Mike Fortner :: State Representative District 95

One of the big issues this year has been an attempt to address mass transit in northeastern Illinois. A funding crisis has been looming for some time, and it came into focus with the Auditor General's report in March. This morning I was at the John Noel DuPage Transit Discovery conference, and as expected the funding question was raised. The House Mass Transit Committee has a hearing scheduled for this coming Tuesday, and after this morning's meeting I wanted to get some funding thoughts out in advance of the hearing.

Schools Caught in Politics

One of the long-running issues in Winfield has been the lack of funding for the District 34 school construction project. This might seem like old news since the work on Winfield Central School was completed years ago, but the state still hasn't made good on its promise to from five years ago, and the taxpayers of Winfield are left footing the bill that failed promise. The good news is that I've been part of some activity to correct this, and two stories today picked up the issue.

First Bills Become Law

This week the Governor signed into law a number of Mike Fortner's legislative initiatives. This site has background on bills to fund the county child advocacy centers, regulate phosphorus in detergents, and clarify unlawful video recordings, all of which are now law. In addition the governor signed into law SB 249 which allows West Chicago to deannex from the DuPage Water Commission and avoid the sales tax for services that they won't use since their municipal water treatment system began operating over four years ago.

A Budget with No Tax Increase

The regular legislative session ends on May 31, and one big project is the budget. It's a hectic process with lots of meetings of top leaders and smaller discussions among regular members. If the Democrats fail to pass a budget by Thursday night, a buget will require a 3/5 majority vote, which means that House Republicans will be needed to pass a budget. House Republican Leader Tom Cross put forward a plan to balance the budget with limited growth using no new taxes yet pay the pension obligation and modestly increase school spending. I've joined two other new DuPage representatives Franco Coladipietro and Dennis Reboletti to support that plan. Here's our statement.

Senate Bills on the Move

Since the Illinois legislature has two houses, bills must pass both to be signed into law. I've commented on some of my bills as they've moved over to the Senate. I'm also moving some Senate bills as they com over to the House. I'll use this post to keep everyone updated on those bills as they pass the House.

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Mass Transit Still Unresolved

Schools Caught in Politics

First Bills Become Law

A Budget with No Tax Increase

Senate Bills on the Move