August 20, 2010

This week, legislation intended to generate much-needed revenue was signed into law, which Sen. Cronin said will provide a five-week amnesty period for tax delinquents.

Senate Bill 377 (PA 96-1435) allows individuals who have accumulated back taxes between June 30, 2002, and July 1, 2009, to pay those taxes penalty-free from Oct. 1 to Nov. 8 without being fined. Tax delinquents who don’t pay during the amnesty period will see all interest and penalties double.

Officials hope that by providing incentive for tax delinquents to cough up their overdue obligations the program will bring in tardy tax dollars, as opposed to spending state time and energy pursuing the tax delinquents.

The tax amnesty program was initially projected to return about $350 million, a prediction based on projections from the state’s 2003 tax amnesty program. However, recent data from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability and the Department of Revenue indicate the program is more likely to return about $170 million.

Also this week, two bills were signed into law to encourage solar energy use.

House Bill 6202 (PA 96-1437) changes the date that Commonwealth Edison and Ameren are required to begin ramping up their renewable solar requirement. Previously, the electric suppliers had a 2015 deadline, but will now be required to show that 0.5 percent of the power is purchased from solar sources by 2012. The requirement will then incrementally increase over time and by 2015, six percent of power must be purchased from solar sources.

House Bill 5429 (PA 96-1436) creates a Homeowners’ Solar Energy Act that will protect homeowners’ rights to develop, install and use solar energy in their homes as long as they follow certain guidelines. The law specifically prohibits homeowners associations and condominium associations from prohibiting the installation of solar panels, but does not apply to buildings that are greater than 30 feet in height.

On Aug. 4, weeks after Quinn announced plans to cut Illinois’ budget by $1.4 billion, he released the remainder of his proposed cuts. The announcement, however, was short on detail which made it impossible to determine the true impact of the reductions, or even if they represented genuine cuts in spending.

On July 1, the Governor used his veto power on House Bill 859 to reduce Fiscal Year 2011 state appropriations by $155 million. On August 4, Quinn provided a rack-up of his $1.4 billion in vetoes and reserves by agency. Though there were very few specific details included on what he intends to cut, the cuts were outlined at www.budget.illinois.gov.

While Senate Republicans are supportive of the Governor’s plan to scale back state expenditures in the face of a $13 billion budget deficit, they noted that without additional detail, the Governor’s claims regarding what he will cut cannot be verified. Lacking this detail, it’s impossible to determine whether Quinn’s planned budget reductions will trim down state spending, or if these cuts will be made in other areas—such as Medicaid or group insurance—and simply push costs off into future fiscal years.

Senate Republicans question whether Quinn has the resolve to follow through with his promises to cut the budget. Since taking office, the Governor’s actions have demonstrated that he has not been willing to reduce spending in any meaningful way.

GOP senators point to a similar scenario that took place last year, wherein the Governor promised to cut $1 billion from state spending, even providing a list of cuts that were to be made. However, the vast majority of those budget reductions never happened. In fact, Quinn ended up overspending by $2 billion and increased Illinois’ backlog of bills from $4 billion to $6 billion.

Cronin to host FREE financial safety seminars

August 3, 2010

State Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) is teaming with the Illinois Attorney General’s office to host two financial safety seminars on Aug. 26 and Aug. 31.

What: Sen. Cronin’s August 26 Financial Safety Seminar
When: Thursday, August 26 from 9:45 am to 11:15 am
Where: York Township Office, 1502 S. Meyers Road, Lombard, IL 60148

What: Sen. Cronin’s August 31 Financial Safety Seminar
When: Tuesday, August 31 from 10 am to 11:30 am
Where: Glen Ellyn Public Library, 400 Duane Street, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

Cronin sponsored the event, which will feature representatives from the Attorney General’s office, who will discuss consumer fraud prevention. Experts will be able to provide information on the "Do Not Call" Registry, how to protect yourself from identity theft, and understanding telecommunication scams.

Other topics include health care fraud, debt settlement and consolidation traps, check-cashing scams, fraudulent businesses and consumer rights under the new federal credit card law.

Admission is free, and refreshments will be provided. For more information contact Sen. Cronin’s office at 630-792-0040 or E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

July 30, 2010

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Cronin was signed into law on Friday, and is anticipated to increase transparency and oversight at the DuPage Water Commission.

Sen. Cronin introduced Senate Bill 580 (PA 96-1389) after an independent audit revealed evidence of serious mismanagement by the DuPage County Water Commission. The Senator said that his primary goal was to sunset the sales tax collected by the Water Commission. The tax will sunset on June 1, 2016.

“My number one priority was to sunset the sales tax, which this new law will do. That doesn’t often happen, so I consider that a significant accomplishment,” Cronin remarked. He went on to say that SB 580 is a different, more responsible, approach to government.

 “I wanted to reassure the taxpayers that in the future there will be accountability for members of the Commission,” explained Cronin. “I went to extreme lengths to increase transparency, and to incorporate requirements to ensure that in the future qualified, credentialed people are serving on this Commission.”

The senator explained that Senate Bill 580 will terminate the terms of all current commissioners on January 1, 2011, and thirteen new commissioners will be appointed. The chairperson will be appointed by the County Chairperson with consent of the County Board, and one commissioner will be appointed from each of the six County Board Districts at the discretion of the County Chairperson and the County Board. The remaining commissioners will be appointed from each County Board district by the majority vote of the mayors of the municipalities in the County Board district which have the greatest percentage of their respective populations within the district.

Cronin introduced Senate Bill 580 following reports of extreme negligence and misconduct by members of the DuPage Water Commission. An audit revealed that incompetence and intentional mishandling of the funds under their control resulted in millions of dollars in taxpayer revenue being frittered away by commission members.