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From the Capitol |
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General Assembly Passes a Budget
Governor Calls it "Unbalanced and
Unconstitutional"
The General Assembly passed a fiscal
year 2009 budget Saturday,
increasing state spending by $2.1
billion.
However, the budget process is not
yet over. The budget now sits on
Governor Blagojevich's desk awaiting
action. He has the options to sign
it into law, veto the entire budget
or line item veto specific
programs. Yesterday, the Governor
held a press conference where he
stated the budget is as much as $2
billion in the red because of House
inaction on new revenue
possibilities such as fund sweeps or
a pension obligation bond.
Blagojevich said he will call a
meeting with the four legislative
leaders to enact a final fiscal year
2009 budget by July 1st.
Highlights of the General Assembly
Enacted Fiscal Year 2009 Budget:
- Increases spending by $2.1
billion over fiscal year 2008
- Schools received an increase
of $500 million, including a
$225 increase in the per-pupil
foundation level (raising the
foundation level to $5,959 per
student).
- Appropriates $600 million
for Medicaid, however this does
not eliminate the backlog of
unpaid Medicaid bills
The
budget bills can be accessed at the
following links:
Senate Bill 1115
Senate Bill 1129
House Bill 5701
Senate Bill 1102
Senate Bill 773 (Budget
Implementation Bill)
In the coming weeks CTBA will have a
full analysis of the Fiscal Year
2009 final budget.
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Ethics |
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Ethics Bill Awaits Governor Action
HB 824, the bill
that would help end "pay to play politics"
unanimously passed the General Assembly last
week.
The bill prohibits entities with more than
$50,000 in state contracts from giving political
donations to the elected officials who control
those contracts.
Currently, Illinois has no campaign contribution
limits.
It now sits on the Governor's desk. Blagojevich
can sign it into law, veto the entire bill, or
amendatory veto portions of the bill. The
Governor has stated he may add new provisions to
the bill. If so, lawmakers would then need to
rally support a second time to enact the
legislation.
Track HB 824 Here.
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Veto Session
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The fall veto
session calendar can be accessed at the
following links:
House
Senate
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Education Funding & Fiscal Reform |
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Schools and Kids Need Your Help!
Is Your Senator a Co-Sponsor of SB 2288?
The lead
sponsors of SB 2288, Senator James Meeks and
Senator John Cullerton, are committed to
bringing the bill to a vote in November.
This gives us the spring and summer to work
for the passage of the bill.
Senate Bill 2288 provides a new, permanent
revenue source for schools, property tax
relief for homeowners and
$1 billion
for debt service for a state infrastructure
program. It is the only piece of legislation
that will truly reform the way education is
funded in Illinois by making the state the
primary funder of K-12 education. The bill also
provides $300 million for community colleges and
universities.
Read the bill here
SB 2288 makes significant changes to tax
and school funding laws.
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It
reduces our reliance on property taxes
to fund schools by mandating an annual
property tax abatement of $2.9 billion
(indexed to inflation for each
subsequent year) with every property
owner seeing a minimum of 20% property
tax relief on the portion of the bill
designated to education.
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The
Invest in Illinois Fund is created and
funded with $1 billion each year to
provide funding for debt service and
fees on bonds for capital projects, such
as roads and schools, throughout the
State.
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The
bill also mandates a $300 million annual
appropriation (indexed for inflation)
for grants to institutions of Higher
Education.
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Increases for Early Childhood education
are phased in, from $45 million in
2009-2010 to $180 million in 2012-2013.
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Increases to the Foundation Level are
phased in, raising it from $6,253 for
the 2009-2010 school year (from $5,734)
up to $7,809 for the 2012-2013 school
year. The Foundation Level and
Supplemental General State Aid (Poverty
Grants) are automatically tied to
increases to the Employment Cost Index
to control for inflation.
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Creates a School
Improvement Partnership Fund to target
resources to proven programs such as
smaller class sizes, literacy coaching,
longer school days and teacher
mentoring;
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Maintains and
expands grants for high-poverty schools
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The
personal income tax is increased to 5%
(from 3%), and the corporate income tax
is increased to 8% (from 4.8%).
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Family Tax Credits
are provided to single taxpayers earning
less than $26,695 and married couples
earning less than $53,694.
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Calendar of Events |
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WHAT?
Shout Out for Schools Rally
WHEN?
June 10, 2008, 10am to 12pm
WHERE?
Soldier Field
Join
thousands of Chicago Public Schools
students, parents and teachers to
celebrate education and rally for
improved school funding and quality in
Illinois.
"Shout Out for Schools" will be a
ticketed event. For FREE tickets, please
call 773-553-1000, or send an e-mail to
studentrally@cps.k12.il.us with the name
of your school or organization, your
phone number, and the number of
requested tickets.
Soldier Field parking available for
school buses only; others are asked to
take public transit or park in nearby
Grant Park or downtown lots.
DOWNLOAD a flyer to distribute to
your school or community. For more
details, please visit. www.cps.edu.
WHAT:
Illinois
Maternal and Child Health Coalition 20th
Anniversary Annual Meeting and Luncheon
WHEN:
June 10,
2008
WHERE:
Maggiano's Little Italy in Chicago
The keynote presenter will be author and
journalist, Jennifer Block, whose book
Pushed: The Painful Truth about
Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care has
received critical acclaim, including
recognition as "A Best Consumer Health
Book of 2007" by the Library Journal and
"A Best of Book of 2007" by Kirkus
Reviews.
In Pushed, Ms. Block presents a full
picture of maternity care in America.
She traveled the country to witness
several births (from a planned cesarean
to an underground home birth) and to
report the experiences of women today.
Luncheon tickets are $30 for IMCHC
members and $35 for non-members.
Download a brochure from IMCHC's website
or contact Lilah Handler at 312-491-8161
for more information.
WHAT?
Making Media Connections
WHEN?
June 11-12
National new-media experts like Beth
Kanter as well as some of Chicago's most
prominent journalists such as Renee
Ferguson from channel 5 will
keynote. For $150 you can take two
half-day workshops highlighting new
media tools that nonprofits are using to
tell their stories and raise money or a
one-day Media Boot Camp class. For
another $150 you can hear Chicago-area
journalists and veteran nonprofit
communicators offer advice on everything
from how to work with newspapers'
editorial boards to planning a nonprofit
public relations career.
The conference organizers, Community
Media Workshop, offer a range of
discounts and scholarships for
nonprofits; with budgets under $100,000,
they offer everything at half-price.
If you can't make it to the conference
but want free communication tools and
tips and info about communications
workshops in the future, you should
check out their home page,
www.newstips.org,
where you can also sign up for the
Workshop's free email list.
WHAT?
Making the Connection Basic Training
WHEN?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
WHERE?
Naperville, IL
Presented by
the DuPage Federation on Human Services the
session contains practical information in an
easy to understand format regarding many
programs available to assist low income
persons.
Register Here
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Do you have something to share in the
Weekly Review?
Please email Chrissy Mancini
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