In
budget news, Senator Althoff said Gov.
Blagojevich is simply trying to deflect his budget responsibility to legislators
and constitutional officers, because he does not need the General Assembly’s
permission to withhold funds from state agencies under his control – which
constitute the bulk of the budget.
Senator Althoff said the state’s economic
crisis should not come as a surprise, noting that for years Senate Republicans
have warned that Illinois’ overspending and the constant expansion and creation
of new programs would result in staggering state debt. The state currently owes
$4 billion to businesses and other service providers, and the number is
expected to increase to $5 billion by spring if the problem isn’t addressed.
The delays are a serious burden for Medicaid providers, who account for almost
$2 billion of the backlog and already wait months for reimbursement by the
state.
In
other news, the Senate approved two bills that will advance a $2.5 billion,
clean-coal energy project in Christian County. The proposed Tenaska project at
the Taylorville Energy Park is
expected to create about 1,500 construction jobs, 200 permanent plant jobs and
provide opportunities for hundreds of coal mining jobs around the state by
promoting the use of Illinois coal.
One
bill allows for bonding authority to help finance the construction and the
second bill authorizes the initial engineering study, which is needed before
construction can begin.
Radogno,
the new Republican leader, has served as Watson’s Deputy Leader since 2007. For
the past several years, Sen. Radogno has been the Senate Republicans’ chief
budget negotiator and a leader in passing ethics, open government and budget
reforms. She has traveled the state promoting reforms to restore discipline and
accountability to the state’s borrowing and contracting practices. She has also
sponsored Medicaid Reform legislation, advocating commonsense changes to bring
the state’s skyrocketing public health costs under control.
Sen.
Radogno has served in the Illinois Senate since 1997. She currently represents
the 41st District in Cook, DuPage and Will counties.
Measures passed by the Senate this week
include:
Autism coverage (SB 934) – Mandates
insurance coverage for individuals younger than 21 for diagnosis and treatment
of autism spectrum disorders.
Railroad police (SB 620) – Allow the
Illinois State Police to investigate, if they deem necessary, allegations of
abuse of authority or misconduct by railroad police.
Movie tax credit (SB 1981) – Extends
the state’s movie tax credit to encourage movies to be made in Illinois.
Court officials (SB 2452) – Makes it a
Class 2 felony to interfere with a judicial officer. Also prohibits filing a
false lien on property owned by judge, as retaliation.
Pheasant hunters (SB 2562) – Implements
a gradual increase in hunting fees for pheasant hunters only.
EPA (HB 4249) – Changes the repeal date
for the law licensing Environmental Health Practitioners from Dec. 31, 2008, to
Jan. 1, 2019.
School mergers (SB 2824) – Protects taxpayers
of one school district from having to pay the debt of a second school district
when the two school districts merge.
Housing (HB 2973) – Allows borrowers up
to a 90-grace period for foreclosure action if they seek HUD approved
counseling.
Pension reform (SB 2520) – Implements a
number of pension reforms for Chicago municipal employees, Chicago police,
downstate firefighters, downstate police officers, Cook County municipal
employees, forest preserve employees and state employees.
(SB 2558) – Allows employees of veterans’ homes to purchase pension
credit for time served as contractual employees.
(HB 2047) – Revises disability pension statutes for downstate firefighters whose
departments merge.