State Reports                                                         

Items listed under "State Documents" have been received by the Documents Unit, Illinois State Library, Springfield, and are usually available from public libraries in the state through interlibrary loan. Issuing agencies may have copies available. For items listed under "Other Reports," write to the publisher as noted.

State Documents

• Water Resources and Land Use Priorities Task Force Report, Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 19281, State Fairgrounds, Springfield 62794-9281 and Department of Conservation, 524 S. Second, Springfield 62701-0075 (April 1993), 100pp.

Close to 200 recommendations are presented in this report. They are divided into five issue areas: water, land, recreation, crossover issues (such as siting of regional facilities, chemical use, sustainable agriculture) and funding. Each section contains background information and a discussion of specific problems and concerns.

An overall theme conveyed by the task force members is that the conservation of Illinois' natural resources is vital to both the economic and social well-being of the people of the state.

Other Reports

• Illinois Water and Climate Summary (Special Issue on Flood of 1993), Illinois Water Survey, 2204 Griffith Dr., Champaign 61820 (July 1993), 16pp.

The focus of this special issue of the Water and Climate Summary is the summer 1993 flood of the Mississippi River. It presents an overview of relevant factors for July 1993, as well as weather/climate information, soil moisture information, surface water information and ground-water information (with a special section on the flood effects). While the text is not overly technical, it is made more accessible to the lay reader through the use of numerous maps, tables and charts.

• The Nature of Illinois, The Nature of Illinois Foundation, 208 S. LaSalle, Suite 666, Chicago 60604.

The Nature of Illinois Foundation has reformatted its newsletter (it is now 11" x 17") and began its publication this summer with Volume 1, Number 1. It is published quarterly in support of the Illinois Scientific Surveys and the Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center.

• Illinois Preservation Series (Number 14), Historic Preservation Agency, 1 Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield 62701-1507, 28pp.

This issue of the agency's newsletter contains a comprehensive list (through February 11, 1993) of the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois. It is organized alphabetically, first by county name, then by city or town, and lastly by the historic name of the property. Street addresses and other locational descriptions are also provided. National Historic Landmarks are identified as well.

Photographs are sprinkled throughout the publication, along with brief discussions on such topics as criteria for listing in the National Register, the concept of "historic context" and protection of historic properties.

• Fixing Kids: Illinois' Programs for Children, by James Krohe Jr., Illinois Tax Foundation, 201 E. Adams, Suite 350, Springfield 62701 (May 1993), 81pp.; $10 plus $1.50 for postage and handling.

The message of this report is that while this state has focused a great deal of attention on "fixing kids," it has not paid enough attention to fixing the underlying problems of poverty, health care and housing. The author suggests that melding available services at the point of delivery would be a step in the right direction, and cites Project Success as a good example of such an approach. He also proposes the creation of community-based services where nonprofessionals could negotiate between families and bureaucracies as well as "children in poverty tax credits."

• 1993 Illinois Tax Climate, Illinois Tax Foundation, 201 E. Adams, Suite 350, Springfield 62701 (May 1993), 73pp.; $15 plus $1.50 for postage and handling.

This is the 16th edition of the Tax Foundation's report on the tax situation in this state. As in the past, the report is a valuable reference for all those interested in Illinois' fiscal health. By means of 17 tables presented in the first section it provides comparative data on such things as Illinois' state taxes vs. growth in personal income and percent of local taxes generated by type of tax among the 10 leading industrial states and the nine states in the Midwest. The second section offers profiles of the 15 states used for comparative purposes in the report.

Anna J. Merritt

October 1993 /Illinois Issues/11