The Commission shall determine the changes to law necessary to ensure that the State Employee Retirement System, the General Assembly Retirement System, the State University Retirement System, and the Teacher’s Retirement System will reach 100% actuarial funding for all then-existing liabilities not later than December 31, 2045, calculated and defined in full accordance with the applicable standards and guidelines of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. […]
General Assembly Disapproval of the Report. The General Assembly may disapprove the report of the Commission in whole within thirty legislative days after the report is filed by adoption of a joint resolution by a record vote of the majority of the members elected in each house. If the General Assembly does not adopt a joint resolution disapproving of the report, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate shall certify the bill and it shall be presented to the Governor in accordance with Article 4, Section 9(a) of the Illinois Constitution. The Governor shall sign the bill and it shall become law. The bill shall not be certified if the General Assembly adopts a joint resolution disapproving of the report.
This looks like the federal base-closing commission.
The General Assembly shall enact laws only by bill. Bills may originate in either house, but may be amended or rejected by the other.
No bill shall become a law without the concurrence of a majority of the members elected to each house. Final passage of a bill shall be by record vote. In the Senate at the request of two members, and in the House at the request of five members, a record vote may be taken on any other occasion. A record vote is a vote by yeas and nays entered on the journal.
…Adding More… This looks a bit like the old and now defunct pay raise commission. Back then, legislators in both chambers had to vote to reject the commission’s pay raise recommendations or they’d take effect.
Tuesday, Jan 8, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
HB 5440 calls for a new tax increase on the 1.3 million Illinois families and businesses who subscribe to satellite TV. A recent statewide poll conducted by We Ask America confirms there is universal opposition to the cable industry’s push to place this NEW 5% tax on satellite TV service. The poll was conducted on November 14, 2012 yielding 1,288 responses with a margin of error of +/- 3%.
Key findings:
* 84% of all respondents oppose a new satellite tax
* 81% of cable subscribers even oppose this concept
* Opposition is strong among both Democrats & Republicans – 83% (D) and 87% (R)
* Regional Opposition
o Chicago 81%
o Suburban Cook 77%
o Collar Counties 84%
o Downstate 89%
Cable pays rent in the form of franchise fees. Satellite companies don’t pay franchise fees for one simple reason: our technology orbits the earth. Why should satellite customers pay for a service they do not utilize?
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced she has filed a petition for rehearing before the full U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in lawsuits challenging the Illinois laws that prevent the carrying of ready-to-use firearms in public.
The Attorney General’s petition for a rehearing “en banc” is a request for all of the judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the case after a December decision by a three-judge panel of the court held that the state laws barring carrying ready-to-use firearms in public are unconstitutional.
Madigan’s petition was filed in lawsuits brought against the State of Illinois by Michael Moore, Mary E. Shepard and the Illinois State Rifle Association, which allege that Illinois’ restrictions on the carrying of ready-to-use weapons in public violates their Second Amendment rights. The laws had previously been upheld by two separate federal district courts in Illinois.
In its December decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals set a 180-day deadline for the Illinois legislature to draft and enact new laws relating to carrying ready-to-use firearms in public. Today’s petition for rehearing by the Attorney General does not affect that deadline.
Madigan issued the following statement regarding her decision to seek a rehearing:
“In ruling that Illinois must allow individuals to carry ready-to-use firearms in public, the 7th Circuit Court’s decision goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court has held and conflicts with decisions by two other federal appellate courts. Based on those decisions, it is appropriate to ask the full 7th Circuit to review this case and consider adopting an approach that is consistent with the other appellate courts that have addressed these issues after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Heller and McDonald decisions.”
* Seventeen Democrats and five Republicans filed to run for former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s seat yesterday. Sun-Times…
Longtime political analyst Don Rose said not only will money be important in the race to replace Jackson but how a candidate spends it will be critical.
“There’s no question that fund-raising is important,” he said. “Nobody has a district-wide reputation so they simply [have] to get their message out. Money is a substantial part of the ballgame.”
Rose qualified that, however, pointing out that U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley was far outspent when he ran in a special election in 2009, and he won with about 22 percent of the vote.
Rose said Halvorson is the only candidate to have a district-wide name, having run in the primary and agreed she probably didn’t need to fund raise as much as other candidates.
On the Republican side, Beverly Reid of Chicago joined the previously announced Lenny McAllister of Maywood. Paul McKinley of Bronzeville, Freedom’s Journal Magazine publisher Eric Wallace of Flossmoor and James Taylor Sr. of downstate Bradley also entered the contest Monday.
* Meanwhile, Robin Kelly has a new campaign Internet promo video. Rate it…
The Illinois Board of Elections holds a lottery on Tuesday to determine ballot positions for the Feb. 26 primaries to fill the seat left vacant with the resignation of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.)
Tuesday, Jan 8, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
At a time when Illinois is facing another budget crisis, our state continues to fall behind in modernizing its revenue laws to adapt to the current marketplace. For example, cable and other video providers are paying industry standard state and local taxes and fees, while satellite providers – who represent a third of the market and make hundreds of millions in revenue – exploit a corporate loophole to minimize taxes and fees.
The reality is there is a price of doing business in a market where you use a public good, like our roads and infrastructure. House Bill 5440 closes the satellite TV corporate tax loophole and raises up to $75 million for education.
HB 5440 is being championed by individuals and groups statewide who recognize this crisis and want it addressed.
Close the satellite loophole and support our students. Vote YES on HB 5440! To learn more and make your voice heard, visit www.YesOn5440.com.
* Here’s the hard, simple truth about pension reform, or anything for that matter: Nothing difficult ever gets done unless House Speaker Michael J. Madigan pushes his members to vote for it. Period. End of story. And, so far, MJM is not working his members.
Many in the House did not want to take up a controversial issue when the Senate isn’t even around to consider it. Some Democrats refused to commit to voting for the plan when they didn’t know how many Republicans also were willing to stick out their necks.
Others stood against any pension changes. Some who were willing to entertain a new approach criticized the proposal as too harsh on public employees and retirees. Still others contended the proposal violates a state constitutional prohibition on diminishing or impairing public employee pensions, as union officials have maintained. […]
And then there are the outgoing lame-duck lawmakers. While those who lost in November or are retiring are politically insulated from facing the voters again, they aren’t eager to use their last minutes in public office to vote for a proposal that would reduce their own retirement benefits.
But the easiest blame was cast upon absent state senators and their leader, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago.
“There are a number of people who are talking about the Senate,” said Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, a sponsor of the pension measure, which advanced earlier Monday from a House committee on a 6-3 vote. “But those are some of the people who, if not the Senate, also would have found another excuse.”
* And I’m not sure that this interpretation is correct…
If lawmakers don’t meet their deadline Wednesday, the General Assembly can start again. About three dozen new lawmakers will be sworn in Wednesday for the new session.
“I don’t think we need to start over from scratch,” Nekritz said. “This is a piece of legislation that has had the most bipartisan support and the most momentum behind it.”
The Senate has actually passed a pension reform bill - twice. However, it has little support in the House, so far.
We have said the Nekritz bill is constitutionally suspect, though its sponsors can muster some compelling arguments. Despite that, it gets our backing because it is the only comprehensive bill in play. Cullerton’s bill, which passed the Senate in May, only covers two of the five state pension systems, generating only about one-third of the needed savings. Though a better bet constitutionally speaking, any bill is a gamble given protections in the state Constitution.
But the Senate Democrats contend that a bill as unconstitutional as the Nekrtiz/Cross proposal would upset ratings agencies even more. Check the bottom of Page 1 of this document, for example.
