McHenry County Blog

Mike Tryon’s plastic bag re-cycling bill was vetoed by Governor Pat Quinn.

The bill that State Rep. Mike Tryon passed to set State standards for re-cycling plastic bags got vetoed by Governor Pat Quinn over the weekend.

The report of the veto, a wish-fulfillment of 13-year old Abby Goldberg of Lake Zurich, ran in Monday’s Chicago Tribune.

Change.org got involved with an online petition.

Tryon, the House Sponsor of Senate Bill 3442, didn’t get a mention in the article.

Environmentalists opposed the bill because it prohibited local municipalities from imposing stricter rules than those set forth in the bill.

Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Terry Link was the Senate sponsor.

Locally, State Senator Pam Althoff voted for the bill. Colleague Dan Duffy did not. State Representatives Tryon and Kent Gaffney supported the measure, while Jack Franks voted “No.”

The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County sent out the following information from the Illinois Environmental Council on the bill:

This bill would have banned the municipal regulation of plastic bags, including community plastic bag bans, fees, and takeback programs.  This bill also would have created a statewide program for the recycling of plastic bags.  Read more about our concerns here.

As the Governor explained in his veto message, “Local authorities and the environmental community strongly oppose this program because the metrics are simply not aggressive enough and home rule preemption prevents more stringent local regulation.”

Last week, the Illinois Environmental Council released its 2012 scorecard.  Governor Quinn now has a 100% environmental record for the bills that he has taken action on during the 2012 session according to our scorecard.

Veto session is scheduled to begin November 27, 2012.  We will keep you updated to let you know whether the sponsor of this legislation moves to override the Governor’s veto.  Check out how your House and Senate members voted on this bill.

In the meantime, be sure to thank Governor Quinn for taking action to support the environment through the contact form on his website.

Round Lake Area News reports that the Lake County Democrats candidate for Circuit Clerk, Cynthia Pruim Haran, dropped out of the race.

Did that discourage the Democrats across the county line?

Tonya Franklin Saturday before she found out that there were so many committeemen absent that Republicans have handed the fall election to Democrat Jack Franks.

Nooo.

They nominated a new candidatenamed Rupam Davé and probably are still out circulating petitions to get her on the ballot.

How unlike the McHenry County Republican Party where I have been trying to convince party leaders since last July to find someone to run against “Chainsaw Jack” Franks.  (Actually, he didn’t earn that name until I discovered he had introduced a bill to allow Com Ed chop down every tree within 20 feet of an electric power line.)

The McHenry County GOP doesn’t care that it has no one challenging the top Democrat on the ballot.

As willing Franks’ opponent Tonya Franklin said after the Saturday Special Meeting,

“I’m not better than nothing now.

“No one’s running against Jack Franks.”

McHenry County Republicans act as if Democrat Jack Franks is wrapped in a "Don't Tread on Me" flag. This one was part of a Tea Party demonstration on Randall Road prior to the 2010 election when State Senator Randy Hultgren took out Democrat Bill Foster.

Shredded plastic bags decorate trees on Pyott Road near the Lake in the Hills Airport.

The Chicago Tribune wrote an editorial on Tuesday that took State Rep. Mike Tryon and State Senator Terry Link to the wood shed.

Criticized as excessive regulation was their plan to cut down on plastic bag waste.

But it “heaps government regulation on a problem best solved by us: consumers,” the editorial writers say.

“It cracks down on the manufacturers of plastic bags, adds new regulations to businesses that use the bags, creates a pile of mandatory reporting requirements and enlists the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as “Enforcer…”

Here’s how the Tribune summarizes the legislation:

• Require manufacturers of plastic bags and plastic wrap to register annually with the IEPA and pay a $500 fee.
• Require manufacturers of plastic bags to print their company names on the bags.
• Require manufacturers of plastic bags to create and maintain a plan for collecting and recycling plastic bags and submit their plan to the IEPA. That plan must include collection locations and a public education campaign.
• Require manufacturers of plastic bags to submit a report to the IEPA annually with a description of recycling and collection efforts, including weight in pounds of the bags — and plastic wrap — collected.
• [Requires] Retailers — from your local grocer to your Chinese carry-out — would be prohibited from buying plastic bags from manufacturers who aren’t following all the rules.

The editorial concludes:

“It gets worse.

“Retailers — from your local grocer to your Chinese carry-out — would be prohibited from buying plastic bags from manufacturers who aren’t following all the rules.

“You wonder how government gets so big?

“How state statute books grow by the inch each year?

“How spending goes up here and there, everywhere?

“This is how.”

The bill has passed the Illinois Senate and is not in the House.

It’s up to Rep. Tryon to determine what happens to it.

Looking at the Senate Roll Call below, I note that the two Senators representing McHenry County–Pam Althoff and Dan Duffy–voted against the bill.  Chris Lauzen, who represents much of Mike Tryon’s also voted against the legislation.

Plastic bag re-cycling Senate Bill 3442's Senate Roll Call.

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog noted that State Rep. Jack Franks’ bill was “headline” bill, that is one, that was put up to garner local press, but never intended to be enacted.

In fact, I quoted a state legislator close to the Illinois Municipal League to the effect that the bill was going nowhere.

Now the proof.

The Ilnois Municipal League logo. The motto is "Educate, Advocate, Empower."

Look what is on the Illinois Municipal League’s web site:

Senator Link Message on Property Tax Legislation

By Joe McCoy, Legislative Director, IML

State Senator Terry Link has asked the IML to make our membership aware that he has no intention of advancing a PTELL provision opposed by communities across the state. SB 2073, as amended in the House, proposes to prevent non-home rule local governments from capturing inflationary increases through the property tax if the overall assessed valuation within the local government jurisdiction has declined from that of the prior year. Senator Link’s statement is below.

The IML would like to thank Senator Link for his opposition to the House amendment.

Terry Link

Dear friend,

When I introduced Senate Bill 2073, the original intent of the bill was to require the Property Tax Appeal Board to issue a decision within one year from the date the appeal was received.

However, once the bill passed over to the House, Representative Jack Franks signed on as the chief sponsor.

He then amended the measure with house amendment 6, a hostile amendment which essentially limits local municipalities’ authority to levy a tax based on the needs of the community and student population, removing local control.

I am sending this letter to inform you I DO NOT SUPPORT Representative Frank’s amendment.

I will hold this measure in the Senate and make sure it never comes to a vote.

I share your concerns and appreciate your interest in the matter.

The measure is dead on arrival.

You should know that there is another bill in the General Assembly that is similar to Senate Bill 2073.

I recently learned of Senate Bill 2862, which is similar to the amendment Representative Franks placed on my legislation.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to my Springfield office.

Sincerely,

Terry Link
State Senator, 30th Legislative District

In the past there has been tension between Link and Franks.

The unions decided to keep their benefits. That was more important than letting the commuters ride the CTA.

The grief of Scott Lee Cohen's 11-year old son at his father's fall from grace was more important to the Chicago Sun-Times than the "doomsday" for CTA riders trumpeted on page 5.

And the personal grief of Democratic Party Lieutenant Governor Scott Lee Cohen’s son was more important that the doomsday for CTA strap holders who read the Sun-Times.

There was a  CTA bailout in the spinrg of 2008.  It probably cost State Senator Kirk Dillard the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

You remember.

The tripling of our RTA sales tax the week before the Crystal Lake City Council decided to play pile on by hiking its city sales tax by 75%.

Dillard voted for it and Andy McKenna blasted away on radio, TV and in direct mail about Kirk Dillard having voted for a regional states tax as evidence that he was not rock solid on opposing an income tax hike.

That doomsday was on the front page of the Chicago Tribune right before the vote.

But, today, another so-called “doomsday,” the Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Times featured Democratic Party Lt. Gov. nominee Scott Lee Cohen announcing he will not accept the nomination. Cohen, by the way, carried the Democratic Party primary in McHenry County.

Take a look:

40% of McHenry County Democrats voted for Scott Lee Cohen for lieutenant governor.

State Senator Terry Link, chairman of the turnaround Democratic Party in Lake County, came to Woodstock to ask for support of McHenry County Democrats, but that doesn’t seem to have done him much good, as he placed fourth behind State Representatives Art Turner (Chicago) and Mike Boland (East Moline).

Making a pitch to the Young Democrats of McHenry County was Thomas Castillo.
= = = = =

Turned over the Tribune that was delivered to my driveway and discovered it did have something about the CTA cuts…below the fold. The snippet directing people to pages 6-8 had a photo of a family who had to wait 30 minutes for a bus while on the way to a party.

And, inside–wouldn’t you know it?–the word “Doomsday” turns up in a headline:

Wednesday night Lake County Democratic Party Chairman and State Senator Terry Link went courting McHenry County Democratic Party Chairman and McHenry County Board member Kathy Bergan Schmidt Wednesday night at the McHenry County Farm Bureau building.

Before the above photo, there was a slight bow as Link went up to where Schmidt was putting out goodies for the assembled committeemen and guests. It would have been a classic.

During the meeting Schmidt explained how Link had been helpful to McHenry County Democrats back to when John Bartman chaired the central committeeman.

“I’d like to welcome Cal Skinner.  I never thought I’d live long enough to do that,” he said before saying,

Link explained that he had been Lake County’s Democratic Central Committee Chairman for eighteen years.

“We took a very bright red county and made it light blue.  It took a lot of work.  I could not have done it by myself.”

Referring to his candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination for lieutenant governor, he said,

“I’m not ready to retire.”

He said he would use the position to advance issues across the state the way he had passed the Smoke Free Illinois bill.  He wants the office to advance economic as it does in Indiana.

Link said his re-write of the Workers Compensation law–the first time in 30 years–had pleased both labor and industry so much that both gave him awards for his role of facilitator.

He was extremely proud of getting the Early Voting law passed.  He pointed out that he “carried all election law” bills and had faced House Speaker Mike Madigan down over Early Voting.

“I stood heel to heel with (Madigan).  I told him I wouldn’t sign off on (his bills if he wouldn’t pass Early Voting).”

Making his pitch to his fellow suburban residents, Link observed,

“We have nobody on this ticket who had announced–and I’m saying ‘announced’–who lives outside of Cook County, except me.”

Guess Link was referring to the possibility of McHenry County’s State Rep. Jack Franks running for governor or some other statewide office.

“I have the experience.  I come from business.  I know what it’s like to run a business.”

He also pointed out he knew what it was like to live in a rapidly growing county.

“I was born and raised in Lake County.  We have our problems.  We need to have that perspective (at the table).

“I’m asking for your support.”

= = = = =
The photos are of State Senator Terry Link.  In the top photo he is talking to McHenry County Democratic Party Chair Kathy Bergan Schmidt. In the bottom picture, he is talking to Spring Grove’s Jeff Thirtyacre.

And here’s the press release inviting you to come:

Lt. Gov Hopeful Terry Link to Speak to Democrats

State Senator Terry Link (D-30), a candidate for Lt. Governor will be a featured guest at the September meeting of the Democratic Party of McHenry County at the McHenry County Farm Bureau, 1102 McConnell Road in Woodstock at 7 PM, Wednesday, September 16.

Senator Link has served since 1997 and is the Majority Caucus Chair. He is a recognized leader on tax and financial issues.

Link is also Chair of the Lake County Democratic Central Committee and has led a Democratic resurgence in that once reliably Republican County. He has supported the growth of the McHenry County party. In the crowded field of Lt. Governor candidates, Link is sometimes regarded as the voice of the collar counties.

The McHenry County Democratic Party will continue to invite candidates to speak through the primary. The county party does not make endorsements in the primary.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

Yesterday I wrote more stories about Springfield than I ever have before in one day.

I covered Mike Tryon’s campaign sign bill, Jack Franks’ recall constitutional amendment and the John Cullerton/James Meeks’ 67% income tax hike/ services sales tax imposition and Terry Link/Dave Syverson four casino bill.

But before all the action, I picked up on State Rep. Art Turner’s comment on the incomplete “COURAGE” being displayed by House Democrats.

I entitled it

After an extended part caucus in which a reported 39 of the needed votes seemed to have identified themselves, according to the Chicago Tribune, Turner said,

“We’re looking for courage. We’re close. We’ve got it spelled C-O-U-R, but we’re looking for the rest of it.”

I observed that the last four letters of “COURAGE” are

Meanwhile in the Illinois Senate, the article says,

“…an even bigger tax plan emerged, courtesy of Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago).

“The proposal — which could raise upward of $6 billion — would increase the income tax by 67 percent and expand the sales tax on services such as dry cleaning, video rental, dating services and carpet cleaning. The theory is that a larger tax bite would mean fewer cuts.”

I ended the article with

And that admonishment was before the State Senate voted to raise income taxes by 67% and taxed every electronic signal coming into our home except radio.

So, Turner has half of his wish.

Senate Democrats provided all the letters to his word “COURAGE” and now House has two income tax choices:

But the RAGE may have to wait for readers of two of the four newspapers I read.

Look at the front pages of the Sunday editions of the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Elgin Courier-News and McHenry County’s Northwest Herald.

Nothing about the pending tax hike above the fold on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. But there was room to hype a “summer fun” guide.

There’s a story about state politics on the Tribune’s front page, but it’s about politicians trying to get kids into the University of Illinois, not about politicians trying to pick our pockets.

Nothing about the tax hike below the fold either.

The Chicago Sun-Times did figure out that the tax hike story was important enough to mention on its front page, though. Kudos to the Sun-Times

In the Elgin Courier-News there is a large word that might be appropriate if applied to taxpayers:

But i’t about abandoned homes.

There is an ad for Elgin’s Grand Victoria Casino on the bottom of the page. Guess the paper has learned who is paying its bills.

But there is nothing in the paper about the 67% income tax hike passed in the Senate.

And, finally, the Northwest Herald’s front page:

Nothing above the fold, but the Associated Press story is found below.

So, the score card is 2 for 4.

Readers of the largest circulation newspaper in Illinois won’t know anything about the tax hike, if that is there only source of news today.

They will be in for a big surprise tomorrow, if either bill passes.

If you want to call your legislator, the state switchboard in Springfield is open. The number is 217-782-2000.

A 50% income tax hike was not high enough. Slot machines in every convenience store and tavern wouldn’t tempt enough people.

Senate Democrats caved into the Rev. and Senator James Meeks’ goal and voted 31-27-1 to raise income tax rates 67%, plus putting sales taxes on 39 services, including internet service providers, cable television, photocopying, private clubs, dating services, oil exchange and goodness knows what else, except sponsor Senator John Cullerton told the Senate that barbers had been left alone.

I guess they talk so much they are dangerous.

Speaking against the bill were

• Lake Barrington’s Dan Duffy
• DuPage County’s Kirk Dillard
• LaSalle’s County’s Gary Dahl
• Okawville ‘s David Luechtefeld
• Dixon’s Tim Bivens
• Bloomington’s Bill Brady
• Chenoa’s Dan Rutherford
• Palatine’s Matt Murphy

Silent was Republican Senate Leader Christine Radogno.

By far the most effective was Matt Murphy.

He is in the Ronald Reagan of disagreeing without being disagreeable.

His best line was,

“To me this is a prescription to win the race with Michigan to the economic bottom of this nation.”

Murphy began by asking that people disagree agreeably, that they not take the debate personally.

Next he moved onto the fact that Illinois is “one of 7 states with fewer jobs than we had ten years ago.

“That means $4,000 in lost taxes for every job we don’t have.

“The people in this state are leaving. They are assessing the value of the American Dream and are sadly finding it someplace else.

He said the proposal was “the highest tax increase in Illinois history.

Then, he compared Illinois with Michigan.

Murphy warned Democrats that the promise of property tax relief held out by Senator Meeks and others in promoting Senate Bill 750 would backfire, just as the lottery did.

People heard Zeke Giorgi tell them that the lottery would solve the problem of funding education and were surprised when it did not. (In fact, the lottery was passed to fund the Regional Transportation Authority in 1974, which Murphy apparently did not know or his point would have stronger. The lottery was not earmarked for education until the mic-1980′s when the next generation of legislators got tried of complaints that it wasn’t going to education.)

Murphy was referring to the so-called “tax swap” part of the bill.

People will think,

“My property tax bill is finally going down.

“It’s not.

“It’s going up.”

Had Murphy (or anyone else) a longer perspective, they might have pointed out that (and I’m virtually certain I am correct here) have pointed out that the property tax credit used to be 10%, but was cut back to 5% in order to use the money for something else in the budget.

“Be careful. Be careful,” he said.

He again assuaged the feelings of the bill’s supporters.

“I appreciate the Senate, the intentions of the (supporters of the bill).

“If you look at Governor Quinn’s budget, it balances.”

“You can come up with cuts (to balance the budget).

“I did my homework. I didn’t share it, Mr. President. I didn’t share it,” referring to Senate President John Cullerton’s chiding of Republicans for not coming up with suggested cuts.

“You can make the cuts.

“You don’t have to raise taxes.

“To fund the pension, you may have to short term borrow.

Referring to the bill, Murphy concluded by saying,

“This is a dagger hanging over the head of everyone in Illinois.”

There were so many other good arguments by Republican senators.

But it’s late and I’m tired. Maybe I’ll find time to give some of the other speeches justice tomorrow.

If the House doesn’t decide to follow the Senate Democrats’ lead and try to mortally wound Illinois.

I do want to tell you that Murphy’s demeanor and presentation impressed me the most.

Is he running for governor?

Oh, yes.

With Rockford Republican Dave Syverson leading the way for the GOP, Lake County’s Terry Link managed to pass his bill to put casinos in Waukegan, Rockford, Danville and Chicago. The vote was 30-28-0. It failed the first time up.

State Senator Brad Burzynski (R-Rochelle), who represents part of the Rockford area, verified the vote, that is, made sure the 30 votes necessary to pass a bill in the Senate really were on the floor.

The Senate lists the bill being debated on its web site as it broadcasts debates. Senate Bill 174 was the 67% income tax hike and service sales tax imposition bill. Senate Bill 744 was the casino bill. Murphy has a photo with the casino bill’s number under his name because he spoke against that bill.

26th District Democratic Party State Senate candidate Bill Gentes, Round Lake Mayor, obviously hopes his fund raiser tonight will raise big bucks. The notes he sent out by email follows:

Co-Chairs

Recently named a Tier One candidate by the Senate Democrats, Bill is running to be his district’s first Democratic senator in recent memory and to improve development and education opportunities in Northeast Illinois. Currently serving his second term as Mayor of Round Lake, Bill Gentes has led his village through unprecedented growth and development, led efforts in Lake County to widen Route 120 and bring smart growth to Western Lake County.

Hard not to notice that it is in Downtown Chicago.