Bill Filed to Make College Illinois! Investments Transparent

12/21/2011

Springfield…A bill filed to require College Illinois! to make investment decisions in open meetings has received the support of State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem).

“There are families in my district that have invested in the College Illinois! program and now they worry the money they were promised for their child’s college education won’t be there when they need it.  Anything the General Assembly can do to protect these families’ investments should be done,” Cavaletto said.

House Bill 3923 will no longer allow any investment decisions under the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Trust Fund to be made behind closed doors.  Due to an exemption in the Open Meetings Act, investment decisions have been previously excluded from public review.  This bill would require those decisions to be made public.

“It is my understanding there were some questionable investments made by the previous College Illinois! administration that may not have been made if the public had been present while the decisions to invest were being made,” Cavaletto said.  “These families have paid into the program so their children can go to college and they have a right to know how their money is being invested.”

The College Illinois! program has faced many problems as of late, including underfunding.  Rep. Cavaletto said fixing the program will take time and effort from many parties.

“A lot of work needs to be done to get College Illinois! back on track.  It won’t be fixed overnight, but this legislation is a step in the right direction,” Cavaletto said. “At the end of the day, we need to make sure the money invested by families is protected and available to them when they need it.”

Rep. Cavaletto reacts to Governor’s threat to close state facilities

09/08/2011

Salem…Following the Governor’s announcement that he plans to close state facilities and lay off many state employees, State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem) said he will review any proposals presented but he suspects this is just another attempt to push through a borrowing plan the state cannot afford.

“I am always open to looking at ways the state can save money.  My colleagues and I will review the Governor’s recommendations, but I do question his sincerity,” Rep. Cavaletto said.  “He’s done this before, where he creates an emergency to try and force the General Assembly into re-visiting his spending and borrowing plan that we have rejected before.”

Cavaletto explained that at the end of May, the General Assembly sent the Governor a budget that spends only what the state can afford.  The budget the Governor received spent $2 billion less than the budget he proposed in February.  Governor Quinn would not only approve the budget he was ultimately given, but cut an additional $376 million in spending ($276 million for Medicaid, $89 million for school transportation and $11 million for Regional Offices of Education).

“He is crying poor so that we feel pressure to approve his proposed $8 billion borrowing plan.  Time and time again, Governor Quinn makes dramatic cuts to frighten people and try and intimidate the General Assembly into doing what he wants.  He always backs down in the end though,” Cavaletto said.

Cavaletto did say he is open to the idea of closing some outdated and redundant facilities, but only if done so in a responsible manner.

“Just randomly picking facilities to close is not responsible.  We need to take time to look at each facility and determine its value to the taxpayers and the state, as well as what the impact of its closure will be to the communities it serves.  We can’t do this as part of a false emergency created to push another borrowing scheme,” Cavaletto said.

Cavaletto said even if the Governor does move to close facilities, he can’t close them overnight.

“There is a process to this kind of thing,” Cavaletto explained.  “His recommendations for facility closures have to be presented to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability and public hearings need to be held.  The process could take between 50 and 90 days.”

Governor signs Cavaletto-sponsored bills into law

08/25/2011

Springfield…Since the General Assembly adjourned, the Governor has signed into law five bills State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem) was the primary sponsor of in the House.

“I’m very pleased the Governor agreed with the spirit of these bills and signed them into law.  These bills were all important to the people of my district and I’m thrilled to have gotten them all the way through the legislative process,” Rep. Cavaletto said.

House Bill 6 extends the muskrat hunting season and provides that muskrats may be hunted by trap during an open season to be set by the Director of Natural Resources.  Additionally, it specifies what types of traps are lawful to use for muskrats.

“This bill was proposed to me by people who have their homes near lakes.  The muskrats were a nuisance and were causing damage to dams, but by the time the ground had thawed enough for the muskrats to be hunted the season was ending.  This bill allows the residents around lakes to take care of their muskrat problems during a legal hunting season,” said Rep. Cavaletto.

House Bill 2500, which authorizes the Tennessee Valley Authority to continue to make payments to Jefferson County as it has for years, was also signed into law by the Governor.

“This is a long standing agreement where the Tennessee Valley Authority makes payments to the county treasurer on behalf of local schools and units of government in lieu of paying income and property taxes to the State of Illinois and units of local government within Illinois,” Rep. Cavaletto explained.  “The money the TVA pays the Jefferson County treasurer goes to help schools, and in turn students, within the areas that the TVA operates.”

The Tennessee Valley Authority made payments to the Jefferson County treasurer, in the spirit of the Tennessee Valley Authority Payment Act, but it was not clearly authorized to pay Jefferson County.  HB 2500 made a minor change in the act, allowing the Tennessee Valley Authority to make payments to Jefferson County with no problems.

Another bill signed into law, House Bill 3171, makes an adjustment to the School Code, adding the position of Assistant Principals and a description of their duties, contracts and other information.  The Illinois Principals Association came to Representative Cavaletto requesting this change in order to legitimize the Assistant Principal’s position.

“I’m happy to work with the Illinois Principals Association on this issue.  This legislation will allow Assistant Principals to step in and perform the duties of the Principal in the event that the Principal is sick or absent without any additional approval,” Rep. Cavaletto said.

The Governor also signed House Bill 3172, which reduces the fees associated with various military license plates.

“The plates will still cost the same as normal license plates, but this will eliminate the additional fees currently in place so that the men and women of the military can display a specialized license plate honoring their branch of the military with pride more easily,” Rep. Cavaletto said.

The bill would apply to U.S. Marine Corps, Paratrooper, Korean Service, Iraq Campaign, Afghanistan Campaign, U.S. Navy, Distinguished Flying Cross, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Women Veteran special license plates.

House Bill 3179 changes the required amount of days a child has to skip school in order to be considered a truant student from 18 days to 9 days out of the total 180 regular attendance days.

“The goal of House Bill 3179 is to try and keep kids in school.  Constant absenteeism destroys a child’s ability to thrive in school and is a strong predictor of delinquency,” Cavaletto said.  “Changing the definition will encourage intervention at an earlier stage and will get the child the help they need to stay in school before it becomes too large of a problem to handle.”

Rep. Cavaletto encourages constituents who have ideas for legislation that would bring about positive change in Illinois to contact his district office in Salem.

“Many of the bills I introduce start from ideas given to me by the people of my district.  I’m always happy to listen to ideas for good legislation that will help people,” Cavaletto said.

Cavaletto: Governor Signs into Law Legislation Protecting the Names of FOID Card Holders

07/02/2011

Springfield…Legislation co-sponsored by State Rep. John Cavaletto (R-Salem) to prevent the disclosure of who holds a FOID Card and potentially owns a gun has been signed into law.

“Every one of the 1.3 million FOID Card holders in Illinois has the expectation of privacy when exercising their Second Amendment right.  I am pleased that Governor Quinn chose to sign House Bill 3500, cementing that privacy as law,” Cavaletto said.

House Bill 3500 adds an exemption to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act protecting the personal information of Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card holders. The bill prohibits State and local governments from publicly releasing the names or other private information of FOID card holders or applicants.

While the Illinois State Police has historically kept the information about who has been issued a FOID Card confidential, a public access counselor with Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office released a letter this spring opposing the argument by the State Police that revealing the information is an unwarranted invasion of privacy.  The Attorney General’s office went on to say that the disclosure of this information would not endanger the lives of those citizens that do not own firearms.

“I was firmly against the AG’s opinion.  The list of who has a FOID Card could have been used by criminals to target people they believe didn’t own firearms and couldn’t defend themselves or to target homes with the purpose of stealing firearms,” Cavaletto said.  “This bill needed to be signed and I’m glad the Governor did the right thing.”

Cavaletto: Senate needs to strip extra spending and pass the Capital bill

06/16/2011

Salem…The General Assembly is being called back to Springfield next week to address the upcoming construction work stoppage statewide caused by the Senate Democrats’ refusal to cut extra spending from that portion of the budget, according to State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem).

“Back in May, I voted for a 12-month capital budget that would keep people in my district and across the state working on much needed infrastructure projects.  The Senate Democrats have refused to pass that portion of the budget and have attached $413 million in extra, unbudgeted spending to the bill.  They’re holding the entire construction season hostage unless we agree to approve spending we don’t have the money for,” Rep. Cavaletto explained. “It’s beyond irresponsible.

Unless the two sides can reach an agreement, the estimated loss of jobs statewide could be as high as 52,000, including 31,000 highway construction jobs.  Some projects, such as the high-speed rail project and 150 other smaller projects, have already been put on hold.

“Illinois families desperately need these jobs and it’s wrong of the Senate Democrats to hold the capital bill hostage. Additionally, House Republicans have said for years that the state needs a capital program to create jobs, fix roads and improve our aging infrastructure. We must not allow the projects currently underway to come to a halt,” Cavaletto said.

The House is currently scheduled to reconvene on Wednesday, June 22.

“I am encouraging the Senate Democrats to rescind the amendment to increase state spending and to send the Governor the bill we passed in the House back in May – Illinois families depend upon it,” Cavaletto said.

Spring Legislative Session Comes to a Close

06/01/2011

Springfield…The 2011 spring legislative season for the Illinois House of Representatives has come to a close and was a busier session than many from previous years according to State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem).

“A lot was accomplished.  We worked across the aisle on a lot of big issues.  I do wish the Democrats would have worked with us on some issues, like redistricting and workers compensation,” Rep. Cavaletto said.

The House took control of the budget process, capping the budget at $33.2 billion.  The House budget reduced state spending by nearly $1.6 billion less than the Governor’s proposed spending projection of $35.4 billion, which relied on higher taxes and borrowing to support.

“Making cuts is never a nice process, but it was long overdue.  For way too long the state was spending more than it had and our mountain of past due bills was just getting bigger,” Cavaletto explained.  “House Republicans have repeatedly called for fiscal responsibility and meaningful spending reforms.  This year we were finally invited into the process and, together with the Democrats, we were able to keep state spending under our revenue estimate of $33.2 billion.”

Cavaletto said the budget made cuts across the board, including legislator pay.

“One of the things we did was stop legislative pay raises and prohibit the cost of living increase,” Cavaletto said.  “Lawmakers will also take 12 furlough days again in the coming year.”

The House also passed landmark education reform this year.

“The reforms contained in Senate Bill 7 and Senate Bill 630 are much needed and will help to ensure that Illinois students are being taught by highly-qualified, excellent teachers,” Cavaletto said.  “I’ve spent my whole career trying to give children a quality education, and with this reform package we will go a long way towards providing it.”

One of the many changes within the reform is to change teacher tenure so that it will no longer be based simply on years served, but instead will be based on merit and performance review.

House Republicans were also able to pass landmark Medicaid reform this session, resulting in $800 million in savings for Illinois taxpayers.

“Not only did we save $800 million in January with the initial reform package, but on the final day of session, the House enacted an additional package of Medicaid reforms with the majority of them crafted by House Republicans that provide an additional $215 million in savings for taxpayers,” Cavaletto said.

Cavaletto said not everything went smoothly this spring.  The Democrats didn’t work at all with House Republicans when it came to the redistricting process, despite numerous promises of transparency and cooperation.

“I’m really disappointed with the redistricting process.  The Democrats rammed through a map, with changes they introduced late the night before that the public had no chance to see or consider, that did nothing but solidify their majority and political power,” Cavaletto said.  “Its obvious they only thought of themselves and didn’t consider the people they’re supposed to represent.”

Additionally, when the House Republicans introduced their Fair Map alternative, that used criteria proposed last year by good government groups including Governor Pat Quinn’s Illinois Reform Commission and the Illinois League of Women Voters, the Democrats refused to even consider it.

“The districts we drew are equal in population, comply with the Federal and Illinois Voting Rights Acts and are respectful of minority representation, are compact and contiguous, and maintain county and municipal boundaries,” Cavaletto said.  “We didn’t manipulate the boundaries based on political data to give one party or the other an advantage in elections.”

The House Democrats also rammed through a watered-down workers’ compensation reform bill that does little to help business in Illinois.

“Illinois has needed workers’ compensation reform for a very long time, but we need to do it right,” said Cavaletto.  “The bill rammed through the legislature does not include reforms such as ‘causation’ that matter the most to business.  In addition, proponents of the measure grossly overstated their savings estimates and gave no guarantee that business will see an actual reduction in their workers’ compensation premiums.  We can and must do better.”

Some reform measures that affected pensions were not taken up this session.

“We need pension reform, but we also need to do it right and that is going to take a bit more time,” Cavaletto said.  “It’s obvious more work needs to be done.  While most everyone would agree that there is a problem with the pension systems, several groups, employees, and legislators have since come forward with suggestions to try and improve the legislation.  We need to get everyone together and come up with a solution that we all can live with.”

Democrats refuse to consider Fair Map Proposal and push through their new legislative map

05/27/2011

Springfield…Despite asking for House Republicans to file their own map proposal, House Democrats refused to consider the Fair Map proposal introduced on Thursday and pushed through their new version of a legislative map, according to State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem).

“This is a sad day for the voters of Illinois.  Their voices were not heard and their needs were not considered,” Cavaletto said.  “The other side of the aisle not only went back on their promises of transparency by introducing a new version of their map late Thursday night without holding any public hearings on it, but they also refused to even debate or consider the Fair Map proposal House Republicans introduced.”

Cavaletto said the map Republicans submitted would have given the voters of Illinois the chance to pick their elected officials rather than let the elected officials pick their voters.

“We had the better alternative.  The map we offered was drawn using Fair Map criteria proposed last year by good government groups, including Governor Pat Quinn’s Illinois Reform Commission and the Illinois League of Women Voters,” Cavaletto explained.  “The districts we drew are equal in population, comply with the Federal and Illinois Voting Rights Acts and are respectful of minority representation, are compact and contiguous, and maintain county and municipal boundaries.”

When the House was presented the opportunity to discuss and review the Fair Map proposal, House Democrats refused to allow it consideration.

“Rather than even talk about our ideas, the Democrats blocked it and quickly pushed through their own map that does nothing but protect and expand their own political power,” Cavaletto said.

Cavaletto is calling on the Governor to make good on his public comments on redistricting and to veto the map proposal the Democrats are sending him.

“Governor Pat Quinn and his Lt. Governor Sheila Simon have repeatedly called for passage of a ‘fair and competitive map.’  If they’re being honest with the people of Illinois, they will reject the House and Senate Democrats’ proposal,” Cavaletto said.

Resolution Stopping Prisoners from Receiving Unemployment Passes Committee

05/18/2011

Springfield… Earlier today, the House Labor Committee voted unanimously to move a resolution that would stop prisoners from receiving unemployment benefits to the full House of Representatives for debate, according to the resolution’s sponsor, State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem).

“People in jail and in prison have been drawing unemployment and that needs to stop,” Rep. Cavaletto said.  “I’m excited to have the opportunity to bring this resolution to the full House for debate and, hopefully, passage.”

House Resolution 330 urges the Directors of the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Illinois State Police, and the Illinois Department of Employment Security to consider a formal intergovernmental information-sharing agreement.  This will allow the three state departments to compare lists of incarcerated prisoners to lists of people currently collecting unemployment benefits and cut those benefits off.

“This is a common sense idea that will stop unemployment fraud, saving the state and small businesses millions of dollars,” Cavaletto said.

HR 330 moves to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

House Passes Bi-Partisan Budget Forcing State to Rein in Spending

05/13/2011

Springfield…The Illinois House of Representatives took action and voted on a state budget that reduced state spending, according to State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem).

“I’ve been saying for years that we needed to bring some fiscal discipline to Springfield and stop spending money that we simply did not have.  Today we took the necessary votes to pass the first budget in years that forces the state to live within its means,” Rep. Cavaletto said.

Cavaletto said he was unable to vote for every bill that made up the budget due to some of the cuts made within the bill to Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the Department of Corrections.

“The one aspect of this budget that I was unable to vote ‘Yes’ on was the budget related to Agriculture and Corrections.  I believe the cuts made to the Soil and Water Conservation Districts and to the Department of Corrections are too deep and we should have cut elsewhere in order to keep those programs properly funded,” Cavaletto said.

The budget passed by the House keeps state spending under the estimated revenue expected to be generated next fiscal year.

“Its not easy to rein in state spending that had obviously gotten out of control and pare it down to our revenue estimate of $33.2 billion, but we did.  This is the only way we’re going to be able to get our bills paid, get our state finances back on track and keep the temporary tax increase temporary,” Cavaletto said.

According to Cavaletto, the budget passed today was historic for many reasons.

“Over the past few years, Democrats shirked their responsibilities and threw a lump sum budget at the Governor – be it Blagojevich or Quinn – and told them to make the decisions on how the money is spent.  This year, things were different.  We were finally invited to the table to participate in the process and I think, for the most part, it worked well,” Cavaletto said.

Back in March, the House passed House Resolution 110 which set a conservative estimate of $33.2 billion in revenue that would be available to the state and committed the government to keeping spending below that limit.  Then the House passed House Resolution 156 establishing the percentage of funding each appropriations committee would be allocated to work with to develop the various budgets making up the comprehensive state budget.

“We also passed House Resolution 158 which sets forth a promise that if there are revenues in Fiscal Year 2012 that exceed $33.2 billion then the surplus revenues must be directed to pay off the backlog of unpaid state bills,” Cavaletto explained.

Additionally, the House passed five measures (HB 116, HB 117, HB 132, HB 3639, HB 3697) that would fund the statutorily mandated pension payment and bond debt service payments, along with the yearly group insurance payment for state employees.

Since then, members of both sides of aisle worked together reviewing the budget line-by-line in committee and making the difficult decisions about where cuts could be made that would cause the least amount of pain.  Initial cuts were made by eliminating pay raises and administrative costs wherever possible.

“We’ve taken a big step today, but it’s only the first step.  This isn’t going to be a one year process,” Cavaletto said.  “If we have any hope at all of getting out of this financial hole we’re in, we need to approach the budget every year the way we did this year.

The budget bills passed by the House spend nearly $1.6 billion less than the Governor’s proposed spending projection of $35.4 billion, which relied on higher taxes and borrowing to support.

“I am strongly urging my colleagues in the Senate and Governor Quinn to join us in approving this budget so we can have the first responsible budget Illinois has seen in years,” Cavaletto said.

The budget bills all head to the Senate for consideration.

House Passes Landmark Education Reform Bill

05/12/2011

Springfield…The Illinois House of Representatives passed historic education reform designed to benefit students across the state, according to State Representative John Cavaletto (R-Salem).

“I have worked my whole career attempting to ensure a quality education for children.  By voting for this legislation I was able to do just that for the children of Illinois,” Cavaletto said.  “Senate Bill 7 is the result of months of negotiations between all interested parties – from the State Board of Education to the reform groups, teachers unions, and school management.  With all that input, we were able to create a bill everyone was able to support that helps the children.”

Senate Bill 7 represents the most significant reforms to education in Illinois in over a decade.  According to Cavaletto, these reforms will improve teacher quality, cut down on strikes and help ensure that all Illinois students receive a quality education.

“One of the major things this bill does is change teacher tenure, making it no longer based simply on years served but instead on merit and performance review.  This is a huge change but it will ensure that Illinois students are receiving the best education possible from the best teachers possible,” Cavaletto said.  “I was also pleased the legislation put an emphasis on local control.  Local school officials know what’s best for their students, and this bill will give them more power to do what needs to be done.”

Senate Bill 7 will, among other things, do the following:

• Teacher reduction in force (RIF), recall, and the filling of vacant positions will be based on performance before years of relevant experience.
• The teacher dismissal process will be streamlined, giving the final decision-making authority to locally-elected school boards.
• The public will be able to see the final offers between districts and local bargaining units prior to a strike.  Mediation will be extended in a final effort to avoid a strike.
• The bill requires training for school board members.
• The bill creates a Survey of Learning Conditions to be administered to teachers, parents, and students every two years.
• Finally, the State Superintendent of Education will have the ability to revoke a teaching certificate when a teacher receives two unsatisfactory evaluations within a seven-year period.

“The bottom line is these reforms will improve teacher quality, cut down on strikes and help ensure that all Illinois students receive a quality education,” Cavaletto said.