 2010
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May 24th., 2010
Session is now scheduled for Monday,
May 24th starting at 4:00 PM. The memo from the Speaker’s
office informed members of the House that we should be prepared
to stay at least Tuesday and Wednesday in order to finish work
on the budget for FY11. We could also act on dozens of amended
bills sent over from the Senate that need to be approved by the
House through action called a concurrence motion. More > >
May 17, 2010
As you might know by this time, there
are simply no real pleasant solutions to the budget mess that Illinois
finds itself in. Years of expanding programs, creating new
spending on other new government programs while using one time
revenue sources to pay for the expansions plus the poor economy
has left us in a situation that will require some very tough choices
to be made. It looks as though any solution will include
deep cuts in spending and possibly more borrowing. Other
proposals include additional fund raids, a $1 per pack cigarette
tax increase and perhaps even once again skipping all or part of
the pension payment due to the state retirement systems. More>>
May 10, 2010
Friday,
May 7th was the scheduled adjournment date for the Spring Session
of the Illinois General Assembly. But, something unusual
happened on the way to passage of another bloated budget proposed
by House Speaker Madigan. His budget proposal was clearly
based on false promises, borrowing, pension raids, dedicated
fund “transfers”, a cigarette tax increase and other
smoke and mirror tactics that have been relied on the past seven
years. For the first time in recent memory, the architect
of this State’s fiscal crisis, Speaker Michael Madigan,
was unable to get enough support from his members to pass another
phony budget. The lemmings stopped just short of the cliff….for
now. More>>
May 3, 2010
After the scheduled weekend session
of the General Assembly was cancelled, there are only five scheduled
days left to the 2010 Spring Session. Last week, the House
heard dozens of proposals and most bills were basically legislation
that had been amended and agreed to. That means that most of
the proposals that are left to debate and discuss this week are still
being haggled over and there could be lots of close votes on some
very controversial matters. It might be a good week to listen
in to hear the action. You can go to www.ilga.gov to hear live
debate related to the proposals. If you have thoughts or
opinions, please let me know immediately at reddyunit1@aol.com
as things will be moving quickly and your input is appreciated
as we take up very controversial issues. More>>
April 26, 2010
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”. More>>
April 19, 2010
Most
of the first week upon return from the two week spring break
of the General Assembly was consumed by Committee hearings
in both the House and Senate. Dozens of proposals were
heard in committees as the filtering process got underway
to consider bills in the House that passed the Senate and
vice versa. Remember, you can follow the status of
legislation that you are concerned with by going to www.ilga.gov and
simply typing the Bill number into the search box. You
can also listen in live to the proceedings at that site. More>>
April 12, 2010
The
Spring Session of the Illinois General Assembly resumes on April
13th. Once
we return, there are only four weeks left until the scheduled adjournment
date of May 7th. Committees
in both the House and Senate will convene to consider legislation
that passed in the original Chamber prior to the deadlines for
bills to pass from either the House or Senate to the second Chamber. Of
the thousands of bills introduced, only a few hundred remain alive
at this point. More>>
March 29, 2010
There was good news in the fact that we
were able to hold off any new gun bills that infringe upon law-abiding
citizens rights related to the Second Amendment. Plus, several
attempts to weaken laws that are designed to protect the unborn were
stalled as well. An effort to pass a medical marijuana measure
and all efforts to allow for Civil Unions and gay marriage were also
stopped. Seems like sometimes the best news is the fact that
some things were stopped! More Reading>>
March 22, 2010
As expected, last week was very busy on the floor of the Illinois House. After weeks of bills working through the committee process, many proposals were finally heard for a vote last week. More>>
March 15, 2010
Last week, Governor Quinn fulfilled his Constitutional responsibility and delivered his Budget Address to a joint session of the Illinois general Assembly. I thought that basically, Governor Quinn did a very good job of describing the fact that Illinois is facing an enormous challenge this year when it comes to the FY11 budget. He outlined the reality that Illinois faces around a $13 billion deficit.... More>>
March 8th., 2010
This Wednesday, March 10th at Noon, Governor Pat Quinn will deliver his 2010 budget address to the Illinois House and Senate. You can listen and view the address live by going to www.ilga.gov and clicking on the audio/video link under either the House or Senate heading on the webpage. I know many of you are very concerned about programs and possible cuts that are in store for FY11 and want to hear the governor’s proposal. More>>
March 1st., 2010
Last week in the Education Committee, I called for a vote on legislation that I thought was an important, yet very simple concept related to school funding. HB4711, as introduced, stated that unless the State of Illinois fully funded a mandate made on a local school district, then the local school district could suspend implementation of the unfunded mandate until such time the mandate was fully funded. More>>
February 22, 2010
 Last week in the Education Committee, I called for a vote on legislation that I thought was an important, yet very simple concept related to school funding. HB4711, as introduced, stated that unless the State of Illinois fully funded a mandate made on a local school district, then the local school district could suspend implementation of the unfunded mandate until such time the mandate was fully funded. More>>
February 15, 2010
I voted against HB2240 for a variety of reasons. First of all, the governor has had over a year in office to begin to develop a plan to deal with the fiscal crisis we face. I don’t have a problem with seeking input from the public and legislators regarding the budget. But, the governor could certainly have requested input from the public and legislators without a law. When did it become necessary to pass a law to allow for public input!? More>>
February 8, 2010
The winner of the Republican primary has not been completely determined as yet. While Senator Bill Brady has a current lead of around four hundred votes over fellow Senator Kirk Dillard, there are thousands of absentee and provisional ballots to be counted and until More>>
February 2, 2010
You have all likely heard over and over about the fiscal crisis that Illinois faces. This week, as the first week of the spring session gets underway, I want to attempt to provide you some description and explanation as to what faces our State as we prepare a budget for fiscal year 2011. More>>
January 25, 2010
Data shows that voter turnout is especially low in primary races during years that there is not a Presidential race. I suppose that is to be expected. I hope this year is different though and we have a great voter turnout on February 2nd. In the midst of a war on terror and thinking back on the numerous times our men and women have fought to maintain our way of life, I just think we all owe it to each of them to participate in the blessings of freedom that these brave individuals have secured. More>>
January 18, 2010
Last week the House met for two days. There were a few legislative items that were addressed and Governor Quinn delivered the annual “State of The State Address” to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly. It was clear that the governor’s speech was much more about campaigning than the “State of our State.” The speech was well over an hour long and it took forty-five minutes for the governor to even begin to address the fiscal crisis that our state faces. Even then, he provided very little in the way of details related to his plan to make things better. More>>
January 11, 2010
It appears that the highlight of the two day January session will be the Governor’s “State of The State” address which will be delivered byGovernor Quinn on Wednesday, January 12th at Noon from the House Chambers. You can listen into the speech live at the link referenced earlier.
 The governor certainly has a difficult speech to deliver. At this time, the state is almost 6 months behind on some bills and at least 92 days behind on paying bills. Last year at this time, the state was 48 days behind. Also last year at this time, there were around $1.8 billion in unpaid bills backlogged at the Comptroller’s office, a year later ......More>>
January 4, 2010
Before I provide you with a quick review of the upcoming three day session, I want to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy New Year!
The General Assembly returns to Springfield January 12th for three days to start the new Legislative session. On January 13th, Governor Pat Quinn will deliver the annual State of the State Address to the General Assembly and the people of the State of Illinois. I hope everyone has a strong stomach. More>>
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