Week of April 26th., 2010
The scheduled end of the 96th General Assembly is May 7. That leaves only 12 scheduled session days to complete a state budget and wrap up remaining business. Several enormous challenges remain. I doubt very much that all of those challenges will be met and it is likely we will go beyond the scheduled May 7th adjournment date. Last week, there was very little work done on the budget at all. The governor did make a proposal that amplifies just how very difficult it will be to draft any real budget plan. Among the new proposals was to once again borrow $3.7 billion of the money needed to make the State’s projected payment to the pension systems. In addition, he made a proposal to raid around $1 billion from dedicated funds, although he calls it “fund transfers”. Those transfers would be paid back within 18 months and he floated the idea of taxing business and industry to the tune of over $400 million (that should help promote the job climate). Finally, his latest proposal includes an additional 50 cent tax on a pack of cigarettes this year and another one dollar next year. By the way, all of that new taxing, spending and borrowing does not in any way change the $1.2 billion cut he has proposed to education.
What is perhaps the most frustrating is the fact that there seems to be nobody really working on solutions. While I do not agree with the new borrowing and fund raids the governor is proposing, at least he is making some attempt to discuss the budget. During floor debate this week, there was less than half an hour dedicated to the most significant problem that we have in this state. Thousands of protestors descended on Springfield this week intending to get their message out that they want to see the income tax increased. Some of the groups lobbying to raise taxes this week included teachers unions, state employee unions, and not for profit organizations. These groups largely support HB 174, an initiative to raise the personal income tax from 3% to 5%. They are asking for what they call a “fair budget”. Newspaper accounts placed the likely number of protestors at around 10,000 people. There was no real reaction from the two majority leaders, Speaker Madigan or Senate President Cullerton.
Speaker Michael Madigan has all but ruled out the possibility of a tax increase this year and does not at all seem open to allowing any cuts or budget reforms to be part of a budget compromise. Democrats hold a super majority in the Senate and are 1 vote shy of a super majority in the House. Shortly after Governor Quinn made his Budget Address to the General Assembly, Speaker Madigan was deriding the plan in the media and indicated he was not likely to put any of his members on a tax increase vote in this election year no matter what type of bi-partisan agreement might be reached.
The question is then, what type of budget will Speaker Madigan support? Many people are speculating that the Speaker will simply try to put together some type of six month budget until after the election and then push for a revenue package including an income tax increase if Governor Quinn is reelected. If Bill Brady wins then Madigan will likely dump the entire mess on the new governor’s plate. Time will tell and I will do my best to keep you informed. I do appreciate the hundreds of e-mail, letters and calls regarding the budget issue. The overwhelming majority of those who have contacted me indicate that they first of all want me to keep an open mind and work together with the Democratic majority to help solve the budget issue. I am in complete agreement with that sentiment. My constituency wants me to stop the massive cuts from happening in education and social service programs, and they want me to make sure that waste is cut and reforms are made to fraud in Medicaid and food stamps. Most state they would live with a slight revenue increase only if reforms are made.
The proposal regarding medical marijuana was not called for a vote last week. I also received a lot of correspondence on this proposal as well. A large majority continue to have concerns about the current proposal due to the fact that people would be allowed to grow their own supply of the drug. However, many people do understand the possible benefits to the use of marijuana in some medical cases and urged me to support the concept and work on a proposal that would allow for the use of marijuana for medical purposes only in a manner that is more regulated than the current proposal. Based on input from my constituents and concerns that I have about enforcement related to the current proposal, I will not support that legislation but I will keep an open mind to a workable, more regulated solution in the future.
There has still not been any action on two very important concerns for reform that I have supported during this session. A proposal to limit campaign contributions for all members of the General Assembly including the four leaders continues to be held in rules Committee and the Fair Map proposal to allow for reforms in the way legislative districts are drawn in Illinois has also been stymied. There is a proposal regarding legislative redistricting that might come to the House floor that passed the Senate on a partisan roll call that really does not go nearly far enough and continues to allow legislators to pick who gets to vote for them. Non-partisan groups throughout the State and Nation have labeled the proposal as ineffective. Good government non-partisan reform groups continue to call for the Fair Map Amendment but the Speaker refuse to even allow a vote on the proposal.
There is also a proposal before the House that passed the Senate on a very close vote that would allow private school vouchers for the city of Chicago only. The plan creates a program that would allow for twenty two thousand kindergarten through eighth grade students from the lowest performing schools in Chicago to attend private schools and have public funds (vouchers) support the cost of the tuition at the private school. I have serious concerns about this proposal. In a year that we are talking about cutting funding to our public schools, it seems that we should not allow funds to flow into a new program like this that would provide Chicago with funds that would otherwise go to schools in the rest of Illinois. The way the legislation is currently written, the voucher program is not cost neutral and downstate funds would be effected.
I would like to hear from you regarding your thoughts related to the proposal. It is SB2494 and you can find it online at www.ilga.gov Voucher programs have been proposed before along with Charter Schools as possible solutions to underperforming schools. I have always thought that our responsibility with public funding was to make sure that all children in the state were provided a high quality education. Any reforms or allowances in waivers from laws that govern public schools that are believed to improve the education of a child should be allowed for all schools in Illinois and not just for those children who are able to attend the private or charter school. If we allow twenty two thousand kids to attend what are perceived to be better schools, what good does that do for the huge majority of the students who are left behind in the low performing schools? Does this approach really solve anything? If you think it does, please let me know. I do want to hear both sides of the issue. You can reach me at: P.O. Box 125, Hutsonville, IL 62433, call me at 618-563-4128 or 217-558-1040 or e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com. You can also read more on my web site: www.peopleforeddy.com or and follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RepEddy and www.tweetillinois.org.