Selected State Reports State Documents Five reports dealing with automobile insurance ratemaking in Illinois have been released by the Illinois Insurance Laws Study Commission. Prepared by Robert C. Witt, the reports are based on information from several insurance companies and associations doing business in the state. They address whether the use of territorial rating in Illinois benefits consumers and compare the results of the unique state automobile insurance rate regulatory system to those in other states. In general, different loss expectancies exist among different geographic areas and the use of territorial factors in ratemaking tends to reflect these differences. • "Index to the Transcripts of the House Debates of the Seventy-ninth General Assembly, State of Illinois: January 8, 1975-January 12, 1977," compiled by Mary Redmond, Illinois State Library (1977), 199pp. Since fall 1971 General Assembly floor debates have been recorded, transcribed and microfilmed. This index, to be followed by one of Senate debates, is intended "to lead the user to discussion of legislative intent or reasons for particular activity"; therefore, only references to stages in a bill's progress involving debate are included. • "Illinois Energy Consumption: 1963-1975" (June 1977, 32pp.) and "Projected Illinois Energy Consumption: 1976-1980 and 1985"(August 1977, 10pp.), Office of Research and Division of Energy, Illinois Department of Business and Economic Development (BED). Information in the first report was prepared as the historical energy data base for the "Illinois Energy Conservation Feasibility Report," also prepared by BED. Data are arranged by consuming sector (residential, industrial, etc.) and by fuel type. The second report projects energy consumption utilizing data in the first report. • "A Benefit-Cost System of Decision Making for Strip Mined Land Reclamation in Illinois," by Ronald Beazley et al., Illinois Institute for Environmental Quality, ILEQ no. 77/22 (August 1977), 297pp. Almost 100,000 acres of strip-mined land in Illinois remain to be reclaimed. The system detailed in this report, intended to assist the public decision maker, screens public strip-mine reclamation projects, identifying possible high-priority projects under various assumptions and conditions. • "Drought in Illinois," to Gov. James R. Thompson from the Illinois Task Force on Drought, Illinois Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (March 1977), 47pp. Since April 1976 rainfall in Illinois has been below normal, leading to serious problems in about half the state. For example, some livestock feeders whose wells and ponds have gone dry cannot buy water from nearby municipalities. A lingering drought would be catastrophic to state agriculture. This document reports on the cause, extent and effects of the present drought and suggests means to mitigate its effects. • Illinois Minority Vendors Directory, 4th ed., Illinois Department of Business and Economic Development (BED) [1977], 342pp. In support of the Illinois Office of Minority Business Enterprise, a division of BED,this directory identifies minority firms doing business in Illinois. Listings are by products and services, by city and by firm. • "Case Load Pressure and Felony Trial Courts: Cook County," by Peter F. Nardulli and Kathleen Proch, Illinois Government Research (Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois), no. 45 (September 1977), 4pp. This report presents data showing that heavy case loads may not necessarily lead to malfunctioning of the court system, with evidence drawn from the Cook County criminal court system. Statistical analysis revealed that guilty plea rates, dismissal rates and sentences were not affected by the number of cases handled per judge, as traditional criminal justice research would predict. This evidence is discussed in terms of organizational theory; the authors assert that in many ways the court functions like a corporate or governmental bureaucracy. • "Substate Districting in Illinois: Good lntentions Aren't Enough," by John Rehfussm and Michael Husby, Policy Issues (Center for Governmental Studies Northern Illinois University vol. 3, no. 1 (summer 1977), 4pp. This report highlights the dilemma between the need for orderly and efficient government and the desire for decentralized control, discussing the weaknesses of a proposed reform, substate districting. Under this concept a state is divided into administrative or program planning regions with common boundaries utilized by state agencies to manage programs and provide services. In Illinois, a proposed substate districting plan was abandoned after opposition by county and township officials. Other Reports • Intergovernmental Relations in Illinois: The Role of State Government in Urban Policy Making, by Robert W. Kustra, Center for Research in Urban Government, Loyola University, Chicago (October 1977), 63pp. This monograph focuses upon recent significant state action on urban problems in northeastern Illinois. Three major state policy directions are evident: (1) state finance of an increasing number of local government functions, (2)encouragement of intergovernmental solutions in many program areas, and (3) strengthening the regional approach to urban problem solving. Items listed under State Documents have been received by the Documents Unit, Illinois State Library, Springfield, and are usually availible from public libraries in the state through interlibrary loan./S.L.K. 22/ April 1978/ Illinois Issues
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