Capitol Updates: April 22 week in review
It was a quiet week in Springfield as the Illinois Senate was the only chamber in session. Heres what took place: Virtual charter school moratorium bill assigned to substantive committee On Wednesday, the Senate Assignments Committee referred House Bill 494 to the Senate Education Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard next Tuesday, April...
It was a quiet week in Springfield as the Illinois Senate was the only chamber in session. Heres what took place:
Virtual charter school moratorium bill assigned to substantive committee
On Wednesday, the Senate Assignments Committee referred House Bill 494 to the Senate Education Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard next Tuesday, April 30. On Monday, state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago, signed on as a co-sponsor of the legislation. This week, the Illinois Policy Institutes Senior Director of Government Affairs, Matt Paprocki, and Director of Education Reform, Josh Dwyer, preemptively held one-on-one meetings with every member of the Senate Education Committee to discuss why placing a moratorium of any length on virtual charter schools is bad policy. On April 30, the Institutes Executive Vice President, Kristina Rasmussen, will testify in opposition to HB 494 before the Senate Education Committee, which will hopefully vote down on this legislation, as it unnecessarily restricts learning options for Illinois students.
Institute-backed pension reform ideas gain support
On the pension front, state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-North Aurora, has invited our Vice President of Policy, Ted Dabrowski, to testify before the Senate Executive Committee at a hearing on Tuesday. Oberweis is the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 2026, a pension reform bill with language identical to the Institute-backed HB 3303. Ted will make the case for the real reforms proposed in both bills: namely, rejecting a funding guarantee and transitioning from a defined benefit system to a defined contribution, or 401(k)-style system.
Beyond Springfield
Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry told Illinoisans that Texas is wide open for business. In fact, Texas has launched an entire campaign through its Economic Development Division. The landing page of their website rightfully flaunts Texas as the final destination of the escape route from Illinois to economic freedom.
This week, a second U.S. governor attempted to lure Illinois businesses to relocate to their state. On Tuesday, the office of Florida Gov. Rick Scott released a letter to Illinois business leaders, advising them to get a one way ticket to Florida. The appeal of Texas and Florida is more than the warm weather both states climate is exponentially more business-friendly than Illinois, where taxpayers worked 115 days into 2013 to pay for federal, state and local taxes. While Texas and Florida have no state income tax, residents of Illinois pay 5 percent; and corporate income taxes are the fourth-highest in the industrialized world.
If these embarrassing campaigns dont send a strong message to the General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn that Illinois must improve its economic outlook, perhaps the 2014 gubernatorial election will give our elected officials some gumption. After all, it seems unlikely that another credit downgrade will make Quinn flinch.
Speaking of the 2014 gubernatorial election, U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, has decided he could do more good politically for the state by staying in the Republican-led House than by seeking the governors office, according to his chief of staff, Steven Shearer.
Next week
Both the Illinois House and Senate will be in session next week, with committee hearings scheduled beginning on Monday.