On Monday, State Representatives Patti Bellock and David McSweeney joined a panel of legislators at the City Club of Chicago to discuss the current state of the Illinois Budget. See the video here.

Budget – Infrastructure 
Statewide discussion on capital spending begins. Governor Bruce Rauner announced on Tuesday, April 21 that he will soon start an infrastructure Listening Tour (http://www.idot.illinois.gov/about-idot/stay-connected/events/Infrastructure-Investment) in which the Governor will talk to local leaders in at least 30 separate Illinois communities to hear their needs for additional help in maintaining vital local infrastructure. At the same time, Illinois House budget working groups will be meeting on FY16 budget challenges, including issues of public infrastructure.

State Rep. David McSweeney has proposed legislation that would give another option for the Attorney General's office to look into possible violations of the Open Meetings Act.

Currently, Illinois state law says if someone believes there is a violation of the open meetings act, he needs to file a request for review within 60 days of the alleged violation. The problem is that because of laws regarding when public bodies must disclose their closed session minutes, it's difficult to suspect when a violation took place.

McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, is proposing that if the alleged violation isn't discovered within the initial 60-day period, someone can request for a review 60 days after the discovery of the alleged violation. Read the entire story by Joseph Bustos in the Northwest Herald.

Representatives Ron Sandack (at podium), Patti Bellock,
Jeanne Ives, David McSweeney, Tom Morrison, Darlene
Senger and Ed Sullivan explain to the media why they
oppose a tax increase for Illinoisans. 

At a recent  press conference to discuss the latest call to renew a tax increase proposal, Rep. Ron Sandack told reporters that all 47 Republicans in the Illinois House oppose a graduated income tax.

A group of suburban Republican state lawmakers said Wednesday that no House GOP members will vote for a graduated income tax, a system that taxes people based on how much they earn.

At a Chicago news conference, state Rep. David McSweeney of Barrington Hills touted his resolution opposing the idea, which has garnered nearly enough support so far in the Illinois House to block a change. Mike Riopell has the story in the Daily Herald. 

by Rep. David McSweeney
Originally Published November 11, 2013 - Northwest Herald 

It’s clear that Illinois is heading in the wrong economic direction. We have a 9.2 percent unemployment rate (second highest in the country), $6 billion of unpaid bills that will continue to grow, $100 billion of unfunded pension liabilities, the worst credit ratings in the nation, and a pension crisis.

The only way to start turning Illinois around is to adopt meaningful public employee pension reform soon. We owe to it our hard-working teachers and state workers to save the pension systems.

It’s a crisis because if we don’t act soon, Illinois will continue to be plagued with high unemployment and economic uncertainty. Small businesses will not want to expand and companies will not want to locate in Illinois because they will be concerned about the prospect of higher tax rates to fund future pension obligations. More here.

Obamacare
House Republicans demand answers after thousands of Illinois residents report losing health insurance.  The implementation day of the federal Affordable Care Act, October 1, 2013, imposed complex and costly new mandates upon private health insurance policies sold, or provided by employers, to Americans citizens and residents.  A large segment of previously profitable health insurance policies have become unprofitable.

In the weeks following the “Obamacare implementation date,” a significant number of Americans have reported to their lawmakers that they have recently received letters from their insurers,

Budget
Gov. Quinn’s “supplemental” budget request includes significant overtime payments to unionized State employees.  State auditors have reported that the Department of Corrections (IDOC) notched $62 million in overtime expenses in fiscal year 2013 (ended June 30, 2013).  The overtime payments, which are required by the terms of the union contracts signed by the Quinn administration and the AFSCME union that represents prison guards, help compensate these workers for the dangerous work of maintaining control of overcrowded prisons.

Row 1:  John Cabello at Rockford Register Star for an online chat. David McSweeney presented a resolution honoring TOPSoccer of Cary, a community-based program for young athletes with disabilities.

Row 2:  Rep. Darlene Senger shares 'A Day in the Life' of a State Representative at Tabor Hills Assisted Living located in Naperville. Rep. Bill Mitchell meets seniors at the Livingston Center in Monticello.

Budget
Fitch, Moody’s cut State’s bond rating again; reduction is described as response to General Assembly’s May 2013 inaction on pension reform.  The Fitch reduction, announced on Monday, June 3, was from “A” to “A-”, and the Moody’s reduction, announced on Thursday, June 6, was from “A2” to “A3.”  Although these letter grades do not look to outsiders like bad letters, bankers and other professionals treat these letters as bad signs when they are displayed by a public-sector entity.

The Fitch and Moody’s ratings reductions further intensified the reputation of Illinois as the state with the lowest credit rating in the nation.  States traditionally pay among the lowest interest rates when choosing to borrow money, because they (unlike private borrowers) enjoy an unlimited right to replenish their coffers by raising taxes.