Article Week of February 2 nd, 2009

I am not sure exactly what is in store for the Illinois General Assembly during the upcoming spring session. However, I do know that things will definitely be different than any other time I have been a member of the General Assembly. As everyone knows by this time, the Illinois Senate voted unanimously last week to remove Rod Blagojevich from the office of Governor after his impeachment by the Illinois House of Representatives. The final word I have on the entire episode is that the action was completely warranted and absolutely necessary. Whatever happens during the upcoming criminal proceedings against the governor will determine whether or not his behavior will result in jail time. His arrogance, lack of work ethic and continual abuse of his power as governor along with those criminal charges resulted in his removal from office. It is time to put the entire episode behind us, let the legal justice system do its’ job and move on to tackle the real problems that face our state.

The Illinois House begins to tackle those problems this week as session resumes February 4 th. So far, about four hundred house bills have been introduced for consideration this spring. That number will swell to several thousand by the end of the spring. Many of those bills deal with local concerns brought to the one hundred and eighteen state representatives who speak on behalf of thirteen million Illinois residents. You can look at the entire list at www.ilga.gov

Probably the most important and pressing problem that we face is our budget. At this time, we are facing a $4 to $5 billion deficit. Some of that deficit has been caused by the national economic downturn. Most of our budget problems are due to six years of deficit spending caused by budgets that were passed using less than ethical budget practices. My sincere hope is that Governor Quinn will address our fiscal problems without the smoke and mirrors that were the trademark of the past administration. It is time to end fund raids, asset sales, gimmicks and long term debt as the foundation of our states fiscal policy. We need to be honest with the people of the state. That simply means that if a program is supported by enough of the people to be included in the budget, then there must be revenue to support the proposal.

The fact is that at this time, there is not enough revenue to cover the expenses that we face. The fact is that schools are not being paid for mandates handed down by the State and that has resulted in a shift from the state to local sources to fund education and that has resulted in higher property taxes. We are also not paying our health care providers in a timely manner, we are not paying those providing services to our senior citizens in a timely manner and we are not paying social service providers in a timely manner. Nursing homes are closing in Illinois and disabled citizens are not being cared for properly. We cannot make scheduled payments to soil and water conservation districts, parks and recreation facilities are threatened with closure, and our roads, bridges and schools are crumbling due to the lack of a capitol bill.

The other major issue that we must address this year is REAL ethics reform. I am not talking about some online “ethics test” that we take. Those are easy and mean almost nothing. In fact, they are so easy that I am not sure anyone has ever failed one. If your answer to the overly simple question is wrong, you are given a second chance to answer correctly. I want to see real reforms in campaign finance and in the system that allows any individual to be capable of holding legislation up. The current system allows too much power in the hands of one person. Absolute power like that has the potential to result in the type of corruption we have seen in Illinois for too many years. We also need legislation to guarantee that a budget is on display for a period of time before it can be voted on. Almost all forms of government must display budgets for a period of time before adoption. In the General Assembly, a final budget containing several hundred pages can be introduced and passed in a matter of hours without any real sunshine. That must change if we are serious about real reform.

My pledge to you is the same as my first three terms in Springfield. I promise to represent the people of the 109 th District. I am your voice in this process. To make this all work, I need your help. If you have anything to say about any of the proposals made this spring or the problems we face, I need to hear from you. Your input, insight and opinions will help me more than anything else as I make decisions on whether to support or oppose particular pieces of legislation. I will attempt to keep you updated as to what proposals are being made through press releases, this almost weekly update and at my web site- www.peopleforeddy.com

I do want you to understand the vital importance of your participation in our representative form of government. This is a government of the people and without the participation of the people, our form of government does not work nearly as well as it could. Of course, there are various opinions regarding almost every issue and proposal. That can make things messy at times. But, I will listen to all sides of the issue and learn from you in many cases as I come to a decision. I promise.