Alliance Legislative Report 98-32

Distributed via Email: January 29, 2014

STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS DELIVERED

Governor Pat Quinn today addressed a joint session of the Illinois legislature to give his State of the State Address. Echoing his twin mantras of “ Illinois is making a comeback” and we are “getting the job done”, he highlighted several legislative accomplishments from his tenure as Governor and broadly outlined his plans for the future. No specifics were given and certainly nothing was mentioned about the State budget or the estimated costs of his many new proposals.

Specifically mentioned as legislative victories in the last year were the pension reform bill and the same-sex marriage bill. In addition he reflected on the education reform bill (SB 7) from earlier in his term. His goal now is to set out a five-year plan to create jobs, “deliver stronger education”, and “build the economy that works for everyone”. Part of the Governor’s plan would include:

• Continuing a strong program to build roads and bridges (this might include school construction)
• Establishing a “small business advocate” to look at policies and proposals   that would impact small businesses
• Lowering the fee to establish a Limited Liability Company (LLC)
• Doubling the amount of funding for Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) grants for college students
• Investing in a new “ BioHub” for Illinois, a biotech center for start-up companies in the industry
• Expanding the State’s Conservation Corps to educate and train at-risk 14 – 25 year-olds
• Doubling the investment in the Clean Water Initiative for stormwater and flood control projects
• Raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour
• Doubling the Earned Income Tax Credit for low income taxpayers
• Requiring that all employees receive at least two sick days

Education Initiatives

There was nothing mentioned in today’s speech about the education of children in kindergarten through high school. The Governor did unveil a “Birth to Five” initiative that focuses on prenatal care, access to early learning opportunities, and strong parent support over the next five years.

• State government will work with schools, hospitals, and churches to identify expecting mothers and connect them to prenatal services
• Expand pre-school opportunities to every child (now about 1/3 of at-risk children are not offered early learning opportunities)
• Connect families to a range of services and opportunities to get the training and support they need to take a leadership role in their child’s education

This legislative report is written and edited by the lobbyists of the Illinois Association of School Boards to provide information to the members of the organizations that comprise the Statewide School Management Alliance.

Bill Text/Status: Illinois General Assembly www.ilga.gov

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