Blagojevich and Topinka spar over stalled budget - Kurt Erickson

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Rod Blagojevich says “baloney” to the notion that his scant presence in the Capitol over the past several weeks has led to an impasse over the State of Illinois budget.

Responding to Republican gubernatorial opponent Judy Baar Topinka’s claims that he has become an “absentee governor,” Blagojevich said Tuesday there is nothing wrong with lawmakers taking longer than expected to work out the state’s spending plan.

“We are making decisions on $55 billion of the people’s hard-earned money,” he said. “We ought to make sure we do it right.”

Blagojevich’s comments came as Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, announced the Senate was taking a two-week break to give negotiators time to continue working on the spending plan while also allowing lawmakers to observe Passover and Easter.

The House and Senate originally had hoped to have a budget adopted by April 7. But Democratic leaders said Blagojevich asked for too much new spending in his budget proposal and are attempting to whittle it down by anywhere from $200 million to $800 million.

A four-hour meeting between the governor and Democratic leaders resulted in some forward progress Tuesday, but no final agreement was announced.

“We’re moving slowly,” Jones said. “We’ll get it together.”

Blagojevich blames the delays on Republicans. Topinka blames it on Blagojevich’s management style. She called on her opponent to use his campaign funds to pay for the cost of missing the April 7 legislative adjournment date. She put the price tag at $21,000 per day, which is the amount lawmakers earn for daily expenses while they are in Springfield.

“The public expects the governor of this state to show up to work in Springfield,” she said.

Blagojevich responded by saying, “It’s a bunch of baloney.”

The Chicago Democrat added that there is a bright side to not having the budget resolved: It gives negotiators more time to put together a long-sought construction spending bill that has been blocked for three years.

“Frankly, the fact that we are going to hopefully have a little more time gives us a chance to press that capital bill,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, positioned a $500 million school construction plan to be voted on in the House in the coming days.

The plan would funnel $149 million to 24 school districts that have been awaiting state assistance for at least three years while providing the remaining $351 million for new school construction projects.

However, the proposal does not address Republican concerns about how the program will be funded.

Even if the measure were approved in the House, it faces a rough go in the Senate. Just last week Republicans blocked a similar measure.

“My sense is that it would probably face the same fate,” Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, said. “To look at new programs without additional revenue is inappropriate.”

Illegals in Rockford now registering for entitlements - E.J. Pagel 

Candidates asking, `Can Laura come?'  Some Republicans find it politic to avoid appearances with president - Jeff Zeleny and Rick Pearson

 

DIERSEN HEADLINE: Sneed reports that Bush will headline a Topinka fundraising event, Topinka hires fundraiser Lori Montana, Patrick Ryan might raise funds for Topinka, Meeks meets with Cardinal Francis George, Cheney booed 

Sandwiched in between road fund requests and water surveys, some township residents tackled a new topic this week: the war in Iraq.

Several anti-war groups presented petitions at annual township meetings to hold an advisory referendum to pull troops out of Iraq.

In several townships, including Geneva, Aurora and Downers Grove, the issue will be on the November ballot.

“This is a question for the people,” said Siobhan Kolar, a member of the Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice group. “We’re spending trillions of dollars in Iraq and over 2,000 people have died.”

Representatives from the loosely organized Illinois Coalition for Peace and Justice placed questions on the ballots of eight out of 21 townships whose meetings they attended in Kane, DuPage, Cook and DeKalb counties on Tuesday night, according to organizers.

Critics said townships were the wrong place for people to bring national concerns.

“It trivializes what townships do,” said Brad Hahn, a spokesman for U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert. “It’s extremely disappointing that it’s being manipulated for a partisan purpose.”

Activists in several townships got a chilly reception. In some, including Lisle Township, the item wasn’t even put on the agenda, said DuPage Against War Now co-founder Kathy Slovick.

In Milton Township, where the measure was voted down, resident David DeMotte told group members their efforts were dishonorable.

“Don’t try to come in here and take over a meeting,” he said to boos from group members.

Under state statute, township residents can ask for an issue of public policy to be put to an advisory referendum at townships’ annual meetings, which were on Tuesday. If a majority of residents at that meeting vote for it, it is the township’s responsibility to put it on the ballot.

Slovick said it was part of the democratic process to have a vote.

“This is part and parcel of giving people a voice,” she said. “Ideally, this is one of the purest examples of grass-roots democracy.”

Last week, 24 of 32 Wisconsin towns that had a similar advisory referendum on the ballot passed the question to withdraw troops. The referendums are nonbinding.

Both Kane and DuPage groups said they were looking into putting a countywide advisory referendum on the November ballot with the same question, which would ask if people thought the United States should immediately begin an “orderly and rapid” withdrawal” of troops from Iraq.

“We have to look into that,” Slovick said. “Believe me, we have not exhausted our options.”

State records refute governor's statements concerning tax caps - John Patterson

(Not posted as of 5:00 AM)

Indiana’s signing of a contract Wednesday to lease Interstate 90 across the northern part of the state to a foreign investment firm is similar to a cash-generating deal that Illinois lawmakers are now contemplating.

Indiana will net $3.8 billion for leasing the state’s 157-mile toll road for 75 years to Cintra-Macquarie, a Spanish-Australian consortium that also recently leased Chicago’s Skyway bridge last year for $1.8 billion.

Illinois state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, an Evanston Democrat, wants a similar deal for the 274-mile state tollway system or at least parts it. Other suburban lawmakers said the idea is something to look into, especially as the state continues to swim in billions of dollars of debt.

Lawmakers are currently entertaining bids from investment companies to come up with an estimation of how much the state could reap from such a deal, which still faces political hurdles and remains at least months away.

While a rare move in the U.S., it is a popular trend in European countries. However, such leases do draw critics who fear handing over vital infrastructure to private companies that make profits from increasing tolls.

Opponents of the deal in Indiana are now turning to the courts for action after having lost a battle in the state legislature. Within hours of the lease signing two lawsuits were filed by opponents hoping to stop the deal.

Indiana leaders said they hope to officially transfer the toll highway, which runs along the top of the state, to the private consortium by June 30.

Indiana lawmakers plan to use the $3.8 billion to pay for hundreds of transportation projects. The new toll road owners will be able to raise tolls by about 2 percent every year after 2009.

For Illinois, a cautionary tale from nearby Indiana - Editorial

http://www.dailyherald.com/opinion/index.asp

As Illinois contemplates the option of leasing its tollways for a large infusion of cash, state officials have the unusual benefit of observing how a neighboring state handles the matter — and that example is generating some reasons for caution.

Indiana, at the urging of Gov. Mitch Daniels, has just signed off on a deal to lease its tollway, which runs east-and-west across the northern portion of the state, to an Australian–Spanish consortium.

This occurs in the same week that the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, an arm of the General Assembly, has voted to seek proposals from financial experts about how much revenue the state might bring in by leasing its tollway system.

That’s a logical step if Illinois lawmakers are going to consider a lease at all. But the income part of a equation is not the only factor to consider. Controversies surrounding the Hoosier state’s deal should show Illinois legislators that many other factors must be weighed.

Just hours after Indiana signed its lease deal this week — a 75-year-lease bringing $3.85 billion to the state — a citizens’ group filed a lawsuit to block the deal. The group claims, specifically, that the lease terms are unconstitutional, because Indiana’s constitution require that proceeds from any state-owned asset be used to pay down public debt. Daniels and Indiana’s Republican-controlled legislature intend to apply some of the lease revenue to new highway construction, including the extension of an Interstate route from Indianapolis to Evansville.

How the courts settle Indiana’s constitutional questions may matter little to Illinois officials, but critics of the Indiana deal raise two other complaints that Illinois authorities certainly should heed if they opt to go down this path.

One assertion from lease opponents in Indiana is that is that the consortium would recoup its investment in only 15 years, leaving it 60 years to reap windfall profits that will not benefit Indiana residents in any regard. Advocates of the lease dispute this analysis, but Illinois certainly would want to be dead certain that it did not, in its eagerness for immediate revenue, end up giving the lessee overly generous terms that sell short the value of the tollways to Illinois and its residents.

One other element of the Indiana deal that is troubling on its face is the 75-year length of the lease. Chicago’s lease of the Skyway runs even longer — 99 years. It is very hard to believe that a government entity could agree to contracts of that duration with any reasonable degree of confidence that terms deemed logical and favorable in 2006 will remain so after three-quarters of a century or more.

None of this is to say that Illinois should bring its inquiries to a screeching halt before they even get started. It is to say, quite clearly though, that this idea should be explored only with some real wariness and an eye toward every possible long-term consequence, intended or otherwise.

Wheaton Warrenville Dist. 200 shows off benefits of new Hubble  Board’s architectural firm looks to counter claims that rehabbed school would be better - James Fuller

http://www.dailyherald.com/news/dupagestory.asp?id=177387

Attending a Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 school board meeting lately is a bit like watching a couple dance when both people are trying to lead.

The citizen-led Educate 200 Foundation gets up, spends a few minutes informing the community of their latest efforts to show how the current Hubble Middle School could be rebuilt or remodeled if using the current site becomes necessary.

Then the school board or district staff spend quite a bit more time reaffirming why they think moving the school to the southwest portion of the district is the right step.

Recently, Educate 200 hosted a presentation with architects showing how the current Hubble Middle School site could be used for a middle school with the bells and whistles of a scaled-down York High School. It was a symbolic dip, perhaps wooing some voters watching the Hubble process.

District 200 strutted out their own architect Wednesday night to pirouette the public back into the district’s vision for a new Hubble in southwest part of the district.

A representative from the district’s contracted firm, Legat Architects, showed how they could tailor-build a middle school around the way Hubble teachers and staff plan on presenting subjects to students.

Flexibility of classrooms is key, as are a team-approach to teaching and plenty of physical space that can grow even as the students themselves do. In the end, the biggest selling point was a message hammered-home that building a new school would be cheaper than retrofitting the current Hubble with all the upgraded health and safety equipment now mandated.

In fact, the district estimates it would cost about $10 million more to remodel the current Hubble, rather than build new.

“It really backs up the concept that a new school is what we need in the 21st century,” said school board member Joann Coghill after viewing the presentation.

After the meeting, Educate 200 member Joseph Mahady said his group still believes utilizing the current Hubble site will ultimately prove cheaper.

Mahady encouraged the school board to pursue a Hubble solution independent of any other governments at the meeting.

He referenced the failure of negotiating with the DuPage Forest Preserve District for land and Wheaton’s recent decision to pump most of its available tax increment incentive money for a parking garage and retail/office building as reasons not to count on any outside financial help.

(NOTE: To earn enough money for pay tuition at the University of Illinois in Chicago and to buy a new car to commute there, your GOPUSA Illinois editor washed dishes in the basement of the S.S. Kresges in Chicago Heights during his junior and senior years at Crete-Monee High School.) 

So, who did all this work in years past? -  Clifford Salzmann

If it is true that Mexicans do jobs Americans won’t do, who did them before Mexicans did?

NAPERVILLE SUN

Traffic congestion among DuPage residents' concerns - Kathy Cichon
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/news/n13county.htm

DOWNERS GROVE — If DuPage officials want to know what residents believe to be the key issues facing the county in the next 10 years, all they have to do is read the writing on the wall.

During the first of six community meetings Wednesday, slightly more than a dozen residents wrote on notes the issues that need to be addressed. They then stuck the notes to the wall of Lakeview Junior High School's gym. After that, it was time to prioritize.

Traffic congestion, fiscal issues and growth management were the top three areas the county should be looking at as it plans for the future, residents agreed during the strategic planning meeting.

County Board member Kyle Gilgis, R-Downers Grove, said she wasn't surprised by what residents singled out.

"Those were the three things I talked about," she said of her meeting with the consultants. "No shocks. "

Five more meetings are scheduled — one in each district — for residents to offer their input.

"Without your doing it, we don't have any ideas to work with," said Bob Gleeson, director of the Northern Illinois University Regional Development Institute, the county's consultant for the project.

Darien resident Liane Raso said she came to the meeting because she wanted to feel like she was part of the governmental process. Among the areas for which she expressed concerns was growth.

"We're losing our open spaces," Raso said. "Everything's being developed. There's too much development."

In December, the County Board formally kicked off its strategic planning process. Since then the consultants have met with county officials and department heads, and they are in the process of conducting public meetings and focus groups. All the information gathered will be pulled together in a summary that will be presented to the County Board by the end of May. Officials will spend the summer reviewing drafts of the document, including key issues and goals, before formally adopting a strategic plan.

"In time for this fall's budget," Gleeson said.

When County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, R-Naperville, announced the 2006 budget in October, he also said he wanted the county to develop a strategic plan that would serve as a guide for officials as they consider future programs and expenses.

The five remaining community meetings are as follows:

• 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wayne Township Hall, 27W031 North Ave., West Chicago.

• 7 p.m. April 25, York High School, Large Study Hall, 355 W. St. Charles Road, Elmhurst.

• 7 p.m. April 26, Naperville Central High School, 440 W. Aurora Ave., Naperville.

• 7 p.m. April 27, DuPage County Auditorium, Jack T. Knuepfer Building, 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton.

• 10 a.m. April 29, Addison Village Hall, Room 1301, 1 Friendship Plaza, Addison. 

LIBERTY SUBURBAN NEWS

Gwen Henry thanks her supporters

http://www.libertysuburban.com/story.php?pub=1&sid=44889

I want to take this opportunity to thank the voters of DuPage County for their support in the March 21 Republican primary for DuPage County treasurer. If elected in November, we will set our standards high, ensure that taxpayer funds are being properly invested and utilized, and work to provide excellence in the delivery of services. My agenda will include creating a Department of Senior Affairs that will safeguard the financial interests of the senior community as well as appointing a senior liaison who will provide information to seniors about available financial services.

I also plan to establish the first ever DuPage County Treasurer's Advisory Committee on Finance and Investment, a committee designed to utilize the expertise of community leaders with a background in banking, finance, business and community leadership. This innovative panel will ensure that our tax dollars are properly safeguarded and handled with care.

All too often, after the campaign is completed, the victors set aside their campaign promises in favor of political expediency. That unfortunate reality will be unacceptable under my leadership.

Here in DuPage County, we, the residents, the people who pay the bills, expect professional, experienced, independent leadership, and these are the qualities I will bring to the office of DuPage County treasurer. Thank you for your support in the March 21 primary election, and I ask for your vote in November.

I look forward to the opportunity of serving you.

Immigration is a local issue - Editorial

http://www.libertysuburban.com/story.php?pub=1&sid=45199

There have been two large rallies over the past month in front of the Batavia office of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-14th District, calling for citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. But beyond this, residents throughout the area may question how local of an issue immigration really is.

National estimates of illegal aliens in the country are about 11 million people. They are not all hiding in the outback of Texas or working the fields in southern California; they are here among us, right now. While West Chicago, Aurora and Elgin, which have some of the largest Hispanic population centers outside of Chicago, all areas are finding a growing Hispanic population..

It is difficult to imagine a day iwithout recently-arrived Hispanic immigrants, legal or otherwise. The immigrants have become part of our community fabric, albeit behind the scenes most of the time. We see truck loads of Hispanic workers tending to landscaping around businesses and in upscale local neighborhoods. Most of us will have our tables cleared by Hispanics if we decide to eat at a restaurant in town. They work the low-paying, low-skill jobs in restaurants, offices and factories all through the area.

Even at Press-Republican Newspaper's office, it is Hispanic immigrant workers who tidy our office at night, care for the grass and flowers outside our office windows, and who deliver our newspapers in West Chicago, Warrenville, Winfield, Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles each Thursday. Hispanic immigrants working these low-paying, menial jobs are not unlike most Americans' first generation immigrant family members who preceded them here. These are the jobs most Americans really don't want, and have been passed on to immigrant workers for the last 200 years.

Today people talk about the "Mexicans" (which includes Hispanic immigrants from numerous Latin American countries), but before them people in this country looked down on each wave of immigrants -- the Poles, Italians, Irish, Germans and Chinese. The American Indians probably felt the same way about the first white English settlers here in the 1600s, as many white Americans do today about the "Mexican" immigrants. America truly is a melting pot, it just takes time for all the new ingredients to blend in.

However, the immigrants must also realize following Sept. 11, 2001, Americans want to be assured this nation is safe, and that means having secure borders. If 11 million people can illegally get into this country over our porous borders, what is to stop someone who dislikes Americans from bringing in a nuclear weapon or viles of anthrax using these same routes? It's a valid question.

Illegal immigrants must also realize this is a nation of laws, and when people violate the law there are consequences.

Being a country of immigrants, it would be hypocritical to put a stop to immigration. But the issue before Congress is not whether to stop immigration, but whether to reward 11 million people who violated our immigration laws.

For the past 200 years America has taken in the tired, hungry, huddled masses yearning to be free, but only two simple things are asked in return from immigrants -- follow our laws and learn English.

An Illinois Republican leader insisted Tuesday that the party's anonymous,
automated phone campaign assailing Democratic legislators was about policy, not
politics, and so isn't covered by a law prohibiting anonymous political attacks.

But Illinois' attorney general, a Democrat, isn't so sure. Her office is
investigating whether the "robocall" program violated state statutes.

Last week, a few Democratic House members said their constituents were getting
prerecorded phone calls at home, in which a voice would allege that the
legislator was cutting state pensions and veterans' funds. The recording would
implore the listener to tell the legislator to oppose the budget practices of
Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat.

The calls didn't identify who they were from. After initial denials, Republican
House officials last week acknowledged they were behind the phone campaign.
They said the program, which cost "less than $10,000" in party funds, was
designed to put pressure on Democrats to stop backing what Republicans see as
dangerous budget maneuvers by the Blagojevich administration.

Republicans say the administration isn't paying as much toward the state's
debt-ridden pension system as they believe it needs. And they have criticized
Blagojevich's practices of "sweeping" unused money from various special
accounts earmarked for things like veterans services, spending the money
instead in other parts of the budget. The Republicans allege they have been all
but shut out of budget negotiations this year, since the Democrats control both
chambers of the Legislature.

"We're going to see a pension raid again, we're going to see a debt increase
again," House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said at a news conference
Tuesday. "People in the state of Illinois aren't going to hear it from
(Democratic) legislators, and they're going to have to hear it some way, and we
think we're entitled to that kind of advocacy."

The problem, says Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office, is that Illinois
campaign law requires that election campaign ads that target specific
politicians must identify the source of the ads. The calls - whose targets
included Metro East Reps. Dan Beiser, D-Alton, and Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville -
didn't identify who was behind them.

"We have received a complaint. We're reviewing the issue at hand," said Madigan
spokeswoman Melissa Merz. She declined to comment further, citing the pending
investigation.

Cross argued that Illinois' prohibition against anonymous ads is geared toward
election campaign ads, and he insisted that's not what the robocall program
was. Though every House seat is on the ballot this November, Cross noted that
many of the more than 15 legislators targeted in the ads aren't in competitive
races, and that some don't even have Republican opponents. "It was advocacy,
not electioneering," he said.

 

We want to be crystal clear about this.  No Republican has a duty to support a dishonest Democrat like Topinka - any more than they have a duty to support Rod Blagojevich.  To the extent Blagojevich at least has the decency to put a “D” by his name - he’s more honest than Topinka.  A sound case could be made that Blagojevich represents the lesser of two weasels.

Protecting the Illinois Republican brand from further destruction (if that’s possible) is job one.  Topinka does nothing but hurt the Party.  Topinka and Blagojevich are about equally bad.  But Topinka’s bad acts and classless behavior all accrue to the Republican brand and speed its deterioration.

At least we can build the IL GOP with Blagojevich as a foil – at least we could if we had Party leaders in Illinois who knew what they were doing.  Mike Madigan did it when Republicans were in power here, and Republicans did it at the national level when Bill Clinton was President.

Now They Demand Unity

Calling on Republicans to ignore the Governor’s race represents a principled stand.  That’s not the sore loser variety practiced in the past by Topinka & Cronies.  We’re not talking about pouting in the back of the room like fourth-place loser Andy McKenna, Jr. did at the 2002 Unity Breakfast when McKenna even refused to shake hands with Senate nominee Jack Ryan.

We’re not talking about the kind of disunity Topinka practiced when she was already plotting Jack Ryan’s destruction with friends at that same “unity” event.  We’re not talking about resorting to spreading false information about Jack Ryan’s sealed divorce as individuals from the Topinka and McKenna camps did - lies the actual files didn’t contain – just to bitterly undermine a winner.

We also shouldn’t stoop to the level of Topinka, Kjellander, Ray LaHood and others as they worked for years to undermine reform Republicans like Senator Peter Fitzgerald.  We shouldn’t resort to the kind of lies Topinka and Kjellander did in order to remove Gary MacDougal from the post of State Party Chairman in 2002, so that Topinka could be jammed-in.

We also shouldn’t be hypocrites like Sell-Out Joe Birkett who hid silent in the tall grass while his new best friends were destroying so many good conservative Republicans over the years.  We should simply laugh, or maybe it would be better to take pity on Sell-Out Joe as he now emerges as the “unity” enforcer for Topinka and shrieks about the 11^th Commandment like some wild-eyed street preacher.

No, we’re talking about a principled stand here.  We’re talking about not getting fooled again – about being proud Republicans for a change, instead of chumps.  The arguments for “unifying” with Topinka are exactly the same ones we heard for getting behind George Ryan in 1998.

Will anyone really argue that the IL GOP wouldn’t be in better shape today if George Ryan had lost to Glenn Poshard?   Will anyone argue there’s a dime’s worth of difference between George Ryan and Topinka?

In 1998 most Republicans didn’t know the truth.  Now we do.  All the evidence is out there.  What’s incredible is that pretty much the exact same people want to lead our Party over the cliff again.  More disturbing is the number of lemmings still willing to follow.

Supporting Topinka means lying to our friends, family and co-workers, and trying to convince them that Topinka can be trusted to lead our great State.  Obviously Edgar, Birkett and Brady are willing to sell their souls – but no self-respecting Republican should sign-up for this cult again, especially in its final days.

Jim Oberweis showed true leadership in withholding his support of Topinka pending her unification in calling for Bob Kjellander’s resignation as National Committeeman.  There are many other things Topinka needs to do, but that’s an obvious first hurdle.

Rank-and-file Republicans have called for unity on several fronts over the past year.  On the reform issue of removing the double-dealing profiteer Bob Kjellander from State Party Office – Topinka & Cronies refuse to unify.

On returning direct democracy and accountability to the IL GOP by allowing all Illinois Republicans to choose their own senior Party leadership – Topinka & Cronies refuse to unify.

On helping to protect marriage by specifically limiting its definition in the Illinois Constitution to existing only between one man and one woman – Topinka & Cronies refuse to unify.

Notwithstanding Topinka’s nomination or the Brady voters who unwittingly became Topinka enablers – Republicans aren’t chumps.  Four more years of Blagojevich is a huge price to pay for a respectable Republican Party.  But it’s a forgone conclusion now.  Our Old Guard got us here.  All we can do now is witness.  Talk of a third party or independent candidacy is a waste of time at best – and at worst might enable Topinka’s election.

Even as the jury deliberated the fate of their old partner George Ryan – that same old crew fed us his female equivalent.  Our Old Guard is a tick on the Illinois body politic - sucking dry both taxpayers of their dollars and Republicans of their spirit.  They can only be dislodged once and for all by Topinka’s resounding defeat in November.

Think of the message that could be sent if a down-ballot candidate received several hundred thousand more Republican votes than Topinka.  Better yet – how about if the Defense of Marriage Referendum gets a million more “yes” votes than Topinka?

Illinois won’t be able to build a real Republican Party until Topinka & Cronies are gone.  The current mess is their mess.  A slimy brew of greed, dishonesty, incompetence and disdain of Republican principles has left Illinois voters with no real choice at the top of the ticket in November.

But real change is on the horizon and the principled leaders of tomorrow are out there.  It’s the smart Republicans who avoid the latest train wreck who will eventually build an honest and functioning GOP in Illinois.

See you on election night in November as we celebrate the going out of business sale by Topinka & Cronies.

COALITION TO PROTECT ILLINOIS PROPERTY

Bill Protecting Property Owners Wins Committee Approval, Moves to House for Vote Next Week  Municipalities, Owner Advocates Agree on Limits to Eminent Domain Powers

http://media.prnewswire.com/

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Illinois House of Representatives Judiciary-Civil Law Committee today approved a comprehensive overhaul of Illinois' eminent domain law that will limit the power of local governments to seize private homes and businesses, especially when private development deals are involved. The bill, an amended version of SB 3086 which won overwhelming bi-partisan support in the Senate, is the result of intensive negotiations between advocates for private property owners and municipal representatives, including the City of Chicago and the Illinois Municipal League.

"I believe we have addressed any concerns among the municipalities that this bill would impede important economic development or public works projects, while providing meaningful protections that level the playing field between powerful government and private property owners," said Representative John Bradley (D-Marion), House sponsor. The bill now moves to the full House where it is expected to be called next week.

The House amendments to SB 3086 consolidate various existing statutes relating to eminent domain actions. It would

 --  Require municipalities to prove that an area is blighted before
      forcing owners to sell for private development projects;

--  Require government entities to pay relocation costs for displaced
      residents and businesses consistent with the federal Uniform
      Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act in
      all eminent domain actions;

--  Allow a judge to set a valuation date for seized property that ensures
      owners will receive current, fair market value when they are forced to
      sell if the trial commences more than 2 years after the date of
      filing;

--  Require the government to award attorney's fees based on the net
      benefit achieved for the property owner when an owner successfully
      challenges the last written offer from the government, providing the
      owner has made an offer in good faith to settle;

--  Require that government seizure of property for private development
      either have a written agreement with a developer or that it be part of
      an established plan to eliminate blight and that a written agreement
      or deed restriction is in place to ensure that the property is
      ultimately used for said purpose.

The bill applies only to actions commenced on or after the effective date.Municipalities fought for and won language that exempts burden of proof provisions in existing Tax Increment Financing districts where blight has been determined previously and property acquisition plans are already in place or moving forward. However, the legislation would not allow the area of an existing district to be expanded nor the completion date established to be extended.

The Equity in Eminent Domain Act was first introduced by Senator Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) following a decision by the U. S. Supreme Court in Kelo vs. New London affirming virtually unlimited power of local government to seize private property and turn it over to other private interests. States across the U.S. are acting to rollback those powers and restore balance to the exercise of eminent domain."It is crucial that we have clear and transparent laws to protect property owners," said Senator Garrett. "The Supreme Court invited us to act and we have done so by codifying existing state and federal precedents. Now citizens will fully understand what their rights are."Senate Bill 3086, as amended, is supported by the Illinois Association of REALTORS(R), the Home Builders Association of Illinois, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Illinois Farm Bureau, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association; the Outdoor Advertising Association of Illinois, CBS Outdoor Advertising, AFL-CIO, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Illinois Property Tax Lawyers Association, the Alliance for Responsible Taxation, the Mobile Home Owners Association of Illinois, and the Lawndale Business and Local Development Corporation.

REPUBLICANS FOR FAIR MEDIA

Al Capone's only mistake? He should have been an illegal immigrant! - Daniel T. Zanoza