Transparency in state government, mental health issues, and clean energy were topics State Rep. Steve Andersson addressed during the most recent session of the Illinois General Assembly. We talk to him about those issues and his involvement with the people of his 65th district.

On a personal level we’ll hear about his love of Shakespeare, Star Trek, and a visit to Space Camp.

State of the State Address
Governor Rauner optimistic about the State of the State. In his third annual State of the State Address, Governor Bruce Rauner indicated that he is optimistic about the future of Illinois and used the opportunity to talk about Illinois’ accomplishments, as well as the work that still lies ahead.

The Governor recognizes the state’s challenges, but with great challenges comes great opportunity. He is optimistic these challenges can be solved by working together to improve the future of Illinois. He discussed the administration’s accomplishments including ethics reform, record education funding, job creation and making government more efficient. While much work lies ahead, we build on the bipartisan agreement that change to the system needs to occur with passing a truly balanced budget.

At a recent meeting, one of my colleagues took the chance to apologize to the rest of the House Republican Caucus by saying: "I am sorry. Most of you have no idea what it is like to truly be a state representative, because every two years more of your rights and responsibilities are stripped away by the speaker's House Rules."

We are supposed to be a representative democracy, where all Illinois residents from every House district are represented equally. Unfortunately, that is not the case in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Every two years, the people of Illinois elect representatives from 118 districts across the state to serve as their voice in Springfield. Once sworn in, these representatives have the opportunity to take two important votes.

The first is to elect a speaker of the House, which typically goes to the leader of the majority party.

The second important vote, which occurs two or three weeks later, is to adopt a set of procedural rules to govern the House for the subsequent two years.

For 32 of the last 34 years, those rules have been drafted in a manner that consolidates control with one individual - Speaker Michael Madigan - allowing him to circumvent our representative democracy and make the House subject to the power of one. Read Rep. Andersson's opinion-piece in its entirety in SJ-R.

Chicago – Teachers’ Strike Possible
95% of eligible Chicago teachers vote to strike. The strike authorization vote was announced by the Chicago Teachers Union on Monday, September 26. The financially troubled Chicago Public Schools district (CPS) employs approximately 25,000 teachers and union-eligible ancillary personnel. CPS observers said that the union is taking a series of legal steps that could result in a strike as soon at October 11, although CPS has several potential legal steps they could take to try to prevent or delay the strike. CPS, in its opposition to the proposed strike, points to an 8.75% pay hike that it is offering to teachers and educators over a four-year period.

On Tuesday, Representative Steve Andersson asked for a moment of silence on the floor of the House of Representatives to acknowledge and remember those affected by the November 13th terror attacks in Paris.

Watch his moving tribute of the victims and condemnation of the terrorist attack.

A group of suburban legislators led by State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) unveiled a new initiative to address the state’s mounting unfunded pension liability on Thursday, calling for a series of hearings on offering a lump sum buyout option to current and future annuitants nearing retirement; potentially netting the state billions in long-term savings.  Read more.

Tuning forks have long been used as a standard of pitch to tune musical instruments music, with the first one being invented back in 1711 by British Musician John Shore.  Most people, though, don’t know that the tuning fork is used for more than just music  -  it has proven very useful in science, medicine and even law enforcement.

Since 1921, these forever useful tools have been produced right here in Illinois.  Riverbank Laboratories in Geneva specializes in high quality, low cost tuning forks made from a non-rusting, non-tarnishing, non-magnetic aluminum alloy.  This combination is designed to produce a pure tone, one that will still hold even after many years of use.

Budget – FY16
Despite deadline, Democrats again refuse to pass balanced budget for FY16. The Illinois Constitution requires that the State annually pass a balanced budget in which revenues match mandated expenditures. One way that Speaker Madigan has been Speaker for 32 of the past 34 years is by passing a series of unbalanced budgets, which have all spent money the State has not had. He has curried favor with powerful interests and forced Republicans to be the villains whenever steps are taken to prevent the spending of imaginary money.

Having only spent four months on the job, the large class of House Republican freshmen came together in the Capitol today to express their disgust with the partisan political atmosphere that has engulfed Springfield.  The message they came to deliver is there is no better time than now to call for term limits in Springfield.

“I don’t believe there’s a single one of us who truly understood the high barriers towards reform that have been erected by the entrenched leadership here in Springfield,” stated Steve Andersson (R, Geneva).  “The time is now to discuss this issue, while we are amidst this gridlock.”

The Illinois House of Representatives passed Governor Rauner's FY15 Budget Fix today. The legislation now heads to the Senate and should be heard later this week. Here's what some of our members had to say:

House Republican Leader 
Jim Durkin
"...Governor Rauner inherited a $1.6 billion budget deficit the day he took office...I am pleased the Illinois House of Representatives began the hard work of straightening out our dire state finances."

Representative Steve Andersson (R-Geneva) presented his first bill in committee on Tuesday.  House Bill 2744  amends the Illinois Municipal Code and provides that  it shall not be considered a "conflict" under this Section when a municipality that is a party to a jurisdictional boundary line agreement cedes property within its own jurisdiction to another municipality not a party to the same jurisdictional boundary line agreement.

HB2744 will insure that orderly growth can occur between adjacent municipalities and lessens the risk that litigation will break out between municipalities over boundary lines.  Andersson said “As development rebounds following the recession, more growth will naturally cause friction between communities.  This bill reduces misunderstandings and encourages the smart growth of our communities.”

The bill won unanimous approval in today’s Cities and Villages Committee hearing.  Representative Andersson looks forward to presenting future bills in committee, and further moving his government reform legislation in the 99th General Assembly.

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

Steve Andersson is the State Representative for Illinois’ 65th Legislative District which includes parts of Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, Pingree Grove, Plato Center, Elgin, South Elgin, Hampshire, and Huntley. He and his wife, Nanette, have been residents of Geneva for 22 years. They have been married for 27 years and have two children.

Read more about Rep. Andersson.

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.”

New Members State Reps Steve Andersson & Terri Bryant

Two newly elected Republican State Representatives were officially sworn in today. Steve Andersson and Terri Byant will take their seats on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives for the first time on January 8th for special session.

State Representative Steve Andersson was officially sworn in to serve Illinois’ 65th District by Judge Linda Abrahamson at the Old Kane County Courthouse in his hometown of Geneva, IL. He replaces Tim Schmitz who retired after 16 years of service in the Illinois House. Read more in the Daily Herald.

Terri Bryant of Murphysboro was sworn in as the new State Representative of the 115th Illinois House District.  Bryant will be filling the vacancy left by newly-elected U.S. Congressman Mike Bost. Bryant’s oath was administered by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier. Read more from WPSD.

Leader Jim Durkin and House Republican members welcome Representatives Andersson and Bryant to the Illinois General Assembly.