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* It passed with 63 votes…
Debate happening now on SB2273 which will remove Illinois from the Crosscheck system that is putting our voter data at risk. Follow along here: https://t.co/ZxGTML9EPJ
— Rep. Ann Williams (@RepAnnWilliams) April 19, 2018
Roll call is here. It now goes to the governor.
The Illinois House today unanimously passed Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza’s “Truth in Hiring” Act to bring all “offshored” employees of the Governor’s office back into the Governor’s budget. State Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, sponsored the bi-partisan bill in the House.
For too long, Illinois governors – Democratic and Republican – have engaged in the deceptive practice of “offshoring” their employees’ salaries to other agencies — for example, paying an education advisor $250,000 from the Department of Human Services; or a deputy chief of staff $140,000 from the Illinois State Police’s budget — to mask the true size of the Governor’s budget.
A recent payroll analysis shows only 44 of Governor Rauner’s staffers are actually paid from the Governor’s budget. MOST of his staff – 58 people – are hidden in other agency payrolls. If the Governor were honestly reporting all the people working in his office, he would have to disclose his office budget is more than $10 million, instead of the $4.9 million that is budgeted for the current fiscal year.
* Background is here. Press release…
Yesterday, 111th State Representative Monica Bristow made her feelings clear on the House floor regarding how much legislators should be paid:
“Hopefully if this body [the Illinois House] and the Senate gets its act together, we will be able to have our revenue exceeding expenditures and we’ll all get raises.”
Monica Bristow made this astonishing admission live on the House floor while debating HB 5760 - a bill concerning mileage reimbursement rates for legislators and the halting of cost-of-living adjustments. We all have dreams of a more prosperous future - Monica’s dream just happens to be paid for by overburdened taxpayers.
Mike Babcock, Republican candidate for 111th state representative, had this to say in response to Bristows comments:
“It is no surprise that Rep. Bristow, tightly entrenched within the Madigan self-serving machine, would advocate for more pay for herself. Let me be clear, career politicians in Springfield shouldn’t be receiving an extra dime. As a small business owner, I wouldn’t give an employee with the same record of failure a raise - I’d replace them. Rep. Bristow is the taxpayers employee and I’d say it’s time we replaced her too.”
When it comes to elected officials safeguarding taxpayer money, Mike Babcock leads by example. Mike Babcock has forgone a pay raise during his 9 years as Wood River Township Supervisor, has never raised taxes, and has a budget surplus year after year.
* Other bills…
* ADDED: There’s another push to split up SIUE and SIUC. Could it really happen this time?: According to Redfield, the political observer, legislators from other parts of Illinois may not want to weigh in on the regional issue between the SIU campuses. “They would much rather this get worked out rather than having to pick sides,” Redfield said.
* Remap proponents trying to get issue before voters, but it’s not looking good: Senate leaders allowed proponents of the amendment to make their case at a subcommittee hearing Wednesday. However, in the House, the proposals have been locked up in the House Rules Committee and time is quickly running out. Both the House and Senate would have to vote by May 6 to put the issue on the ballot. The House is not scheduled to be in session the week of April 30 through May 4.
* Medical Marijuana for School Students Approved By Illinois House: “Before anyone sets their hair on fire about medical marijuana in school, it’s important to understand that tots won’t be toking up in class,” says Lang. “Discreet, private locations in a school will set aside for parents to administer the product and have no impact on anyone else in the building.”
* Illinois youth tackle football ban dead for now: Opposition to restrictions on America’s most popular sport stifled it for now. Sente, a Vernon Hills Democrat, said she will not call the legislation for a House vote before the General Assembly’s scheduled May 31 adjournment. But the bill stays alive until year’s end, and Sente, who is not seeking re-election in November, raised the possibility that the issue might be ripe for a vote this fall.
* Lawmakers Seek Broader Reviews of Suburban Police Shootings - Following a BGA/WBEZ investigative series, members of the Illinois black legislative caucus vow a push to mandate reviews of whether officers who shoot citizens violated policies or best practices.
* Editorial: Time to throw away golden parachutes for public employees
* House OKs bill making Sangamon County default location for most state jobs
* Women fighting cancer ask, ‘why won’t Illinois insurers cover egg, embryo freezing?’: In Illinois, about 5,800 people of reproductive age — between 14 and 45 — are diagnosed with cancer each year, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, though not all those patients would need or want to freeze sperm, eggs or embryos.
* Slowik: Caregivers support expanding alerts to include people with disabilities: State law currently allows police to issue “Amber Alerts” for missing children and “Silver Searches” to help locate missing senior citizens. Police, however, cannot currently issue an emergency notice when a non-elderly adult with a developmental disability is missing.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:33 pm
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Previous Post: Biss appears to backtrack on his pledge to “elect the Democratic nominee for governor whoever that person is”
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Kris Kobach, the driver behind Crosscheck, is in a bit of hot water right now. Illinois needs to be out of that program as soon as possible. https://tinyurl.com/y7rgtnhc
Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 3:57 pm
“* Slowik: Caregivers support expanding alerts to include people with disabilities: State law currently allows police to issue “Amber Alerts” for missing children and “Silver Searches” to help locate missing senior citizens. Police, however, cannot currently issue an emergency notice when a non-elderly adult with a developmental disability is missing.”
Amber Alerts should be used for anyone who is missing. There should be no restrictions.
Comment by Mama Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 5:04 pm