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Senate Week in Review: July 5-9, 2010 |
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 On the heels of Governor Pat Quinn’s budget outline for Fiscal Year 2011, Senator Dale Risinger says that Comptroller Dan Hynes released a final Fiscal Year 2010 report that verified “Illinois ended the year in the worst fiscal position in its history.”
At the end of the fiscal year, which concluded June 30, the state’s General Revenue Fund (GRF) balance was negative $4.692 billion—the lowest budgetary balance in Illinois history.
The backlog of Illinois’ unpaid bills was a historically high $4.712 billion. Last year, the backlog was $2.785 billion.
Lacking revenue to pay the state’s bills, in June it took a record 153 working days for the comptroller’s office to reimburse vouchers. At the same time in 2009, the delay was 99 days.
Unfortunately, the report doesn’t predict any relief on the horizon. In fact, Comptroller Hynes anticipates that even with an economic boost or with additional revenue that may come from budget cuts, borrowing measures, or tax increases advanced by Governor Quinn, “the state will likely end fiscal year 2011 with a GRF bill backlog significantly higher than that at the end of fiscal year 2010.”
The report also notes that the traditional Aug. 31 deadline (known as the “lapse period”) for the state to pay all its Fiscal Year 2010 bills has been pushed back until December 31. According to Comptroller Hynes, Illinois would not be able pay its obligations by the end of August. But getting all those bills paid by December will also be a challenge.
The report notes that, “even with the extension of the state’s lapse period…it will be extremely challenging to close out fiscal year 2010 and maintain key functions of state government.” And because a large portion of the Fiscal Year 2011 revenue must be used to pay the previous year’s bills, Comptroller Hynes warns that payment delays next year are likely to be even longer than what Illinois saw in 2010.
 Also this week, a measure (SB 3658) intended to provide some financial relief to Illinois’ working families was signed into law (P.A. 96-1012) on July 7, though critics say that now isn’t a good time for the new law to create an annual sales tax holiday on back-to-school gear.
Although the fiscal impact is unknown, the cost of the holiday has been estimated from $20 million to $50 million. Since Illinois is billions of dollars in the red, some say this isn’t the right time to initiate any program that’s going to cost the state money.
However, supporters note that the new law will help families afford the cost of school supplies and clothing, which is often expensive. They also said that the measure will benefit Illinois businesses when consumers take advantage of the holiday.
Opponents point out that many other working families are being hurt by the state’s budget crunch, not excluding Illinois schools, which are struggling to make ends meet as state reimbursements lag farther and farther behind. They contend that Illinois shouldn’t be creating any programs until its budget woes are addressed.
This year, the tax holiday begins on August 6 and extends through August 15. Though 5 percent of the state sales tax will be eliminated for back-to-school goods, local sales taxes will still apply.
Qualifying items include clothing that costs less than $100 per item, outerwear, uniforms, shoes, and school supplies, like book bags, notebooks, lunch boxes, etc. Notable non-qualifying items include certain sports equipment and recreational footwear, computers and computer supplies, certain specialized art supplies, and electronics, such as cameras, video cameras, and cell phones.
In other action, the Governor signed legislation (SB 3269/ P.A. 96-1011) that requires all DNA evidence that is gathered from a reported sex crime to be submitted to the State Police for forensic testing in a timely manner.
The legislation was pursued after a media investigation revealed that often rape kits were not tested. As a result, many sexual assault crimes went largely uninvestigated and unsolved. The new law is also expected to absolve some people who may have been wrongly convicted of a crime, and help some victims find closure.
For sexual assault evidence collected from 30 days before the September 1, 2010, effective date of the bill, the evidence must be submitted to a State Police forensic testing lab within 10 business days of its collection. The lab has six months to analyze the evidence, if the lab has “sufficient resources” to do so.
For evidence collected more than 30 days before the effective date of the bill, police departments must make arrangements within 180 days of the September 1, 2010, effective date to have the evidence submitted to a State Police forensic lab.
Additional legislation signed into law this week includes:
Port districts (SB 575/P.A. 96-1015): Creates the Alexander-Cairo Port District with authority to issue bonds, impose property taxes approved by referendum, and charge fees. Also amends the Jackson-Union Counties Regional Port District Act to provide that if one of the mayors authorized to make an appointment by current statute does not do so and there is a vacancy for three or more months, the Port District Board can request that the municipality’s county board fill the vacancy.
Veterans’ mental health (HB 6103/ P.A. 96-1013): Provides that a veteran who receives services from a state mental health facility does not have to pay for costs not covered by the veteran’s existing insurance.
Veterans’ outdoor licenses (SB 384/ P.A. 96-1014): Allows veterans who are applying for a free camping pass, fishing license, or hunting license to provide acceptable verification of service or mobilization at one of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ regional offices.
Rape crisis records (HB 5976/P.A. 96-1010): Expands the privacy rights that adults with guardians have over their rape crisis counseling records.
Election judges (HB 5157/P.A. 96-1003): Provides that only appointed election judges entitled to vote at the next election can make required deliveries to the office of the county clerk or to a county clerk’s duly authorized representative at the county clerk’s officially designated receiving station.
Military voting (HB 6077/P.A. 96-1004): Permits members of the armed forces to vote by fax or e-mail.
Fertilizer application (HB 6099/P.A. 96-1005): Provides new fertilizer application restrictions on applicants for hire, increases penalties for violations of fertilization application protocol, and prohibits units of local government from regulating fertilizer in a more restrictive manner than the state.
License plates (SB 2798/ P.A. 96-1006): Provides for the creation of a new Share the Road license plate.
Reckless driving (SB 2951/ P.A. 96-1007): Prohibits a driver from recklessly driving unnecessarily close to a bicyclist, pedestrian, person riding a horse, or person driving an animal-drawn vehicle.
Election Code (SB 3012/ P.A. 96-1008): Creates a Public University Registration and Voting Pilot Project; provides 15 more days to appoint candidates to the general election ballot if there was not a candidate on the primary ballot; moves back and shortens some nomination petition time frames; and provides that anyone can make a copy of an absentee ballot application and return it to the election official.
Veterans' EMS System (SB 3637/ P.A. 96-1009): Authorizes the Department of Public Health to permit limited Emergency Medical Services System participation by facilities operated by the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs, Veterans' Health Administration. |
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Contact information
Senator Risinger's e-mail
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Legislative offices
Peoria
5415 North University
Suite 105
Peoria, IL 61614
309-693-4921
309-693-4923 fax
Galesburg
4 Weinberg Arcade
Galesburg, IL 61401
309-343-8176
309-343-2683 fax
Princeton
400 N. Main St.
Princeton, IL 61356
815-872-1964
815-872-1965 fax
Springfield
M103F State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62706
217-782-1942
217-782-9586 fax
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