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Illinois 58th District State Representative Newsletter |  |
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Spring had Sprung!
I am committed to restoring your faith in government in our great state. I am working with the members of the General Assembly and our new governor to make sure that we improve ethics laws and hold corrupt public officials accountable for their misuse of power. We need to step up and renew our efforts at reform. That is why I support measures like House Bill 377, which will take away state retirement benefits for public officials impeached by the House and then convicted and removed from office by the Senate. In addition, I am working on campaign finance reform. I am sponsoring House Bill 24, filed by Rep. Harry Osterman, to address how we finance campaigns, setting limits on political action committees (PACs) and campaign contributions from individuals, corporations, labor organizations, etc. It also addresses regulation of political solicitations of employees. I also believe that we need greater transparency in government. That is why I am in favor of increasing ethics regulations for public officials and state employees to ensure that all are conducting their jobs with the highest standards possible. I am sponsoring HB 553 which will make public the findings of the Inspector General. I also introduced enhanced pay-to-play legislation (HB 2428) which passed unanimously out of the House in late March and now awaits action in the Senate. This legislation limits contributions to the Governor by individuals appointed to commissions for a year before and after the appointment. I am asking the Senate to act quickly on this matter. In addition, there are two government groups working toward further reforms. The Joint Committee on Government Reform was established by the Illinois House and Senate and the Illinois Reform Commission (IRC) was established by Governor Quinn. I support the comprehensive reforms proposed by the IRC and have put in writing my strong support of reform to the House Speaker. While it has been troubling for all of us to live through the unprecedented impeachment and removal from office of a sitting governor, many of us who serve with integrity and honesty have renewed zeal to push for further reforms. I am confident that as a result of these difficult times, we can craft further legislative reforms that strengthen government and the political process.
We did not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our grandchildren and we must do what we can to ensure they have a sustainable, healthy environment in which to learn, play and live. Leaders in our government are finally realizing the impact environmental sustainability has on public health and well-being and I look forward to helping improve the way our state can retrofit our schools. To this end, I introduced House Joint Resolution 45, which creates a Task Force to retrofit three public schools (one each in Chicago, the suburbs, and downstate) as a pilot program. The state will partner with the local Green Building Council and local community groups in these three areas to create a template that can apply to all schools in the state. HJR 45 passed out of committee unanimously this week and I look forward to putting the plan into action. I am very pleased that we have a partner in Governor Quinn who is equally committed to providing healthy, comfortable, environmentally efficient schools for our children.
Every year I award eight Illinois General Assembly full scholarships to district students planning to attend an Illinois public university. This year, I was also able to award two partial scholarships that had been forfeited by previous recipients. We received 47 applications, the highest number of applicants I have had to date. The quality of the applicants was incredible. Each student presented a strong record of academic excellence and community service and initiative. The scholarship committee of five community leaders worked very hard on making their selections. I want to thank them for all of their time and thoughtful consideration. Congratulations to our 2009 scholarship winners: Abby Brandell (Northbrook) Hannah Friedman (Highland Park) Jane Johnsen (Lake Forest) Andrew Lester (Highland Park) Edgard Mata (Highwood) Jordan Siegal (Highland Park) Eric Solomon (Northbrook) Allison Stein (Deerfield) Zachary Weiner (Highland Park) Sam Wheeler (Highwood)
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