Legislative Updates

 

               

Scholarship applications available 01/28/10

State Representative Al Riley awards eight individual one-year tuition waivers to students residing in the 38th District. Waivers are available for attendance at the University of Illinois (any campus), and any other Illinois public universities including Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Governors State, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Northeastern Illinois, Southern Illinois (both campuses) and Western Illinois University.

Each waiver is good for one full year of tuition, including summer sessions. This scholarship does not waive student fees, housing, or book expenses.

Please click on the links below for the form and application process information. 

Scholarship Application Process

Scholarship Application Form

Daycare Grants Seminar

Applicant Informational & Resource Fair

Friday, February 5, 2010
10:00 to Noon
Prairie State College Auditorium
202 S. Halsted Street
Chicago Heights, IL

Click here for flyer

Grantsmanship TrainingDaycare Providers Only)
Employment Opportunities Grant Program

Applicant Informational & Resource Fair

March 15, 2010
Rep. Davis' Office
19122 W. 174th St.
East Hazel Crest
9:00 - 4:30

Click here for flyer

Final report on Thomson Correctional Center

Since the last email blast, we had the public hearing regarding the closing of the Thomson Correctional Center in Sterling, Illinois. It was held on December 22, 2009, and was a very comprehensive and intense meeting. Viewpoints on all sides of the issue regarding the closing and sale of the Thomson Correctional Center to the Federal Government were heard.

Prior to the meeting, members of the General Assembly and the media had the opportunity to tour the Thomson. It is a massive, stark maximum security facility that is totally empty. Only about 200 prisoners of a lesser security status are being housed at the prison at this time and they are outside of the confines of the maximum security complex. There is no question that anyone with untoward intentions to breach the security of the complex would not be successful. There is also no question that they would not be around later to rue their decision.

The COGFA hearing to actually vote on the closure of the facility took place, Wednesday January 6, 2010 at the Thompson (State of Illinois) Center in downtown Chicago. After some deliberation, the vote was 7-4 in the affirmative to close the center. Let me just emphasize a number of things about this entire process.

First of all the public hearing was conducted with understanding, dignity and control by Senator Jeff Schoenberg and Representative Rich Meyers, COGFA's co-chairmen. They endeavored to ensure, to the best of their ability, that this serious hearing was conducted with decorum and with a minimum of political posturing. Posturing did take place to a degree and some is still taking place in the media as we speak. I have gone on record to say and will continue to say that the safety and security of the people of the State of Illinois and of the United States of America is paramount, and the issue should not be politicized. The stakes are too high to do so.

Secondly, it has been said in the media and by some pundits that the voting went along party lines. Two Republicans voted in favor of the closure. That’s a bipartisan decision in my book. These legislators understood the tremendous fiscal impact to both west central Illinois and the State of Illinois if the facility was closed and sold to the federal government.

Third, COGFA’s sole role in the matter was to make an advisory decision to close the facility, which is one of the Commissions’ responsibilities. The final decision to close or not, or to sell or not rests solely with the Governor. Again, there have been stories discounting COGFA’s role. They miss the point, in my opinion. Advisory boards exist all over the place; you may be a member of one. What makes COGFA unique is that it is bipartisan and bicameral. Six Republicans, six Democrats. Six House members, six Senators. Two co-chairs; one from each party and from each chamber. Twelve men and women collectively exacting their informed advisory opinion on an Executive branch decision which affects all aspects of State operations. That opinion carries much weight and I am sure that the Governor understands that as he makes his decisions. I have enclosed a link to a letter from Governor Quinn to the General Assembly on his views of the use of the Thomson Correctional Center, once it is sold to the federal government.

Again, all sides were heard, COGFA did its job and the Governor will make his decision soon to sell the facility.

Vote on the closure of the Jessie “Ma” Houston ATC and the Kankakee Correctional Center

Lost in the shuffle of the very important Thomson Correctional Center situation was a decision by COGFA that has local implications to the south suburbs, and to social and criminal justice service delivery. On December 22, 2009 at the Thomson Correctional Center hearing, another issue was on the agenda. That was the vote on the decision to close the Jessie “Ma” Houston ATC in Dixmoor and the Kankakee Correctional Center. These closures had been in deliberation for quite some time, matter of fact, they predate my appointment to the COGFA board. The Jessie “Ma” Houston ATC serves as a facility to house inmates under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections whose release is imminent.

According to the DOC “The primary mission of the Jessie "Ma" Houston Adult Transition Center is to transition individuals from prison into a structured and supportive environment, which is governed by commitments to community safety and services to clients, with the ultimate goals of providing individuals with choices and empowering them to make decisions and take control of their lives.” (Taken from the Illinois Dept of Corrections website)

There were issues reported by DOC to COGFA regarding the fitness of the center, that is, the condition of its’ infrastructure, adverse environmental condition of the land, problems of safety and sanitation and delinquent real estate taxes, to name a few. One of the primary managers of the facility provided a comprehensive rebuttal of all of those concerns to the members of COGFA. However, the vote to close the Jessie “Ma” Houston Center was in the affirmative: nine in favor of closure, three against and one abstention. Based on the rebuttal of the management and the economic loss to the region caused by the closing of the facility, I voted NO to the closure. The economic loss to the region was substantiated by an economic impact analysis done by a researcher at a university. But, the majority ruled.

A vote to close the Kankakee Correctional Center was also taken during that meeting. Hearings had been held in Kankakee prior to discussing its’ closure. The motion to close the Kankakee Correctional Center failed on a 6-6 vote. I also voted to keep the Kankakee Correctional Center open based upon its impact on that community, community support and the support of State Sen. Toi Hutchinson.

 

Summary of Ethics Legislation

STATE ETHICS REFORM: P.A. 96-555

Strengthen the role of the Ethics Commissions and duties of Inspectors General

• Permits an Ethics Commission to publicly release reports related to an investigation if the Inspector General determined a person violated the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act
• Permits Inspectors General to initiate investigations upon receipt of information from any source or on their own initiative (currently an Inspector General may only accept complaints from an identified person)
• Strengthens the revolving door prohibition by creating two-tier system that strictly prohibits high ranking officials from accepting employment and permits the Ethics Commission to make decisions in other cases
• Requires Inspectors General to review hiring files and ensure compliance with Rotan and other employment laws
• Requires all lobbyists take ethics exam and requires additional ethics training

Require additional disclosure and registration requirements for lobbyists

PROCUREMENT REFORM: PA 96-795

New structure for the procurement of services and goods

Additional requirements for contracts

PENSION REFORM: P.A. 96-6

Strengthen ethics requirements for board members

Encourage transparency

GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY REFORM: P.A. 96-542

Creation of the Public Access Counselor

Re-write of the Freedom of Information Act

COMPENSATION REVIEW BOARD REFORM: P.A. 96-800

Eliminate automatic pay increases

Require furlough days for members of the General Assembly

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM: P.A. 96-0832

Establish contribution limits for all political parties

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Public Hearing

Who: Parents, educators, healthcare providers, clinicians, mental health providers, FASD service providers and other interested parties (click here for flyer)

When:  December 1, 2009; 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Where: Chicago Urban League, 4510 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago

The Illinois Department of Human Services, in collaboration with the Departments of Children and Family Services, Healthcare and Family Services, Corrections, Financial Institutions and Professional Regulation, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, will host a series of hearings on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) to gather testimony regarding the services needed to be in place in this State in order to serve this unique population of children and adults. The Illinois Department of Human Services will issue a report highlighting its findings and recommendations for improving Illinois' services to children, adults, and their families affected by FASD to the Governor and the General Assembly per Senate Joint Resolution 0007 FASD.

KEEP YOUR HOME EVENT!  APPLY FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA'S LOAN MODIFICATION PROGRAM

When:  November 21, 2009; 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Where: South Suburban College, 15800 South State Street, South Holland

YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR A LOAN MODIFICATION IF YOU:
- Are behind on your mortgage or at risk of falling behind due to a hardship;
- Are an owner-occupant of a 1 to 4 unit property;
- Have a loan that was originated before January 1, 2009; and
- Have income that will support monthly mortgage payments.*

* Click here for additional information and documents you need to bring to the event.

 

OCTOBER 13, 2009 – LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

 

Riley meets with Governor on South Suburban economic development initiatives

I met with Governor Quinn at the Thompson Center in late September.  The meeting concerned economic development projects and opportunities in the 38th district and the south suburban region as a whole.  The meeting came about because of my involvement with numerous infrastructure and economic development projects in the district.  We have tremendous opportunities for development in our region.  This is because of President Obama’s federal stimulus program and the capital construction bill that we passed in Springfield a few months ago. These two funding sources have helped me secure over $130 million for the 38th District in road and infrastructure projects. I have been working with the appropriate state agencies, local elected officials, organizations such as South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and commercial developers.  The collaboration of these important actors is crucial in order for local projects to come out of the realm of conception and actually start getting implemented. 

One thing that is important, however; I must have “buy-in” from the Governor.  It is important for Governor Quinn to understand the importance of regional development in the southern suburbs and to endorse the concept.  He has done that previously with his endorsement of the south suburban airport project and the allocation of $110 million towards additional land acquisition.  I applaud him for doing that, but there are many other projects that we have on the drawing board.  Taken together, these projects will make this region highly attractive to developers.  I was pleased that Governor Quinn was extremely receptive in our meeting.  Topics we discussed included receiving funding from the state for local shopping mall redevelopment, development of the Harvey intermodal facilities, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, transit oriented development projects and the Metra South East Service line rail extension project. 

Finally, an important analogue that we discussed was strengthening the state’s efforts in work force development.  One can talk all day about the creation of jobs and the attraction of business and industry. If a region does not have a workforce trained in the skills necessary to thrive in 21st century commerce, then those plans for business attraction mean absolutely nothing.  Again, Governor Quinn was very amenable to all of my concerns.  He pledged the help of his staff in the appropriate departments to make sure that our plans come to fruition.  Understand that these efforts represent an ongoing process.  One can already see the impact of federal dollars and capital bill projects on road and infrastructure projects in our area.  Construction is taking place and jobs are being created.  The projects that I spoke to the Governor about however are sustainable and will go a long way in changing the physical and economic landscape of our region in the long term. 

Cook County Tax Rollback Legislation

On October 7th, we convened the meeting of the Counties and Townships Committee of the House downtown at the Bilandic Center.  Two important and controversial bills were discussed and essentially both of them were passed out of Committee and they will be in vigorous debate on the House Floor on 2nd and 3rd reading.  The intent is to get an up or down vote on both of these bills during the veto session.  Though the issue is important, there are also political motivations behind the bill; make no mistake. 

Essentially, the first bill was to roll back the plurality needed to override a veto of the President of the Cook County Board.  Right now, it takes a 4/5 majority to be able to override a Presidential Veto and the bill endeavors to make it a 3/5 majority.  The other bill was a complete rescission of the 1% (one penny) sales tax that was levied by the Cook County Board in the last year or so.  Right now, the Cook County Board portion of the sales tax is 1.75% or 1.75 pennies out of the 10.25 cents that you pay on a dollar’s purchase.  The legislation wants to roll back it to .75%.  There are many issues that have to be discussed on both sides; but here are some important ones. The County is in the process of planning for next fiscal year: 

• What is the impact of not having the 1% for the current year? (the reduction is immediate). 
• How will it affect the County’s fiscal future?
• Will there be closings or reduction of services? 
• How would it affect the County health services?
• Are there matching fund requirements or consent decrees the County is responsible for that would be compromised? 

 

A County representative estimated that the revenues lost would be about $400 million.  I’m sure there will be differences of opinion based on what districts Representatives and Senators are from.  But again, this is one of the very important and complex issues that we must face in the upcoming Veto Session. 

Education Meetings

Recently, I attended a few meetings regarding Education that I thought were very fruitful.  A few weeks ago, there was a forum by local administrators and ministers at Thornridge High School. 

The guest speaker was Jo Anderson, a former local educator and former head of the Illinois Education Association. He is now a Senior Advisor to Arne Duncan in the Department of Education in Washington.  He gave his perspective on education policy coming from Washington during the Obama Administration.  There was a lot of good give and take.  It was very well attended; not only were parents there, but administrators, teachers, principals and superintendents of schools.  It was a very fruitful meeting.

I asked questions about reauthorization of No Child Left Behind Act and making changes to that legislation that would not be punitive to local districts.  There are a lot of local districts that are doing extremely well with all the factors of meeting annual year progress but they might stumble on special education which I have always thought that they should be decoupled from all the other of the evaluative measures looking at the performance of a school.  Special education is just that, it’s special.  It takes more time, more money, different pedagogy.  I just think that schools should be held accountable for special education separately.  Mr. Anderson talked about looking into those measures. 

The second meeting was with the IASA, which is a state organization of school administrators.  I had a chance to speak and explain some of the issues of primary and secondary education in Springfield. They had questions of me which I answered.  There were a few misconceptions about certain legislation which I had an opportunity to clarify with the attendees.  Superintendents, for the most part, do an excellent job with often limited resources.  There were many educators in attendance that I have collaborated with in the past, I plan to attend their meeting on an ongoing basis.

The third meeting I attended was a local elementary school board.  Essentially, I walked into the midst of a vigorous collective bargaining contretemps between the teachers and the board.  Of course, it is not my job to get involved in collective bargaining negotiations.  That is an issue between the teachers and the board.  Being there to speak to the board about education policy coming from the State, I was able to also answer questions from everyone in the audience. 

Looking at those three meetings in retrospect, I’m even more convinced that a bill such as HB174 needs to be passed.  This measure endeavors to equalize and make more equitable school funding throughout the State, while giving taxpayers a modicum of property tax relief.  It will also go a long way to change the way that we tax real property in the State of Illinois.  The bill’s time has come.  All three of the aforementioned meetings I attended talked about issues that would be ameliorated with the passage of this bill. 

Census 2010 and its impact:

As you know from your civics classes in elementary and high school, the Census is extremely important.  Not only does it count the number of people in the United States, it also determines political apportionment. 

Now from what we understand, the State of Illinois will probably lose one seat in Congress because in the last ten years Illinois had a net loss of population.  The other thing that I want to mention is that we need to be sure to receive as complete of an enumeration as possible.  There are so many federal and state grants that that are based on capitation or literally, how many heads we have in a particular jurisdiction.  One of the things I am trying to do is participate in some of the Census activities throughout my legislative district.

One other issue that we will be dealing that in the second half of the session is the impact of the redrawing of legislative maps, which is also an very important and controversial issue.  Along with re-apportionment will be the redrawing of all political district boundaries.  My main concern is that everyone has a fair chance of being represented. 

Jazz In The Park 2010 plans underway

On October 6th, we reached the formal ending of Jazz In The Park for Charity 2009.  A final meeting was held with all of the participating charities and volunteer staff.  This was to close out the books, distribute checks from the silent auction and to say a final thank you to the participating charities.  Jazz In The Park 2009 was almost a two year labor of love to ensure a great destination event would continue after a one year hiatus.  I was very proud to be the sponsor of Jazz In The Park 2009.  Close to 1200 people came out to Bicentennial Park in Olympia Fields to hear not only a world class performance by three great artists, but to partake all of the amenities of our Southland region.

Again, thank you to the great song stylist Ava Logan, the Afro-Semitic Experience from New York and to the great Nick Colionne, whose #1 Jazz Album is helping spread his fame throughout the world.   There are world class artists who have been calling me and some of the other committee members saying they’ve heard about the benefit concert and they want to be on the bill for next year.

There will be a next year.  It will again be in Olympia Fields.  Mayor Linzey Jones and the Olympia Fields Board has consented to be host venue for next year and we’re in the planning process for Jazz In the Park 2010, as we speak.  So, thank all of you who attended this great event.