April 20, 2012

Medicaid and Pension reforms took the spotlight, when on April 19 Gov. Pat Quinn advocated for a tax increase as a key part of his plan to dig Medicaid out of a multi-billion dollar hole. The following day the Governor announced his own pension reform package to scale back benefits and reduce costs in the nation's worst-funded public pension system. Buzz once again surrounds the state’s Lottery program, as media reports outline what appear to be conflicts of interest between Gov. Quinn and the group awarded a 10-year contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to oversee the Lottery program.

Lawmakers returned to Springfield to kick off the seven week stretch to the scheduled end of the Spring 2012 legislative session. Having spent the first portion of the Spring session focused on Senate bills, Senate Committees this week began considering legislation introduced by House lawmakers, though notably absent from Committee discussion was a vote on a measure to eliminate the state’s scandal-plagued legislative scholarship program.

In response to the state’s Medicaid crisis, Gov. Pat Quinn on April 19 advocated for a tax increase as part of his plan to fix Illinois’ Medicaid hole. The Governor's pension changes include increased contributions from employees, changes in retiree cost of living adjustments and a revised 30-year schedule to bring the system to full funding.

March 30, 2012 

March 23, 2012

In anticipation of a pending deadline, Senate lawmakers approved almost 100 Senate bills that will now proceed to the House for consideration, while a number of Senate Subcommittees met to consider a variety of bills targeting ethics, transparency, and fiscal responsibility, to name a few.

Also during the week, faced with Medicaid obligations that far exceed available revenues, Senate legislators convened for a presentation outlining federal Medicaid requirements and offering ideas on how other states approach Medicaid.

It became apparent during the week that several ethics measures introduced by Senate Republican lawmakers will never make it to the Senate floor for a vote.  According to Senate Republicans, it is not uncommon for legislation to be sent to a subcommittee and held there. This appears to be the tactic used by Senate Democrat leaders to kill several bills that would have increased transparency and promoted ethical behavior in the General Assembly. 

Though a recent study by the University of Illinois found Illinois to be the third most corrupt state in the nation, several transparency and ethics bills failed to advance out of the Senate Executive Subcommittee on State Government, lacking Democrat approval. Two disclosure measures were halted in the Subcommittee, including Senate Bill 3646, which mandates that those who are required to file a statement of economic interests – including legislators – must disclose the name of any immediate family member who is a registered lobbyist.  A similar bill, Senate Bill 3647 requires registered lobbyists to report any familial relationships that the lobbyist might have with state officials. 

Senate Bill 3649 was also stalled by Democrat leaders in the Subcommittee, who failed to move the legislation that would bar legislators from negotiating for employment with lobbying entities during their term in office. The measure also prohibits lawmakers from receiving payment for lobbying members of the General Assembly for one year after leaving office.  Democrats also sidetracked Senate Bill 3648, which creates the Legislative Ethics Reform Task Force to study current governmental ethics law and identifying provisions that need to be expanded or clarified. 

March 9, 2012