Week of Janaury 18 th, 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.
He did mention once again his support for an income tax increase and expansion of the sales to cover a wide array of services. He restated his belief that as part of the solution to our fiscal mess that more revenue is necessary. However, although he mentioned the importance of job growth, he did not address any plans as to what he would propose to help make that happen. He has been governor for almost a year now and just last week it was reported that Illinois lost more than fifty thousand manufacturing jobs and over seven hundred firms closed their doors during that year.
Talk is cheap. Everyone on both sides of the aisle talks about jobs and job growth but there are few specific proposals as to how Illinois will become more competitive when it comes to attracting jobs. In the speech, the governor did mention the importance of investing in our transportation infrastructure. To his credit, we were able to pass a bi-partisan capital bill that will provide billions to help rebuild roads, bridges and railways as well as construct new schools. These are important pieces of the puzzle. However, this alone will not attract new jobs. Unless and until we face the fact that Illinois is not competitive with surrounding states when it comes to unemployment and workers compensation costs, job providers will use our improved transportation system as they pass through to build plants in surrounding states. We must reform worker’s compensation and unemployment laws in Illinois or we will not attract employment. It really is that simple folks, it really is.
He also claimed in his speech that Illinois had passed landmark legislation related to ethics reform. Sorry governor, not true. We did pass some legislation dealing with transparency (mostly for others) and legislation was passed to establish campaign contribution limits. But, the campaign limits are only for rank and file lawmakers, leaders still have no limits and majority leaders still have unlimited power. That combination of power and the ability to accept unlimited campaign cash is at the heart of the pay to play system in Illinois that fertilizes corruption. By his own admission, the governor called the new law “less than a full loaf”. I would agree, but that is an understatement. He stated that we got a few slices with the new ethics reforms. But, I say we only got a few crumbs and that those in power got even more powerful. Why should anyone have the ability to write an unlimited campaign contribution check to an individual who single-handedly can advance or kill legislation? That is just plain wrong!
I give the governor points for sincerity and his commitment and ability to recognize our troops. Several times during his speech, we had the opportunity to show our appreciation to the men and women of our armed forces who have served with honor during the on-going war on terrorism. He did speak from the heart regarding what I believe is his desire to do the right thing and clean up state government. He even discussed the possibility of an Amendment to the Constitution that would allow citizen’s initiatives related to ethics in government. I think he is being sincere. We just need to work together and focus on reform and jobs. Otherwise, we will not be able to overcome the power of those who use the state government as their personal playground.
Last week I mentioned the fact that we would be considering legislation that would possibly change the way teachers and principals are evaluated to include as a significant factor in the evaluation process whether or not students showed growth on statewide assessments. That legislation passed the Senate and the House and the governor is set to sign it quickly. The first phase in of this type of performance evaluation system for teachers and principals will be September of 2012 and will be required only in schools that are currently performing in the bottom five percent of schools in Illinois based on current state test scores. Most schools will have until 2016 to implement such a plan and that will be after an effectiveness study in 2014. No implementation will be required unless funding is available and the details of the evaluation plans will be bargained locally.
As you know, an early release program was initiated by the Department of Corrections several months ago that saw some violent offenders released after only a few days in jail. During his speech, the governor once again shouldered the blame by once again blaming the Director of the Department of Corrections for the now infamous early release programs. This whole debacle produced more finger-pointing than a junior high discipline investigation. It was clear that some legislation was necessary to codify a practice that requires prisoners to serve a minimum number of days in jail so that this type of thing could not happen again. SB1013 passed both Houses of the General Assembly and requires a minimum stay of at least sixty-one days (even during a budget crisis). The minimum of sixty-one days is related to the length of the sentence and would be more for longer sentences.
We are not schedule to return to session until February 3rd. In the next couple of weeks, I will review some of my legislative priorities for the spring, discuss in some detail the budget crisis we face and cover anything else that comes up. By the way, I continue to hear very positive comments about the Fair Map Amendment! As you know, I fully support the concept of taking the mapping process out of the hands of politicians and putting the job into the hands of an independent commission so that people once again can choose who they vote for rather than the politicians drawing legislative maps and choosing who votes for them. You can go to www.ILFairmap.com to read more about the initiative and even print petitions for your county in order to assist in this effort. If you are willing to help, please let me know. We need an army of people who are ready to take their government back!
Stay in touch and let me know what is on your mind. You can write 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.