Week of April 27th, 2009

    After a two week break, the Illinois House resumed activity April 21st as hundreds of successful Senate Bills crossed over for action in the House. Most of the activity during the first week back from the break took place in committees as these Senate Bills are first assigned to committees for consideration. If the legislation gets a favorable committee vote, then there could likely be a vote on the House floor. If the bill passes without any changes, it is sent on to the governor for approval in order to become law. Of course, the governor could amend the bill with an amendatory veto (AV) or simply veto the legislation. In that case, the Senate and House both would have to override the veto. If any legislation that made it to the House from the Senate is changed, it must return to the Senate for concurrence (approval of changes) before being presented to the governor.

    So, even though a bill received positive votes in either the House or Senate does not mean it will become law. These proposals have a long way to go in some cases. That is why it is important for interested citizens to continue to track important legislation and let your elected officials know what you think. You can track legislation online at www.ilga.gov

    Last week, the House Speaker did extend the deadline for consideration on a very controversial bill (HB2234) which would establish “Civil Unions” between same sex couples to be legal in Illinois. I have heard from hundreds of constituents opposing this legislation and I appreciate your input and passion regarding this issue. I strongly oppose this public policy proposal and will vote NO if it comes to a vote on the floor and do my best to see the bill defeated. The bill also provides that a marriage between persons of the same sex, a civil union, or a substantially similar legal relationship other than common law marriage, legally entered into in another jurisdiction, shall be recognized in Illinois as a civil union. That means Illinois would be forced to recognize same sex marriages from other states. My stance on this issue is simple. Marriage is intended to be between a man and a woman, period. I will not support any public policy that seeks to change that fact, period.

    Another issue that arose on the House floor this week was the fact that members of the General Assembly are scheduled to receive a cost of living pay increase soon. There is legislation that would stop the automatic increases from taking place that I support. However, Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, refused to allow the legislation out of committee to be voted on after a motion was made to discharge the bill from committee for debate. Then another motion was made that would have overridden Speaker Madigan on the issue and allowed a vote. Unfortunately, although I and every member of the minority party supported the attempt to stop the automatic pay increases, the Democrat led majority blocked the attempt to stop these increases. I find it hard to believe that anyone would not support ending legislative pay raises when we have double digit unemployment and cannot pay our bills. Plus, this is the same majority that is asking for an income tax increase, yet they will not stop an automatic pay increase for themselves. That is absolutely shameful.

    There has been very little activity related to any real ethics reform. Once again, there was a lot of talk about ethics reform after the Blago fiasco, but it seems that little substance has come from all that lip service. Two bills (HB24 and SB1768), which would limit campaign contributions still remain in committees. I think that it is very apparent in Illinois that we must have some major reforms in campaign finance. In the next few weeks, I will let you know if ethics reform was just “talk” or if there will be action taken that will make a difference.

    Federal stimulus money for education began to flow to Illinois schools last week in the form of general state aid payments. While this funding is sorely needed, it is only replacing money that was already promised as part of the state budget and it is not additional money for schools. In fact, while general state aid payments are being made, payments for mandated programs like special education are still not being made. Transportation and special education reimbursement payments are several months behind and schools are struggling to stay current in payment of bills. That has not stopped the desire of members of the General Assembly to attempt to enact additional unfunded mandates on our schools though.

    Finally, although there are several hundred proposals before the House regarding a number of issues, the most pressing work that we need to do in the remaining five weeks prior to our scheduled adjournment clearly has to do with the budget. Even with billions in federal stimulus money being used to backfill our FY09 budget and billions more in federal stimulus money being earmarked for the FY10 budget, Illinois faces a huge multi-billion dollar budget deficit. This week, a number of groups came to Springfield to ask for additional money for existing or new programs. Without additional revenue, we will not even be able to meet our existing obligations though, let alone start new programs or expand existing programs. If people are serious about new programs or additional funding, I hope they did not attend a tax tea party. I get thousands of e-mails from folks that want funding for these programs and often the same people send me an e-mail asking me not to support any tax or fee increase. It cannot work that way, we cannot simply continue down the path that has caused this fiscal crisis.

    As the budget moves forward, I will keep you informed. I will also let you know what is happening with other legislation. Please keep in contact with me as well. You can e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com or phone 618-563-4128, 217-558-1040 or write to me at 125 South Main Street, Hutsonville, IL 62433 or 222-N Stratton Building, Springfield, IL 62706. I look forward to hearing from you.