 The defeat ended a busy week in the Illinois Senate, which included
the announcement of bipartisan ethics reforms; an apparent signal
from the governor's office that at least a portion of long-awaited
agriculture funding might be forthcoming; a call from Senate
Republicans to provide much-needed dollars to deal with the
higher-than-anticipated costs of road maintenance over the winter;
and the defeat of an effort to raise the state income tax.All
Senate Republicans supported recall, but Senate President Emil
Jones, D-Chicago, kept enough Democrats from voting for the measure
to assure its failure. The legislation received 33 votes but needed
36 votes to pass the Senate. Jones then abruptly adjourned the
Senate, effectively running out the clock on the recall effort, even
though an alternative measure remained in the Senate that could have
been placed the referendum on the ballot.
Following the defeat of the recall amendment, Jones told
reporters he supports a legislative pay raise. "I need a pay raise.
I need a pay raise," Jones told reporters.
Under
Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 70, elected
officials at all levels of government who receive a taxpayer-funded
salary -- including executive officers, General Assembly members,
judges and local elected officials, with the exception of members of
school boards -- would have been subject to recall. The
constitutional amendment would have also allowed for the governor
and lieutenant governor to be recalled on the same ballot, in
addition to setting the terms of a prospective recall election and
establishing how successor candidates would be selected.
After the amendment narrowly failed, numerous members of the
Senate Republican Caucus requested that a similar constitutional
amendment,
House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 28, be
discharged for deliberation. However, Senate Democratic leaders
rejected requests to consider the alternative recall measure,
denying voters the right to consider a recall provision on the Nov.
4 ballot.
Earlier in the week, members of the Senate Republican Caucus
joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to announce a compromise on
contract reform in the state of Illinois. If signed into law, the
legislation would address the culture of "pay-to-play" politics that
continues to dominate Illinois state government.
House Bill 824 bans campaign contributions from contractors to
confirmed candidates for the office that would be awarding donor
contracts, as well as current elected officials. In addition, the
bill also mandates that businesses with state contracts register
with the State Board of Elections, creating a searchable database
connecting names of companies doing business with the state to all
of their contributions to political committees. Failure to register
or falsified registrations would be a criminal offense, punishable
by a fine.
[to top of second column] |
 In other news, lawmakers were given notice late on April 30 that
the Blagojevich administration has committed to releasing at least
some long-awaited funding for Illinois' Soil and Water Conservation
districts and the University of Illinois Extension offices.
On April 15th, Republican lawmakers called on the state's
legislative leaders and the governor to unite in support of
agriculture in the state of Illinois. Many legislators say it will
be a relief when the funding is finally released, but they expressed
concern over the governor's notoriously unreliable record on
releasing revenue. They also noted that other agriculture programs
across the state are worried about a remaining $6 million that has
not been earmarked for release.
Senate Republican lawmakers are trying to get more state funding
to cover weather-related costs from the difficult winter just past.
According to the state's transportation agency, the average cost
associated with winter operations is $40 million per year. The
fiscal 2008 cost was approximately $85 million.
Senate Bill 1106 includes funding for seasonal personnel who
drive snowplows on state routes, repairs for potholes and washed-out
roads, additional salt, and higher-than-anticipated fuel costs.
In additional news, Senate Republicans joined with several
members across the aisle in voting down another proposed
constitutional amendment that would have likely led to major income
tax increases.
Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 92 would have
paved the way to replace the low Illinois flat-rate 3 percent income
tax with a higher, graduated income tax.
Legislation passed out of Senate committees
Air patrol (House Bill 5760) -- Requires that employers grant
unpaid leave to employees who are Civil Air Patrol members
performing a Civil Air Patrol mission.
Universal preschool (House Bill 4705) -- Allows for the
disbursement of funds through June 30, 2010, to achieve the goal of
preschool for all children.
Illegal immigration (House Bill 5756) -- States that illegal
immigrants breaking the law may face deportation for the offense
they have committed.
Sheltered care (House Bill 4190) -- Provides that the Department
of Human Services must increase sheltered care rates by 10 percent
in conjunction with the Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled program.
Administrative changes (House Bill 3508) -- Amends the Illinois
Act on the Aging, the Nursing Home Care Act, and the Consumer Fraud
and Deceptive Business Practices Act and establishes various duties
for the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman.
[Text from file sent on behalf of
Sen.
Larry Bomke by Illinois
Senate Republican staff] |
