CHICAGO - July 22, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today took action on the following bills:  

Bill No.: HB 711  

Amends license requirements for out-of-state pyrotechnic operators and companies.  

An Act Concerning: Regulation  

Action: Signed                           

Effective Date: Jan. 1  

Bill No.: HB 785  

Allows any adult under guardianship to request and receive counseling services or psychotherapy, and that the consent of the guardian will not be necessary to authorize counseling or psychotherapy.  

An Act Concerning: Health  

Action: Signed                           

Effective Date: Jan. 1  

Bill No.: HB 1152  

Requires the Department of Human Services to designate essential community behavioral health care providers to improve access to care for individuals suffering from mental illness, substance abuse and other behavioral disorders. 

An Act Concerning: State Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 1192

Permits liquor to be sold, served or delivered during functions held at Department of Natural Resources' buildings and facilities with a liquor license and the approval of the director.

An Act Concerning: Liquor

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 1394

Extends and amends the Detection of Deception Examiners Act.

An Act Concerning: Regulation

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 1425

Creates the Electronic Health Record Incentive Fund to reimburse eligible providers who participate in the development of Electronic Health Record technology.

An Act Concerning: Public Aid

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 1494

Amends classification of ocular pharmaceutical agents and the process for approving new agents.

An Act Concerning: Professional Regulation

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 1562

Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to link to the Hospital Report Card from its website, and to have a description of the information available in this document and the Consumer Guide to Healthcare.

An Act Concerning: State Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: HB 1656

Creates a feasibility study to look at the potential of centralizing administrative intake functions for medical assistance applications.

An Act Concerning: Public Aid

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 1662

Requires the state to study the feasibility of converting the Medicaid program from a 209(b) determination of eligibility state to a Section 1634 determination state by Jan. 1, 2012.

An Act Concerning: Public Aid

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 1709

Allows the Joint Labor and Management Committee to charge fees in order to recover costs associated with its classes and programming.

An Act Concerning: Local Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: HB 2581

Payment of the failure to appear fee shall be a condition of release unless otherwise ordered by the court.  

An Act Concerning: Criminal Law

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: HB 3314

Allows the Central Illinois Economic Development Authority to create employment advisory boards.

An Act Concerning: Local Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 154

This bill officially designates a parcel of land in southeastern Vermillion County as the Harry "Babe" Woodyard State Natural Area.

An Act Concerning: State Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: SB 168

This bill adds three new members to the Mississippi River Coordinating Council and directs it to absorb the duties of the Mississippi River Parkway Council.

An Act Concerning: State Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1248

This bill permits physicians to use an electronic signature to sign off on a physician's order or plan of treatment for a resident of a nursing home.

An Act Concerning: Health Facilities

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: SB 1282

Permits the inclusion of patient personal information in data submitted by hospitals and ambulatory surgical treatment centers, allowing the Illinois Department of Public Health to examine health care quality across the state.

An Act Concerning: State Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: SB 1350

Exempts dentists from the Truth in Health Care Professional Services Act.

An Act Concerning: Regulation

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1352

Extends the Capital Development Board's single prime pilot program and allows for more money to be devoted to single prime projects.

An Act Concerning: Finance

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1372

Creates the Good Samaritan Medical Equipment Donor Act to provide civil immunity for persons who donate medical equipment or supplies to veterinarian schools.

An Act Concerning: Civil Law

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: SB 1554

Exempts process servers from criminal trespass to real property provisions.

An Act Concerning: Criminal Law

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: SB 1585

Expands the list of health care professionals authorized to verify that a person with a mental or physical disability is able to operate a motor vehicle.

An Act Concerning: Transportation

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1612

Allows the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to place a lien on the assets of an individual with overdue child support without obtaining a court order, and provides the department authorization to restrict passports of any individual who owes at least $2,500 in past-due support.

An Act Concerning: Public Aid

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1670

This bill gives city and park district museums around the state the option of limiting free days to Illinois residents.

An Act Concerning: Local Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1712

Excludes taxes levied by flood prevention districts from the definition of "local sales taxes" in STAR bond districts.

An Act Concerning: Local Government

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1950

Increases the penalty for false reporting under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act to a Class 4 felony.

An Act Concerning: Children

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Bill No.: SB 1952

Repeals the Labor Arbitration Services Act. 

An Act Concerning: Employment

Action: Signed                        

Effective Date: Immediately

Mr. President, on August 2^nd, our nation will be unable to borrow money to meet our current obligations.  We've known for a while that this time was coming.  Our annual deficits have been near $1.5 trillion for the past two years, and will be that large this year.  With deficits of that size, no one should be surprised that we've hit the debt ceiling. 

Which raises the question:  What has the President offered to confront this looming crisis?  What has the Senate Democratic Majority done to address our deficit crisis?  Well, the answer is simple.  Not much.  Last year, President Obama virtually ignored his own deficit-reduction commission.  This year, he offered a budget for 2012 that would increase spending, increase taxes and add trillions to our debt.  His budget was so ill-conceived and out of touch that it was defeated here in the Senate by a vote of 97-0.  Not a single Senator voted for President Obama's budget.  Every member of the President's party said no to his budget.

For most of this year, President Obama said we should raise the debt ceiling without taking any measures to address our long-term deficits and debt.  It was the position of this administration that Congress should simply rubber stamp another debt ceiling hike with no plan in place to reduce our deficits.  That plan was voted on in the House and was soundly rejected.  All Republicans and nearly half of the Democrats in the House voted against increasing the debt ceiling without deficit reduction.

The President then gave a budget speech in April.  I presume he recognized the inadequacy of his budget proposal.   He outlined a budget framework that would reduce budget deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years. But he still hasn't presented an actual budget to go with it.  The Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Mr. Elmendorf, was asked if he could estimate the budget impact of this new framework.  The CBO director state clearly, "We don't estimate speeches.  We need much more specificity than was provided in that speech for us to do our analysis."

We've heard a lot from the White House about the need to come up with a plan, but the White House itself has never offered a single debt-ceiling proposal for a vote.  And the Senate Democratic Leadership has also seriously shirked its responsibility.  They haven't put forward a budget for more than 800 days.  Every family in America that works hard and sacrifices to pay their bills ought to be ashamed at the failure of the U.S. Senate to offer a budget.

In sharp contrast, members of the House fulfilled their responsibility and passed a budget earlier this year.  The Democrats have done nothing with it but demagogue it.  While they can't find time to compile their own budget, they've sure found time to make speeches about the House budget.  While members on the other side come to the floor to oppose and demagogue the Cut, Cap and Balance plan, they've offered no plan of their own.  While there is now a framework from the so-called gang of six, their plan also lacks any specificity.

Perhaps that's the political strategy the other side has chosen.  Voters and the American people can't be upset with a position you've taken if you haven't taken any.  This strategy may be politically expedient, but it will drive our economy and our country off a cliff.  The strategy of placing a higher priority on the next election rather than the economic and fiscal situation facing our county is how we got in this mess. 

Based on the lack of proposals put forth by the other side, one could assume that they're perfectly content borrowing 40 cents for every dollar we spend.  Are they pleased with deficits of $1.5 trillion annually?  They must be, because they haven't offered a plan to reduce these deficits.

On top of that, they have argued for tax increases.  They must believe we have a revenue problem.  According to their arguments, the American people are not handing over enough of their money to satisfy the needs of Washington to spend.  The reason the economy isn't growing and jobs aren't being created is because Washington isn't spending enough money.  Remember, just two years ago they passed the $800 billion so-called stimulus as a means to keep unemployment below 8 percent.  So, we borrowed the money and spent it on government programs. 

And where is the U.S. economy today?  Unemployment is at 9.2 percent.  More than 14 million Americans are out of work.  And now the national debt is more than $14.3 trillion.  This experiment proved that government spending does not stimulate private sector job growth.  Government doesn't create wealth.  Government consumes wealth.  The only jobs created by the government are government jobs. They don't add value to the economy; they are a cost to the economy.

The fact is, we're in this hole today because of our spending problem.  Historically, spending has averaged about 20 percent of our gross domestic product.  Today, and in recent years, spending has been near 25 percent of gross domestic product.  This level of spending cannot be sustained, particularly when revenue has historically been around 18 percent of gross domestic product.

For my colleagues who think we can reduce deficits by increasing taxes, you need to understand that it doesn't work.  Professor Vedder of Ohio University has studied tax increases and spending for more than two decades.  In the late 1980s, he co-authored, with Lowell Galloway also of Ohio University, a research paper for the congressional Joint Economic Committee that found that every new dollar of new taxes led to more than one dollar of new spending by Congress.  Professor Vedder has now updated his study.  Specifically, he found that "Over the entire post World War II era through 2009, each dollar of new tax revenue was associated with $1.17 in new spending."

History proves tax increases result in spending increases.  We know that increasing taxes is not going to reduce the deficit.  Instead of going to the bottom line, tax increases are a license for Washington to spend even more.

History also shows that tax increases don't increase revenues.  Everybody thinks that if you raise the marginal tax rates, you will bring in more revenue. But the taxpayers, workers, and investors of this country are smarter than we are.  Regardless of the rate, over the past 40 years, revenue has averaged about 18 percent of gross domestic product.  Higher tax rates just provide incentives for taxpayers to invest and earn money in ways that reduce their tax liability. 

You cannot tax your way out of this problem.  We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.  That's why I'm supporting the only plan that has been put forth to address our deficit and debt problem.  The Cut, Cap and Balance plan passed the House with bipartisan support from 234 members.  This plan is the only plan offered to cut spending in the near term.  We need to halt and reverse the trend of the last two years when government spending increased by 22 percent, not even counting the failed stimulus program.  It will also impose budget caps to get our spending down to a manageable level compared to our gross domestic product.  Finally, it would impose a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution.  It only makes sense to impose a requirement that we live within in our means.  Washington proves again and again that it needs this kind of discipline.

I'd say to my colleagues, if you don't support this plan, then offer your own plan.  You know the debt limit must be increased. But you also know we must take action to reduce the future levels of deficits and begin to bring our debt down.  Where is your plan to do that?  Where is your budget resolution?  How will you meet these responsibilities of elected office? 

The trajectory of our debt is alarming.  It will soon undermine our economy and our economic growth.  If we do nothing, our children and grandchildren will have fewer economic opportunities than we have had.  This is a moral issue.  Without a plan to put our fiscal situation on a better path, the next generations will have a lower quality of life than the one we've experienced.  We can't let that happen. 

We must take action to correct our course.  I urge my colleagues to support the Cut, Cap and Balance plan.

Group Will Develop Strategies to Improve the Health of Illinois Residents

CHICAGO - July 21, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today announced 25 appointments to the State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) Implementation Coordination Council. Today's action is the latest in a series of appointments the Governor is making as he continues to fulfill his commitment to improving the health of all Illinois residents. The interdisciplinary council is tasked with developing implementation strategies for the state's SHIP. The SHIP council will work collaboratively with the Governor's Health Care Reform Implementation Council to promote statewide improvements in public health.

Effective immediately, Governor Quinn named Joseph Antolin, Patricia Canessa, Jenifer Cartland, Greg Chance, Edwin Chandrasekar, Margaret Gadon, Cathy Grossi, Martin Hatlie, Roger Holloway, Kevin Hutchinson, Ahlam Jbara, Robert Kieckhefer, Tammy Lemke, Janine Lewis, Hong Liu, David McCurdy, Maureen McHugh, James Nelson, Sharon Post, Jose Sanchez, Clarita Santos, Patricia Schou, Terry Solomon, Janna Stansell and Christina R. Welter to the SHIP Implementation Coordination Council.

"This council brings together a diverse group of health care professionals that are leaders in their respective fields," said Governor Quinn. "We want a comprehensive approach to make sure the people of Illinois are healthy, and that means bringing everyone to the table. I look forward to the council's work, and the results they will help us achieve in public health."

The SHIP is a framework to address public health issues through an interdisciplinary approach that utilizes the strengths of the entire public health system. Under law, the state of Illinois must complete a SHIP every four years with the goal of creating a system that ensures optimal physical, mental and social well-being for all people in Illinois through a high-functioning public health system. The most recent SHIP was updated in August 2010 to reflect federal health care reform and other state health policies.

In July 2010, the Governor signed into law legislation creating a Governor-appointed council to implement the SHIP, which was one of the one of the recommendations of the SHIP planning team. The group will provide further definition of priorities and action steps, engage stakeholders to enact SHIP objectives, and promote the plan as a common agenda across the public health system.

The SHIP calls for the state to improve access to comprehensive health-related services, enhance data and information technology in the health care sectors, address the social factors affecting health and health disparities, manage and improve the public health system, and ensure sufficient workforce in the health care and public health fields. The SHIP is prevention-focused and centered on the following priority health concerns: alcohol/tobacco, use of illicit drugs/misuse of legal drugs, mental health, environment, obesity (including nutrition and physical activity), oral health, patient safety and quality, unintentional injury and violence.

In addition to the appointed council members, representatives of 12 state agencies and the chair of the State Board of Health, Dr. Javette Orgain, will participate in the SHIP Implementation Coordination Council.  These agencies all play a critical role in the implementation of the SHIP recommendations and will be working with the council to ensure that the goals of the SHIP are achieved. The council co-chairs will be appointed by the Governor.

Information regarding the new council members is attached.

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