Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Salaries and benefits of up to $80,000 per commissioner may be nearing an end.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, March 12
Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Deb Conroy (D-46th, Elmhurst) to eliminate the salaries and benefits of DuPage Forest District commissioners and chairman won the approval of a key House committee last week. The House Counties and Townships Committee approved House Bill 2377 with a 3-2 vote. The bill will head to the full House for consideration. Who are the DuPage County Forest District commissioners? The proposal eliminates the salaries and pension, dental and medical benefits given to the Forest Preserve’s chairman and six commissioners. In DuPage County, commissioners meet once a week and receive a base salary of $53,500. With benefits, each commissioner costs the taxpayers up to $80,709.50. Forest district commissioners in …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) introduced legislation Friday that would prohibit teens 17 and younger from tanning in sunless tanning beds.
New legislation introduced Friday would prohibit all Illinois minors from using sunless tanning beds. Senate Bill 2244, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), would ban Illinois minors age 17 and younger from sunless tanning. Currently, minors ages 14 to 17 are allowed to tan if they provide a parent's signature. Radogno said in a press release that lawmakers need to take more serious action to prevent the "potentially deadly effects" of tanning. “Just as we don’t give children the option to smoke, they shouldn’t be allowed to tan indoors—which medical studies show is a dangerous, and even deadly, practice,” Radogno said in a statement. “The light from indoor tanning beds is considered a Class 1 carcinogen, and …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
See how the state senators who represent Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and Burr Ridge voted on the Illinois Senate's same-sex marriage bill.
The Illinois Senate approved legislation Thursday that would allow same-sex marriage in Illinois, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Senate voted 34-21. The bill provides "equal opportunity for the same federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples that are currently awarded to other couples," according to a release from Illinois Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant. Here's how Bolingbrook's state senators voted: See how each member of the Illinois Senate voted. The measure will now go to the Illinois House, where the fight to pass the bill is expected to be tougher, according to the Trib. Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. Bertino-Tarrant had this comment: "I believe in equal protection under the …
Monday, January 28, 2013
Despite 2011's 67 percent state income tax hike — which took a week's pay away from you — the state's financial problems have worsened.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
The next step might mean the state's credit rating is downgraded.
With the Illinois General Assembly failing to act on pension reform earlier this week, the State of Illinois’ bond rating took a hit on Friday as Fitch Ratings put Illinois’ bond obligations on negative watch. The next step could mean Fitch's downgrading of Illinois' credit rating, which would only add to the state’s financial woes. “The Rating Watch Negative reflects the ongoing inability of the state to address its large and growing unfunded pension liability, most recently through the failure to pass pension reform in the 'lame duck' portion of the 97th general assembly legislature that ended on Jan. 8,” Fitch Ratings said in a news release Friday. Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford reacted Friday to the negative watch announcement…
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno cited the Hinsdale senator's "unique perspective and institutional knowledge" in making her appointment.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) will serve as the assistant Senate Republican leader during the new session of the Illinois General Assembly, according to a release from Dillard's office. The 24th District senator, who said after his November re-election that he's mulling a second run for governor in 2014, was asked to be part of Republican leadership by Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), who cited Dillard's years as chief of staff to Gov. Jim Edgar and director of legislative affairs for Gov. James Thompson. “These experiences provide him with the unique perspective and institutional knowledge that will be invaluable to our caucus in the coming years,” Radogno said. “I know Kirk’s ability to work with our …
No determination of when the 10-judge panel will decide whether to look at last year's decision.
Illinois' attorney general Lisa Madigan has asked the entire 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to review a December ruling that overturned the state's ban on the concealed carry of handguns in public. The Chicago Tribune reports that the move is aimed at challenging the decision by a three-judge panel of the court, which ruled 2-1 that the state's longtime ban violated the Second Amendment. If the court accepts the petition, the case would be reviewed by all 10 appellate judges. If the court rejects the petition, Madigan would have to decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "In ruling that Illinois must allow individuals to carry ready-to-use firearms in public, the 7th Circuit Court’s decision goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme …
CountyLeaks
2:42 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Here's some interesting information involving the Forest Preserve: http://wheaton.patch.com/blog_posts/smoked-out-dupage-county-board-chairman-dan-cronins-pick-chris-hage-all-pork-no-bean-counter-fundraiser more ›