Committee deadline week
Today was our deadline in the House to move most bills out of committee for consideration on the full House floor. Here are a few of the final numbers:
- There have been 2,643 total bills that have come out of Rules Committee and have been assigned to standing committees for hearings – 348 of those are Republican bills and the remaining 2,295 are Democrat bills.
- Bills Out of Committee To Date: 71 Republican bills and 528 Democrat bills (shell bills not included).
I was able to move two of my bills out of committee this week – House Bill 3277 deals with regulations regarding composting facilities, and House Bill 3409 would ensure fair consideration of claims involving contested wills. My House Bill 1609 to allocate $67 million for demolition and remediation of buildings at the former Jacksonville Development Center is not subject to the deadline because it’s an appropriations bill. I will be pushing for it to be advanced for consideration on the House floor in the next few weeks.
House Republicans push themes heard in court as case against “no cash bail” law moves toward state Supreme Court
Ending cash bail under provisions of the SAFE-T-ACT would require the courts and the prosecution teams to collaborate to let most criminal suspects go free while awaiting trial.
In a public order issued in relation to a lawsuit brought by 64 Illinois county state’s attorneys, the state Supreme Court has put a hold on the cash-bail repeal law. The state’s attorneys, speaking for themselves and their teams of prosecution law enforcers, are setting forth grounds for the controversial law’s unconstitutionality. Their arguments continue the themes first set forth by House Republicans when the cash-bail language appeared in a late-night lame-duck session of the Illinois General Assembly. The Illinois Supreme Court is reading these arguments. The high court is also reading a counter-brief in support of the law.
Possible nationwide recession could hamper State spending plans
In testimony presented to the House Revenue and Finance Committee, Revenue Director David Harris and Alexis Sturm, Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB), presented testimony on the possible impact of a Year 2023 recession on the Illinois economic outlook and State revenues available for spending.
Working with ongoing cash flow numbers that reflect tax payments made by Illinois residents to the Department of Revenue, both executives – backed by Department of Revenue chief economist Rubina Hafeez – said that the State of Illinois’ immediate financial position is good. However, their testimony included data on current projections by global economic forecasters. These forecasting groups continue to project that the U.S. economy is deemed likely to fall into a mild recession in calendar year 2023. This projected recession, if it occurs, will have a negative impact on State revenues and plans for more State spending, including multi-billion-dollar spending requests from the supermajority Democrats.
Speaking at the Revenue Committee hearing, House Republicans pointed out that Illinois’ overall record of economic underperformance relative to other U.S. states means that any possible recession could hit Illinois much harder than other regions of the country. Gov. Pritzker’s Office of Management and Budget has not yet plugged Illinois’ underperformance into its economic numbers and forecasts.
WIU Ag research may bring new crop to Illinois
Farmers might be one step closer to getting a brand new crop as research continues at Western Illinois University.
https://www.wgem.com/2023/03/07/pennycress-crop-research-continues-western-illinois-university/
Around the District
Our local young athletes are always making us proud! Congratulations to Brown County School District Hornets 8th Grade Girls and Boys basketball teams for outstanding 2nd and 3rd place finishes at State, and Congratulations to our Quincy Notre Dame High School Lady Raiders for an exciting 3rd place finish at the IHSA Class 2A Tournament! Well Done!
Spring forward, and check your smoke detectors
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour as we begin Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, March 12.
The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal reminds Illinoisans to test, inspect, and replace broken or expired smoke/CO alarms in their homes with new 10-year sealed battery alarms as they change the clocks this weekend.
Learn more: https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.26159.html