April 26, 2012

On Thursday, April 26, the Illinois Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 3688, a bill that extends the Illinois Enterprise Zone program.  Since its inception the program has been credited with employment growth and aiding in economic development.  

“We have contended for many years that Illinois has one of the best economic tools in enterprise zones, and this Senate vote shows legislators agree,” said Mark Denzler, vice president and chief operating officer for the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “Now we call on the House to quickly take up this issue and see that if we’re serious about rebuilding this state and creating jobs, we will embrace these commonsense reforms and take enterprise zones to the next level.”

The bipartisan Special Senate Committee on Enterprise Zone extensions, co-chaired by Senators Pamela Althoff (R-Crystal Lake) and Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign) held statewide hearings earlier in April to gather testimony about the effectiveness of the zones.  The legislation now heads to the House.

“Enterprise zones provide the path to success that we all want to see in our economy,” said Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-Crystal Lake). “After an extensive, bipartisan effort to hear from Illinoisans about the value of these zones, we can proudly say this bill is the right approach for our state and we encourage the House to take this up right away.”

April 26, 2012

The state’s workers’ compensation system was the focus of a recent audit that highlighted “shortcomings” in the structure and operation of Illinois’ workers’ compensation system for state employees.

The audit of the workers’ compensation system identified “extensive problems” with the three agencies involved in handling state workers’ compensation issues—which include Central Management Services (CMS), the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) and the Attorney General’s office. The audit notes the “problems have led to a program that is ill designed to protect the State’s best interests as it relates to processing and adjudicating workers’ compensation claims for state employees.”

The Legislature requested the audit of the workers’ compensation system following a media investigation by the Belleville News-Democrat, which uncovered evidence employees at Illinois’ Menard Correctional Center were taking advantage of the state’s workers’ compensation system to receive high-dollar payouts for injuries they said were caused by turning keys and operating cell-locking mechanisms.

The audit suggests that flaws in the state’s workers’ compensation system have contributed to incidents of fraud and abuse of the system, and situations where awards were given to claimants without being thoroughly reviewed.

April 26, 2012

Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka’s office recently released its quarterly report, which noted that despite the additional revenues from the Democrat’s 2011 tax increases, the state’s fiscal concerns persist.

In fact, according to the report “the bill backlog has increased in the most recent quarter, and payment delays are expected to persist for the foreseeable future.” The Comptroller’s Office is reporting the backlog of bills on hand totals more than $5.5 billion; however, the report stressed that number only includes submitted requests for payment. When including bills that are being held by state agencies, including an estimated $2 billion in Medicaid bills pending at the Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services, the estimated backlog jumps to more than $9 billion.

Though tax revenues are up significantly, the Comptroller says that Illinois is “essentially treading water,” noting that the outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year will depend in large part on the spending decisions made by the Legislature and state agencies.

August 26, 2012

Following several months of public hearings on Governor Quinn’s proposed closure of 10 correctional facilities, transitional centers and juvenile justice centers, as well as four state mental health and developmental centers, on Tuesday, May 1 the bicameral Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) will be issuing its recommendation on several of the proposed closures

The opinion issued by COGFA members is purely advisory; however, the Governor Is expected to take the recommendations into consideration when deciding the fate of the facilities.

State Sen. John O. Jones (R-Mt. Vernon), whose district is home to Warren G. Murray Developmental Center, stressed the important impact the facility has on the surrounding community.

“Two months have passed since this process started and ever since that moment, workers and families of the Murray Center, community leaders, and the entire region have come together to look out for the 275 residents that call  Murray home,” Jones said. “Everyone involved has been saying one concise message, ‘don’t close the Murray Center,’ and last Friday that message was heard by legislators and the media. CoGFA will hopefully deliver a favorable opinion that will protect the residents and the economic livelihood of Centralia and the surround counties. We have to be cautious because this opinion is only advisory, but CoGFA has a pretty good track record.”

TheCOGFA hearing will begin at 10 in Room 400 of the Illinois Statehouse. Commission members will be voting on the proposed closures of Tamms Correctional Center, Dwight Correctional Center, Illinois Youth Center at Joliet, Westside Adult Transition Center, Peoria Adult Transition Center, Warren G. Murray Developmental Center and the Skokie DCFS Offic