SUAA MINI BRIEFING December 8, 2016
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SUAA MINI BRIEFING December 8, 2016 Sticking to the facts is always the best decision. Veto Session ended this past week with lingering decisions still to be made. The Stop-gap budget ends on December 31st. No budget agreement is in sight even though the Democrat and Republican Leaders are meeting with the Governor. The news keeps repeating the words balanced budget, but in truth there hasn’t been a true balanced budget in decades. The Governor is demanding a property tax freeze and term limits. Neither seem reachable and neither have anything to do with the State Budget. During the Veto Session a super majority was required to pass any legislation. The winner went to the ComEd rate hike to save the nuclear plants and, of course, jobs. Governor Rauner vetoed the $215 million going to the Chicago Public Schools for the Chicago teachers’ pension. And the House of Representatives did not have the votes to override the Governor’s veto of SB 250 – the Automatic Voters Registration bill. HJRCA0062 passed the House with a super majority. It “provides that a bill passed on or after the date of a general election but on or before the second Wednesday of January following the general election that would result in the increase of revenue to the State by an increase of a tax on or measured by income or the selling price of any item of tangible personal property or any service may become law only with the concurrence of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly.” In other words, no tax increase would be allowed without a super majority passage in both houses. We will be watching to see if this holds. And, of course, how the Senate votes. In reality, a resolution provides support for an issue, it does not become a law. The Lame Duck Session of the 99th General Assembly is scheduled for January 9th and 10th. These final two days of session will allow a simple majority to pass legislation. There is a possibility that a “grand bargain” could be reached by 2017, but the odds are against it. January 11th begins the 100th General Assembly. See the Legislative Research Unit’s First Reading page 12 for information about the freshman legislators. In addition, the following information is provided by the Illinois Credit Union: 2016 Illinois General Election State Offices New Members Constitutional Officers (1) Comptroller Susana Mendoza D (Leslie Munger Seat -Lost) Illinois State Senate (4) Senate 22 Elgin Cristina Castro D (Michael Noland’s seat -Open Seat) Senate 47 Rushville Jil Tracy D (John Sullivan’s Seat -Open Seat) Senate 58 Okawville Paul Schimpf R (David Luechtefeld’s Seat -Open Seat) Senate 59 Benton Dale Fowler R (Gary Forby’s Seat -Lost) Illinois State House (16) House 002 Chicago Theresa Mah D (Edward Acevedo Seat -Open Seat) House 005 Chicago Juliana Stratton D (Kenneth Dunkin Sean -Open Seat) House 010 Chicago Melissa Conyears D (P. Reeves-Harris Seat -Open Seat) House 051 Mundelein Nick Sauer R (Edward Sullivan Seat -Open Seat) House 063 Woodstock Steven Reick R (Jack Franks Seat -Open Seat) House 066 Crystal Lake Allen Skillicorn R (Michael Tryon Seat -Open Seat) House 071 Hillsdale Tony McCombie R (Mike Smiddy Seat -Lost) House 072 Milan Mike Halpin D (Patrick Verschoore Seat -Open Seat) House 073 Peoria Ryan Spain R (David Leitch Seat -Open Seat) House 074 Gilson Dan Swanson R (Donald Moffitt Seat -Open Seat) House 076 Spring Valley Jerry Long R (Andy Skoog Seat -Lost) House 079 Kankakee Lindsay Parkhurst R (Kate Cloonen Seat -Lost) House 102 Decatur Brad Halbrook R (Adam Brown Seat -Open Seat) House 112 Edwardsville Katie Stuart D (Dwight Kay Seat -Lost) House 114 East St. Louis Latoya Greenwood D (Eddie Jackson Seat -Open Seat) House 117 Marion Dave Severin R (John Bradley’s Seat -Lost) Wishing one and all a bit of time to spend with loved ones and many blessings! New Legislators (i.e., appointed in 2015/2016; 11) Senate 02 Chicago Omar Aquino D (William Delgado Seat -Retired) Senate 26 Lake Zurich Dan McConchie R (Dan Duffy Seat -Resigned ) Senate 28 Park Ridge Laura Murphy D (Dan Kotowski Seat -took a not-for-profit position) Senate 37 Dunlap Chuck Weaver R (Darin LaHood Seat -won special election for U.S. Rep. Dist. 18) Senate 52 Champaign Scott Bennett D (Mike Frerichs Seat -current State Treasurer) House 006 Chicago Sonya Harper D (Esther Golar Seat -passed away) House 075 Plainfield David Welter R (John Anthony Seat -resigned for DOC position) House 081 Downers Grove David Olsen R (Ron Sandack Seat -resigned) House 087 Springfield Tim Butler R (Rich Brauer Seat -resigned Dept. of Transportation) House 095 Pawnee Avery Bourne R (Wayne Rosenthal Seat - IL Dept. of Natural Resources) House 099 Springfield Sara Wojcicki Jimenez R (Raymone Poe Seat -Dept. of Ag Dir in Nov. ’16) 2016 Illinois General Election Federal Offices New Members U.S. Senate (1) Senator Tammy Duckworth D (Mark Kirk -Lost) U.S. House (2) House 08 Hoffman Estates Raja Krishnamoorthi D (Tammy Duckworth Seat -Ran for U.S. Senate) House 10 Kenilworth Brad Schneider D (Bob Dold Seat -Lost) ********************************************************************************************************************* January 25th is the Governor’s State of the State Address. February 15th is the Governor’s Budget Address. May 31st is the scheduled adjournment. Legislative calendars can be found on the General Assembly’s website. Look under Schedules for both the House and the Senate. ***************************************************************************** Congressman Rodney Davis spoke at our Fall Board Meeting about the Windfall Elimination and Pension Offset Provision. He is the sponsor of H.R. 973 which addresses both of these provisions ( https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/973/text ). He also spoke about H.R. 711 introduced by Congressman Kevin Brady from Texas. (https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/711 ). While Congressman Brady’s bill is more likely to pass, it is unfortunate that it only addresses the Windfall Elimination Provision. The Congressional Research Service has an excellent publication written by William R. Morton titled Social Security: The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). SUAA will again be taking a more active role by working to get these provisions repealed. Another good read is the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois September/October 2016 issue of Tax Facts “Tax Policy, Tax Politics and a Graduated Income Tax”. Also included in this issue - Best Practices in Evaluating State Tax Incentives: What Illinois Can Learn From Other States? And Principles of Sound Policy. As 2016 winds down, SUAA will be watching as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel phases out the city’s retiree health care program. This decision will remove 10,000 Chicago retirees who are not Medicare eligible off the city’s health insurance. Constitutionally wrongful. SUAA will also continue with the Coalition to Fund Higher Education. This is a daunting task as there does not seem to be any movement to resolving the State’s budget woes. SUAA will resume lunch with staff in February of 2017. Remember to take a look at the trip to Panama in September 2017. This would make an excellent gift as this is the season. Information can be found on the SUAA website. For those who are going to Iceland with SUAA, there will be a webinar in January. If there is a workshop that officers or members would like to attend, let us know the topic. We can come to you or it can be held in Springfield. The State Office is glad to assist with a regional meeting, but it is up to the regions to hold the meeting. Remember to sign up a new member in 2017. Each member get a member. Give a membership as a gift. Enjoy the holiday season! 2017 will be tough in the Legislative Arena! Linda L Brookhart Executive Director State Universities Annuitants Association 217 E Monroe Street, Suite 100 Springfield, Illinois 62701 217.523.4040 Voice 217.553.1091 Cell 217.523.4044 Fax [email protected] www.suaa.org .