Washington, DC - Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) and a number of his colleagues testified yesterday before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health in support of various pieces of legislation relating to health care for American war veterans.  Schilling in December introduced H.R. 3723, the Enhanced Veteran Health Care Experience Act.  

"I truly believe you can tell a lot about a country by the way it treats its veterans," Schilling said in his testimony.  "I'm pursuing this legislation in large part because of the many constituents who constantly share their stories of having to drive long distances while experiencing substantial wait times in an effort to make sure they can get the health care they need.  But I also experienced this in my own family when helping to take care of my father - who served in Korea - near the end of his life.  We had to drive several hours to and from Iowa City for him to get the care he needed.  While we appreciated the service and the care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, I also believe that we must continue to make improvements for our veterans."

This legislation would allow, but not require, veterans to use fee-based care in their home towns with their own doctors.  Under the current veterans' health care system, veterans are shuttled back and forth between the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and their local doctors' offices, bound by the red tape that exists in the fee-based care system administered by the VA.  This red tape only exacerbates working with their local doctors' offices to receive the health care they need.  While increasing the ease with which veterans can receive care, studies and statements by the Government Accountability Office, Office of the Inspector General, and Veterans Service Organizations suggest that implementing the changes in this bill will create savings for the VA and address medical care concerns that veterans have when working with the VA fee-based care system.

"This idea is near and dear to me, and has received a positive response from veterans I have spoken with in my district," Schilling said in his testimony.  "The Congressional process is in place so that we can perfect legislation.  That is what I am working to do on this bill.  Since H.R. 3723's inception and also from its introduction, I have continued to work with Veteran Service Organizations to address their concerns.  I hope to continue to do this with the VSOs and the Committee."

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"Will Today's Agriculture Boom be Tomorrow's Bust: Are You Prepared?"

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - April 17, 2012 - As Iowa farmers head to the fields to plant what could be one of the largest corn crops on record, the state's largest grassroots farm organization is bringing a line-up of heavy hitters to Iowa, to make sure today's boom, doesn't turn into tomorrow's 'bust.'  The summit will take place July 23-24 at the Iowa State Center Scheman Building on the ISU campus.

"The Farm Crisis of the 80's taught farmers that no industry is invincible to a downturn, and with Iowa's thriving farm sector insulating much of our state from the worst hits of the recession, we have to look towards new expertise, new risk management tools, to make sure farming doesn't go the way of the auto industry," says Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) President Craig Hill.

"There are commonalities and differences in place today that we also saw prior to the 1980's Farm Crisis; then and now, we've seen land prices and commodity prices double or triple in a relatively short period of time," says IFBF Director of Research and Commodity Services David Miller.  "Although most of today's farmers have better cash flow and less debt because of low interest rates, there are other risks which threaten Iowa's agricultural prosperity, which center around unprecedented federal debt and the very real possibilities of farm program cuts, which affect the sustainability of many types of farming.  Today, our market strength is more tightly connected to global markets, global weather disasters, global trade and those are the things that bring new vulnerabilities to the business of farming," says Miller.

National experts ranging from economist Danny Klinefelter of Texas A&M University and Jeff Plagge, president-elect of the American Bankers Association, to Iowa State University weather expert Elwynn Taylor, a panel of D.C. experts from the Senate and House Ag Committees and Daniel Mitchell of the D.C. 'think tank,' the CATO Institute, are among the nationally-recognized monetary, policy, trade and economic experts tapped for the July IFBF economic summit.

The price of the two-day summit is $50 for Iowa Farm Bureau members and $150 for non-members.  Information about the summit, lodging, on-line registration forms and a complete listing of the panelists and schedule can be found at www.iowafarmbureau.com.  Registration deadline for the IFBF economic summit is July 17.

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Public input solicited on school district efficiency recommendations

SPRINGFIELD - April, 17, 2012. The Classrooms First Commission is seeking public input on a set of draft recommendations approved Tuesday that would make it easier for school districts to consolidate and help them save up to $1 billion in operations costs by sharing services, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon said.

Four public hearings are slated to begin Thursday evening in Champaign and will inform the final recommendations delivered to the Governor and General Assembly in July. The remaining hearings will be located in Carbondale, Chicago Heights and Rockford through the end of April.

"I look want to hear from citizens across the state as the commission finalizes its recommendations on school district efficiency and effectiveness," said Simon, who chairs the Classrooms First Commission. "Educators, parents and taxpayers helped develop these recommendations, and I urge them to remain involved as the commission begins the final stage of its work."

No districts would be forced to consolidate under the draft recommendations, but the state would require counties with small and declining school-age populations to study whether county-wide consolidation or sharing services would save money and boost learning. Other draft recommendations include :

• allowing compact but not contiguous districts to consolidate; currently districts must be compact and contiguous
• expanding the regional board of school trustees dissolution authority, by allowing local districts with under 750 enrollment to seek dissolution with or without a referendum; currently this is an option for districts serving communities with under 5,000 people
• piloting a new capital project list that targets school construction money at districts willing to consolidate and that are in need of new buildings, additions, and/or building renovations
• phasing in lower local tax rates for new unit districts; currently, elementary and high school districts become a lower, unit taxing district immediately after consolidating
• requiring counties with small and declining school-age populations to conduct efficiency studies that could lead to shared services, district mergers, or even county-wide districts; 12 counties currently have county-wide districts and another 16 counties have small and declining student populations, according to state and federal population projections through 2030
• authorizing the Illinois State Board of Education to provide a web-based resource management program to districts to help them identify up to $1 billion in instruction, transportation, food services, administration and facility maintenance savings

The Classrooms First Commission is a bi-partisan group of education stakeholders that was charged last fall by Governor Quinn and the General Assembly to reduce duplicative education spending and improve educational outcomes. It reviewed several paths and collected input from hundreds of Illinois educators and taxpayers through public hearings and an online survey to create the draft recommendations that were approved for release Tuesday afternoon.

The second round of public hearings will provide citizens an opportunity to bring their ideas on the draft recommendations directly to commission members. Attendees will be given five minutes for oral testimony and speaking slots will be provided on a first come, first serve basis. Individuals are also permitted to provide written testimony.

To view a live-stream of the public hearings or submit online comments on the recommendations, please visit www.ltgov.illinois.gov.

PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE

DATE: Thursday, April 19

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Parkland College, Room D244, 2400 West Bradley Avenue, Champaign

DATE: Friday, April 20

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Southern Illinois University, Student Health Center Auditorium, 374 East Grand Avenue, Carbondale

DATE: Thursday, April 26

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Prairie State College, Conference Center Auditorium, 202 South Halsted Street, Chicago Heights

DATE: Monday, April 30

TIME: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

LOCATION: Rock Valley College, Woodward Technology Center, Room 117-121, 3301 North Mulford Road, Rockford