The state representative who requested a review of property assessments in every Illinois county said Tuesday she expects a written response this week.

In August, Rep. Jeanne Ives, sent a letter to the Illinois Department of Revenue asking for the review. The request came after Coles County began reassessing commercial property for the first time in 16 years and after a school superintendent from Perry County told lawmakers his county had not reassessed property since the early 1980s, even though state law requires those reassessments every four years. Read the story here.

In response to the failure of Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino to answer questions amidst the ongoing federal and state investigations into his campaign spending irregularities while a member of the Illinois General Assembly, State Representative Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) announced the filing today of House Joint Resolution 158 aimed at removing Mautino from office, a measure with over 20 co-sponsors.

“Auditor General Mautino is not able to perform his duties with the trust and confidence that Illinoisans deserve,” Rep. Kay said.  “The Auditor General’s Office is a position where transparency is at the very heart of the job itself.  Illinoisans deserve a clean government and Auditor General Mautino, by his refusal to respond to public questions surrounding his ethical conduct, has demonstrated that he is unfit to remain in office.” Read more.

"Like Governor Rauner, I arrived in Springfield to find serious challenges waiting. The test has been
whether we answer them in a serious way, without trying to buy time, or to sidestep obvious problems that need to be dealt with right away. Putting off problems is certainly not what I had in mind in seeking this office. I think Governor Rauner would say the same of the position he holds. No one ever said this would be easy.

In my district, almost everyone I talk to eventually leans in and confesses their “Exit Strategy” – their plan for moving out of Illinois.

These are people who have built businesses, raised families, paid taxes, invested time and talent in charitable organizations, given back in their communities – and we’re losing them. After 40 years of bad public policy, political corruption and bureaucratic mismanagement, the state has made it too hard for them to stay. To me, this is unacceptable. Read more.

Governor Rauner signed pivotal legislation today that will limit the future size and scope of community college severance agreements.

Prompted by a $763,000 contract buyout approved by a former College of DuPage (COD) Board for outgoing College President Dr. Robert Breuder, State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) filed HB 3593, which limits future buyout or severance agreements to no more than one year of salary and benefits. Even though a newly-elected COD Board of Trustees voided the Breuder deal, Ives said her bill will prevent other college boards from inking similarly excessive deals for underperforming administrators.

“That agreement was irresponsible and disrespectful to the taxpayers who fund the College of DuPage,” said Ives. “While the new board seems to be acting more in line with the best interests of the college’s stakeholders, this new law will prevent mismanagement at the levels we’ve seen at COD from happening in the future.” Read more.

General Assembly Pay Freeze
House Republicans unanimously co-sponsor bill to block pay increase for FY16; General Assembly approves measure. The automatic 2% “cost of living” pay increase was scheduled to automatically go into effect for the State fiscal year starting July 1, 2015. Many House Republican members do not think the General Assembly deserves to enjoy a pay hike at a time when many Illinois workers have their pay and benefits frozen or cannot find work at all. HB 576 freezes cost-of-living adjustments and other benefit compensations for General Assembly members and other high-ranking elected and appointed State officials in FY16. The bill received final General Assembly approval on Wednesday, August 5, and was sent to the Governor.

House Republicans unanimously supported and helped pass HB 576, and all 47 Republican members were co-sponsors of the measure in the House. The Governor has expressed support for the concept of freezing the pay of Illinois’ top elected officials, and is expected to sign the bill.

FY16 Budget Crisis
Democrats continue push for unbalanced, unconstitutional budget. As the State of Illinois entered the second week of its fiscal year without a balanced budget in place, the Democrat majority continued to take a piece-meal approach to the budget crisis.

Democrats again backed a temporary budget to fund certain services at a level that is not sustainable over the course of the entire fiscal year. SB 2040, passed by the bare minimum of 71 partisan Democrat votes in the House Thursday, does not contain one-month spending levels based on the projected FY16 revenue estimate of $32 billion.

Legislation that limits the size and scope of community college buyout packages and severance agreements, and limits the length of employment contracts, has passed in the Illinois House and Senate and now moves to the Governor’s desk to be signed.

In response to the $763,000 contract buyout approved by College of DuPage Trustees for President Dr. Robert Breuder earlier this year, State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) carried HB3593, which would limit the amount of future agreements to no more than one year of salary and benefits. “The agreement that the majority of the COD trustees approved for their underperforming president was excessive and not in the best interest of the taxpayers who fund the college,” said Ives. “I would have liked to have been able to roll back his agreement, but at least moving forward there will be taxpayer protections in place.”

Last year, the Democrats who run the Illinois House and Senate passed a phony budget. It kept everybody happy by promising lots of spending. But it didn't raise nearly enough money to cover all that spending.

The governor signed it. That was Pat Quinn.

The voters saw right through it. They elected a new governor. That's Bruce Rauner.

And this year, having learned their lesson, the Democrats who run the Illinois House and Senate are ... wait. What? They're going to do it all over again?

Really?

They're apparently preparing to pass another phony budget, one that promises to spend much more money than the state has.

And the governor? Oh, that's right. There was an election.

Gov. Bruce Rauner spent his first months in office fixing the phony budget his predecessor signed. Read the Chicago Tribune editorial in its entirety.

In a unanimous showing of support for the taxpayers who fund the College of DuPage, members of the House of Representatives approved a resolution on Thursday that will launch a thorough performance audit of the college.

HR55, Sponsored by State Representative Jeanne Ives, was filed in response to the decision by the COD board to provide outgoing College President Dr. Robert Breuder with a $763,000 severance package in exchange for his early departure as College President.

A business originally based out of California is making Illinois its home citing Illinois' improving business climate as the reason for its move.

Welkins LLC was founded in 2004, but its founder, Bill Elkins has been an innovative force for much longer than that. You could say that some of his technology and inventions are literally out of this world. Elkins has been called “one of the true fathers of the spacesuit” and his work with NASA in the 1960’s put him in U.S. Space Foundation’s Space Technology Hall of Fame. WElkins prides itself on creating innovative cooling systems for the “hospital, sideline, battlefield, and beyond.” Their cooling technology can help prevent concussions, heat stress, and can be used for therapeutic hypothermia, just to name a few applications.

The bipartisan House Task Force on Education Funding will hold its first organizing meeting on Wednesday, March 11 at 3:00 PM in Room 118 in the Capitol. It is expected the Task Force will set objectives and future meetings. The Task Force will study equity and adequacy issues as it relates to funding schools in Illinois and from the information gathered, propose any necessary changes to the current school funding formula.

Rep. Robert Pritchard is the Republican Spokesperson for the 23-member Task Force and Republican lawmakers include Representatives Steven Andersson, Peter Breen, Mike Fortner, Jeanne Ives, Ron Sandack, Joe Sosnowski, Mike Tryon, Grant Wehrli and Barbara Wheeler. In January, Rep. Wheeler sponsored and filed HR9 calling for the creation of a committee to examine the existing school funding formula.

Last month a group of lawmakers sought to advance a package of legislation aimed squarely at a $750K severance buyout that left local taxpayers reeling. Now revelations by the Chicago Tribune that College of DuPage administrators spent hundreds of thousand of dollars on taxpayer-funded outings at the high-end publicly-owned restaurant on the campus of College of DuPage has raised the ire of those same lawmakers.

Here's what they have to say:

Rep. Steve Andersson (R-Geneva)
“The article today by the Tribune is just another example of the largesse that Dr. Brueder engaged in to the detriment and expense of the taxpayers. The COD Board has failed its citizens in allowing this sort of abuse to occur. It is unfortunate that such an “asleep at the wheel” attitude by the Board has cost so many so much. This will likely cause other districts to lose flexibility due to the actions of the COD board.  However, reform must occur to stop this sort of misconduct from recurring.”

Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield)
“I think once people read these new revelations, there will be a renewed call for an electoral remedy for the college board members who allowed this to happen. There should be resignations, but short of that, voters should have the right to recall these officials.”

Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard)
“This situation clearly extends beyond just an egregious severance package, to the point we need to hold immediate public hearings, and possibly to demand resignations of those involved. We’ve been measured but firm in our call to action thus far, but it is clear we need to move more quickly.”

Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton)
“This is just one more example of the type of malfeasance that has been going on at the College of DuPage for years. It is also an example of exactly why the COD trustees need to comply with the legislative request that the Illinois Auditor General be allowed to come in and do a thorough performance audit.”

Rep. Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove)
“As more details emerge about the impetus of the ousting of the head of the College of DuPage, the taxpayer funded, high-end restaurant on the College of DuPage campus, it only adds to the clear need for this situation to be fully vetted in the eye of public hearings.”

Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville)
"Once again, we have seen irresponsible, reckless spending out of our leadership and elected officials from the Community College of DuPage. This is just another reason why a full compliance audit of C.O.D must be completed by the Illinois Auditor General to create better transparency, reinforce accountability and start to regain the trust of the taxpayers."


Read the Chicago Tribune story in its entirety here:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-college-of-dupage-waterleaf

In an effort to gain a full and comprehensive understanding into the financial activity surrounding the College of DuPage (COD) since 2011, State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) has amended a House Resolution filed last month to deepen the scope of an investigation by the Illinois Auditor General.

The original resolution, HR55, was filed in response to the COD Trustees’ decision last month to approve a $763,000 contract buyout deal for its current College President Robert Breuder, who will leave is post later this year.

“Those who pay taxes to the College of DuPage were outraged by the reckless decision to provide President Breuder with a $763,000 golden parachute deal on his way out the door,” said Ives. “House Resolution 55 asks the Illinois Auditor General to conduct a performance audit of the College of DuPage for fiscal years 2011-2014, and the amendment I filed this week adds depth to the areas that can be investigated.” Read more.

Governor Bruce Rauner
State of the State address takes aim at laws that swell taxes, government spending.  Prevailing wage law, project labor agreements, and unfunded mandates are elements of the “big picture” of Illinois public-sector spending. Gov. Rauner’s agenda, presented to the General Assembly in his State of the State address on Wednesday, February 4, called for comprehensive reforms to the “iron triangle” of public-sector career executives, government labor unions, and elected officials who are friendly to both groups. The Chicago Tribune covered the story.

West suburban lawmakers announced a package of bills on Monday aimed at punishing the College of DuPage for giving President Robert Breuder a lucrative severance package and at preventing other taxing bodies from approving similar buyouts.

The proposed legislation, most of which has not been filed yet, ranges from capping severance packages to cutting state funding for schools agreeing to large buyouts such as one Breuder received.

“It’s distressing to again be forced to look to setting parameters on local government, but the fact of the matter is that the people of our area are demanding action,” state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, said at a news conference in Chicago on Monday. “We can’t sit silently by without bringing solutions to the table.” Read the story in the Chicago Tribune.

More articles on this issue:
State Lawmakers Looking To Thwart Big Severance Deals Like One Given To COD President
Area House Republicans Look to Curb “Golden Parachutes”

Armed with a wide set of accountability measures,
all agree that large payouts must end.

With constituents stinging from the recent severance agreement negotiated by the College of DuPage Board, area House Republican lawmakers stepped up with a range of proposals all aimed at the same goal, preventing these types of “golden parachutes” in the future.

DuPage Republican Jeanne Ives (R, Wheaton), an outspoken critic of the college board, led off the press conference stressing the intensity of her constituents over the matter.  “It’s distressing to again be forced to look to setting parameters on local government, but the fact of the matter is that the people of our area are demanding action,” stated Ives.  ”We can’t sit silently by without bringing solutions to the table.”

In response to the College of DuPage (COD) Trustees’ decision this week to pay College President Robert Breuder more than $750,000 in a contract buyout deal, State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) on Friday filed a House Resolution asking the Illinois Auditor General to conduct a performance audit of state money provided to the community college for fiscal years 2011-2014.

“I was sickened to learn about the golden parachute deal that was offered to Dr. Breuder,” said Ives. “This is Alex Clifford from Metra all over again, and the taxpayers of Illinois deserve better than to be saddled with this type of a sweetheart deal.” Read more.

On Monday, new Metra CEO Donald Orseno will join state Rep. Ron Sandack and state Rep. Darlene Senger  for a public hearing to discuss procedures for notifying customers of service delays and cancellations at 7 p.m. at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., Naperville.

Concerned about Metra's performance on frigid days this winter as well as other issues plaguing the agency, suburban lawmakers say they want to see changes at the country's second largest commuter rail system.

"We want to make sure that the trains run on time and people aren't put out on cold platforms in subzero temperatures," said state Rep. David Harris, an Arlington Heights Republican.

Metra riders endured a tough January with multiple delays and cancellations, particularly during the so-called polar vortex. Marty Hobe has the story in the Daily 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. 

Republican state lawmakers are drafting legislation to ban former gang members from working for the Illinois prison system and three other state agencies in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times investigation.

Under the proposal by Reps. Dennis Reboletti, R-Elmhurst, and John Anthony, R-Morris, a person who is “documented to have been a member of a criminal gang” would be prohibited from employment by the state Department of Corrections, State Police, the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Family Services. SunTimes reporters Chris Fusco and Frank Main have the story.

Video from recent press conference: