Legislative wrap-up
Friday, Mar 12, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The House Republicans tried unsuccessfully this morning to advance a resolution urging the Dept. on Aging to rethink this deal…
The Illinois Department on Aging will move from state-owned buildings to rented space despite complaints from lawmakers that the move is a waste of money during the state’s budget crisis.
The Department of Central Management Services, which oversees state office space needs, on Thursday issued a written statement that nothing has changed that would keep the majority of Aging employees in the Herndon Building at 421 E. Capitol Ave. […]
The state will pay more than $532,000 a year for the space. […]
Reps. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, and Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, are among GOP lawmakers sponsoring a resolution urging Aging and CMS to work with the state’s Procurement Policy Board to find less expensive office space for Aging.
* Is a red-light camera compromise in the works? Maybe…
Lawmakers are moving closer to a compromise on reforming the use of red-light cameras while a complete repeal of the technology appears to face little chance. […]
Lawmakers at the meeting said the broad compromise includes giving motorists more leeway on right-turn violations and requiring studies evaluating the need and effectiveness of the red-light cameras.
But a state Senator involved in the negotiations wasn’t happy that the red light camera lobsters were included in the talks…
State Sen. Dan Duffy, a Lake Barrington Republican pushing to ban the cameras, said he was upset lobbyists for RedFlex and RedSpeed, the two biggest red-light camera companies, were included in the negotiations in Senate President John Cullerton’s office.
“I guess it is what it is, but I would have preferred them not be in the room when we’re discussing the legislation,” Duffy said.
* The Tribune editorial board follows the Sun-Times’ lead on Rep. Keith Farnham’s strange bill…
[Kane County State’s Attorney John Barsanti] complains that if a [DUI[ suspect can refuse a search warrant to submit for a blood sample without facing consequences, then the law has “no teeth.”
Now Rep. Keith Farnham, D-Elgin, is trying to insert some fangs. He has introduced a bill that authorizes police to use “all necessary and reasonable force” to execute a search warrant, whether for driving under the influence of alcohol or anything else. That means suspects could be restrained at a hospital so a nurse or doctor could draw blood or a hair sample.
Defense attorney Donald Ramsell, who serves on the Illinois State Bar Association’s traffic law committee, says the number who refuse is “minuscule.” Ramsell says he’s handled more than 13,000 DUI cases since 1986. “I have never had a single client in the face of a search warrant who has ever refused.”
You would expect the defense bar to protest this. But consider the position of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Chuck Hurley, CEO of MADD, said: “We support penalties for test refusal and reasonable actions shy of strapping somebody down.” […]
Police need good tools to fight drunk driving. A forced blood draw isn’t one of them.
* Related…
* Welfare Reforms Scuttled In Illinois House: Wednesday saw a number of proposed welfare reforms go by the wayside. One of those plans, from State Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, would have required drug tests for adults receiving public aid.
* House Passes “Sexting” Ban: Illinois lawmakers want teenagers who send salacious or sexually provocative photographs via their cell phones to come before a judge in a courtroom. But lawmakers don’t think these same teenagers should have to go to prison. The Illinois House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a “sexting” ban proposal that would impose civil, not criminal, penalties on the practice. Under the proposal sponsored by state Rep. Darlene Senger, R-Naperville, minors who are found guilty of sexting by computers or cell phones could face in-house counseling and/or community service.
* Fight attempts to erode FOIA law: We’re beyond disappointed. We’re disgusted. Many have the support of local lawmakers including Republicans state Sen. John Millner of Carol Stream and state Rep. Michael Connelly of Lisle, and Democrats state Sen. Dan Kotowski of Park Ridge, state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia of Aurora and state Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg.
* House would keep government evaluations secret: The Illinois House voted Thursday to keep evaluations of public employees private, barring them from being released to the public. The proposal, which now goes to the Illinois Senate for consideration, follows lawmakers’ previous push to similarly exempt teacher evaluations from public disclosure.
* Later primary bill now heads to governor
* Quinn expected to OK bill moving primary election back to March: “It’s hard to imagine he will veto or even amend it, given the wide margin,” said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, whose measure passed the House on a 114-1-1 vote… The one “no” vote came from state Rep. Mike Boland, D-Moline, who wanted the primary even later in the year.
* Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Abolish Death Penalty
* Ban on novelty lighters passes Illinois House
* Lawyers: Speed limit doesn’t apply to Illinois trooper
- VanillaMan - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 11:03 am:
The House Republicans tried unsuccessfully this morning to advance a resolution urging the Dept. on Aging to rethink this deal.
How can anyone vote against this resolution? What could be the reason? What? They want us to spend more money we don’t have? How could this lose? If the House GOP couldn’t pass this resolution - what are they good for?
“I guess it is what it is, but I would have preferred them not be in the room when we’re discussing the legislation,” Duffy said.
If they have questions during conferences on this issue, I see value in having company representatives available. It is good both for the companies and the legislators. But I cannot think of a valid reason to allow these lobbyists into legislative dicussions. At that point, the lobbyists have made their presentations. Letting them in goes too far. It gives the appearance that someone in the legislature needs to prove to these lobbyists that they are getting their money’s worth, and that isn’t a good appearance.
That means suspects could be restrained at a hospital so a nurse or doctor could draw blood or a hair sample.
Drawing blood is personal invasion. Taking a hair sample is not since we all shed hair daily. If they dropped the blood provision and instead used a procedure whereby a sealed comb was asked to be pulled through the suspect’s hair for a sample, I could go with that within certain predetermined conditions. But I cannot let a government official forcibly draw blood.
That is just too Gulag!
- Leave a Light on George - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 11:14 am:
CMS makes more money than a real estate agent on a deal like the DOA building.
- Leave a Light on George - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 11:15 am:
Without any of the overhead a real estate agent has I might add.
- Fed up - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 11:29 am:
Yeah the state is doing all it can to save money. No way any taxes should be raised when money continues to be wasted like this.
- P. - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:09 pm:
I can see it now: “So Mr. Redlight and Ms. Red Speed, how much do we have to pay you to change all the settings on the thousands of red light cameras you have set up?”
Get things right the first time people.
Greed causing pols to screw things up. How quaint.
- special assistant - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:23 pm:
Yes Vanilla MaN….spend spend spend. IDOA had several employees on layoff (all lower level, but one, and that one was going to the press so they fired her!) and can still find money (per Quinn) to give the Director a raise, MC bonuses, and hacks (union & non union) TA pay or OT for unneccessary work. Call your rep or senator and terminate the Director and his “good” soldiers.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:28 pm:
How about amending the State Budget to remove $532,000 in rent money for the Ill. Dept. of Aging? The “I don’t care what you think about it, we are going to do it anyway approach should have some repercussions other than anger. And why would the Democrats refuse to move this out of committee?
But there is absolutely no waste in Illinois Government. Absolutely nothing can be cut. Ever!
I would start with CMS. Line by line. I’m sure lots of things would pop up that could be cut, trimmed back or cancelled.
- special assistant - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:33 pm:
I’d bet my paycheck that IDOA will move anyway, if I had one to bet.
- TaxMeMore - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:44 pm:
VanillaMan, a hair sample is not going to show a scientific thing about someone being impaired at the time they were behind the wheel and pulled over. It takes a really long time for a substance to get into the hair, and then it stays there for a long time also. You could’ve stood next to someone smoking a joint a month ago and it will show up in a hair sample, for example, which says absolutely nothing about being impaired while behind a wheel.
I say we drug and alcohol test EVERY state legislator EVERY day if they are going down this road to a police state. We should follow EVERY legislator around with video cameras 24/7 and monitor every penny they spend if they are going to have no respect for our right to privacy.
- Some anti-red-light Guy - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:49 pm:
I went to Duffy’s hearing, and you could tell the whole room was completely for more red light cameras, seeing only dollar signs. It is pretty much an open secret that safety is an excuse and this is only really a revenue issue.
They didn’t blink when the CPD witnesses said “oh, by the way, we can flip a switch and turn all these cams into surveillance cams during an Amber Alert”. Hmm, giving Chicago PD, with their great history, unregulated access to a surveillance network they can use in secret, without warrants, at their discretion…even after the Amber Alert is over… and this bothers no one but me? A lot of money will do that to people. Make no mistake, this is about a LOT of money. Ask the mayor of Shaumburg and drivers around Woodfield.
While I came to the hearing somewhat on the fence about the cams, Duffy’s witnesses and their expert testimony and scientific studies convinced me these red light cams make more crashes than they prevent, that they are being used improperly and perhaps immorally, with widely varying standards, and that there are many things we can do that are cheaper and easier and DO improve safety. Backplates on all the traffic lights, no-brainer. One to two second longer yellows, plus 4-way, all-red lights for two seconds before the green light up, would save lives and property and money. Proven beyond a doubt.
I don’t think Duffy can overcome the lobby money the cams can offer. All he can hope to achieve is to raise enough stink and public ire that we at least get a uniform code for how these things are deployed and operated. Myself, I would only keep the cams in construction zones to catch speeders. Sen. Duffy, I never thought I’d see the day, but I tell you sir, I agree with a Republican, at least on this; you are 100 percent right… and your initiative is 98 percent doomed. But don’t stop the fight. We need more guys like you to challenge these things when they are so very wrong.
- Gregor - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:52 pm:
It would be a better PR move now for IDOA to take the money they were going to blow on rents to Charlie, and put it into their programs and services.
- special assistant - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 12:57 pm:
I agree Gregor, however, they are so arrogant and above the people they are suppose to serve that it will never happen.
- cassandra - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 1:26 pm:
The DOA staff, as I understand it, are primarily administrative and technical employees, which means that they could probably work anywhere, with appropriate technology hookups, either in state buildings where there is already free space, although not necessarily all together, or even at home. Meetings can be done by video or telecon.
Why do we have to provide them with plush new offices at 500k a year.
This is another example of how the governor and
the state bureacrats who made these decisions are really living fifty years ago when everybody worked in a big office building unless he or she was an artist or some other oddity. Retro.
But as long as our Pat and his well-paid band of state bureaucrats believe that they have access to endless taxpayer cash they are unlikely to move up a few decades and do something even slightly 21st century.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 2:25 pm:
The GOP welfare reform proposals were all very good and necessary. It’s stuff/stunts like this (e.g., killing perfectly good/legitimate legislative proposals for partisan reasons) that cause me not to like dems very much. As a mod dem, I would have co-sponsored all of those proposals and pushed for them.
it saddens me how the dems rountinely undermine the poor, minorities and taxpayers.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 2:30 pm:
You could’ve stood next to someone smoking a joint a month ago and it will show up in a hair sample…
That, and my singed hair. “Hey judge, I wasn’t smoking a joint - my hair was at Woodstock and it just grows really, really slow. And I was a newborn originally named “Ho Chi Minh Rainbow Love”"
- Plutocrat03 - Friday, Mar 12, 10 @ 2:51 pm:
It has been learned that the RLC companies, Redvlex in particular steer up to 3 per cent of the gross to local contacts. (court order in Louisiana)
Wouldn’t it be great to see who is benefitting from these consulting fees?
Perhaps an enterprising media person can pierce the corporate veil.