House Republican Plan to Reform Illinois

The Illinois House Republicans have put forward a real agenda for change in Illinois. I embrace this agenda and look forward to working with other concerned legislators to implement these much needed bills to reform Illinois and get this state moving forward again. Check out more at my website: www.timforillinois.com

House Republican
“Agenda for Illinois”

Give us 6 days and we will change Illinois

House Republicans support an economic stimulus package to boost business productivity and individual purchasing power. Also critical to Illinois’ business climate is the need to begin a comprehensive capital program that would target resources to roads, school buildings, higher education facilities, state facilities, and mass transit, creating jobs and community prosperity.

· Negotiate a comprehensive capital plan that will reinvigorate Illinois’ economy and create jobs statewide.

· Introduce job-creating business incentives, such as (1) broadening the investment tax credit for businesses, (2) readopting the job training expense credit, (3) reinstating the entire research & development income tax credit.

Real tax relief for Illinois families and seniors

Senior Property Tax Relief

· Reduce the of property taxes on seniors by:
i. exempting Social Security income from the definition of income assessment freeze eligibility purposes;
ii. decreasing the age limit from 65 to 55 to qualify for the senior citizens’ assessment freeze;
iii. increasing the “ceiling” level of income needed to qualify for the assessment freeze;
iv. expanding the senior citizens’ Homestead Exemption from $4,000 to $5,500; and
v. indexing the Homestead Exemption and the assessment freeze to the inflation rate. (All in HB 4916)

Property Tax Relief for Families

· Double the Income Tax Credit for property taxes paid from 5% to 10%.

Reducing the cost of gas in Illinois

· Suspend the State sales tax on motor fuel for a 4.5 month period. (HB 6318)

Creating a sales tax holiday

· Authorize a one-time sales tax holiday to provide consumer tax relief and encourage consumer spending. (HB 6319)

Require a “real” balanced budget be approved

· Prohibit unpaid obligations of the State from being transferred from one fiscal year to the next, thereby ensuring a true “balanced” budget.

· Require the State to establish a single, updated, searchable database website accessible to the public at no cost that includes each entity that receives Illinois funding.

· Provide “sunshine” to the budgeting process by requiring defined, minimum time periods a budget bill must be made available for inspection and scrutiny by legislators, the public, and the media.

Safe families. Safe communities.

Technology in the 21st century is easy to access and, more importantly, dangerous for our youth when used without supervision. Social networking sites have become popular venues for child predators, House Republicans are pushing for (1) more child protections and parental control when youth access social networking sites and (2) tougher penalties for individuals who prey on children.

Educating parents how to protect children using the Internet
· Require owners of social networking websites to obtain parental notification and enforce age requirements of minors. (HB 4874)

· Ban sex offender access to social networking websites.
(HB 4875)

Protecting families from domestic violence
· Provide for electronic surveillance of violators of orders of protections.

· Formally establish a violence surveillance program that requires police authorities to use specific monitoring equipment.

· Mandate intervention treatment as a remedy in every order of protection issued by the court. Make it a violation of a protective order for an abuser to not complete intervention treatment.

Restoring ethics to state government
Enhance Illinois ethics laws to (1) end pay-to-play tactics that have become all too pervasive in State government, and (2) bring sunshine to investment advisor and consultant fees, commissions, and expense reimbursements made to outside lobbyists or other consultants.

· Require individuals who lobby boards and commissions to register as lobbyists. (HB 5737)

· Prevent elected officials and other state appointees and employees from receiving fees related to legal, banking, and consulting work with state bonds.
(HB 1)

· Increase disclosures for investment advisors and consultants with work before a State board or commission. (SB 1305)

· Require bids for state contracts worth over $10,000 to disclose all political contributions over $500 made within the previous 2 years to the officeholder that will award the contract. (HB 1)

· Prohibit any entity, or affiliated entities or persons, with an aggregate total of more than $25,000 in state contracts from making political contributions to the officeholder that awards the contract. (HB 1)

Making higher education affordable

Affordability is a key element of college opportunity. Families want, and understand, that education and job training is important beyond high school. To keep higher education a reality for families, and to maintain the academic excellence of our institutions of higher learning, we must increase the State’s financial commitment to our universities and community colleges.

· Make higher education funding a budget priority.

· Increase student financial aid opportunities to a broader number of qualified students to help working families afford educational expenses.