Dan Duffy

State Senators Dan Duffy and Jim Oberweis (mentioned because he is a candidate for U.S. Senator in the GOP primary) were given a 100% ranking on the 2013 scorecard of the American Conservative Union.

David McSweeney, Tim Schmitz and Barbara Wheeler were ay 100%, too.

Scoring 90% were State Senators Pam Althoff and Karen McConnaughay, as did< State Rep. Mike Tryon.

Jack Franks voted for half the bills that the ACU thought important.

Votes used to rank House and Senate members follow:

Illinois House Vote Descriptions

• SB 1 Pension Reform. This bill is an attempt to reform Illinois’ broken pension system. The pension would reduce the current $100 billion of unfunded liability by $20-$27 billion and reduce the state’s contributions by about $187 billion over
  

  Barb Wheeler

  the next 33 years. ACU supports real pension reform and supported this bill as a good start at reform. The bill passed the House on May 2, 2013 by a vote of 62-51.

• HB 1189 Second Amendment Rights. This bill included provisions that create a defacto gun registration system that would require approval from the Illinois State Police and their validation that the buyer has a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. ACU opposes weakening Second Amendment rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the House on May 31, 2013 by a vote of 70-48.
• SB 26 Obamacare Implementation. This bill expands the Medicaid program to help implement the Obamacare health insurance program. ACU opposes this expansion which will impose a future burden on Illinois taxpayers and does not reform a program riddled with
  

  Mike Tryon

  waste and abuse before expansion and opposed this bill. The bill passed the House on May 27, 2013 by a vote of 63-55.

• HB 2675 Local Control of Education. This bill mandates that local school districts must include condom training to children from the age of 11 as part of their sex education curriculum. ACU supports local control of education and opposed this bill. The bill passed the House on April 17, 2013 by a vote of 66-52.
• HB 190 Spending Increase. This supplemental budget bill adds $603 million in spending at a time when the state of Illinois credit rating is one of the lowest in the country and there are $7 billion in unpaid vendor bills. ACU opposes irresponsible spending increases and opposed this bill. The bill passed the House on February 5, 2013 by a vote of 63-52.
• SB 2555 Spending Increase. This education budget bill increased spending over last year’s levels by $155 million at a time of fiscal crisis in Illinois. ACU opposes irresponsible spending increases and opposed this bill.  The bill passed the House on May 31, 2013 by a vote of 71-47.
• SB 1920 Pension Contributions. This bill creates a waiver for the Chicago Public School System so it does not have to pay its pension contributions for this fiscal year. ACU opposes this irresponsible fiscal policy at a time when the Illinois pension system is already underfunded by $98 billion dollars and opposed this bill. The bill was defeated in the House on May 31, 2013 by a vote of 39-78.
• HB 89 Property Tax Freeze. This bill would prevent property tax increases when assessed valuations are lowered unless approved by the voters. ACU supports tax limitation legislation and supported this bill. The bill was defeated in the House on April 12, 2013 by a vote of 43-65.
• HB 2418 Local Government Mandates. This bill would create an unfunded mandate on one county (Lake) by requiring a new board of elections that removes the County Clerk’s authority over elections without the approval of voters. ACU opposes this usurpation of local government and opposed this bill. The bill passed the House on May 30, 2013 by a vote of 66-49.
• SB 10 Same Sex Marriage. This bill redefines marriage in Illinois to include persons of the same sex. The bill provides no religious liberty protections for place of worship and their ministries or individual protections for refusing to participate or support same sex marriages. ACU supports the traditional definition of marriage and supports religious liberty protections in states that allow same sex marriages and opposed this bill. The bill passed the House on November 5, 2013 by a vote of 61-54.

Illinois Senate Vote Descriptions

• SB 1 Pension Reform. This bill is an attempt to reform Illinois’ broken pension system. The pension would reduce the current $100 billion of unfunded liability by $20-$27 billion and reduce the state’s contributions by about $187 billion over the next 33 years. ACU supports real pension reform and supported this bill as a good start at reform. The bill was defeated in the Senate on May 30, 2013 by a vote of 16-42.
• SB 10 Same Sex Marriage. This bill redefines marriage in Illinois to include persons of the same sex. The bill provides no religious liberty protections for place of worship and their ministries or individual protections for refusing to participate or support same sex marriages. ACU supports the traditional definition of marriage and supports religious liberty protections in states that allow same sex marriages and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on February 14, 2013 by a vote of 34-21.
• HB 1189 Second Amendment Rights. This bill included provisions that create a defacto gun registration system that would require approval from the Illinois State Police and their validation that the buyer has a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. ACU opposes weakening Second Amendment rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on May 31, 2013 by a vote of 41-15.

Pam Althoff

• SB 26 Obamacare Implementation. This bill expands the Medicaid program to help implement the Obamacare health insurance program. ACU opposes this expansion which will impose a future burden on Illinois taxpayers and does not reform a program riddled with waste and abuse before expansion and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on May 28, 2013 by a vote of 39-20.
• HB 2675 Local Control of Education. This bill mandates that local school districts must include condom training to children from the age of 11 as part of their sex education curriculum. ACU supports local control  of education and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on May 22, 2013 by a vote of 37-21.
• HB 190 Spending Increase. This supplemental budget bill adds $603 million in spending at a time when the state of Illinois credit rating is one of the lowest in the country and there are $7 billion in unpaid vendor bills.  ACU opposes irresponsible spending increases and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on February 7, 2013 by a vote of 38-15.
• HB 2418 Local Government Mandates. This bill would create an unfunded mandate on one county (Lake) by requiring a new board of elections that removes the County Clerk’s authority over elections without the approval of voters. ACU opposes this usurpation of local government and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on May 29, 2013 by a vote of 32-20.
• SB 1244 Housing Trust Fund. This bill authorizes Lake County to establish a so-called “affordable housing trust fund” paid for by a tax surcharge on all real estate-related documents. ACU opposes these funds that use taxpayer money to pay activist groups to “assist” people in finding affordable housing as well as unneeded tax surcharges and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on April 24, 2013 by a vote of 35-17.
  

  Karen McConnaughay

• SB 2555 Spending Increase. This education budget bill increased spending over last year’s levels by $155 million at a time of fiscal crisis in Illinois. ACU opposes irresponsible spending increases and opposed this bill.  The Senate passed the bill on May 29, 2013 by a vote of 40-19.SB 1787 Labor Law. This bill targeted a funeral company involved in a labor dispute with the Teamsters Union. It would allow the state Comptroller to revoke a license or refuse to issue a license to a funeral home that engages in a lockout “that has a negative effect on consumers.” ACU opposes government interference in private labor disputes and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on November 7, 2013 by a vote of 36-18.