Northwest Suburban Cook County lawmakers joined area superintendents and education experts on October 21 for a Senate Bill 16 Impact Forum at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Arlington Heights. Close to 150 people attended the informational event.

The panel outlined how suburban Cook County school districts would lose millions in General State Aid if SB16 is approved and signed into law as currently written. State Representative Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) said the school districts located within the 54^th Legislative House District would lose a combined $40.1 million per year through SB16.  “School funding reform is a critical issue, but SB16 is not the answer,” Morrison said. “It simply creates a new list of funding winners by taking GSA away from the districts whose taxpayers already shoulder a disproportionate share of the cost of educating kids in this state. Funding reductions at the levels included in SB16 would be a game-changer in how children in suburban Cook County are educated.”

Morrison was joined on stage by Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) and State Representative David Harris (R-Mt. Prospect). Other speakers included State Superintendent of Education Chris Koch, Benjamin Boer from the Advance Illinois Education Advocacy group and Superintendents from several area school districts.

Attendees were encouraged to get involved in the effort to stop SB16 by calling the Governor, Speaker Madigan, SB16 Sponsor Senator Andy Manar and area legislators to let them know that the provisions of SB16 do not solve school funding issues and are unfair to suburban taxpayers. “Those of us who live in the suburbs need to be unified in our support of our local schools,” Morrison said. “We need to send a loud message downstate that stripping GSA away from our districts is unacceptable.”

Metra Chief Calls for 68% Fare Hike over 10-Year Period

On October 9, Metra Chairman Martin Oberman presented a proposal to the Metra Board for a 68% fare hike to be phased in over the next ten years. Funds from the fare hike, according to Oberman, would cover a variety of fiscal challenges, including the replacement of much of the system’s rolling

stock. The plan calls for:

• Purchasing 52 new locomotives
• Rebuilding 85 locomotives 
• Purchasing 367 new passenger cars 
• Rehabilitating 455 passenger cars 

The proposed fare hike would create financial backing to borrow $400 million in debt, which would be an essential element of an overall $2.4 billion financing plan. More than half of the required funds, $1.3 billion, would come from the State of Illinois. I worry that further tax and fee hikes could be required to cover the State side of this program. The Board approved the fare hike package by a vote of 10-1.

I am aware of Metra’s equipment needs, but am deeply concerned with the level of the proposed fare hike. I believe most riders who rely on Metra for their daily travel to and from work would find the kind of increases Metra is proposing to be excessive and unaffordable. When I see Illinois spending hundreds of millions on higher speed rail that makes minimal improvements to travel times between Chicago and St. Louis, I must wonder if that money could be better-spent on Metra’s improvement needs so that the riders’ impact could be minimized.

Crain’s Chicago Business has more information on the fare hike request.

Legislators to Host Senate Bill 16 Impact Forum

Tonight I will partner with Senator Matt Murphy and Representative David Harris for a public forum on Senate Bill 16, a proposal that rewrites Illinois’ school funding formula and strips General State Aid (GSA) away from most suburban school districts.

The forum will take place from 6:30-8:30 PM at Metropolis Performing Arts Center, 111 W. Campbell Street in Arlington Heights. Local school superintendents and school administrators will join us to talk about how SB16 will specifically affect their district budgets and operations.

SB16 passed in the Illinois Senate in May and is now pending in the House of Representatives. As written, this bill diverts millions in General State Aid away from local schools and channels it toward Chicago and many downstate schools. It’s an unfair redistribution of funds with every one of my school districts losing large amounts of funding. The school districts located within the boundaries of the 54th legislative House district would lose the following amounts of GSA if SB16 is passed (estimates provided by Illinois State Board of Education):

• Community Consolidated School District 15: $11,125,664 loss per year
• Township High School District 211: $7,955,584 loss per year
• Barrington School District 220: $5,391,021 loss per year
• Community Consolidated School District 59: $5,923,650 loss per year
• Township High School District 214: $7,471,089 loss per year
• Arlington Heights School District 25: $3,286,613 loss per year

Those who attend the forum will be given the opportunity to submit questions or concerns to panel participants.

In response to the revival of SB16, I have joined several of my House colleagues in sponsoring a House Resolution in opposition to the bill. You may read the text of HR1276 here, and you may access the on-line petition here.

For additional information about the October 21 event, please contact my Palatine office at (847) 202-6584.

State Representative Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) will join Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) and State Representative David Harris (R-Mt. Prospect) on October 21 for a public forum on Senate Bill 16, a proposal that rewrites Illinois’ school funding formula and strips General State Aid (GSA) away from most suburban school districts.

The forum will take place from 6:30-8:30 PM at Metropolis Performing Arts Center, 111 W. Campbell Street in Arlington Heights. Local school superintendents and school administrators will join the legislators and talk about how SB16 will specifically affect their district budgets and operations. 

“SB16 passed in the Illinois Senate in May and is now pending in the House of Representatives,” said Morrison. “As written, this bill diverts millions in General State Aid away from local schools and channels it toward Chicago and many downstate schools. It’s an unfair redistribution of funds with every one of my school districts losing large amounts of funding.”

According to Morrison, the school districts located within the boundaries of the 54^th legislative House district would lose the following amounts of GSA if SB16 is passed (estimates provided by Illinois State Board of Education):

·         Community Consolidated School District 15: $11,125,664 loss per year

·         Township High School District 211: $7,955,584 loss per year

·         Barrington School District 220: $5,391,021 loss per year

·         Community Consolidated School District 59: $5,923,650 loss per year

·         Township High School District 214: $7,471,089 loss per year

·         Arlington Heights School District 25: $3,286,613 loss per year

“School funding reform is a critical issue, but SB16 is not the answer,” Morrison said. “It simply creates a new list of funding winners by taking funding away from the districts whose taxpayers already shoulder a disproportionate share of the cost of educating kids in this state.”

Those who attend the forum will be given the opportunity to submit questions or concerns to panel participants.

In response to the revival of SB16, Morrison and several of his colleagues in the IL House have sponsored a House Resolution stating their opposition to the bill, and they have posted a petition against SB16 on their web sites. You may read the text of HR1276 here, and you may access the on-line petition here.

For additional information about the October 21 event, please contact Representative Morrison’s Palatine office at (847) 202-6584.

State Representative Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) has posted an on-line petition in opposition of Senate Bill 16, a bill that would strip millions away from hundreds of Illinois school districts and channel the money toward Chicago and other schools.

The petition is available on Morrison’s legislative web site at www.repmorrison54.com, or through a direct link at http://www.ilhousegop.org/sb16_petition.

SB16 is a massive rewrite of the school funding formula that determines how General State Aid (GSA) is distributed to Illinois’ school districts. It does not add any additional funding toward education.  As written and approved in the Senate, the bill uses a weighted formula that is punitive to most suburban school districts.

“My school districts will lose most of their GSA if SB16 is approved in the House of Representatives and signed into law by the Governor,” said Morrison. “The bill does not solve funding inequities in Illinois. It only redistributes existing state resources in a way that creates a new list of education funding winners and losers.”

Morrison is a co-sponsor of House Resolution 1276, a measure that denounces SB16 and encourages a comprehensive and fair funding reform process that is inclusive of all stakeholder points of view. “I support equitable and reasonable reforms to school funding, but SB16 is not the answer,” said Morrison. “House Resolution 1276 encourages lawmakers to halt all efforts to pass that bill and to engage in a process with all stakeholder groups represented at the table, so that ultimate reforms benefit all students and not just some of them.”

State Representative Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) has been chosen as a recipient of the “Guardian of Small Business” award from the National Federation of Independent Businesses/Illinois (NFIB).

The award, given out every other year by the non-partisan NFIB, recognizes lawmakers from the House and Senate with a solid voting record that supports small businesses. According to NFIB/Illinois State Director Kim Clarke Maisch, the organization evaluated legislators’ voting records on nine key bills that affect small business (HB3223, HB2649, HB923, SB 1, SB3287, SB2758, HB3005, SB2776 and HB924), and lawmakers earning an 80% or higher rating receive the award.

“Representative Tom Morrison is a strong advocate for the small businesses in the 54th District,” said Maisch. “He has time and again voted to support Main Street and help them fight costly regulations, egregious mandates and higher taxes.”

Morrison, who has served in the Illinois House of Representatives since 2011, said he was honored to be recognized for his commitment to the small businesses that represent the backbone of the Illinois economy. “Small business owners are the primary job creators in Illinois,” said Morrison. “As legislators, it is important that we support their efforts to grow and expand so that people can find sustainable jobs that reduce reliance on government programs.”

Please join State Senator Matt Murphy and State Representative Tom Morrison for a free recycling and shredding event on Saturday, September 6 in Palatine.

For the event, which will be held from 9:00 AM until noon at the Bank of Palatine parking lot, 1 E. Northwest Highway in Palatine, the Senator and Representative will partner with AT&T, Elgin Recycling, Habitat for Humanity, the Palatine American Legion, the Palatine Lions Club, Shelter Inc., and Working Bikes.

Residents are welcome to bring up to two bags of paper to be shredded and electronics and other items for recycling, including cell phones, eye glasses, hearing aides, keys, walkers, crutches, sewing machines, wheelchairs, bikes, flags, household items, gently used clothing and building materials.

For additional information about this event, please contact Senator Murphy's office at (847) 776-1490 or www.senatormattmurphy.com, or Representative Morrison's office at (847) 202-6584 or www.repmorrison54.com.

On June 12, a group of legislators visited the Misericordia campus in Chicago. This 31-acre campus offers a community of care that maximizes potential for persons with mild to profound developmental disabilities, many of whom are also physically challenged. Misericordia currently serves more than 600 children and adults from diverse racial, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. Twenty percent of the residents either come from poverty or have no families and are wards of the State. By serving society’s most vulnerable citizens, Misericordia also serves the families who want the best for them, yet cannot provide it at home.

The mission of Misericordia is “to support individuals with developmentaldisabilities in maximizing their level of independence and self-determination within an environment that fosters spirituality, dignity, respect and enhancement of quality of life. We promote development of natural family and community support, community awareness, education and advocacy.” They have been serving those in need since 1921. To learn more about Misericordia and the services provided in Illinois, please visit them on the web at www.misericordia.com.

510 bills Sent to Governor in Spring 2014 Session

In order to be presented to the Governor’s desk, majorities in both houses of the General Assembly must pass bills. In the 2014 spring session, which adjourned on May 31, 510 bills were approved by the House and Senate – 267 House bills and 243 Senate bills. Other bills on which action was not completed may be taken up again by the General Assembly when the members reconvene for their fall session in November. The Illinois General Assembly website (http://ilga.gov/) contains a complete list of all of the bills introduced over the past two years, together with a summary of the actions taken on them by the 98th General Assembly so far.

Every bill passed by both houses returns to the clerk in its house of origin, who must present it to the Governor within 30 days of passage. This delay dates back to the founding of Illinois, when bills were handwritten and had to be checked carefully for spelling errors. After a bill is sent to the Governor’s desk, the chief executive has an additional 60 calendar days to sign or veto the measure.

Governor Signs Supplemental Bill that Increases Expenditures for FY14

HB 6060, signed into law on June 9, deals only with final taxpayer money for FY14, which will come to a close on June 30, 2014. With that spending bill signed, Gov. Quinn will now address the entire “package” of FY15 appropriations legislation brokered by key Democrat legislative leaders in Springfield during the final hours of the May 2014 spring session. The FY15 appropriation bills must be approved prior to the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2014. The Governor has the right to sign line-item vetoes later in June 2014 and make changes to the FY15 budget. In spite of efforts by Republicans to block such a move, the budget for next year includes a pay raise for legislators and numerous “pork” projects.

Juvenile Expungement Bill Signed into Law
SB 978 creates a pathway for automatic expungement for a wide variety of juvenile arrests. Records that will be expunged include records maintained by the Illinois State Police of incidents for which a juvenile was arrested for a crime but was never formally charged. Records covered by this bill include an arrest that occurred before a person’s 18th birthday; these records would be expunged upon the person reaching the age of 18, provided that he or she has no recent arrests or criminal charges. Sex offenses,serious violent offenses, Class X felonies, Class 1 felonies, and Class 2 felonies are excluded from this expungement. I supported this bill because I understand that teenagers often act without thinking of the long-term consequences, including difficulty in finding employment.

Several key law enforcement groups had asked the State to think carefully before taking this step. Law enforcement professionals are required, by law, to treat offenders at different levels depending on the defendant’s prior offenses. These groups wonder how they are supposed to carry out this treatment if they are faced with impediments in the way of knowing what these priors are. Unanswered questions like these were on the minds of many House Republicans who voted against the measure, which passed the House on a vote of 74-40-0. However, the controversial bill was signed into law on Monday, June 9 as Public Act 98-637.

Gov. Quinn Signs Chicago Pension Bill 

SB 1922 reduces the future pension benefits to be paid to, and increases the future pension contributions to be paid by, several significant sectors of City of Chicago workers. The bill does not cover other sectors of Chicago workers: police officers, firefighters, and teachers.

Proponents of this bill expressed the hope that this measure could head off cuts in Chicago’s debt rating. These bond-rating cuts, if continued, could threaten the city with insolvency and even bankruptcy – a trajectory parallel to the one suffered by the troubled city of Detroit, which filed for bankruptcy in 2013. Opponents agreed that Chicago could be headed towards a fiscal cliff, but they expressed the fear that the significant property taxes that could be imposed by the city as part of the SB 1922 pension package could drive productive residents out of the city and lead to the same result by a different path. The House vote on SB 1922 was 73-41-1. Signature by Gov. Quinn on Monday, June 9 made this measure Public Act 98-641. The bill was signed on the afternoon of the last possible day allowed by the state Constitution.

With the conclusion of the spring legislative session, lawmakers are back in their home districts for the summer. Please feel free to contact me by phone at (847) 202-6584 or by email at repmorrison54@gmail.com to discuss state-related matters that are important to you. I always appreciate your feedback.