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In the meantime, little progress was being made on budget issues.
Bomke said Senate Republicans are focusing on core state budget
principles that would protect middle-class taxpayers and restore
public trust in government. Bomke explained that Republican
senators believe the state budget should:
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Meet the state's
current financial obligations.
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Reform existing
government programs to maximize savings.
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Have the state live
within its means.
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Not use one-time
revenues to pay for ongoing government programs.
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Not expand or create
programs until the state budget is balanced.
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Pursue policies that
help create jobs and spur economic development.
Despite control of the General Assembly and all of the
constitutional offices, Chicago Democrats have so far been mired in
gridlock this session and may be unable to complete their work on
time.
The legislature's spring session is scheduled to conclude May 31,
leaving about a week and a half to pass the remaining hundreds of
bills still on the agenda, approve a new fiscal 2008 budget and
decide controversial issues such as tax increases and an electric
rate freeze. Progress on all fronts was a bit slow, but a flurry of
action is expected in the days that are left.
The Senate did give its approval to a measure (House Bill 426)
that would move the 2008 general primary election date from the
third Tuesday in March (March 18) to the first Tuesday in February
(Feb. 5). Proponents say it will allow Illinois voters to have more
of a say in presidential politics. Opponents argued it would make an
already long campaign season even longer and more expensive.
House Bill 426 awaits action by the governor.
As gas prices across the country continue to soar, Senate
Republicans are hoping to provide Illinois drivers with some help at
the gas pump. An amendment that has been filed to
House Bill 576 would eliminate the state's portion of the sales
tax on motor fuel.
Under current law, the sales tax on motor fuel is 6.25 percent.
Of that percentage, 5 percent goes to the state, 1 percent to the
local municipality and 0.25 percent to the county. The amendment
would completely remove the state's portion of the sales tax,
beginning on July 1, which would save taxpayers more than $600
million, equaling a 5 percent cut in gasoline pump prices in
Illinois. Local units of government would continue to receive their
portion of the revenue, which helps them maintain local roads.
Suspending the gasoline sales tax is not new. It was tried on a
temporary basis in 2000 to address soaring gas prices at that time.
If the change is approved by the legislature and signed into law,
the sales tax on motor fuel would end on June 30.
A group of Republican lawmakers had a news Capitol news
conference Thursday to draw attention to the plight of two proposals
that would address concerns about government corruption, or
so-called pay-to-play politics, which is currently under
investigation by federal prosecutors in Chicago.
House bills 1 and 3 have already passed the Illinois House but
are being held up by the majority party in the Senate.
House Bill 1 would prohibit campaign contributions from those
who have more than $25,000 in state contracts.
House Bill 3 would require the governor to establish and operate
a public online database of people who receive state funds.
In recent years, a number of newspapers and other media have
reported on instances where lucrative state contracts were awarded
to political contributors to the governor.
Currently, both measures are being bottled up in the Senate Rules
Committee, controlled by the Senate president. Although both
proposals received unanimous support in the House and are being
sponsored by a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers in the Senate,
neither bill has been allowed to be brought to the full chamber for
debate and a vote.
House bills heading to the governor after final passage in the
Senate:
House Bill 162 -- Provides state and local law enforcement more
assistance from federal agents when making arrests.
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 House Bill 286 -- Prohibits establishments that sell a large
percentage of adult materials from being located within 1,000 feet
of a school, day-care center, cemetery, public park, forest
preserve, public housing or church. Some businesses skirt this
requirement by not primarily selling pornographic material, but
their inventory of adult items is substantial. Those who wish to
avoid being classified as an "adult entertainment facility" will
need to reduce their stock to 24 percent.
House Bill 364 -- Provides financial help for West Nile mosquito
abatement by continuing the fee of 50 cents per tire on the purchase
of new and used tires, which was due to expire on Jan. 1, 2008. The
legislation eliminates the expiration date.
House Bill 371 -- Sets the fees for the State Identification Card
Act for applicants less than 18 years of age to be one-half of the
fees otherwise charged for an ID card.
House Bill 407 -- Provides that the Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity must give special consideration to
high-unemployment and low-income areas when awarding state economic
development grants.
House Bill 421 -- Requires all reports of abuse and neglect
alleging the death or serious injury to a child to be immediately
reported by the Department of Children and Family Services to local
law enforcement.
House Bill 486 -- Expands University of Illinois scholarships for
children of veterans to include Operation Enduring Freedom and
Operation Iraqi Freedom on the list of eligible deployments.
House Bill 499 -- Lowers the minimum amount of signatures
necessary for a candidate to file a nomination petition for library
trustee from 50 to 25.
House Bill 639 -- Amends the Personnel Code to grant state
employees who are also veterans up to four days of leave per year
(in addition to any available sick leave, vacation leave or personal
leave) to visit a veterans hospital or clinic for examination of a
military service-related disability. Currently, such employees are
granted only two days of additional leave and are limited to only
visits to a veterans hospital.
House Bill 642 -- Requires that cord blood brochures created by
the Department of Public Health contain information not only on
public donation sites, but also on private cord blood banks.
House Bill 709 -- Amends the Hunting Heritage Protection Act to
require that Department of Natural Resources land management
decisions and actions with respect to recreational hunting are not
to result in any net loss of "habitat" available for hunting
opportunities on department-managed lands that presently exist.
House Bill 742 -- Expands the state's Whistleblower Reward and
Protection Act by requiring a state college or university, school
district, community college, county, municipality, or unit of local
government to adopt the act.
House Bill 979 -- Creates the Rural Senior Citizen Program within
the Department on Aging to gather information on the needs of older
rural residents and evaluate the accessibility of existing
department programs for rural seniors.
House Bill 1236 -- Increases sentencing penalties for those
convicted of identify theft of active-duty members of the armed
services or Reserve forces of the U.S. or Illinois National Guard
serving in a foreign country.
House Bill 1535 -- Require the Department of Human Services to
explore possible funding streams to add services for adult autism
spectrum disorder to the services offered by the department to
people with developmental disabilities. The bill is subject to
appropriation.
House Bill 1711 -- Bans the slaughter of a horse for purposes of
human consumption. It also bans the sale, purchase, possession,
importation, exportation or acceptance of any horse meat for
purposes of human consumption.
House Bill 1759 -- Requires HIV tests for expectant mothers but
allows the pregnant woman to "opt-out" in writing.
House Bill 1877 -- In school districts other than the Chicago
school district, allows sick leave for birth and for adoption or
placement for adoption.
House Bill 2783 -- Authorizes the secretary of state to issue
"Korean Service" license plates.
[Text from news release sent on behalf of
Sen. Larry Bomke and received
from Illinois
Senate Republican staff]
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