An email to State Rep. Mike Tryon’s constituents:

Friends,

As the General Assembly heads into its Spring Break, I thought I would send an update with the progress of a few bills.

Members of the House of Representatives recently approved House Resolution 110, which deals with anticipated revenues for the fiscal year that will begin on July1.

In the resolution, revenues for the next fiscal year are estimated to be $33.2 billion, which is $700 million lower than what Governor Quinn said in February when he presented his draft budget to a combined session of the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate. House Resolution 110 adopts the same simple budgeting philosophy families use every day-start with conservative estimates for how much money you’ll be bringing in, then create a spending plan to pay bills and meet other expenses without spending more money than you have.

The resolution will guide upcoming budget discussions because the Illinois Constitution requires that appropriations for any fiscal year not exceed estimated revenues for that year.

The first step in balancing our budget is making sure our revenue projections are accurate, and only when we have confidence in the revenue side of the budget can we properly appropriate funds.

The passage of this resolution was a true bipartisan effort and the ultimate vote was unanimous.

A second piece of legislation aimed at improving financial efficiency in Illinois government also passed through the House of Representatives last week.

House Bill 197 creates a commission that would make recommendations on how to best reduce state spending and balance the state’s budget.

The commission would include members of the House and Senate and also members of the public who could bring a fresh perspective and help to identify ideas to improve the state’s long-term fiscal stability. The bill, which has been moved to the Senate for consideration, would create a 22-member commission. Of the 22, 16 members would be appointed by Senate/House leaders (4 each by the Republican and Democrat leaders of both chambers) and six members appointed by the Governor with no more than four of the Governor’s appointees being from the same political party.

The commission would focus on all areas of the state, including

• discretionary spending,
• tax reform and simplification,
• cost containment in publicly-financed health care,
• mandated reductions in state agency expenditures,
• changes in budget and accounting practices, and
• reforming the actuarial status of the state-managed pension systems.

It is another opportunity for bipartisan cooperation.

This year I am continuing to take the lead in increasing transparency in government by sponsoring several new bills that would expand the Illinois Accountability Portal.

The portal was created last year after House Bill 35 was approved by the General Assembly and became Illinois law. I was the chief sponsor of that bill, which mandated the establishment of a searchable and user-friendly database, where visitors can look up all state contracts and government expenditures, including employee salaries and tax credits given to businesses.

House Bill 3374 would expand the transparency portal by providing direct access to a database of all current state grants, sorted by grantee name, the awarding agency, grant value, and the purpose for all grants awarded by the state.

The bill has moved out of committee and is being well-received by my colleagues. Another bill that moved forward from committee last week is House Bill 2915.

This bill would further expand the transparency portal to include members of the General Assembly in its database of current state employees and individual consultants.

The bill provides that the database will also provide insurance and pension benefits information, General Assembly roll call votes, and a commenting interface so that individuals who can not find what they are looking for can email the web master for assistance.

It is my goal that the portal will continue to grow and ultimately become an incredibly valuable source of information for those interested in monitoring exactly how their tax dollars are spent. You can visit the Illinois Accountability Portal at www.accountability.illinois.gov.

Another bill that I hope is passed this year is House Bill 3504, a clean water bill.

This bill would allow the IEPA to implement a settlement agreement it made with the federal government to enforce the Clean Water Act regulations on large concentrated animal feeding operations.

This law, if passed, would only affect those limited operations that discharge pollutants directly or indirectly to rivers and streams.

Illinois has not yet implemented an adequate program for these operations even though the federal Clean Water Act requires us to do so.

This settlement agreement is the result of an action brought forth by the Illinois Citizens for Clean Water and Air.

Hopefully we will see a resolution before the conclusion of this legislative session.

When we return to Springfield next week the budget will begin to take center stage in our discussions.

As I have in the past, I will continue to insist on a balanced budget and will not vote to support anything that is not balanced.

I maintain my position that the people of Illinois are currently contracting their personal budgets and getting by on less and they expect their government to do the same.

I still believe a line-by-line review of the budget must take place and I can not support any upcoming legislation that would further raise taxes until that audit has occurred.

A state income tax increase of 66% and a corporate income tax of 46% was pushed through in January and it appears that the proposal to increase the cigarette tax by $1 per pack is returning for new consideration.

Solving the state’s budget crisis must begin with significantly cutting spending and enacting reforms to reduce the pension debt and protect the solvency of the pension system. We can not continue to place the burden of years and years of fiscal mismanagement onto the backs of the taxpayers.

Lastly, I would like to make you aware of two web sites where you can find a wealth of information about the financial conditions in Illinois.

www.taxedtothemax.org: This site outlines the current financial status in Illinois. It shows comparisons of Illinois taxes compared to other states and lists ideas for how you can take action. The site also includes an online petition to repeal the recent income tax hike.

www.illinoisrealitycheck.com: This is another web site that includes not just a “how we got here” section on Illinois finances, but a concrete plan by my colleagues in the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus of how we can significantly cut spending NOW and start the process of making Illinois a financially solvent state. There is a link at the top of this site that will take you to the Senate Republicans’ plan for cutting spending.

As always, do not hesitate to call or email me if you have additional questions or if you would like to discuss another issue. I can be reached at (815) 459-6453 or via e-mail at mike@miketryon.com.

Best Regards,
Michael W. Tryon, State Representative, District 64