Health Care – Medicaid Expansion

Medicaid expansion bill signed by Governor. Many health care advocates have expressed concerns to the State about various payments made and not made, and treatments offered and not offered, within Medicaid under current law. SB 741 contains a complex package of changes to the Medicaid system negotiated by the State, hospitals, nursing homes and other medical care provider organizations. Some of these revisions are designed to draw in matching funds from the federal government, but the State and its taxpayers will also have to put up a stream of money. The annual cost of the changes contained within SB 741 is estimated as at least $221 million per year. Persons concerned about this bill believe the cost could be more accurately estimated at $275 million per year.

Governor Pat Quinn has signed legislation to support repairs to the Big Muddy Levee.

Senate Bill 2721, sponsored by State Senator Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) and State Representative Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro), allows Jackson County leaders to use an expired bond referendum to raise up to $1.7 million for critical repairs.  WSILTV has the story.

Rep. Mike Bost is the Illinois House Republican Caucus Chair and currently serves on the following committees: Appropriations-Higher Education; Higher Education; Public Utilities (Republican Spokesperson); and Biotechnology Committee.

He represents the 115th District which encompasses all or parts of the following counties: Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Union, and Washington.  Including but not limited to the communities of Anna, Ashley, Carbondale, Cobden, De Soto, Du Quoin, Mt. Vernon, Murphysboro, Pinckneyville, and Vergennes.

Representative Bost’s election to the State Legislature followed 4 years in the United States Marine Corps, as well as 13 years in his family trucking business.  Read more about Rep. Bost.

$37.4 billion in budget bills passed out of the House tonight and will be considered by the Senate in the coming week. The amount was nearly $3 billion more than the revenue numbers agreed upon in a bipartisan resolution passed by the House and Senate. The increase in spending prompted House Republicans to withhold their votes because of constitutional questions and the need for a tax hike to pay for it.

Here's what our members are saying:

Leader Jim Durkin:  The budget passed by Democrats today ignores the constitution, and ignores the taxpayers.  It’s what is wrong with state government.

Senate Bill 2721 sponsored by Representative Mike Bost and Senator Dave Luechtefeld will authorize Jackson County to generate revenue to repair the Grand Tower Levee by issuing bonds. In 1994, voters in Jackson County approved a referendum for the issuance of bonds needed to repair the Grand Tower Levee. Unfortunately, not enough bonds were sold and the timeline to sell the bonds expired – which led to Bost and Luechtefeld’s legislation to help repair the Grand Tower Levee.

Today the Illinois House Counties and Townships Committee unanimously approved bi-partisan legislation to help repair the Grand Tower Levee. The legislation to protect the community of Grand Tower and the Mississippi River Bottoms sponsored by Illinois State Representative Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) and Senator Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) now heads to the House floor for a final vote.

“This issue is not about politics, it doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or Republican, the people in this area have to have their property protected,” said Rep. Bost. “I have been working on this bi-partisan legislation for months with Senator Luechtefeld, Representatives Phelps and Costello Jr. I am pleased we all worked together to help protect the individuals and families that count on the Grand Tower Levee to keep the flood waters at bay. As soon as this bill is signed into law, a local bank is ready to purchase the bonds so that Jackson County may repair the Grand Tower Levee.” Read more.

Representative Mike Bost serves the people of the 115th House District. Mike serves as the Illinois House Republican Caucus Chair and currently serves on the following committees: Appropriations-Higher Education; Higher Education; Public Utilities (Republican Spokesperson); and Biotechnology Committee.

The 115th District encompasses all or parts of the following counties: Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Union, and Washington.  Including but not limited to the communities of Anna, Ashley, Carbondale, Cobden, De Soto, Du Quoin, Mt. Vernon, Murphysboro, Pinckneyville, and Vergennes.

Representative Bost’s election to the State Legislature followed 4 years in the United States Marine Corps, as well as 13 years in his family trucking business.  He started work at Bost Trucking Service as a driver in 1979 and then went on to be the truck manager for ten years until 1992. Read more about Rep. Bost.

• Recent legislation sponsored by Rep. Bost
• Rep. Bost's committees this session
• News from Rep. Bost

Today 23 Republican members of the Illinois House of Representatives signed letters sent to the Governor and Attorney General regarding the shortage of propane, urging them to take further action. The shortage during severe weather is causing prices for propane to skyrocket. Many are finding it impossible to pay their heating bills and keep their families warm.

House Republicans thanked the Governor for the recent disaster proclamation and asked him to:

1. Allocate additional emergency funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to assist Illinoisans in paying their propane or other heating bills.
2. Provide emergency low-interest loans/temporary lines of credit to propane distributors/suppliers to ensure they will have the resources necessary to purchase additional propane to alleviate shortages.
3. Work with the General Assembly to pass a temporary suspension of the state sales tax on LP/propane in order to provide some relief to families struggling to heat their homes.
4. Urge the federal government to create a strategic reserve of LP/propane and moderate exports of the fuel while supplies remain critically low.

Additionally, they asked the Attorney General to protect Illinoisans from improper tactics firms may be using during the crisis to gouge consumers.

Rep. Mike Bost on floor of Illinois House 

While the New Year will bring thousands of jobs to our neighboring states, Illinois is predicted to finish last in job growth according to a recent study conducted by Moody’s Analytics.

“I find the news that we are expected to be dead last in job creation extremely disturbing,” said Rep. Mike Bost. “Illinois should be growing and thriving. We have the resources, the manpower, and a central location that businesses desire; however leadership policy at the state and federal level has made it all but impossible for us to grow. I want to bring back Illinois and foster a sense of urgency when it comes to job creation in our state. I will do whatever it takes to bring jobs back to Illinois.” Read more.

House Republican members call for health insurance
numbers at November 7th press conference.

Via Crains Chicago Business,  November 8, 2013
   
Only hundreds of people enrolled in the Illinois health insurance exchange in October, state officials said today, offering the first glimpse into an online marketplace that has been vexed by glitches.

Insurance carriers have told state officials that hundreds of consumers signed up in October, confirmed Jennifer Koehler, director of the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace. But she and Cristal Thomas, Illinois deputy governor, cautioned that it was just a guess since federal officials haven't yet provided enrollment figures.

“We do not know,” Ms. Thomas said. “If we have to guess we would guess probably in the hundreds.”  Kristen Schorsch and Andrew L Wang tell the story in Crains Chicago Business.

In response to stories about Illinois residents who lost their current health insurance coverage or experienced rate increases, Rep Darlene Senger is asking the Illinois Department of Insurance to publicly disclose the impact of the Affordable Care Act on Illinois families.

House Resolution 680 introduced by Senger and co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Bost and more than 39 other legislators, urges the Illinois Department of Insurance to release information regarding the number of people in Illinois whose current health insurance plan was cancelled because of the Affordable Care Act and the number of Illinoisans who have obtained health insurance through the Illinois marketplace. Read more about HR680.

People in the last state in the nation to legalized the carrying of concealed weapons are eager to get their licenses and have their questions answered.  

Tuesday night's full house at a concealed carry seminar in Carbondale, Illinois was evidence of that.

State Representative Mike Bost put the program together after his office got a lot of phone calls from people eager to get a license.

"I, as one of the sponsors of the bill, felt it was important to go ahead and have an event like this to keep people informed, let them know what they should be doing to position themselves best for receiving their concealed carry permits, Bost said.  WPSD has the rest of the story.

House Republican Leader- Elect
Jim Durkin

Today, Leader-Elect Jim Durkin named State Representative David Leitch (R-Peoria) and State Representative Patti Bellock (R-Westmont) as his Deputy Leaders.   Leitch is the longest serving member in the Illinois House Republican Caucus and brings tremendous knowledge to the team.   Rep. Bellock has successfully led the charge for Medicaid reform over the past several years and is the first woman to serve as a Deputy Leader for the House Republican Caucus.

“One of the largest and most complicated segments of the state budget is Medicaid and no one knows the topic better than Representatives Bellock and Leitch.   Both are very compassionate when it comes to caring for our most vulnerable citizens, while making sure taxpayers are protected from waste and abuse.  Members of our caucus have to come to rely on their opinion on issues related to human services programs and the budget and both are highly respected by their peers.  I am thrilled to have both of them on my team.”

Durkin has named State Representatives:  Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), Chad Hays (R-Danville) Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth), JoAnn Osmond (R-Gurnee), Dennis Reboletti (R-Addison), and Mike Tryon (R- Crystal Lake) as Assistant Leaders.  Mike Bost will serve as Conference Chair.   It will be his job to ensure caucus meetings are conducted in an orderly manner.

“Each of these members brings a different perspective and area of expertise to the team and all want the best for the residents of Illinois.  I have tremendous faith and trust in each of them and am ready to sit down with them to develop an agenda and work on issues important to families and employers in Illinois,” said Durkin.

While the team has been selected and will meet during the first week of veto session, Durkin’s new leadership team becomes effective on November 1, 2013.

Budget/pensions
General Assembly prepares for special session.  The meetup, called by Governor Pat Quinn on Thursday, June 6, and scheduled for Wednesday, June 19, is being urged to deal with outstanding Illinois State budget and pension issues.  Illinois continues to labor under the burden of unpaid bills currently totaling $5.8 billion, although this is significantly lower than the $8.5 billion of past-due bills in State files in April.  Actions by House Republicans, when the FY13 budget was passed in spring 2012, were influential in ensuring that almost one-third of this past-due bill load would be paid down before the end of the fiscal year.

With the unfunded liabilities of the State’s managed systems continuing to grow at an estimated rate of $17 million/day, pension issues will be at the center of the special session; but the House and Senate are not constitutionally bound to any single subject and could deal with other questions as well.  In particular, if Gov. Pat Quinn issues any vetoes prior to the special session, the General Assembly could take action to override these vetoes in one or both houses.  Either or both chambers could also discuss and debate various issues, such as gaming expansion, that were not resolved when they adjourned in May.

Tap Dance to Block Pension Reform

Colleges and universities
House Republican college affordability plan released; would provide additional middle-class tax credits and deductions to students’ families.   HB 3640 (Cross) and HB 3641 (Brown) were introduced on Wednesday, June 12.  The Cross measure, lead-sponsored by House Republican leader Tom Cross (R-Kendall Co.) creates a new income tax credit of up to $1,000 per year for most families, if the family is the principal means of support for a full-time or part-time student in an accredited Illinois institution of post-secondary education (i.e. a college or a university).  A middle-class tax credit, this benefit would only be available for households declaring adjusted gross income of less than $150,000 per year.

Rep. Mike Bost

On Wednesday Illinois State Representative Mike Bost sent a letter to Governor Quinn requesting him to sign legislation to enact concealed carry in Illinois.  If signed by the Governor, Illinois would become the 50th state in the nation to place some form of concealed carry law on the books.

In December 2012, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed the Second Amendment by throwing out the State of Illinois’ concealed carry ban.  As requested by the Court of Appeals, the Illinois General Assembly approved bi-partisan legislation outlined in HB 183 to allow law-abiding citizens the right to conceal and carry a firearm. Read the rest of the story.

For state Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, this was the last straw: A food stamp recipient in his district used her Link card to bail herself out of jail.

"We are losing a couple billion dollars in fraud and we know that," Bost says of Illinois' Link program, which provides food and, in some cases cash, to needy families. "I've never been one opposed to providing for the needy. There are true needs. But if it's just for the greed, it doesn't matter if it's this or corporate greed, it's got to stop."

Link card for bail money? What's next? Link cards to gamble at slot machines ? Oh, wait ... read on.

For the full editorial, click here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-link-20130520,0,6222550.story

Rep. Mike Bost

Check back here at 2 p.m. for live blog highlights of today's session.

State Representatives Bill Mitchell, Mike Bost and David Reis address the recent findings of audit released on Illinois’ Road Fund during Wednesday's session.