Bill Summaries FOLLOWING is a selection of the bills
signed by Gov. Dan Walker during
September. Education H.B. 1884, J. M. Houlihan, D., Chicago (P.A.
79-1108). Protects privacy of student records kept
by public school systems; effective 3/24/76. Environmental controls
S.B. 805, Knuppel, D., Virginia (P.A. 79-790).
Requires economic impact studies before Pollution Control Board adopts new regulations except in health emergencies. Public Safety H.B. 911, Katz, D., Glencoe (P.A. 79-1092).
Establishes "911" as the single emergency phone
number to reach police, fire and ambulance services anywhere in Illinois. To be fully operational by the end of 1985. H.B. 2625, D. L. Houlihan, D., Chicago (P.A.
79-843). Provides 30 additional circuit court
judges in Cook County and three additional in
DuPage County. S.B. 638, Donnewald, D., Breese (P.A. 79-984).
Requires anyone who discovers evidence of an illegal eavesdropping device to report it to the
state's attorney, who is to notify the person being
spied on. State government H.B. 612, Lundy, D.. Chicago (P.A. 79-1035).
Requires eight state social service agencies to
issue an annual plan showing objectives for coming year and goals for next three years. H.B. 622, Hanahan, D., McHenry (P.A. 79-
1091). Requires payment of prevailing wage rates
to all state employees in prevailing wage rate positions. H.B. 1591, Maragos, D., Chicago (P.A. 79-
1056). Requires firms awarded state printing contracts to pay prevailing wage rates. Tax relief H.B. 1386, Hanahan, D., McHenry, and Capparelli, D., Chicago (P.A. 79-913). Provides a
four-year exemption from assessment increases for improvements made by taxpayers on their
homes; applies to downstate counties. H.B. 883 (P.A. 79-630), which makes a similar provision for Cook county, was signed earlier. H.B. 2132, Anderson, R., Peru (P.A. 79-1049).
Speeds up timetable for making tax relief payments to elderly and disabled persons. Candidates Roland W. Burris, director of the Department of General Services, announced
September 25 that he will seek the Democratic nomination for state comptroller.
Burris, a Chicago resident, served formerly
as a vice president of the Continental Illinois Bank. State Treasurer Alan J. Dixon, Belleville,
announced on October 6 that he is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor. Dixon, who completed his first term as treasurer in January 1975 and whose present term expires in 1979, had previously
served 20 years in the legislature. "I was not asked by the mayor of Chicago, as our governor would have you believe, but by the people from every corner of the state," he said. Gov. Dan Walker announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for
governor October 1. "I will not go before the
machine slatemakers to plead," he said in
making his announcement in Chicago. "My
record will be judged by the people voting in
the primary, not a small group of political
bosses sitting in secret slatemaking judgment." Appointments Edgar Callahan, Rockford, as deputy secretary of state by Secretary of State Michael
J. Hewlett, to succeed I. Lawrence Richardson, who resigned (September 11). Rep. Horace Calvo (D., Granite City) as a
Madison County circuit judge by the Illinois
Supreme Court (September 11) to succeed
Judge Fred P. Schuman, Granite City, who retired. Rubin G. Cohn, University of Illinois law professor; Frank Greenberg, Chicago
lawyer; and George Niebank, Glencoe, as attorney members of the Judicial Inquiry
Board. Ernest Collins, Jr., Chicago banker,
and Dr. Willard Scrivner, a Belleville physician, were appointed as public members of
the board, by the governor on September 26.
Harold Steele, Princeton, president of the
Illinois Farm Bureau, was reappointed to
the board at the same time. David Kennedy, Anna, as associate director of natural resources, and Mike Conlin,
Roanoke, as supervisor of the Division of
Fisheries, by Tony Dean, director, Department of Conservation (September 4). I. Lawrence Richardson, Springfield, as
employment security administrator in the
Department of Labor to replace Christopher
W. Nugent, who resigned; Raymond R.
Tillman, Chicago, as his executive assistant; and Robert L. Haughey, Springfield, as
commissioner of unemployment insurance,
to succeed Billie J. Paige, who resigned, by
Donald A. Johnson, director of labor,
September 24. Nugent was then appointed
an assistant in the governor's office and
Mrs. Paige, assistant director of the Department of Registration and Education. The
Bureau of Employment Security had been
under fire for several months for delays in
issuing unemployment checks (see November, page 346). Cecil Troy, Chicago, by the governor to
the Racing Board on September 26. Gov.
Dan Walker said he was the first Black to be
named to a state racing board. Retirement Other 378 / Illinois Issues / December 1975
H.B. 1732, Meyer, R., Chicago (P.A. 79-961).
Establishes new free textbook program for students in parochial, private and public elementary
and high schools.
H.B. 114, Hart, D., Benton (P. A. 79-1099).
Requires Pollution Control Board to adopt regulations prescribing when existing facilities may use intermittent or supplemental air pollution control systems in lieu of compliance with sulfur
dioxide emission standards.
H.B. 422, Duff, R., Wilmette (P.A. 79-1818).
Makes the commission of a forcible felony by a
defendant out on bail for another crime grounds
for taking him into custody pending his trial.
H.B. 199, Maragos-Capparelli, both D.,
Chicago (P.A. 79-944). Creates 15-member state
Delinquency Prevention Commission.
H.B. 847, Tipsword, D., Taylorville (P.A. 79-946). Exempts agricultural chemicals from sales tax.
Names
Joan G. Anderson, trustee of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Chicago, announced September 19 that she is a candidate for the Republican nomination for
lieutenant governor. Mrs. Anderson, of
Western Springs, served as a delegate to the
state constitutional convention, 1969-70.
William A. Alexander, West Frankfort,
and Charles Quindry, Benton, by ballot of
circuit court judges to fill associate judge vacancies in the second judicial circuit, as announced by the Illinois Courts Commission September 23.
Sen. William C. Harris (R., Pontiac),
minority leader of the Senate, announced
September 23 that he will not seek reelection
in order to spend more time with his family.
Harris will have served 22 years in the legislature when he completes his present term in
January 1977. In the 1973-74 session he
served as Senate president when the Republicans were in the majority.
U.S. Rep. Philip M. Crane (R., Mount
Prospect) announced September 17 that he
is heading the Illinois campaign committee
of Ronald Reagan for President.