in order for the state to conduct a comprehensive study on the impact on those hospitals. (See related article.)

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The following bills passed through the Senate and head to the House of Representatives for further consideration:

Sex offenders (SB 14) -- Requires sex offenders, when registering, to include all e-mail addresses, instant messaging identities, chat room identities and other Internet communications identities that the offender uses or plans to use. This information will be public information.

Victims' compensation (SB 31) -- Provides that a person is entitled to file a claim for compensation under the Crime Victims Compensation Act within one year after a criminal indictment for the offense upon which the claim is based.

Green governments (SB 46) -- Creates the Green Governments Coordinating Council, strengthens the Illinois Green Government program and helps state agencies find new and better ways to make their facilities environmentally friendly by reducing solid waste, conserving water, saving energy and purchasing alternative fuels.

Agribusiness (SB 57) -- Expands the term "energy-related agribusiness," with regard to loans, to include fuel processing and development facilities using agricultural commodities, vegetable oils, animal fats or biomass feedstock.

Tires (SB 154) -- Extends the 50-cent new or used tire fee collected from retail customers that was set to expire on Jan. 1, 2008.

The following bills passed through committee and head to the Senate floor for further debate:

Methamphetamine (SB 55) -- States that a person who knowingly uses a fictitious driver's license or government-issued identification, or those of another person, or otherwise provides false information to obtain a targeted methamphetamine precursor is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a first offense, a Class 3 felony for a second offense and a Class 2 felony for a third or subsequent offense.

Prostitution (SB 75) -- Provides that when any person who has not previously been convicted of or placed on probation for felony prostitution is found guilty of felony prostitution, the court may sentence that person to probation without entering a judgment with their consent.

Classroom credit (SB 138) -- Allows all elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as home-school educators in Illinois, to receive a credit equal to 50 percent of total non-reimbursed classroom expenses in excess of $250. The maximum credit a teacher could receive is $500.

Septic tanks (SB 184) -- Makes it clear that rural homeowners will not have to follow the proposed Illinois Environmental Protection Agency state septic tank regulations if their tanks empty onto their property only.

Libraries (SB 186) -- Public library districts may invest temporarily idle money from the working cash fund. The interest earned on the investments may be transferred permanently to the general fund or remain in the working cash fund.

[Text from news release sent on behalf of Sen. Larry Bomke and received from Illinois Senate Republican staff]

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