Observations and comments about state government by State Representative Robert W. Pritchard.
March 31, 2014
In This Issue:
Excellence in Teaching Recognized, Learning Standards Discussed
Fighting Fire with Sprinklers
Governor Ready to Go on a Spending Spree
Pork Producer Family of the Year
Tax, Tax, Tax
Medicaid Reform Thwarted Again
Jobs, Exercise, and Reports
Excellence in Teaching Recognized, Common Core Discussed
Last week the House passed HR721 honoring Melissa Leisner, the 2013 Milken National Educator Award recipient as one of 40 top teachers in the nation. Melissa, a 7th grade English and language arts teacher in the Burlington school district, was recognized for her creative way of engaging students to read. Melissa, (pictured on the right) and colleague Amy Bender, also appeared before the House Education Committee meeting to share their thoughts about teaching and the new state learning standards. You can hear Melissa’s comments about her award by clicking here.
The learning standards have not been embraced by all sections of the state because they are a different way of teaching and require less lecturing and more in-depth student thinking and discovery in their learning. Melissa explained that this is the fourth year her school has been using the standards and as a result she has seen her students become better able and willing to tackle challenging concepts in the classroom. The standards are supported by many in business because they better prepare students for college and career success.
Melissa also expressed her views about the new state learning standards. Click here to listen to those comments.
Fighting Fire with Sprinklers
Last year the Illinois State Fire Marshall created a firestorm by proposing a rule that all new home construction and existing high rise buildings had to have fire suppression (sprinkler) systems. He pointed out that sprinklers were required in new international building codes and save property and lives. The Fire Marshall eventually withdrew his requests due to overwhelmingly negative public comments.
In response to that situation, HB4609 was introduced and easily passed out of committee last week. The bill creates a task force to study the benefits and pitfalls of requiring sprinkler systems and limits the Fire Marshall’s ability to make regulations without going through the General Assembly and the full legislative process.
There are obviously passionate parties on either side of this issue. I visited with members of the DeKalb and Sycamore Fire Departments who were in Springfield last week about their experiences with sprinkler systems. I have learned that new home construction materials are cheaper to use but can burn faster and hotter in a fire. The firemen said newer home fires can reach the flash-over point of burning often by the time they arrive at the scene. In addition, buildings made with the newer materials can collapse sooner in a fire thus trapping or injuring the firefighters.
The cost of adding sprinklers to a new home and especially an existing building can be expensive. Then too is the concern about sufficient water supply and pressure to the sprinklers, annual maintenance and winter freezing of water lines.
This issue is headed in the right direction by better informing home and building owners about sprinklers and letting them made the choice to install depending on their situation and acceptance of potential fire damage.
Governor Ready to Go on a Spending Spree
Despite talk of balancing the budget, reducing taxes and making tough policy choices, Governor Quinn laid out a FY 2015 budget and five year fiscal plan last week that does the opposite. While having us believe his administration and the legislature have cut spending over the past five years, actual General Revenue Fund (GRF) spending has increased from $30.4 billion in FY2008 to $38.1 billion in the Governor’s FY2015 plan according to his own budget book.
Rather than use the $26 billion in new revenue collected to date from the temporary income tax increase to pay old bills and debt as was promised, Illinois will still owe an estimated $7 billion in old bills on July first and $30 billion in bonding. Rather than get serious about tax reform including property tax relief, he proposed making permanent the 5 percent personal income tax rate, refused to look at all our tax policies and offered a $500 property tax refund that would be received about election time. This refund would be taxable income on federal tax returns too.
The governor said education should be our top priority but then proposed a FY2015 funding level, that would only be 90 percent of current general state aid. He said we should double the MAP grants for college students-currently at $380 million-but only budgeted for $50 million more. It was clear his priority is human services and keeping people dependent on government programs rather than helping those who are able to become self-reliant.
We need to be concentrating on growing our economy, something the Governor failed to mention. The unemployment rate has risen under the Quinn administration policies while most of our neighbors have seen recovering. For the Governor to say today we are ‘better off than we were five years ago’ is a campaign statement, not reality. People are voting with their feet; out-migration is the second highest of any state. The Governor’s budget and tax plan will accelerate the loss of jobs.
Pork Producer Family of the Year Recognized
Last week Senator Dave Syverson and I had the honor of introducing the Hartmann family of Maple Park to the General Assembly. This Pork Producer Family of the Year includes Cathy and Doug Hartmann, shown here, as well as Gerald and Nancy (parents), Jeff and Sari, and Andrea plus the grandchildren and spouses. The award is given to a family who proves to be a successful promoter of pork meat, involved in the industry and leaders in their community.
As Representative Brad Halbrook and I introduced them in the House, we were joined by area farmers Mike Martz, DeKalb, and Alan and JoAnn Adams, Sandwich, (shown in the center) who are leaders in the Illinois beef industry.
The livestock producers were in Springfield last week to speak against legislation that would make farming more difficult in Illinois and less competitive with other states.
Tax, Tax, Tax
Last week the Governor and majority party made it clear they intend to tax more and spend more in the year ahead. HJRCA 51 introduced by Speaker Madigan to impose a 3 percent surtax on incomes over a million dollars, passed out of committee on a partisan roll call. Many small businesses file individual tax returns and would therefore pay more tax rather than keep the money in their business to grow and hire more employees.
Senator Don Harmon is sponsoring a constitutional amendment (SJRCA 40) to create a graduated income tax that will be heard in committee on Thursday. The bill simply removes the state’s flat tax and does not set specific rates. The legislature could change rates at any time. HJRCA 33 that would have set specific rates for a graduated income tax failed in committee last week. Support dwindled because citizens could see that a majority of taxpayers would pay more tax under the plan.
The General Assembly continues to debate the third tax proposal which is making permanent the 2011 income tax temporary increases. The tax increase was set to rollback to 3.75 percent for individuals and 5.25 percent for corporation on January 1, 2015.
Medicaid Reform Thwarted Again
Despite bi-partisan support to reform the state’s Medicaid program two years ago and the Governor in his address last week taking credit for reforms, his party and administration are still blocking implementation of the reforms.
One of the most important of these reforms–“redetermination”-would scrutinize patients enrolled in Medicaid to see if they are still eligible. Many Medicaid patients who undergo a change in their household circumstances that reduces or ends their eligibility for Medicaid do not take the initiative to notify their caseworker of their changed status so continue to collect nearly-free and heavily-subsidized medical care services at taxpayers’ expense.
Efforts to implement redetermination were blocked by an arbitrator and bills such as HB 4489 and SB 3415 to pursue the arbitration process, reinstate the audit process, and maintain the integrity of the Medicaid system have failed to get out of committee. Meanwhile the growth and cost of the Medicaid program continues to rise and limits other important services.
Jobs, Exercise, and Reports
The Illinois Department of Employment Security recently reported that the jobless rate in Illinois is now 8.7 percent, among the highest in the nation and well above the 6.7 percent national rate. Nearly 570,000 residents are unemployed while nearly 6 million are working, which is lower than when the recession started in 2009. With higher taxes on the horizon, expect more businesses like the local manufacturer I heard about this weekend, to take their jobs out of state.
The members of the Illinois Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance were in Springfield last week to oppose several bills that would reduce the PE requirement in high schools. While they say exercise is essential to learning and good physical health, many students would rather take classes for college credit that will save them thousands of dollars in tuition and fees when they attend college. Class schedules have also become more difficult to arrange PE and classes required for graduation.
HB4483 created a lot of heated debate before passing out of the House Thursday. The bill requires law enforcement agencies to permanently continue collecting circumstantial and demographic information during traffic stops as they have done over the past decade. The law was originally implemented to reveal and eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement officers. Many believe the law had achieved its purpose and department policies have been implemented to avoid such practices. They law was set to sunset next year.
The legislature will be session this week taking final action on bills and shaping the FY2015 budget. Call me in Springfield if you are following specific bills and want to share your views (217-782-0425). Have a great week.
Bob
District Office 815-748-3494 or E-Mail to bob@pritchardstaterep.com
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