March E-Newsletter

     With the economy now facing recession and the state facing its worst financial budget deficit, the state cannot pay for new ideas without taking care of responsibilities that have been ignored for years.

     Comptroller Dan Hynes has warned that the state has too many negative cash flow balances and it cannot simply pay off bills such as Medicaid and pension payments on time or all at once on any given day. The state is merely living paycheck to paycheck with no foresight in mind to plan for the future.

     Meanwhile the governor wants to provide tax handouts and free healthcare for all at a time when the state is sustaining a deficit of nearly $3.6 billion on preliminary estimates.

     To expand his healthcare program, the governor proposes passing a 3 percent payroll tax on employers with 10 or more employees who provide little or no health coverage.

     To address the state's huge pension debt, Blagojevich is proposing a $16 billion bond that would be given to the state's pension systems to reduce one of the nation's worst-funded pension plans.

     He is even bringing back his unfavorable plan to lease the state-owned lottery system to pay for a capital plan.

     The one thing I do agree with is that the governor is adamant about establishing a capital plan. This is one area that we have been committed to for the past year. Crafting an economic job recovery program will increase high-paying jobs and improve the state's infrastructure and schools. While the capital plan is important for the stability and structure of Illinois' economy, I do not believe the lottery should be leased to fund capital because the future of education funding depends upon lottery proceeds.

     After hearing the governor's myriad of plans for this year (many of which have failed in the General Assembly in the past) one thing is probably safe to assume: we'll be in for another long legislative year.

New Legislation

With the new legislative year underway, I am busy working on several new bills to make our communities safer. I am highlighting three new measures that are currently being discussed in Springfield.

House Bill 5756

• Officials may check any person who is either entering or being released from the Department of Corrections or a facility of the Department of Juvenile Justice. If they suspect a person is an illegal immigrant they must notify the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

House Bill 4305

• This bill requires sex offenders to report in person to the appropriate law enforcement agency with whom he or she was last registered within 180 days (rather than one year) from the date of last registration and every 180 days (rather than one year) thereafter. The 4x-a-year limitation for sex offender registration would be eliminated.

House Bill 4306

• A second or subsequent offense of criminal sexual assault will be natural life in prison according to this bill.

Reminder: Women's Advisory Committee

• The Women's Advisory Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. March 8 so feel free to join me at my district office to discuss any concerns and ideas you have for the upcoming legislative year.

Mark Your Calendar - June Blood Drive

     Since blood reserves are typically at their lowest levels in the summer, I am teaming up with Heartland Blood Centers to host a blood drive. The blood drive will be held from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 14, at my district office, 1883 N. Neltnor Blvd. (Rte. 83), West Chicago. Anyone can participate in this free event. Interested participants can call my office at (630) 876-0703 for more details or to be added to the schedule. More information to follow!

 Give the gift of life
by donating blood!

As always, please continue to give me your feedback on these issues or any others by e-mailing (staterepramey55@aol.com) or by calling my district office (630) 876-0703. You can also find more information about legislative issues or get added to the Email E-newsletter list by visiting www.randyramey.org.