Illinois Policy Action’s legislative agenda focuses on education, pensions, health care and more

Yesterday marked Illinois lawmakers’ deadline to introduce bills for this spring’s legislative session. Our government affairs team was down in Springfield, finalizing Illinois Policy Action’s 2014 legislative agenda. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the major legislative initiatives we’ll be pushing this session: Pension reform State Rep. Ron Sandack has introduced a bill that...

Yesterday marked Illinois lawmakers’ deadline to introduce bills for this spring’s legislative session. Our government affairs team was down in Springfield, finalizing Illinois Policy Action’s 2014 legislative agenda. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the major legislative initiatives we’ll be pushing this session:

Pension reform

• State Rep. Ron Sandack has introduced a bill that transitions the General Assembly Retirement System, or GARS, to a self-managed, 401(k)-style plan. Fifty-eight percent of the growth in Illinois’ unfunded pension liabilities from 1996-2012 was due to inherent flaws in the status quo, defined benefit pension systems. Consequently, GARS is only 17 percent funded.

• It would be unfair to force taxpayers to bail out a broken pension system that allows part-time lawmakers to retire a decade or more private-sector workers can. Sandack’s legislation would modernize the retirement system for members of Illinois’ General Assembly by giving participants a secure retirement they own and control, without coming at the expense of taxpayers.

Budget Solutions 2015 and education reform

• Every year, the state of Illinois distributes billions of dollars in education funding to school districts through its General State Aid, or GSA, budget. To determine how much funding a district receives, the state looks at how much property wealth a school district has within its borders and applies an assumed property tax rate to it to see how much property tax revenue is generated per student. Depending solely on that indiscriminate amount, the state provides varying levels of additional funding to the school district.

• State Rep. Joe Sosnowski has introduced a bill that would significantly help in putting the GSA budget on the right track – providing education funding to the neediest districts in the state. Moreover, we’ve estimated that his bill could save Illinois approximately $224 million per year; this is money that could be put back into the GSA budget, used to shore up pensions … or be returned to taxpayers.

Health-care reform

• Under ObamaCare, individuals and small businesses will begin purchasing private insurance from state-based health insurance exchanges in all 50 states beginning on Oct. 1. To facilitate the exchange of information between the states, insurers and consumers, the federal government is building a “Data Hub.” Unfortunately, a government audit of the Hub recently found that the security controls necessary to protect confidentiality have not been met.

• State Rep. Patti Bellock and state Sen. Dave Syverson have each introduced legislation that creates uniform registration and reporting procedures for health care insurance navigators, in-person assisters and certified application counselors in Illinois. If passed, this bill would homogeneously subject employees and volunteers of certified application counselor organizations to Illinois’ state standards, as defined by federal regulations.

Labor reform

• State Rep. Jeanne Ives and state Sen. Kyle McCarter have introduced legislation that amends Illinois’ Public Labor Relations Act and Educational Labor Relations Act to allow for public distribution and comment on tentative union contracts.

• If passed, this legislation would require a government body or school system to post any tentative agreement with a union on its website. Once the contract has been posted for at least 14 days, the governing body would be required to hold a public hearing, only after which it could vote to ratify the contract.

• This legislation makes sure that taxpayers have the opportunity to review a contract before its i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. Public review of contracts, prior to ratification, minimizes the risk of a contract imposing unbearable or excessive economic terms on local government.

Good government

• State Rep. Ed Sullivan plans to reintroduce a local government transparency bill that we championed last session. This legislation requires units of local government with annual budgets of $1 million or more to maintain a website and post up-to-date information that should be easily accessible to residents.

• An Illinois Policy Institute staple, this initiative promotes accountability, fights corruption and increases public trust in government. Online transparency increases opportunities for public engagement and improves the political decision-making process. After all, taxpayers have the right to know how their hard-earned dollars are being spent.

Progressive tax hike opposition

• Illinois Policy Action is fighting tirelessly to prevent a constitutional amendment for a progressive tax hike from appearing on the ballot on Nov. 4. State Rep. Dave McSweeney and state Sen. Matt Murphy continue to champion our resolutions in the House and Senate, spreading the word that a progressive tax hike would hurt middle-class Illinoisans.

We’ll be sharing more with you in the coming weeks. Both chambers will be in session next week, starting on Tuesday.