 Articles |
|
December 24, 2007
After all
of the hype, scheduled sessions and committee hearings regarding legislation
to expand gambling, create a major capitol program and offer some type of resolution
to the Chicago and suburban area transit mess, absolutely nothing happened last
week. That is, unless you count finger
pointing and playing the blame game as something happening. The scheduled session
dates for the week of December 17th were scrapped after Governor Blagojevich’s
top campaign fundraiser and close friend Chris Kelly was indicted by the feds
for using business funds to pay off a gambling debt. More>>
December
14, 2007
I would have never dreamed that I would be providing
constituents a legislative update a week before
Christmas. However, the on-going impasse that
has become state government in Illinois continues
and legislative session days are scheduled for
the week of December 17th. I wanted to provide
an update as to what this unusual December gathering
was about.
The Governor has not yet signed that legislation (over
a month later) and schools still have not received
the funding levels that were appropriated in
the FY08 budget. More>>
Aug.
08 2007
Illinois schools are left hanging during budget crisis
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Even as school districts around Illinois
prepare for the delay of millions of dollars in scheduled state aid this
week because of the state's budget crisis, a pending law that could ease
their plight sits unsigned on the desk of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. More>>
June
4 ,
2007
The
reason that SB1544 was not considered immediately
in the Senate is that a downstate lawmaker
filed a motion to “reconsider” the
House vote on SB1544. The reason for the “reconsideration
motion” was that the electric rate issue has not
yet been resolved. Many downstate lawmakers (myself
included) have been More>>
May 28, 2007
With
the deadline for a budget to be completed
looming on May 31st, there are very few that
believe an agreement will be reached
in the final few days before the scheduled
end to the 2007 Spring Session of the
Illinois General Assembly. That
is not to say that there are not some
who believe that the Democratic majority
in the House and Senate will not figure
out a way to craft a budget More>>
May 21, 2007
Most
of the discussions in Springfield
this past week centered around
the realization that now
that the Governor’s
Gross receipts tax (GRT) has been defeated,
a budget still must be crafted
within the next couple of weeks
to avoid an overtime session
of the General Assembly.
The scheduled adjournment
date for the spring session
is May 31st. It is significant
to note that after that
date, it will take a super-majority
rather than a ..........More>>
May 14, 2007
The biggest news in Springfield this
week was the House Committee
of the Whole hearing regarding
the Governor’s
proposed Gross Receipts Tax and the
vote that came the following
day that pronounced unanimous
opposition to the plan. The Governor
testified before all members
of the House on Wednesday to
defend the merits of his record
$7.6 billion tax increase proposal.
More>>
May 7, 2007
The General Assembly has let another week go by without
a compromise on the electric rate issue.
In the five years that I have been
a member of the House, I have not seen
such a brewing storm. I will do my
best to keep you informed! More>>
April 30, 2007
It was a very busy week in Springfield that ended with the Speaker of the House
extending the deadline on hundreds of House bill third readings until Thursday,
May 3rd. Many important issues will have another week to pass the House and move
to the Senate for consideration. However, many important measures were acted
on during the week. Here is a rundown on some of the issues we did vote on. More>>
April 23, 2007
Another week has passed by without final action by the General Assembly regarding
the electric rate issue. Last week, the Senate passed an amended version of a
Senate Bill that would roll back rates for AMEREN customers only. More>>
April 16, 2007
Those opposed to the plan will really
step up the attack next week
as a Gross Receipts Tax Lobby
Day will be held in Springfield.
The event starts at 10:00 AM
at the Springfield Hilton and
includes a rally at the Capitol
at Noon. Thousands of farmers, business owners and consumers
are expected to attend the rally. If you are opposed to
the tax, I would suggest getting involved and making your
voice heard. Your involvement and a huge crowd that day
can make a difference in whether or not this proposal moves
forward. More>>
April
9, 2007
As far as legislation that was introduced
in the House, the following bills are
getting the most opposition: HB731,
HB758, HB873, HB796, HB1078 and HB1696.
There are also three bills that I am
receiving positive feedback on, those
bills are: HB1304, HB1757, and HB704.
Remember, you can track the status of any of these bills
and even read the exact language at www.ilga.gov More>>
April 2, 2007
The Democrat led Senate has not acted
yet upon the electric rate
freeze bill that the House passed several
weeks ago. What could be more important than dealing with
this rate increase crisis? Oh….I
forgot they passed the statewide ban
on smoking. C’mon!!
Last word was that a bill would be More>>
March 26, 2007
Claiming that he “has the Lord on his side” in
his attempt to impose the largest tax
increase in Illinois history, Governor
Blagojevich continues to trumpet the
virtues of the implementation of a
Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) in Illinois.
Most of you have heard by this time
about the plan. The measure would bring
over $6 billion new dollars into the
Illinois general revenue fund in order to pay for massive increases in
education and healthcare spending in Illinois.
More>>
March
19, 2007
I want to thank constituents
of the 109th District (and
beyond) for the hundreds of phone calls,
e-mails and letters that I received last week regarding
a variety of issues. By far, two issues received the most
attention: electric rates and the governor’s
budget proposal.
As far as the electric rate increase issue is concerned,
I can report More>>
March 12, 2007
Last week, Governor Blagojevich delivered
a combined “State
of the State” speech and Budget Address. This week,
I will concentrate on providing you
with information regarding the Budget
proposal and try to update you on where
the electric rate issue stands. There
are many other issues rapidly moving
forward, including measures dealing
with restrictions on 2nd Amendment
rights, parental notification, drivers
education laws and others too numerous
to mention. More>>
March
5, 2007
There
was no shortage of action last
week at the Illinois House. Several
major issues were addressed. First, the House met Tuesday
in a rare Committee of The Whole to investigate the recent
huge increases in electric rates which are being experienced
by AMEREN customers. The proceedings started
at 1:00 PM and did not end until around
2:30 AM. For hours, Representatives
questioned individuals from the
Commerce Commission, the Attorney
General’s
Office as well as both AMEREN and COMED.
Horrifying stories were told about
the real life effects and consequences
of these increases. Elderly people
are choosing between food, medicine
and electric service, businesses are
closing because they cannot pay electric
bills resulting in job loss as
many are seeing increases of two to
three hundred percent in their bills. More>>
February
26th, 2007
In a very rare
move, the House of
Representatives has
scheduled a special
Committee of The
Whole meeting for
Tuesday, February
27th. The single
issue subject of that hearing is electric rates. Unable
to get leadership from the governor’s
office regarding the electric rate
increase issue, House
members have called
their own version
of a special session
in order to More>>
February 19th, 2007
Last
week, all three scheduled session
days of the House of Representatives
were cancelled due to the snowstorm
that hit central Illinois. That
did not stop the steady flow of legislation
being filed in both the House
and Senate. As of this
writing, there are 1,329 House
Bills filed and 1,751 Senate
Bills proposed. Next
week, hundreds of these bills
will be heard in committees. The
trick is to know which bills
are going to be advanced. Don’t
forget, you can become an informed
and active participant in this
process by simply going to www.ilga.gov and
tracking issues that are important
to you. More>>
February
12,
2007
The
first week of session for the
95th General Assembly is over.
The renovation of the Capitol
delayed the start of session
for a few weeks. However, the
renovation did not slow down
the filing of potential legislation. So far, almost one
thousand bills have been filed in the House and over six
hundred have been filed in the Senate. Last week, some
of those House bills began to filter through the committee
system and made it to the House floor. When the House meets
again starting Wednesday, February 14th, there will be
dozens of bills on the House calendar for possible action
to be taken on them. The pace will be fast and furious
until the April 27th deadline for the third reading of
House bills. House members have until February 27th to
introduce legislation. With almost one thousand bills introduced
at this point, we can only imagine the total number that
will be introduced by the deadline. More>>
January
29, 2007
One of the issues that will receive attention
during the spring session is the affordability
and availability of health care insurance
coverage. During the fall election, the governor
made this issue one of the priorities of
his campaign. The availability of affordable
health insurance and the need to make sure
that all individuals have access to high
quality health care services is not only a state issue but
also one that is huge for this nation. More>>
January
22, 2007
This week, I want to pass along some information to you
regarding some of the measures that
I am sponsoring this year. Here is
a brief listing, please let me know
if you have comments or concerns regarding
any of these proposals. More>>
January
15, 2007
Just as anticipated, the two leaders of the General Assembly,
House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate
President Emil Jones, stuck to their
own versions of what was best regarding
the impending electric rate increases
and nothing was passed last week to
deal with the issue. The rate freeze
legislation which passed the House
was nothing more than a cruel hoax that never More>>
January 15, 2007
Last week, I described a real problem
that I feel exists in the current process regarding the
way certain legislation is pushed through
the General Assembly. My reference
was the original legislation passed
over ten years ago regarding electric
deregulation that has helped to create
the problems currently faced with electric
rates. That legislation was passed
late in session as an Amendment to a “Shell
Bill”. More>>
January
3, 2007
Well,
the seemingly never ending
war of words between House
Speaker Michael Madigan
and Senate President Emil
Jones over the impending
electric rate increases
continues. In early January, House Speaker Michael Madigan
sent a letter to all House and Senate members that provided
members of the General Assembly his analysis and concerns
regarding HB2197. As you will recall, HB2197 was passed
out of the Senate during the November veto session as
a compromise phase-in bill for the impending huge increases
in electric rates that...More
January
1, 2007
The
Speaker has called for a rare
Sunday session of the House of
Representatives on January 7th.
In addition, we will meet January
8th and 9th to conclude any business
necessary related to the 94th
General Assembly. On Wednesday,
January 10th, members of the 95th General
Assembly will be sworn in. At that time, the new Senate
will be comprised of a veto-proof majority of Democrats.
The House of Representatives will have 67 Democrat Members
and 52 Republicans. House Democrats will be 4 votes short
of a veto-proof majority. Democrats will continue to control
the House, Senate and Governor’s
office. More>> |
