Springfield, Ill. - A group of Republican Senators are urging the adoption of reforms they say will introduce common-sense improvements and fiscal restraint to the state’s Medicaid system.

State Senators Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), Carole Pankau (R-Itasca), Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) and Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) are among the legislators targeting the state’s staggering backlog of unpaid Medicaid bills and proposing reforms to improve the level of service that Medicaid patients receive.

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Rod Blagojevich outlined his $49.7 billion budget proposal for the coming fiscal year to mixed reactions, and Senate members continued their consideration of legislation in committees during the week of Feb. 18-22, according to State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon).

Senator Righter said Blagojevich’s sixth budget once again relies on increased spending, higher debt and more hits on businesses that employ Illinois citizens. The Governor did offer some tax breaks to citizens and expressed an interest in passing a capital improvement program. Senate Republicans have been trying for several years to pass an equitable capital improvement program with a stable, responsible funding source.

In passing a budget this year, lawmakers will have to contend with the state’s lackluster job growth. Illinois is 45th in the nation in job growth since Gov. Blagojevich took office. According to federal jobs numbers from December, Illinois has a 2.5 percent job growth rate, while Iowa has a 5.9% rate, followed by Wisconsin at 4.3%, Kentucky at 4%, Missouri at 3.9% and Indiana at 2.8%.

Senator Righter says strong job growth – not huge tax increases – is a better way to address budget woes. If Illinois had kept pace with the national average in job growth, it would have more than 213,000 additional jobs today, which would mean more than a half-billion dollars in additional tax revenues.

Legislation approved by Senate committees during the week of Feb. 18-22 includes:
 
Retirement interest (SB 1958) – Allows the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Article to pay interest to employees who quit and forfeit their pension credits by taking a contribution refund.

Farmland preservation (SB 1992) – Allows counties to levy a 0.05% property tax for farmland preservation with the approval of voters in a front-door referendum.

College payments (SB 2044) – Allows divorced parents who pay for college for their adult children to be told where their child is going to school via court order.

Sexual abuse (SB 2049) – Increases penalties for a second or subsequent conviction of  aggravated criminal sexual abuse from a Class 2 felony (3-7 years) to a Class 1 felony (4-15 years).

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Senator Righter got a first-hand look at the opportunities local downtowns have to offer on Thursday, February 21. Leaders from the Monticello, Paris and Marshall Main Street programs visited Springfield as part of “Main Street Day” – a chance to showcase local communities with exhibits and displays in the State Capitol’s Rotunda.

69 Illinois communities participatein the Main Street program, which assists communities highlight such issues as downtown development, historic preservation and economic growth.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) said Governor Blagojevich’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2009 offers much of what Illinoisans have seen in previous years – more borrowing, more taxes and more spending.

“This proposal avoids addressing the serious issues we need to discuss,” Righter said. “At a time of serious budget deficits, enormous debt and anemic job growth, increasing taxes and borrowing to create more programs is the wrong answer.”