SPRINGFIELD – A 16-member ethics commission will be formed after a resolution sponsored by State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) passed the Senate this week.

“Legislators and lobbyists absolutely must be held to high standards,” Castro said. “No one should be able to profit from their public service.”

House Joint Resolution 93 creates the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying. The commission will be comprised of 16 members appointed by the Senate president, the Senate minority leader, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the House minority leader, the governor, the secretary of state and the attorney general.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Heather Steans is pushing for new ethics reforms in the wake of scandals surrounding numerous Springfield lawmakers in recent months, passing legislation out of the Senate today.

“Today we took the first steps to reform the disturbing, unacceptable behavior that has rocked state government in recent months,” said Steans, (D-Chicago). “Raids, arrests and indictments are not what people expect of their elected officials. While they mean that the ethics laws we already passed are working, and law enforcement is doing its job, it also means we need to change the culture in Springfield, close loopholes, and eliminate grey areas. We need to earn back your trust.”

SPRINGFIELD – A requirement forcing Cook County seniors to reapply annually for a tax break will soon be eliminated under a measure co-sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham.

House Bill 961, passed by the Illinois Senate Wednesday, would eliminate the need for residents of Cook County residents aged 65 or older to reapply annually to receive the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption, a property tax exemption designed to assist senior citizens financially.

Seniors would be required to reapply once more for the exemption in 2020, and would then be grandfathered into the program through 2024. Similar legislation, House Bill 833, was signed into law this summer, but required seniors to reapply in both 2020 and 2021.

“Seniors shouldn’t be forced reapply for the Homestead Exemption an extra time. It’s just common sense,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “You only turn 65 once, and there’s no reason to put seniors through a confusing reapplication process for this exemption when they’ve already proved that they qualify for it.”

SPRINGFIELD – To continue efforts to protect Illinois communities from toxic coal ash pollution, State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) addressed unresolved issues with the legislation passed in the spring.

Senator Bennett passed legislation to keep coal ash out of our water earlier this year. This new law directs the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to begin a rule-making process to require power plant operators to safely dispose of coal ash or ensure that pits are properly enclosed, impose fees on coal ash pits to pay the costs of hiring IEPA staff to oversee enforcement, and require power plant operators to set aside money to pay for cleaning up pits in the event a plant is shut down or a company goes bankrupt.

“The bill itself was about being proactive for our future generations,” Bennett said. “It provides the protections, regulations and financial assurances to prevent coal ash crises from happening in Illinois.”

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) joined fellow lawmakers to pass a measure that would prevent the loss of hundreds of good-paying jobs across the state, including dozens in the Rockford area

The legislation would reinstate a sales tax exemption for aircraft maintenance materials. Most other states offer this exemption, so Illinois needs it to remain competitive. Illinois neighbors Wisconsin, Missouri and Indiana all offer similar exemptions, as do major competitors like California and New York.

“Companies like Emery Air provide good-paying jobs in the Rockford area,” Stadelman said. “We need to keep Illinois open for business and support these aviation jobs.”

SPRINGFIELD – In an effort to save taxpayer money, State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) voted in favor of a measure today that will consolidate police and firefighter pensions.

“The passage of this bipartisan legislation was years in the making, and I’m thrilled my colleagues and I were able to work with the governor’s office to address a part of our serious pension problem,” Koehler said. “We’re saving taxpayers money and increasing retirement security for those who risk their lives on a daily basis.”

Under this legislation, the roughly 650 separate pension funds for downstate police officers and firefighters will be consolidated into two individual and separate funds. The fund consolidation will happen over a 30-month transition period beginning upon the legislation becoming law and is estimated to save Illinois taxpayers nearly $160 million annually while not affecting individual pension amounts.

SPRINGFIELD – A bipartisan measure to consolidate most police and firefighter pension funds throughout the state passed the Illinois Senate Thursday with support from State Senator Terry Link (D-Indian Creek).

“This proposal retains benefits while also making our system more productive and efficient,” Link said. “The pension crisis is one of the biggest issues we’ve been dealing with in this state for years, and the legislation we passed today marks a major step toward solving that problem.”

Senate Bill 1300 would consolidate all of the state’s nearly 650 police and firefighter pension funds outside of Chicago into two individual and separate funds over a 30-month transition period.

SPRINGFIELD – Legislation showing vast support to the aviation repair industry in Illinois is one step closer to becoming law under the firm leadership of State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon).

“I am delighted the majority of the Senate agreed this exemption is necessary in support of the economic contributions jet repair companies provide to the entire state of Illinois,” Crowe said. “But this fight is not over.”

The measure reinstates Illinois’ sales tax exemption for aircraft materials, which expired Dec. 31, 2014.