In this issue:
- Rural highway safety legislation passes committee
- Another big disparity in bills reaching the House floor
- Speaking to the Youth Advisory Council
- Illinois headlines
Rural highway safety legislation passes committee
I was proud to have one of my bills pass the House Transportation Regulation – Roads and Bridges Committee before the deadline last week.
House Bill 2630 will take steps to make our rural highways safer for those who drive at night or in bad weather. Many of us have had the experience of approaching an intersection during poor visibility conditions and not seeing the stop sign until it is almost too late. In some cases, the driver doesn’t see the sign and an accident occurs.
My bill will take steps to improve safety at these rural intersections by creating a pilot program in the Illinois Department of Transportation to test the use of solar-powered LED road signs in five different counties to determine if these signs, which are much more easily visible in poor driving conditions, are helpful in reducing accidents and improving highway safety. Counties could opt in to the pilot program and IDOT would then choose which five to begin with. IDOT would report its findings to the General Assembly, which could then use that data to potentially expand the program statewide, improving rural highway safety everywhere in Illinois.
The bill passed committee unanimously and is now awaiting action on the House floor.
Another big disparity in bills reaching the House floor
Too many good bills are prevented from becoming law not because they are voted down, but because they never have the chance to be heard. That happened again this spring in the Illinois House.
Above I told you about a bill I sponsored which cleared committee and reached the floor. It was one of only 56 Republican-sponsored bills to make it through the committee process this spring. By contrast, 444 Democrat-sponsored bills were approved by House committees. That means that barely 11% of the bills which passed committees had Republican sponsors.
Bills which did not have a chance to be heard included legislation for property tax relief, public safety, veterans, and much more.
At the beginning of this General Assembly, House Republicans proposed a change to the House Rules to open up the process by allowing each member to designate one “priority bill,” requiring the committee chair to make a good faith effort to have it called for a fair hearing. That idea was ignored, and the result was made clear once again with last week’s committee deadline.
This process is badly broken and in need of reform.
Speaking to the Youth Advisory Council
Thank you to State Senator Chris Balkema for hosting his annual Spring Youth Advisory Council! It was a pleasure joining the group on the House floor while they were in town last week. It was such a great experience connecting with future leaders and hearing their thoughtful perspectives on issues impacting our communities.
Opportunities like this are so important for encouraging civic engagement and giving young people a voice in the legislative process. I’m always inspired by the passion, curiosity, and leadership these students bring to the table, and I look forward to seeing all they accomplish in the future!
Our current bill backlog
When a vendor provides the state with goods and services, they submit the bill to the Illinois Comptroller for payment. The Comptroller processes the paperwork and pays the bill when funds are available in the state’s checking account. Currently the total amount of unpaid bills is $2,230,986,743. This figure changes daily. Last year at this time the state had $1.6 billion in bills awaiting payment. This only includes bills submitted to the Comptroller for payment, not unfunded debts like the state’s pension liability, which is well over $100 billion.
Illinois headlines
Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program workshops for local governments, communities
Pritzker admits Illinois’ immigration policies are failing
Illinois Farm Bureau continues push for estate tax relief
ISP announces completion of next generation 911 upgrades
Fighting Illini to tip off in Final Four at 5:09 p.m. Saturday