Crystal Lake’s State Rep. Mike Tryon sent out a report about the session today. Just in case you didn’t get it, McHenry County Blog will publish it.

Dear Friend,

The final week in Springfield unfolded with the Democrats blatant unwillingness to abort their tax and spend addictions and refusal to consider making any real budget reforms.

For the last several years, I have adamantly opposed Democrat budgets that continue to bankrupt the state with increased spending and ignore our mounting budget deficit.

This year, budget discussions remained behind closed doors in the final hours with Democrat leaders in the House and Senate committed to passing massive tax increases on families and businesses.

I voted against a plan that would have raised the income tax by 50% for two years.

The bill failed in the House by a vote of 42-74-2.

An income tax increase during today’s economic downturn would be absolutely devastating to families and businesses and fails to address the state’s core economic crisis.

The Senate passed a 67% increase on the income tax and a massive sales tax increase, but their plan was never called for a vote in the House.

I cannot support turning the Land of Lincoln into the Land of Taxes.

When they could not garner the votes for tax increases, Democrats decided to walk away from the table and pass a budget bill that simply keeps the lights on. The House and Senate approved a partial budget (Senate Bill 1197), which I voted against, that funds state agencies at roughly 51%.

The House and Senate Dems have had months to look at ways to reduce runaway spending costs and examine new or inefficient budget eaters.

Instead of cutting back, they stick to their old political games, which will force the legislature to return later and address the lingering budget problems.

I also voted against a bill to raid hundreds of funds including

• $24 million from the Mental Health Fund,
• $7 million from the State Police Fund,
• $6 million from a Medicaid Trust fund, and
• many other important funds dedicated to education, cancer research, fire prevention, violence protection, drug treatment and many others.

The bill (Senate Bill 1433) passed the House and Senate.

Just days before adjournment, the House and Senate also passed a so-called campaign finance “reform” measure that does nothing more than codify the current practice and promote political coverage.

While House Bill 7 does offer minimal caps on campaign contributions, the watered down measure omits crucial reforms supported by Republicans, the media, and good government groups across the state.

In particular, the bill fails to cap in-kind campaign contributions and sets sky high limits for certain committee transfers. It limits donations by calendar year instead of election cycle giving incumbents an advantage and fails to implement real-time, year round transparent reporting.

In short, this measure will still allow powerful legislative leaders and party bosses like Speaker Madigan to maintain their majorities by providing enough loopholes for large amounts of cash to flow through.

Real genuine ethics reform continues to be at the top of my legislative agenda in Springfield.

Tomorrow, Tryon explains what happened to his legislation this year