EDUCATION FUNDING
Gov. Rauner issues amendatory veto to ensure school funding bill is fair, equitable for all students. Tuesday, Gov. Bruce Rauner issued an amendatory veto to Senate Bill 1, the school funding bill. The matter now heads to the Illinois General Assembly, where the governor has respectfully requested that lawmakers uphold his changes. If these changes are upheld, Illinois will achieve historic education funding reform.

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement today on the retirement announcement of Assistant Republican Leader Bill Mitchell.

“I have been privileged to serve alongside Bill Mitchell since he first came to the Illinois General Assembly in 1999. He has always been a passionate advocate for downstate Illinois, standing up for the priorities and values of his constituents. Bill’s advocacy was instrumental in helping keep the Clinton nuclear power plant open. As a member of my leadership team, Bill continues to provide me with a perspective that is much needed in the Capitol. More importantly, Bill Mitchell is my friend and someone whose opinion I’ve always respected. I wish him all the best as he looks forward to a well-deserved retirement at the completion of his term.”

Leader Durkin appointed Representative Mitchell to the position of Assistant Republican Leader in 2015 and again in 2017. Mitchell also serves as Minority Spokesperson for the House Insurance: Property and Casualty Committee. He has been a member of the Illinois House of Representatives since 1999.

New law to honor Gabby Galbo will require hospitals to be better prepared to treat sepsis

Governor Bruce Rauner on Thursday, at a press conference at Presence Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, signed Senate Bill 2403, known as Gabby’s Law, to require Illinois hospitals to be better prepared to recognize and treat patients with sepsis or septic shock.

The legislation is named in honor of Gabby Galbo of Monticello, who passed away in 2012 due to untreated sepsis. Following her death, Gabby’s parents, Liz and Tony, began work to pass this legislation, which received unanimous support in both the Senate and the House, to honor her memory.

Budget – FY16/FY17
Second straight year without a State budget. As the end of fiscal year 2016 (FY16) approached, House Republicans filed a budget bill, HB 6585, to cover both FY16 “stopgap” expenditures and some urgently-needed FY17 expenditure areas. It would have appropriated badly-needed money to a wide variety of essential and job-creating state agencies and educational institutions, such as state universities and prisons. The appropriations contained in this bill were fully paid for from existing revenues. HB 6585 was filed by House Republican leader Jim Durkin on Tuesday, May 31.

With the Illinois House of Representatives in the midst of a month-long break, a group of Downstate GOP lawmakers want the House to return to session to work on a compromise to end the nine-month long budget impasse.

State Representatives Bill Mitchell, C.D. Davidsmeyer, John Cavaletto, David Reis and Avery Bourne held a press conference in Decatur Wednesday to urge Democrat leaders to call the General Assembly back into session.

“The sad fact is Illinois is broke. Our colleges, students and human services are suffering because of the Chicago politicians’ refusal to compromise on desperately-needed economic and spending reforms. We are nine months into Fiscal Year 2016 without a budget and the House has only been in session nine days this entire year. What are we doing? Speaker Madigan needs to end this month-long break and get back to work,” said Rep. Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth). Read more.

With the State’s budget impasse entering month seven, State Representative Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth) is calling for passage of new legislation that will require lawmakers to pass a budget that is truly balanced – or not be paid.

Speaking at Richland Community College Tuesday, Representative Mitchell discussed the negative impact the lack of a state budget is having on Richland.

“We’re in our seventh month without a budget. Illinois is a dysfunctional state. The lack of a budget, along with years of unbalanced budgets, is hurting our schools, colleges and providers. Here at Richland, the lack of a budget has had a profoundly negative impact. Millions of dollars in grants have been lost, tuition has been increased and there’s no MAP funding for students this semester,” said Rep. Mitchell. Read more.

Like many child care providers, Amy Steck said she continues to be frustrated by the state's handling of the Child Care Assistance program.

The financially strapped program provides for 100,000 families in Illinois, as it reimburses child care providers for serving the low-income families at discounted rates.

But Steck, director of the Kids-N-Fitness in Decatur and Forsyth, said she has seen the program drift away from its goal.

“I see a lot more families that are needing this program,” she said. “It started as a program that was necessary for single parents and full-time students. But it's really gone now to a place where it's families that are together, but not married, and they base the qualifications on just one parent.

“I'm totally in support of anything that reforms this program.”

Those changes are expect to be presented to the Illinois General Assembly in a plan being proposed by state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth. The plan, which has not be submitted to lawmakers in a bill yet, would urge the Illinois Auditor General to audit the Child Care Assistance program, establish an asset value test for families participating in the program to determine who is in most need of assistance, a proof of legal residency in Illinois to qualify and for future applicants to the program to provide the father's identification. Read the rest of the story in the Herald-Review.

Chicago – NRI
“…we are trying to get the base out…” Newly-released emails confirm politics part of troubled Quinn program. On Tuesday, Oct. 7, former Quinn chief of staff Jack Lavin turned over personal emails subpoenaed by the Legislative Audit Commission that tie the 2010 election and Quinn’s campaign to the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.

In a Sept. 5, 2010 email to Ben Nuckels, then Quinn’s campaign manager, Lavin outlined strategies to appeal to African-American voters. “If we are trying to get the base out and that’s the key to our victory, we better prioritize correctly,” Lavin wrote. “The African-American community tends to break late so we have some time. The Gov’s Neighborhood Recovery Initiative will also help on the jobs and anti-violence messages.”

In June, Governor Pat Quinn announced that he would sell off portion of the state's air fleet.  At the time, State Representative Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth) a long-time critic of the state-owned airplanes, called the move "a step in the right direction" but believed the State should go even further.

After part of the air fleet was put up for auction earlier this week, Rep. Mitchell sent a letter to the Governor urging him to sell the entire executive fleet of state-owned aircraft imploring “it’s time to put an end to these perks of political power.”

In Fiscal Year 2014, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) spent more than $7 million to operate and maintain the State’s fleet of aircraft. IDOT has spent nearly $33 million over the last five years on the air fleet, while costs have gone up by 35 percent. Mitchell feels the daily plane shuttles between Chicago and Springfield are a waste of taxpayer dollars and should be stopped.

Business
IL workers’ comp rates to fall in 2015. Workers’ compensation insurance rates – a key item for many Illinois employers, particularly manufacturers – will drop 5.5 percent next year.

Governor Quinn announced Wednesday the cut in rates is being recommended by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, which annually reviews payments and fees and proposes new premium figures.

Illinois Department of Insurance officials are estimating the latest proposed reduction in workers’ compensation advisory and loss cost rates could result in overall reduction of premiums of up to $143 million in 2015, with savings totaling $450 million since reforms were enacted in 2011.

Rep. Bill Mitchell

A person can fly roundtrip from Chicago to Springfield next week for a little over $200. So, why are Illinois taxpayers spending nearly five times that amount to fly politicians and bureaucrats the same route?

One of the state's four daily shuttle flights arrives at Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln Airport. The King Air 350 Turboprop seats nine passengers, but on one morning last fall, FOX 32 saw only one passenger get off the plane.

That flight from Chicago cost taxpayers more than $2400. Read more by FOX 32 News Investigative Reporter Dane Placko.

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Final Days of 2014 Spring Session
As third week of May ends, only six session days remain for vital work. Left undetermined as of Friday, May 23 were key decisions affecting the future of all Illinoisans, including the FY15 State budget.

The key twelve-month spending plan will govern State spending and operations starting in only one month, July 1, 2014. A $3 billion gap between expected State tax revenues and Democrat-led spending requests will create significant challenges for lawmakers.

Substantive, non-budget issues will also require action, and positions and legislative language could change over this period from moment to moment. Stay tuned to The Caucus Blog for continuously updated information on these key questions.

Rep. Bill Mitchell talks to reporters after his floor comments
about the state flying prairie chickens from Kansas.

Illinois is paying to fly birds in from Kansas.

Our cash-strapped state government has found a new use for its fleet of aircraft – flying birds into Illinois.

I kid you not.

State aircraft are flying to Kansas and transporting prairie chickens back to the Land of Lincoln.

And at a time state lawmakers are looking at raising the state income tax, Illinois state employees have been hiking across Kansas trapping these chickens.

Talk about fowl fiscal deeds.

State pilots have flown between Illinois and Kansas not once, not twice but 14 times this year taking prairie chickens to downstate Jasper and Marion counties. Scott Reeder has the rest of the story on Reboot Illinois.

“We’ve seen three separate tax hike proposals in the last three days. It is clear that Illinois democrats are preparing to raise taxes again, and the Governor seems unwilling to accept the reality that Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue problem." ~Rep. Mike Tryon



“Governor Quinn proved to the General Assembly and to the citizens of this State today that his promises mean nothing. With his announcement that he is pushing to make the temporary tax increase of 2011 permanent, he has shown us all that anything he says can’t be trusted. He is on record in 2011 as saying the income tax increase was temporary, but now he wants to take more and more out of the pockets of working Illinoisans and small businesses." ~Rep. Barb Wheeler 

State Representative Bill Mitchell is sponsoring job creation legislation to address the chronically high unemployment in Decatur/Macon County.

Representative Mitchell discussed his legislation Thursday at his Decatur district office.

“My legislation creates tax incentives for employers in high unemployment counties such as Macon County, which consistently has a jobless rate well above the state and national averages,” Mitchell said. “Decatur had the second-worst economic decline in all of America last year. This is a crisis that can no longer be ignored by the powers-that-be in Springfield.” Read more about Rep. Mitchell's legislation.

Budget – Illinois’ “Net Deficit”

·         New report shows cumulative State deficit of $47.8 billion.  This cumulative deficit of almost $48 billion (nearly $4,000 per Illinois resident) comes from the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for FY 2013, released by Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and the Statewide Financial Statement Audit released by Auditor General Bill Holland.  The purpose of the figures presented in the CAFR are to drill past the cash-flow situation of the State of Illinois (which is what the “official” State budget looks at) and uncover the gap between resources available and commitments made. 

The majority of the gap consists of pension obligations and commitments to pay health-care-related expenses to providers of services to eligible patients, primarily Medicaid patients and State workers.  This number is not a one-year deficit, but a representation, on a balance-sheet basis, of the cumulative deficit that has been building up over a multi-year period.  Almost two-thirds of the deficit has appeared during the past seven years ($18.7 billion in FY06 to $47.8 billion in FY13), roughly coinciding with the tenure of Gov. Pat Quinn.

Graduated Income Tax  
House GOP: Graduated Tax Threat to Illinois Jobs, Families.  On Monday, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and members of the Illinois House Republican caucus announced their unanimous opposition to the graduated income tax proposal introduced by legislative Democrats. The plan, currently filed as HJRCA 33, would replace the state’s current flat tax with a graduated income tax system, with rates to be determined by the General Assembly.

“There is a movement in Springfield by the majority party to move Illinois from a flat income tax to a graduated tax,” said Durkin. “The same party responsible for years of overspending, over taxing and a mountain of debt wants to move to a graduated tax for one reason and one reason only – to raise taxes and spend more money.”

Rep. Bill Mitchell - Focused on Jobs for Illinoisans 

After Governor Quinn’s State of the State Address last week, it was revealed that Illinois has 110,000 fewer jobs than when Pat Quinn became governor. The labor force has contracted and the state’s unemployment rate is nearly two points higher than the national average. Illinois is ranked dead last among all states in projected job growth for 2014.

A recent report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors ranked Decatur, Illinois as the nation’s second-fastest shrinking economy. The Decatur area’s gross metro product (GMP) fell by nearly 5% in 2013 and employment dropped by 4.2%, the worst in the nation.

State Representative Bill Mitchell  (R-Forsyth) says that this ranking shows that Decatur’s manufacturing downturn is a crisis that must be addressed at the state and local level. Read more here.

The Herald-Review Editorial: Decatur should focus on the future

Budget
Governor’s budget projection forecasts increased deficits, bill backlog.  The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) is required by P.A. 96-1354 to annually file a three year budget projection which forecasts expected general funds revenues and expenditures based on current statutes.  The projections also include expected bill backlogs for each of the coming fiscal years.

GOMB recently filed the 3 year budget projection covering FY15-FY17 and an Economic and Fiscal Report providing context for the numbers.  As can be expected, the phase down of the income tax increase has a drastic, but not unanticipated, impact on revenue and past due liabilities.  The 3 year projection estimates that the old bill backlog at the end of FY17 will surpass $16.2 billion – nearly 50% of all general funds revenue available for the year.      

Rep. Bill Mitchell

Illinois ranked as the second-highest state in out-migration in 2013, according to United Van Lines’ Annual Migration Study. Illinois held steady at the number two spot after falling from the top spot in 2011.

State Representative Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth) wants Illinois to address the ongoing exodus of families to states with better job climates.

“Illinois continues to see a flood of working families and jobs going to states with pro-growth, pro-jobs policies in place,” Mitchell said. “Unfortunately, our state is struggling with high taxes, high unemployment and record debt. We’ve got to put on the brakes and stop driving jobs out of Illinois. We need to fundamentally change our jobs and tax policies in Springfield if we’re going to turn things around and get Illinois working again.”