Legislative Action By GARY ADKINS and JERRY MENNENGA Budget battle centers on school funding THE RULES of the General Assembly restrict action during even-numbered legislative years to appropriations and emergency measures. There are usually a number of bills resurrected from rules or study committees after introduction the previous year, but most bills not revived by the first week in May are for all practical purposes dead. A battle is brewing this budget session over funding for local school districts — both an appropriations and an emergency matter. The present school aid formula is outdated and won't provide adequate funding for dozens of districts in the state — so say Democrats critical of Gov. James R. Thompson's proposed $110 million increase in funding for the 1978-79 school year. Education The big legislative issue in education centers on spending and revision of the state school aid formula. Gov. Thompson has recommended that total elementary and secondary appropriations in fiscal 1979 increase by $110 million, and higher education funding go up $81.2 million for a total of $3.2 billion. But Democrats say elementary and secondary education should be given $152 million more than last year, and the State Board of Education wants $192 million more. Led by Comptroller Michael J. Bakalis, the Democratic candidate for governor, a push is on in the General Assembly to give local districts a guaranteed 8 percent hike in state aid. A two-bill package, sponsored by Sen. Arthur L. Berman (D., Evanston) passed the Senate Elementary Education Committee on May 2 by a 6-3 vote. S.B. 1454 and S.B. 1794 call for a 3 per cent limit on increases in local tax levies and a guarantee of an 8 per cent funding boost. Gov. Thompson has said that he will veto any measures which cost more than funds presently budgeted. Democrats say that they hope to find between $31 million and $42 million in unnecessary state agency budget requests for personnel and programs. They charge that the governor's proposal would mean a decrease in funding to about 600 local school districts because of inequities in the 1973 resource equalizer formula (which funds elementary and secondary schools). There are at least four bills in the General Assembly that aim at changing key features of the funding formula (4 out of 20 bills survived committee hearings). Local school districts need financial help because of changing assessments in many communities and declining student enrollments. Each of the surviving bills would lower local revenue qualifying standards, making it easier to receive full funding from the state, no matter what the local contribution. Most bills contain a "hold-harmless" clause, guaranteeing that no district would get less in state funds than it has in the past. The Illinois Office of Education (IOE) backs the Democrat-sponsored formula change measure, S.B. 1454, introduced by Sen. Berman. Herman's bill would provide school districts with an additional $86.120 million over last year's formula appropriation of $1,290 million. It passed the Senate Elementary and Secondary Education Committee May 2. Another education appropriation of major importance is H.B. 2635, sponsored by Rep. Fred J. Tuerk, (R., Peoria), which appropriates $227.989 million to the state teachers' retirement fund. This is the amount requested by the state board. The governor has recommended an appropriation of $208.615 million. Neither recommendation comes close to fully funding the much-neglected pension systems for Chicago and downstate teachers. The downstate system is presently funded at 42 per cent of full coverage, and the governor's budget would "approximately equal our pay-out, so it wouldn't change the percentage," according to Owen Guthrie, spokesman for the teachers' retirement system under the IOE. The bill is in the House Appropriations I Committee. There are a number of bills alive that would increase school construction bonding authority. The most likely of these to pass is S.B. 1803, jointly sponsored by Sen. Philip J. Rock (D., Chicago) and Senate President Thomas C. Hynes (D., Chicago). The bill calls for increasing annual bonding authority for special education projects from $20 million to $30 million. It is in the House Appropriations I Committee. Meanwhile the Senate Elementary and Secondary Education Committee has approved 8-0 a bill to allow the State Board of Education to guide local school districts that want to set up a minimum competency test as a high school graduation requirement. The bill, S.B. 238, does not mandate minimal competency tests, as did H.B. 3188, sponsored by Rep. James C. Taylor (D., Chicago). Taylor's bill was opposed by the IOE and died in committee, tabled when it was not acted upon by a House rules May 5 deadline. Taxes Legislators are scrambling to give taxpayers a break before the November election. Two forms of tax relief for real property owners are proposed, both of them primarily intended to help those on fixed incomes. One kind of relief is offered through "homestead exemptions," which exempt from taxation money spent by homeowners for repair or maintenance work (such work might drive up the market value, and thus the assessment level for the property). Eleven bills are aimed at increasing homestead exemptions. Four bills propose a $3,000 maximum exemption from taxation on increases in assessed valuation. S.B. 1783, 1784 and 1785 sponsored by Senate President Thomas C. Hynes (D., Chicago) were given the best chance for passage, however. They exempt only the first $1,000 in new assessed value each year. The other form of tax relief for June 1978/ Illinois Issues/27 property owners is called "circuit breaker" legislation. It provides for rebates to elderly and disabled home-owners for taxes paid on real personal property. Eligibility is based upon total income per household. The most promising circuit breaker proposal is one supported by Gov. Thompson. It is designed to raise the earning limit for eligibility from $10,000 to $12,000 a year. S.B. 1617, sponsored by Sen. John A. Davidson (R., Springfield) passed the Senate Revenue Committee unanimously May 3. Thompson has set aside $6.5 million in his fiscal 1979 budget to pay for the added 35,000 people expected to be eligible for tax relief under his plan. At present about 500,000 taxpayers are eligible for circuit breaker relief. The average relief check is $240. Besides the governor's plan, the Senate Revenue Committee has approved two other, more expensive, circuit breaker increases. They are S.B. 1816, sponsored by Sen. Jerome J. Joyce (D., Kankakee), and S.B. 1820, sponsored by Sen. Robert J. Egan (D., Chicago). Akin to the tax relief proposals is the concept of required state funding for any new or expanded program mandated for local government. "Mandated programs" would have to rely on state money rather than local property taxes for their support under terms of H.B. 297, by Rep. James Von Boeckman(D., Pekin) and Rep. Fred Tuerk. It passed the House last year by a 105-26 vote and sailed through the Senate Executive Committee May 3 by an 11-0 vote. Meanwhile legislation to give a bigger tax break to industry is doing well. Ethics bills killed On April 27 the House Rules Committee summarily dismissed 20 of 21 bills offered in an ethics reform package by the governor. On a straight party-line vote the Democrats on the committee defeated 12-9 a group of Republican sponsored bills aimed at governmental ethics reform, including lobbyists' expense reporting. The committee majority allowed only a few moments of discussion on the merits of the complex measures before scuttling them. It was the second year in a row that Gov. Thompson has offered an extensive ethics package which stood no chance of serious consideration in the legislature. Last year Republicans voted against the package too, calling it ill-considered and poorly drafted. This year they protested as Democrats killed the new package after calling it a "political gimmick." The vanquished package called for creation of a board of ethics to oversee the filing of economic interest statements and to investigate potential conflicts of interest. It also called for filing of economic disclosure statements by all elected officials, candidates and members of boards and commissions, as well as those whose appointments to office need Senate confirmation. It banned former legislators from becoming lobbyists. Mental health code A package of bills to revise the state's mental health and developmental disabilities code has been introduced in the General Assembly. The result of a 10-month study by a joint committee that paralleled a three-year study by a governor's commission, S.B. 250-255 include a "Bill of Rights" for mental patients. "The bulk of the code is concerned with the substantive and procedural criteria under which an adult can be forced to receive mental health treatment against his will," the joint committee said. Sen. Richard M. Daley (D., Chicago) chaired the committee which recommended giving mental patients the right to refuse medicine in some cases and to be represented by a lawyer at all times. Daley's committee agreed with most of the recommendations of the governor's commission, but disagreed with an important provision that would have allowed involuntary institutionalization of a patient only if he committed a violent act or threatened to do so. Daley's committee would allow involuntary committal of a patient "only if, because of illness, he poses a physical danger to himself or others or is unable to care for his basic physical needs." This "reasonable presumption" is presently law. The Senate Judiciary I Committee approved the bills May 2 by a 6-2 margin after making minor changes. With bi-partisan support, they stand a good chance of becoming law. (See next month's magazine for details on the state's mental health system.) Off-track betting Recommendations of Gov. James R. Thompson's Gambling Study Commission on legalized off-track betting in Illinois have been added to an existing House bill. The House Revenue Committee amended H.B. 1238 April 25 to allow "core" cities in each of six state regions to administer off-track betting. Chicago Democrats favor the idea since it would give their mayor appointment power over a board that would control up to $21.5 million a year in new revenue. Suburban legislators oppose the bill because they fear all the benefits would go to the "core" cities, like Chicago, Springfield, Peoria, Rockford and Decatur. House Majority Leader Michael J. Madigan has called the gambling bill his top legislative priority for Chicago this session. The governor is expected to use the issue as a bargaining lever with Chicago Democrats, much as he used Crosstown funding last year — to keep his budget intact. Both the original bill and the amendment are sponsored by Rep. Eugene M. Barnes (D., Chicago). The bill was on third reading — passage stage — in the House, as of May 3, after a favorable 17-7 committee vote. Reorganization Gov. Thompson is supporting four bills in the legislature to begin reorganization of state agencies, as promised in his 1976 election campaign. Two of the bills relate to law enforcement, one to bond sales and one to energy and environment. The law enforcement measures, H.B. 3228 and H.B. 3229, sponsored by Rep. Celeste M. Stiehl (R., Belleville), transfer power to the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement. One bill transfers delinquency records to the department, the other moves law enforcement officer training into the department's control. The bond sale power of the Illinois Educational Facilities Authority and the Illinois Health Facilities Authority would be consolidated under S.B. 1857, sponsored by Sen. Bradley M. Glass (R., Northfield). The new body, Illinois Educational and Health Facilities Authority, could sell bonds for hospitals or for colleges needing capital improvements. Another bill, S.B. 1861, by Sen. John J. Nimrod (R., Glenview) is conforming legislation for the governor's Executive Order No. 1 (1978), which merged the Department of Business and Economic Development's Energy Division with the Institute for Environmental Quality. All four reorganization bills were still in committee as of May 4, 1978. Other proposals The General Assembly is also considering legislation on such perennial topics as the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, collective bargaining for public employees, and sunset legislation to reduce bureaucratic waste. A new topic is also under examination — H.B. 1357, by Rep. Dave Robinson (D., Springfield) and Rep. Harlan Rigney (R., Red Oak) would restrict foreign and corporate ownership of Illinois farmland. The bill is aimed at maintaining "the vitality of the independent, family farm and small farming communities across the state," Rigney explains. The bill is also apparently designed to reduce the snatching up of Illinois farmland by oil-rich Arab investors. 28/June 1978/Illinois Issues
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