Protections for DCFS and Adult Protective Service workers to possibly receive committee hearing.
HB 1482, sponsored by Rep. McCombie, adds protections to DCFS and Adult Protective Service employees from assault, the same protections applied to police, fire, and other emergency responders who protect our most vulnerable. This bill was drafted after DCFS worker, Pam Knight was brutally beaten to death in the fall. Last year, HB 4586 passed Sub-Committee on a vote of 3-2, but failed in the full committee, on a partisan roll call.
Attacks against state worker protecting our most vulnerable are unfortunately not uncommon. The Chicago Tribune recently outlined a dozen extremely heinous attacks against DCFS workers since 2013. This legislation essentially closes a loophole in the law and is the first step.
This week Rep. McCombie’s House Bill 1634, which allows misdemeanor DUI convictions to be sealed after ten years under very specific circumstances, passed the House Judicial-Criminal Committee. Under this legislation, an individual would be able to have their DUI sealed if they meet specific unique criteria.
“Many talk about criminal justice reform and often times our ideas of reform differ. The one thing I know all of us can agree on is that people make mistakes. HB1634 can give those one-time offenders a second chance. This bill could allow a judge to grant that chance by sealing their conviction after ten years of good decisions,” said Representative McCombie. “The goal of the bill is to give reformed petitioners another chance to build themselves up and be a productive part of our workforce and our communities without a lifetime of judgement.”
House Bill 1634 will allow the court to order the sealing of one misdemeanor record of DUI under certain conditions:
- The petitioner has not previously been convicted of or placed on supervision for DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code;
- Ten or more years have passed since the termination of the petitioner’s sentence;
- During the commission of the violation, the petitioner did not proximately cause death or personal injury to any other person or damage the property of any other person and was not arrested for a violation of resisting or obstructing a peace officer;
- During the arrest or stop of the petitioner by a law enforcement officer for commission of the violation, the petitioner submitted to a test under the Illinois Vehicle Code to determine whether the petitioner was driving under the influence when requested by a law enforcement officer;
- The petitioner has no other misdemeanor or felony driving charge on his or her driving abstract;
- The judge examined the driving abstract of the petitioner petitioning to have his or her records sealed under this provision and made a finding entered on the record that the petitioner did not enter into a plea agreement on a lesser charge other than a DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance, and the facts did not support that the petitioner had previously committed a DUI under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance.
HB 1634 passed committee by a vote of 13-1, and will now head to the full floor of the House of Representatives for a vote by all members.
Push to reopen minimum-security unit within Tamms Correctional Center. The 700-bed facility, which contains a minimum-security work camp, used to support hundreds of jobs in economically-challenged Alexander County in far southern Illinois. Shut down during the budget crisis of the early 2010s, the facility has burdened the Department of Corrections ever since, as the Department has to expend funds to maintain the building complex and keep up its infrastructure.
Now, Representative Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) – herself a veteran of Department of Corrections service – has developed a new, budget-conscious proposal to restore the facility to usefulness and rehire personnel for some of the lost job positions. The core of the proposal rests upon Tamms’ design as a joint minimum security/maximum-security facility. The facility was originally designed to house a wide variety of inmates, from confined persons finishing up their terms on the one hand, to “the worst of the worst” on the other. It was the members of this second group whose housing – often in solitary confinement – swelled Tamms’ operating costs and helped lead to the controversial decision, in 2013 by former Gov. Pat Quinn, to close down Tamms.
Why not start, asks Bryant and her colleague Representative Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis), by reopening the 200 minimum-security beds within Tamms? These minimum-security beds cost significantly less to operate, per inmate per night, than the majority of the space in old Tamms. Reopening Tamms as a minimum-security prison would provide bed-space relief for the Department’s over-crowded facilities elsewhere in Illinois, create IDOC jobs in Alexander County and surrounding areas, and could create a space for the Department to provide vocational training for inmates as they prepare to return to the public world.
The Bryant-Windhorst bill, HB 210, to study the reopening of the Tamms Minimum Security Unit as a vocational training facility was favorably reported by a House committee last week. The bill is currently on the floor of the full House for discussion and debate.
Severe flooding in many parts of Illinois, including NW IL. In northern Illinois, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency is deploying emergency aid to homeowners and small businesses near the Pecatonica and Rock Rivers and their tributaries. River gauges are showing record or near-record water levels in the annual spring runoff, and hundreds of homes have been evacuated. The Pecatonica River which drains hills in the “Galena Region” of southwest Wisconsin, is posting water gauge levels not seen since 1933.
In addition to direct property damage, high water levels could also have an indirect effect on Illinois agricultural production and productivity. Crop sowing cannot be done until the fields dry out, and delays in planting seeds could force farmers to purchase more expensive seed with lower bushels-per-acre yield rates. Meanwhile competing farmers in states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are already planting their crops for 2019. Other states, such as Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, are also seeing damage from the spring flooding event.
The American Red Cross has opened shelters in Rockford and Freeport and is giving free meals out in western Illinois to those displaced by flooding and volunteers. Freeport City Manager Lowell Crow says officials expect the Pecatonica River “to possibly rise to a record level or at least to a level we haven’t seen in 50 years.”
Closer to the Chicago area, the National Weather Service has issued flood warning for areas in the northern and western suburbs along the Fox and Des Plaines rivers.
But, forecasters say drier weather this week should give cresting rivers and streams a chance to recede. Shelters at a church in Fond du Lac County and at Preble High School in Green Bay remain open. Coincidentally, March 18-22 is Flood Safety Awareness Week in Illinois.
Major sports wagering proposals introduced. Illinoisans could see new solicitations to bet money soon, this time on sporting events such as football and basketball games. The proposed Sports Wagering Act, introduced in the Illinois House as HB 3308, would govern the legalized and regulated bookmaking of bets on sports games and contests. Amendments to HB 3308, introduced in the Illinois House on Thursday, March 21, describe how sports betting would be legalized, regulated and taxed in Illinois. These amendments could be discussed in the Illinois House and its Committee on Revenue & Finance next week. Opponents are concerned about how sports betting could potentially spur compulsive gambling, and could entangle young adults who themselves play sports into the betting business. Other states, led by Nevada and New Jersey, have already legalized sports betting.
House Republican lawmakers urge colleagues to stop ignoring tax realities. State Representatives Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) and Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) spoke at a Capitol press conference on Wednesday to call for an end to the barrage of tax increases that earned Illinois the new title of “highest tax burden state in the nation.”
“As legislators, it is our duty and obligation to inject some realism into the debates that happen here,” Demmer said. “We can’t simply ignore that we have the highest taxpayer burden in the nation, and we can’t ignore the fact that people are leaving Illinois in record numbers. We can’t ignore that better opportunities and economic growth is occurring in states all around us. We need to get serious about making some changes to how Illinois does business, and provide meaningful tax relief to individuals. We need to provide better opportunities for families and make Illinois a place where jobs and investments grow.”
“One of the reasons I ran for office is because I’ve seen my friends, family members, neighbors, local businesses and my constituents leave Illinois for cheaper living and less regulations,” Windhorst added. “The reason people are leaving is because it is too expensive to live here and do business here. When it comes to state and local taxes, our citizens are maxed out.”
The statements from the Deputy Republican Leader from northwestern Illinois and the freshman member from southern Illinois came in reaction to a WalletHub study which found Illinois has the highest overall tax burden in the nation. Illinois’ median tax rate is 14.9%, while the national average is 10.76%. Illinois’ overall ranking in taxpayer friendliness is #49 in the nation when the cost of living adjustment is taken into consideration.
The governor’s proposed graduated income tax would only make matters worse, Demmer said. “What that does is open up the tax rates to continued interference by lawmakers. If approved, forever more, the General Assembly will no longer be bound by a flat tax mandate in the Constitution. The question isn’t ‘what is the initial rate schedule?’ The question is, ‘can Illinoisans count on politicians in Springfield to do the right thing and not overtax?’ The answer, without a doubt, is ‘no.’ With a graduated income tax, it will be too easy for lawmakers to come back year after year and take a little bit more from taxpayers until we end up with a significantly-increased burden on average families.”
LAST CHANCE: Rep. McCombie asks for Nominations to Recognize Influential Women of the 71st District. State Representative Tony McCombie (IL-71st) will be holding nominations to recognize the influential women of the 71st district during March which is nationally and locally recognized as Women’s History Month:
“I have had the great fortune of having many influential women in my life – both past and present. In honor of National Women’s History Month, I would like to recognize great women from District 71,” said Rep. McCombie. “We all know women who have influenced our lives – teachers, nurses – even our mothers. This is a perfect chance for us to recognize influential women of the 71st.”
Rep. McCombie will host a celebration to honor the contributions of the finalists at a later date. Please send a short email nominating your choice to mccombie@ilhousegop.org. In your nomination, please include;
- A short narrative supporting your nominee
- The nominee’s contact information
- First and last name
- Address
- City
- Telephone/email
- Your contact information
The nominations are due in our office by March 29th, and a winner will be announced in early April. Thank you for your nominations!
Illinois State Fair: Reba McIntyre accepts August 18, 2019 gig. The coveted closer slot at the 2019 Illinois State Fair will be filled by country’s Reba McIntyre, who will sing at Illinois’ premier summer festival for the first time since 1999. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, McIntyre won Kennedy Center Honors in 2018. She has been awarded more than fifty major music awards for individual songs, specific albums and overall career excellence. Like other major performers at the 2019 State Fair, McIntyre will sing at the State Fair’s Grandstand. Tickets for the country music legend will go on sale via Ticketmaster on Saturday, April 20.