Springfield, Ill. – Lawmakers began the 2010 legislative session this week with the governor’s annual State of the State address, and wrapped up the week by approving measures that State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) said will impose more regulations on Illinois cemeteries and possibly change education assessment tools in Illinois.
Some lawmakers were disappointed by Governor Pat Quinn's State of the State message, which primarily focused on a laundry list of first-year accomplishments. Senator Righter said that while it’s not unreasonable for the Governor to talk about what he views as positive in Illinois, clearly some were anticipating more details.
While Quinn did outline intentions to create jobs and rebuild Illinois’ economy, he provided few specifics on how he plans to accomplish that goal aside from once again plugging a tax increase.
Additionally, despite Quinn's support of a major bipartisan infrastructure improvement program that was designed to create jobs, his administration has been slow to implement the program. Senator Righter said the state needs to move ahead with the capital construction program in order to create jobs and put people to work.
The governor also addressed ethics reform, advocating for an ethics referendum that would allow the people of Illinois to participate in advancing ethical rules and regulations for their state and local elected officials.
Also this week, the General Assembly approved legislation that will dismantle the way cemeteries are regulated in Illinois. House Bill 1188 was introduced in response to the scandal at BurrOakCemetery. Cemetery workers allegedly dug up bodies and then resold burial plots. They are awaiting trial on felony charges.
House Bill 1188 was introduced in response to the scandal, and if signed into law cemetery owners, managers and customer service employees at private cemeteries will have to be licensed through the state. The legislation also permits audits on cemeteries and imposes new requirements that extend from meeting certain grounds maintenance standards, to controlling traffic outside the cemetery during funeral processions. Failure to comply with these new requirements could result in a fine, criminal penalties and revocation of licensure.
Though religious and government cemeteries have been partially exempted from the legislation, an approximate 12 percent of the Illinois cemetery industry would be fully regulated under the new law. Opponents of the legislation say that while they understand the urgency to ensure Illinois’ cemeteries are operating appropriately, the legislation was rushed—lacking specific information on what the new fees and licensure and education requirements will be, or how much they will cost.
As a result, it’s likely that private cemeteries will be subjected to millions of dollars in new fees and onerous regulations that could do irreparable damage to the state’s private cemetery industry.
Two other pieces of legislation were approved by lawmakers and were intended to lend strength to Illinois’ bid to receive grant money from the federal Race to the Top program. Senate Bill 315 intends to tie teacher and administrator evaluations to student performance as a way to increase student success, and Senate Bill 616 increases the number of individuals covered by an alternative teacher certification program.
Hundreds of Illinois schools have signed on to compete for the Race to the Top grants in hopes of receiving grant funding. While the legislation does not necessarily guarantee Illinois will receive money from the project, the measures are supposed to increase Illinois’ chances. Illinois could see more than $500 million in stimulus dollars.
Additional measures approved by the General Assembly this week:
Early Release Program (SB 1013): Requires an inmate serve at least 60 days on their sentence before being given meritorious credit that allows an early release from prison.
Landfill (HB 2688): Excludes the portion of a site or facility used to perform limited testing of gasification conversion technology from regulation as a pollution control facility.
McPier Board (SB 1868): Replaces the current 13-member board of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority with a new 7-member interim board.
Utility Tax Exemption (SB 328): Changes the job retention thresholds for the utility tax exemption, but only for manufacturing businesses that produce steel items.
