The bill will create an Industrial TIF District, allowing communities to give tax breaks to companies that come in and build. The idea received strong support from Rockford and Loves Park where, according to the Illinois Tax Increment Association, there are currently two projects in the works that have the potential to create in excess of 400 jobs in Winnebago County.

Quinn will sign the bill at the Chicago Rockford International Airport at noon on Friday.

The bill is sponsored by Representative Dave Winters Senator Dave Syverson.

State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) is urging Gov. Pat Quinn to reverse his support for a pending new “sales tax holiday” on clothing and school supplies which will actually end up costing taxpayers in the long run.

This legislation is nothing more than election year pandering,” Syverson warned. “The state got into its current financial mess by promising more than it could ever deliver and this is another instance of that. In reality, this plan will result in very little savings for area families while costing the state dearly over the long-term.”

The Senator disputed claims by the Governor and other supporters of the legislation (Senate Bill 3658) who say it will help stimulate the economy.

“We all have seen those ‘too good to be true’ vacation deals where, when you read the fine print, you realize you are being taken,” Syverson said. “This is what this legislation is all about. In reality, consumers will still pay the 1.25 percent local/municipal portion of the sales tax and, if a family spends $200 on school supplies, the actual savings they will receive amounts to roughly $10.”

While the savings to families would be small, Syverson warned that the cost to taxpayers will be much, much higher.

“This program will cost the state $40 to $60 million at a time when Illinois faces a multi-billion dollar deficit and $6 billion in unpaid bills,”

Syverson said. “If the Governor truly wants to help area families and taxpayers, he would direct this relief to the human service providers, many of whom have not been paid in months and are being forced to slash staffs and services for those most in need.”

“Additionally, we are paying up to 12 percent to some vendors on the state’s $6 billion backlog of bills. By directing the tax holiday revenues toward paying our bills instead, we would not only save taxpayers more than $5 million in interest payments, but we would be getting crucial relief to our providers, who will in turn put that money back into our local communities.”

Syverson also targeted the somewhat confusing nature of the legislation. While the bill’s supporters say it applies to various “school supplies,” he noted many common items used by students were excluded from the approved list.

“There are many inconsistencies with this measure,” Syverson said. “Rainwear gets the sales tax break, but umbrellas don’t; sneakers get it, but not athletic shoes; book bags are included, but not reference books. Parents are expecting to see all of their children’s school supplies included.

Bottom line: Illinois cannot afford this program. Neither Syverson, nor his senate colleague, Senator Burzynski, supported the legislation when it was debated in Springfield. The Senators have believed all along that those dollars should be directed to human service providers; the one group that has taken the brunt of the cuts and delays in payments over the last few years.

State Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), the sponsor of HB 859, admitted that he hadn’t read the measure and people who examined the legislation would “find a lot of questions I don’t have answers to.”

“Other than the fact the legislation includes pay raises for state employees and skips scheduled pension payments, we have very few details about what’s in this measure,” Syverson said. “What we do know is this is most unbalanced budget in history. We have two weeks until the adjournment deadline, plenty of time to put forward a budget and give the public and media an opportunity to thoroughly examine it. The fact the Democratic leadership rammed through this measure in the dead of night, demonstrates a failure of their leadership.”

Syverson expressed concern that, when questioned, the sponsor of the bill didn’t know how much spending, and spending reductions, were in the measure.

The Senator also noted the maneuver flies in the face of a previous measure sponsored by Senate Democrats ensuring four days of sunshine before lawmakers can vote on a budget – time to give concerned parties an opportunity to review its fine print. The measure, Senate Bill 3622, is currently stalled in the Illinois House.

“When it comes to budget transparency, the Democratic leadership doesn’t live up to its own rhetoric, and that’s unfortunate,” Syverson said.

Once more information on the budget is known, the Senator will publish the details on his Web site – www.senatordavesyverson.com.

Syverson said he opposed a move by Democratic leaders to push through a budget by the end of the week – a budget that doesn’t even come close to addressing the state’s $13 billion budget deficit.

“The current plan being proposed by the Governor and Democratic leaders is even worse than anything proposed by Rod Blagojevich,” said Syverson, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We have an obligation to the taxpayers of our state to pass a budget that addresses the irresponsible fiscal policies of the past, not compounds them, and lawmakers should stay in Springfield as long as it takes to get it right.”

The Rockford Senator said he was committed to voting against the budget in its current form.

“This plan hinges on billions of dollars of one-time revenues, including more borrowing and more pension raids, and would leave us with a $7 billion deficit and a record number of unpaid bills,” Syverson said. “It will make Illinois less competitive in the short-term, and doom the next generation to paying off tens of billions of dollars of unpaid debt and bills over the long term. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to stop kicking the problem down the road and tackle these challenges head on today.”

Caldwell will serve as judge as firefighters from 11 Rockford stations and three area departments will prepare recipes from his new revised, hardcover edition of Their Last Suppers. Each team will draw a recipe from the book, have a day to gather ingredients, and then compete. Beginning at 1 p.m. and continuing each hour, two teams will have 40 minutes to prepare their dish for Caldwell to judge.

The event will also feature a wine tasting and book signing. The Red Hot Challenge will conclude with Caldwell presenting a donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Caldwell and Andrews McKeel Publishing are providing two new gas grills for the event. The top team and runner-up will each receive a grill for their station, and Caldwell, a trained classical chef, will cook for the winning team.

Caldwell appeared at Rockford’s Tinder Box for a book signing of his self-published edition of Their Last Suppers last November. Since then, he has revised the book, signed with Andrews McMeel Publishing Co., and finished a pilot for a TV series based on the book. Dennis Lambert, owner of Rockford’s Tinder Box/Vino 100 said he is honored that Caldwell chose his store to launch the new hardcover edition.

“Because of the support and encouragement he received from Tinder Box/Vino 100 and our customers, Andrew choose our store to begin his national tour,” said Lambert. “We’re thrilled to have him back.”

Also, Caldwell will be guest host of a special “Titanic Dinner” on Thursday, May 6, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Speakeasy, 19 N. High St., in Janesville, Wisconsin. There he will take participants through the history as they enjoy the same menu served on that fateful voyage.

Their Last Suppers combines history and food, and examines the lives of more than 60 legendary figures that died tragically before their time. The book looks at their lives, the mistakes they made (both funny and sad), the recipes for their last meal, and recipes for their favorite meals.

A trained classical chef, Caldwell won gold medals for ice and butter sculpture. He went on to manage some of the world’s largest resorts in 12 different countries, do consulting in the U.S. and abroad and own and operate his resort, Las Palomas, which was rated in ‘Americas Top 100 Little Inns’.

For more information, call Dennis Lambert at 815-226-4441, or e-mail: dennis@tinderbox-rockford.com.

“This is not a budget,” Sen. Syverson said. “A budget means that you only spend as much as you take in. Quinn’s proposal to spend $5 billion more than the state will make in revenues is irresponsible.”

The Governor’s own estimates say the state will bring in $27.4 billion, but Quinn outlined $32.1 billion in spending during the next fiscal year – leaving a $5 billion gap, which Syverson noted is unconstitutional.

“The Governor’s budget is not only fiscally unsound, it is constitutionally unsound,” Syverson said. “The Illinois Constitution requires the Governor to introduce a balanced budget. This budget doesn’t even come close – by Quinn’s own admission, it is $5 billion out of balance.”

Syverson also targeted the increased debt and borrowing contained in the Governor’s plan, which takes Illinois from $6 billion in short-term debt to more than $11 billion – the largest amount of debt per capita in the nation.

“If this budget passes, Illinois’ fiscal status will take an enormous hit,” Syverson said. “It will likely lead to a double downgrade of our state credit ratings, meaning we would be the worst ranked state in the nation, alongside California.”

The Rockford Senator also expressed concern about the budget’s impact on the state’s jobs climate. Quinn’s budget plan cuts funding for local government, which would cause many projects and corresponding jobs to be put on hold.

“Right now, Illinois ranks 47th in the nation in job growth,” Syverson noted. “Instead of taking an aggressive approach to creating jobs, this budget underfunds many priorities that would help revive the economy and promote economic expansion.”

Syverson said the Governor would be better served to start with a budget that incorporates the litany of spending reforms and cost-savings that have been presented to the Governor by Republicans, including Medicaid managed care reform and pension reforms – measures that could save the state billions of dollars annually.

“Unfortunately, the Governor has chosen to ignore any sort of structural reform, and instead continues Illinois down the Blagojevich path of more spending and more borrowing, with no way to pay for it,” Syverson said. “These are tough times that call for tough decisions, but we aren’t getting that from this Governor.”

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Senate Bill 1938 (Public Act 96-0108), which took effect on July 30, creates an additional associate judge for Winnebago County, as well as a new circuit judge for Boone County.

“I am very pleased the Governor signed this bill – our local courts face some of the biggest caseloads in the state,” Syverson said. “These additional judges will help address the backlogs facing our local courtrooms.”

The Senator, along with co-sponsor Senator Brad Burzynski (R-Clare), worked with local officials, including Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen and Senate Democrats to ensure the state-line area was included in the measure, which initially only included additional judges in Lake and Will Counties. “By working together, we are delivering for the Rockford area,” Syverson said. “This year, Winnebago County received more than its fair share of funding under the capital construction program and now our local courts will see some critical relief. While we still have some major problems to address, this year has seen some solid successes for our area that we can continue to build on as we move ahead.”

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A hearing on gerrymandering reform that had been delayed twice before, is finally set to be held July 29, in Chicago.

State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) explained gerrymandering is the practice of drawing legislative district boundaries to give an advantage to a particular candidate or party. Illinois has been sharply criticized for its system of drawing state legislative and congressional district boundaries because it allows politicians to pick their voters, rather than allowing the voters to pick their representatives.

The hearing, initially set for July 15, was first pushed back to July 22, before finally being posted for the 29th.

Sen. Syverson said that reforming the state’s system of drawing legislative district boundaries is essential to address the excessive partisanship and lack of accountability that has plagued Illinois state government. Many reform proponents fear that by consistently pushing back redistricting hearings, legislative leaders who benefit from partisan gerrymandering are purposely undermining genuine reform efforts. Proponents of redistricting reform argue that restoring accountability to Illinois government must begin with the most basic function of democracy – elections. And, to assure fair and competitive elections it is vital to take the politics out of drawing legislative and congressional districts.

It is unknown whether these delays will impact other redistricting hearings, which were originally scheduled to take place in Peoria in August, Carbondale in September and Springfield in October.

The term “gerrymandering” come from combining salamander and the name of Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts from 1810 to 1812. In 1812, Gerry signed into law a redistricting plan that was designed to benefit his political party. The term was first used in the Boston Gazette of March 26, 1812 to describe a district that the newspaper likened to the shape of a salamander. The newspaper referred to the district as a “Gerry”-mander.

Legislation recently signed into law includes:
Funeral Homes (HB 1353/PA 96-0048): Allows the Secretary of DFPR to suspend the funeral home licenses of facilities that pose an imminent danger to the public.

Internet Gaming (HB 617/PA 96-0047): Specifies ways that consumers who utilize an Internet game service can easily cancel that service online.

Adoption Leave (SB 35): Allows public school teachers to take a 30 day sick leave after adopting a child.

Business Authority (SB 1389): Changes terminology used by the Secretary of State when granting corporations the authority to conduct business.

Child Support (SB 100): Allows a sheriff or a private process server to provide proof of notice that a person is withholding income for child support.

Dental Clinics (SB 1393): Establishes a grant program to develop comprehensive dental clinics in order to increase Medicaid recipients’ access to dental providers.

Disabled Parking (SB 1541): Allows police to seize a disabled parking decal if the decal is being misused.

Education Grants (SB 1453): Adds psychology and physical and mental health professionals to the list of health-related school programs eligible for Health Services Education Grants.

Elevators (SB 149): Makes changes to the Elevator Safety Board, and pushes certain compliance dates pursuant to the new elevator safety code established by the Elevator Safety Board.

Elimination of Poverty (SB 1330): Requires the Governor’s Office to provide administrative support for the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty.

Emergency Shelters (SB 204): Requires Illinois’ nine public universities’ buildings must be made available for emergency purposes.

Eviction (SB 1053): Changes the time an eviction is enforceable from 90 days to 120 days.

Fishing Equipment (SB 1269): Establishes an educational program to discourage the use and sale of lead fishing equipment, which can be harmful to the environment.

Incarcerated Persons (SB 1404): Requires the state to develop informational materials for distribution to the children and families of incarcerated persons.

Newspaper Definition (SB 291): Modifies the definition of newspaper for legal notices

Physicians Assistants (SB 1487): Allows physician assistants to provide medical care in an emergency situation without the supervision of a physician.

Prevailing Wage (SB 223): Requires public utility companies that contract with an outside contractor on any construction project to pay prevailing wage.

Residential Services (SB 1372): Requires DCFS to work with other state agencies that require residential services for children to develop program requirements and rates that are no less than the performance-based rates established by DCFS.

School Business Officials (SB 187): Allows individuals seeking the chief school business official endorsement to consider two years of university-approved practical experience as an alternative to a Master’s Degree and two years of administrative experience in school business management.

School Superintendants (SB 1276): Mandates all new school superintendents complete a two year mentoring program.

School Zone Fines (SB 75): Allows school districts to use fines from speeding tickets given in school zones for a wider variety of programs.

Social Workers (SB 1507): Establishes that social workers can only share privileged information with those who have a professional responsibility to the client.