Week of October 6th, 2009

It is getting close to the Fall Veto Session for the Illinois General Assembly.  The dates for the session this year are October 14, 15 and 16th and October 28, 29 and 30th. In the next couple of weeks, I will attempt to cover possible topics and legislation that we might see during the Veto Session. I will also report back any action taken.  

The generally accepted purpose of the fall session is to allow the General Assembly to deal with veto actions taken by the Governor related to legislation that passed during the regular session.  The Governor has 60 days to act on a bill once it is sent to his office by the General Assembly.  The options of the Governor are to either sign the bill within 60 days or take some type of action to "veto" the bill.  A veto can take two forms.  The Governor can veto the bill entirely or change only a part of the bill.  If the Governor changes only a portion of the bill, it is referred to as an "amendatory veto".  In such case, the change is not supposed to alter the intent of the bill but rather to make a minor change.

If a bill receives either a complete veto or an amendatory veto, the chief sponsor of the bill has an opportunity to "override" the veto.  If the veto is amendatory, the bill sponsor can move to accept the changes (concur) or override the changes.  The same is true of a full veto.  Either way, it takes a super majority (3/5) vote to override a Governor's veto.

Although the fall session is known as the veto session, other legislative action can occur.  Any bill introduced prior to spring deadlines or an amended version of those bills can be voted on if the chamber leadership wants the measure to advance. So, we will be watching several issues closely to see what else might come up on short notice.

During the 2009 spring session, the General Assembly sent 854 bills to the Governor for action.  The Governor vetoed 61 bills.  Of that number, there were 10 total vetoes and 51 amendatory vetoes. Many of the amendatory vetoes are somewhat technical in nature as they make minor changes or delay the effective date of legislation.

I have heard from many college students about the fact that student financial assistance in the form of Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants were cut for the spring semester by Governor Quinn. The bleak financial outlook for Illinois forced the governor to make some very difficult decisions regarding funding and one of the line items that was reduced was MAP funding. Actually, what the governor did was fund the first semester knowing that the General Assembly would be back in session in the fall. He understands that there will be a lot of pressure to fund these grants for the second semester and is counting on that pressure to result in some new revenue to fund the program.

The governor has suggested a one dollar increase in the cigarette tax as a source of revenue to fund MAP grants. There are those who feel that Illinois cigarette tax is already as high as it needs to be, especially considering the fact that some surrounding states have a lower tax on cigarettes. There has also been legislation introduced that would allow for those who owe back income taxes to be allowed immunity from fines or penalties if they pay up allowing that money to be applied towards MAP grant funding. The income tax program would only raise about half of the amount necessary to fund MAP.

I think that we need to make funding these grants a priority. In fact, I think the governor cut this line item in order to see new revenue produced because he understood the pressure this cut would cause. However, I also think we need to be careful how much we raise taxes here in Illinois. I represent several border counties and we could easily see a decline in business here in my area as people wander across the border to purchase cheaper cigarettes. Studies have shown that people often also purchase other items when they travel to purchase a particular item like cigarettes. I don’t mind the dedication of back taxes theory, but I also wish the governor would have simply fully funded MAP instead of making it part of a scheme to increase taxes of any kind. It is unfair to treat students this way.

There are other specific issues that will be covered during the Veto Session and I will attempt to outline those next week. For example, the governor vetoed a very weak ethics reform bill that could be revisited, the FY10 budget has many problems that could be the subject of veto session action, there is a new federal stimulus pot of money for schools called “Race to The Top” which requires major changes in public policy for schools, and many other possible topics.

I will have much more next week. Don’t forget, you can follow legislation and watch live House action during the Veto Session by going to www.ilga.gov and following the links for live audio and video. You can write me at:  P.O. Box 125, Hutsonville, IL  62433 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.