September 23, 2008/bc

SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) says a move by Senate Democrats to sweep $220 million from dedicated state funds is the wrong way to ensure 11 state parks stay open.

On Tuesday, Illinois Senate Democrats voted to raid 145 state funds to reopen the parks, which Gov. Rod Blagojevich had threatened with closure. While Syverson was a vocal critic of the move, he said the Senate’s Chicago leadership was just as irresponsible as the Governor, by seeking to cover the parks’ funding by raiding funds crucial to agriculture, small businesses – and even the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

“The Senate leadership is restoring funding to the parks while, at the same time, slashing almost $20 million for DNR,” Syverson said. “This raises many disturbing questions in my mind – are these new raids going to force more parks to close down the road? There are too many unanswered questions with this course of action.”

Syverson says there are better ways to keep the parks open, including tapping into more than $20 million in pork projects contained in the budget. He also sponsored legislation, Senate Bill 3066, which calls for the sale of two of the Governor’s state planes to keep the parks open for another year.

“The Senate leadership had several responsible fiscal options at their disposal to keep the parks open, but instead they chose the path of more fiscal tricks,” Syverson said. “Senate President Emil Jones refused to allow a vote on Senate Bill 3066, which would have been a simple way to ensure our parks stayed open. And the budget still has tens of millions of dollars in pork projects that remain untouched that could have kept the parks open, and helped fund the Governor’s cuts to substance abuse programs. While I am very happy the parks will remain open and many of the harmful cuts have been reversed, this is the legislative equivalent of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and poor fiscal leadership.”

September 18, 2008/bc

SPRINGFIELD, IL –State Senators Dave Syverson, Tim Bivins and Brad Burzynski say Governor Blagojevich has one simple option to keep the 11 state parks open he is proposing to close: Sell one of his four state planes.

The Illinois air fleet consists of four Beach King Air 350 planes that carry a value of $2 million to $2.5 million a piece – enough to keep the 11 parks open for a whole year.

“The Governor says there isn’t money to keep our parks open, but that really isn’t true,” Syverson said. “By selling one of the state planes, we can generate enough money to keep our parks up and running for the next year.”

“These parks are not only good for the quality of life of our citizens, there’s also an economic consequence to closing the parks,” Burzynski said. “They draw thousands of tourists from other states to Illinois, pumping millions of dollars into our economy and tax revenues. Closing these parks will have a devastating effect on the Illinois economy at a time we can least afford it.”

“This is an issue that really resonates with people. In the thousands of responses to my legislative survey, quite a few commented on Gov. Blagojevich’s abuse of the state plane – commuting from Chicago to Springfield on a daily basis at great expense to taxpayers,” Bivins said. “This Governor is so anxious to sell off state assets and close state parks, maybe he should put his plane on eBay.”

August 28, 2008/bc

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Governor has legislation giving school districts greater abilities to gain information on troubled teachers, according to State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), a sponsor of the measure.

Public Act 95-0908, formerly House Bill 4252, gives school districts permission to disclose reports on employees accused of abuse who are applying for work in other school districts. The Senate had approved the measure without opposition in May.

Syverson sponsored the measure, along with a companion measure – Senate Bill 2575 – following an incident in which Rockford Public Schools hired a Chicago teacher who had been accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage student. While the Chicago school district was aware the teacher was working in Rockford, it failed to warn the Rockford school district about the alleged incidents.

“This new law will give school districts better protection against teachers and employees who could pose a threat to students,” Syverson said. “Illinois needs to do a better job of ensuring schools know exactly who is interacting with students in our classrooms, and this law help make that happen.”

Under the measure, in cases where teachers move from one school district to another, the former school district must disclose whether the educator has been the subject of an investigation regarding abuse. Currently, many school districts dismiss teachers who have been the subject of abuse-related reports or investigations without warning new school districts who hire them, as was the case in the Rockford incident.

“Our goal with this new law is safer classrooms for our students,” Syverson said. “What happened in Rockford is inexcusable, and we must ensure that never happens again – here or in any other Illinois community.”