Legislation 2006

The first year of the General Assembly is for substantive legislation, while the second is a budget year. In many budget years, House members have been limited by the Speaker to the number of substantive bills they are allowed to call. This year we are limited to three bills. This does not mean we can only file three bills, but that only three bills will be released from the Rules Committee for further consideration. Because the House is controlled by a Democrat majority, Republicans will not always get their first choice of bills. The Speaker has said that he will not release any single-appropriation bill or any shell bill. With the limitations in mind, I will have to wait until the Veto Session or possibly our next legislative session to call some of the bills that I have worked on and filed this year. As for this session, I will only be able to work on passing three pieces of legislation that fit the Speaker's criteria.

One of the three bills I am working on is HJRCA 0024, Legislative Redistricting, which would amend the redistricting provision of the Illinois Constitution. The legislature is required by the Illinois Constitution to draw a new map every ten years to reflect population shifts. In Illinois , we have a ridiculous system that wastes too much time and money. As per the Constitution, the legislative body is charged with the duty of drawing the map. If the legislature does not agree on a map by a certain date, a committee of four Democrats and four Republicans is formed. It is their job to hold hearings across Illinois and listen to testimony on the various maps that have been submitted in order to reach a consensus. If the committee cannot compromise on a map by the set date, then a new member, essentially a tiebreaker for one party, is added to the commission by drawing a name from a hat. Needless to say, we are the only State that redistricts by selecting a name from a hat. During the entire process attorneys for each side challenge the map of the other party. Many States draw their maps by using a computerized program. My bill, HJRCA 0024, will mandate our map be drawn by computer if the legislature cannot agree on a map by a set deadline. The bill authorizes the State Board of Elections to use a computer program to create a map. In my opinion, this will force legislators to work together to fashion a map that serves the people of Illinois rather than run the risk of a computer-generated map, which leaves no room for human input. I believe this will save precious time and money for the State.

The second piece of legislation I am working on, HB 4357, contains clean up language for the Grandparent Visitation bill. Two years ago, we were the only state without a Grandparent Visitation Statue because the prior statute had been found unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court. The lawyer who worked to have the law overturned believed that we should have a statue, but that the standard needed to be changed. I worked with him to fashion legislation to change the standard to a presumption that a fit parent will make the best decisions for their children, but that if there is an unreasonable denial of visitation, a grandparent has standing to petition the court. The grandparent must prove that a denial of visitation would cause emotional, physical or mental harm to the child. A grandparent can only petition if one parent is deceased, incarcerated or deemed incompetent or a divorce or custody proceeding is underway. I successfully passed this bill into law two years ago, but because this is such an important issue, I am always working to improve the law. Family law attorneys who have worked on these types of cases have said that we need some additional clarification. This bill will help to define terms throughout the law including limiting the definition of a “sibling” to mean the sibling of the child and the “venue” to mean the county in which the child resides. We are also looking at additional circumstances for a grandparent to file for visitation. This bill will codify what actually works in practical day-to-day situations.

My third bill, HB 4258, deals with energy. Since we have so many separate bills filed concerning energy efficiency issues, I thought it was important to look closely at all energy-related issues and set goals for Illinois . We need to know what will work in Illinois and what we can afford. HB 4258 creates a task force to look at systemwide reliability, the reduction of peak demand through energy efficiency, the improvement of access to energy options for under-served customers, and the reduction of negative environmental impacts caused by energy production and use. This bill was modeled on a New York Statute, which has generated several billion dollars in capital investments as well as lead to savings for costumers, improved efficiency and created jobs.

As always, please feel free to contact me directly should you have any questions or comments about this or any other issue: (630) 466-9791.