McHenry Times

From Prairie State Wire

Morrison bill would raise the age for buying tobacco products to 21

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

The legal age for purchasing a pack of cigarettes statewide could soon change if Senate Bill 2332 becomes law.

From DuPage Policy Journal

Dems' lowest bidder small business bill fails

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

A lowest-bidder for small business bill failed by four votes at the April 27 House floor debate.

From Prairie State Wire

Ford pulls 'Homeless Bill of Rights' after opponents question bill's mandates

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

A proposed Homeless Bill of Rights was shot down in the House because of the many mandates it would impose on local government.

From Prairie State Wire

Security issues help sink Welch bill on releasing sales tax data

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

A Democrat-sponsored bill that would allow the state to release a business' confidential sales tax data was rejected by the House last week.

From Prairie State Wire

Spain proposal would consolidate police, fire pension funds

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Declining asset to accountability ratios, employer contributions and skyrocketing unfunded liability could be alleviated by consolidating downstate police and firefighter pension funds, according to Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria).

From Kane County Reporter

Legislation regarding preschool absenteeism sparks House debate

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Yelling echoed in the House chamber during floor debate of HB5771, which would allow for the collection and review of chronic absence data in state block grant funded preschools.

From DuPage Policy Journal

After more than four hours of debate, House passes bills covering education, water systems, voter data

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Creating and altering bills on education, public and private water systems, and election data privacy drove the April 19 House floor debate into hours of discussion.

From Lake County Gazette

Clock is ticking on federal funds for Quincy Veterans Home, McSweeney says

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) insisted Gov. Bruce Rauner contact President Donald Trump about $265 million in funding to build new facilities and renovate older ones at the Quincy Veterans Home.

From Metro East Sun

House panel's GOP members question the rush to split SIU campuses

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Four GOP members of the House Higher Education Committee wanted to know why Democrats are trying to split the Southern Illinois University (SIU) campuses.

Reick issues rebuke on short debate rules after House backs referendum on dissolving road districts

By Angela Underwood | Apr 24, 2018

House approval of a bill that would allow voters to decide whether to dissolve a taxing district after a short debate in the chamber is not acceptable to Rep. Steven Reick (R-Woodstock).

Althoff has a six for six day on Senate bills

By Angela Underwood | Apr 24, 2018

Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-McHenry) was beyond busy during Senate floor debate April 17, during which time she stood almost as long as she sat during the two-hour debate which saw the Senate approve six pieces of legislation she sponsored.

From Prairie State Wire

Wheeler makes plea for change in Sex Offender Registry law

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Rep. Barbara Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake) wasn't afraid to let her feelings show at the April 17 House Judiciary Criminal Committee hearing on HB816, which would amend the Sex Offender Registry statue to allow judges to use their discretion to add the name of a person convicted of sexually motivated battery to a statewide registry.

From Prairie State Wire

GOP lawmakers love the idea of transparency, but question statewide pension hearing broadcast proposal

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Broadcasting retirement system or pension fund hearings in real time and archiving the recorded video on a website for public access is a great idea, but not necessarily feasible to some GOP lawmakers.

From Prairie State Wire

Serious questions about skirting federal law fails to derail Excellence Fund legislation in House

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

HB4237, sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) to alter the Illinois Excellence Fund, would seemingly undermine the $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions placed on charitable contributions by the federal government and hamper private scholarship funding donations, according to some GOP lawmakers.

From DuPage Policy Journal

Curran withstands ribbing from both sides of the aisle during debate of his first bill

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) proved he could stand with the best of them.

From DuPage Policy Journal

Nybo speaks out against bipartisan Marketplace Fairness Act measure

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Going against some of his GOP peers, Sen. Chris Nybo (R-Lombard) spoke up against bipartisan-sponsored legislation.

From Prairie State Wire

McConchie says SB 2670 would put property tax power back in public's hands

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Senate Bill 2670 will provide Illinois residents with the power to help control their property taxes, according to state Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorne Woods).

From Prairie State Wire

GOP Senators say enough is enough with graduated income tax proposal

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Seven Republicans took the podium at an impromptu press conference to reject yet another Democrat imposed tax hike.

From DuPage Policy Journal

House backs disconnection measure called unneeded, seen as special deal for one suburb

By Angela Underwood | 6 years ago

Fixing what is not broken for one taxing district is just special Democratic-sponsored legislation in the eyes of three GOP state representatives.

Senate Women's Caucus announces support for Equal Rights Amendment, which passes chamber

By Angela Underwood | Apr 13, 2018

They said the mean business, and they do. After announcing the Senate Women’s Caucus in November, Springfield’s top female leaders took the podium Wednesday to announce their support for the federal Equal Rights Amendment, a fitting move to prove their partnership is serious.