WBEZ | Pat Quinn

Illinois Senate approves medical marijuana bill

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:28:00 -0500

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn must decide if he will sign a measure allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes after the state Senate approved legislation on Friday.

The proposal has been touted as the strictest in the nation among states that have legalized medical marijuana. It authorizes physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients with whom they have an existing relationship and who has at least one of more than 30 medical conditions listed on the measure.

Lawmakers voted 35-21 to send the measure to the Democratic governor. Quinn has declined to say whether he will support the bill, saying he's "open-minded" on the issue. Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, a former prosecutor, said she is in favor after meeting with patients, including veterans.

The proposed legislation creates a framework for a four-year pilot program that includes requiring patients and caregivers to undergo background checks. It sets a 2.5 ounce limit per patient per purchase and calls for 60 dispensaries regulated by the state where patients could buy the drug.

Supporters of the legislation say it is a compassionate measure that could save patients from the agony caused by illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and HIV. They argue that marijuana can relieve continual pain without triggering the harmful effects of other prescription drugs, including painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin.

Opponents contend the program could encourage the recreational use marijuana, especially among teenagers.

"We are embarking here on a way to achieve relief, compassionate relief, consistent with the law (with) a system which avoids abuse," said the bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Bill Haine of Alton. "It's the tightest, most controlled legislative initiative in the United State related to medical cannabis."

A report issued last month by the Pew Research Center poll showed that 77 percent of Americans say marijuana has legitimate medical uses. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

But opponents in the Illinois Senate worry whether the regulations set by the proposed legislation would be enough to prevent abuse of the drug.

"For every touching story that we have heard about the benefits of those in pain I remind you today that there are a thousand times more parents who will never be relieved from the pain of losing a child due to addiction, which in many cases has started with the very illegal, FDA-unapproved, addiction-forming drug you are asking us to make a normal part of our communities," said Sen. Kyle McCarter a Republican from Lebanon.

Nonetheless, Haine touted his measure as the strictest that the General Assembly has considered on medical marijuana. Haine and other supporters have been trying to legalize it for several years. A measure that had cleared the Senate failed in the House in 2011, when six Republicans and 50 Democrats voted yes.

The current version of the bill received the House's approval in April.

Mayor, Illinois lawmakers make case for Chicago casino

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:38:00 -0500

Visitors to the nation's third-largest city are usually spotted wandering the Magnificent Mile, snapping pictures of the Willis Tower and sampling Chicago-style deep dish pizza, but if some persistent Illinois lawmakers and Mayor Rahm Emanuel get their way, a glitzy casino would be on their agenda, too.

Trying to land a Chicago casino has become an annual sticking point, despite political gusto from mayors and legislators who want to expand gambling in Illinois. Gov. Pat Quinn has axed two gambling bills and invoked images of infiltrating "mobsters." Along that same theme, the head of the Illinois Gaming Board said the pending plan is inherently problematic because of the way a Chicago casino will be managed.

Still, the latest bill — which recently cleared the Illinois Senate and also would allow slot machines located in lounges at O'Hare and Midway — appears to have the best chance yet.

Quinn has softened his stance as Illinois faces mountainous money problems. Meanwhile, Emanuel is pushing hard for the proposal, lawmakers are eager to rework it and business leaders would love the chance to plant a casino in Chicago — the largest American city to date — with thousands of noisy slots, an entertainment venue and a continuous flow of money-spending tourists.

"It's not just another riverboat casino, it has the potential to be a destination in its own right," said Jack Johnson, head of the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau. "Anytime you can add another destination to Chicago, it's one more reason to come."

The bill calls for five new Illinois casinos, including one in Chicago, and airport slots. If airports want them, Chicago would be unique among U.S. airports outside Las Vegas. The plan would establish a Chicago Casino Development Authority, a board of mayoral appointees. The Illinois Gaming Board would have regulatory oversight, but most everything else, including contracts and day-to-day operations, falls to the city board.

And there's the potential rub.

Some experts raised concerns at the Chicago setup when compared with urban casinos — in Philadelphia, Detroit and New Orleans — where the state board oversees everything.

"That is a rare situation," said Doug Walker, an economics professor at the College of Charleston. "Anytime you have a new group of regulators, there's another potential area for corruption."

That very issue prompted state gaming board head Aaron Jaffe to question why Chicago needed its own board and resulted in a spat with lawmakers during a hearing on the bill last month. That followed similar questions from Quinn, who vetoed gambling bills over lack of ethical standards. It's a theme he often brings up in a state where four of the last seven governors have gone to prison, including his predecessor Rod Blagojevich.

Even opponents who typically raise concerns about potential social costs — including increases in problem gambling — are also talking about ethical concerns. Partly that's because it's not hard to find corruption headlines in a city that's been under a court order to root out political patronage or where federal data shows more than 1,500 public corruption convictions since the mid-1970s.

"They've had scandals ... all kinds of scandals," said Anita Bedell, head of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems. "You think it's going to be different now?"

Lawmakers acknowledged some of those concerns in the proposal, adding a ban on political contributions from the industry, an inspector general and, most recently, stating explicitly that the state board has final say over all regulation.

But the Chicago board remains in place.

"They're like the business manager," explained Democratic Sen. Terry Link, a bill sponsor. He says it's not unlike other Chicago entities. The state created the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns McCormick Place, a convention center. Both the mayor and governor appoint members.

Emanuel, who said he supports Quinn's ethical oversight concerns, also defended a city board, saying it's needed to protect Chicago taxpayers' interests.

The mayor boosted his support for the casino this week by pledging 100 percent of revenue will go to schools. The move comes as he proceeds with a controversial plan to close 54 schools and follows last year's teachers strike.

Quinn has said he'd support more gambling if it helps Illinois, including nearly $100 billion in unfunded pension debt, the worst nationwide. The plan is expected to bring in roughly $1.2 billion in one-time revenue and about $270 million annually. But Quinn has been noncommittal on whether he'd sign the bill if House lawmakers approve it. He's also reticent on specifics, like what he thinks of the Chicago board.

Meanwhile, urban planners and tourism officials hope a Chicago casino boosts business. No specifics on a location have been publicly discussed, but some potential sites have been mentioned.

Urban planner Kim Goluska, who for nearly two decades did casino research for former Mayor Richard Daley, said possible sites include the glass-paneled James R. Thompson Center downtown, a state building with an enormous atrium; the Congress Plaza Hotel on Michigan Avenue; and Chicago's former main post office, a dingy building straddling a freeway.

Others include a former hospital site on the South Side and McCormick.

Johnson said that any site could work, depending on transportation. He pointed to the success of Wrigley Field and the Steppenwolf Theatre as tourists destinations, which aren't downtown.

Goluska said any casino should be incorporated into the city's urban core to buttress other businesses. His top pick would be the Thompson Center, which is walking distance to Chicago's Theater District, shopping and hotels.

"The spinoff benefit of doing this right should make the gaming revenue pale by comparison," said Goluska, president of Chicago Consultants Studio, Inc. "It's important that this is done right."

Illinois senators clash with gambling regulator over Chicago casino

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:06:00 -0500

After years of trying to expand gambling in Illinois, those involved in negotiations are still bickering over basic elements of a bill in Springfield.

The most recent dispute came over who would regulate a new casino if one were to be placed in Chicago. The Chicago casino would be one of five new casinos in the state if the gambling expansion bill is approved.

On Wednesday, Aaron Jaffe, the chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, went before a state senate committee to testify about the bill before legislators.

Jaffe said there is a potential conflict of interest in the current legislation because the City of Chicago would be in charge of operating the casino, but also be in charge of appointing its own regulatory board to oversee the casino.

Several state senators, including Senate President John Cullerton, said they had language in the bill addressing that issue.

The debate included a few testy exchanges between Jaffe and one of the lead sponsors of gambling expansion, Sen. Terry Link.

Link accused Jaffe of complaining to the media about the gambling expansion plan, rather than addressing his concerns to Link directly.

Jaffe argued Link should have consulted the gaming board when drafting the bill.

“Well if you had done what you should do, we wouldn’t be having this meeting,” Jaffe said to Link during the hearing.

“If you did what you should’ve, you should’ve come and tell me when I introduced the first bill,” Link responded.

Jaffe also said if a gambling expansion bill passes and is signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn, his agency would need to hire several hundred more employees to properly regulate the industry. He said the gaming board has uncovered construction contracts with connections to organized crime at other casinos in the state.

The proposal to build a Chicago casino has been around for years. But legislation allowing that casino, four others in Illinois and slot machines at racetracks has been blocked by Gov. Quinn. In vetoing a bill last year, Quinn said he opposed the legislation because it included loopholes for mobsters and allowed casino operators to donate to political campaigns.

Tony Arnold covers Illinois politics for WBEZ. Follow him at @tonyjarnold.

Gov. Quinn, we have questions

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 05:00:00 -0500

UPDATE: Illinois Governor Pat Quinn says he will lay out his prison plans and policies in an interview with WBEZ, but it’s going to be a couple of months yet.

For nine months, WBEZ has requested interviews and Quinn's office has consistently refused. This morning we asked you to get involved by contacting the governor if you wanted answers too. Kudos to you. That pressure, along with pressure from people tweeting and blogging, including reporters from the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Reader seems to have worked.
Quinn was rushing out of a press conference today in west suburban Franklin Park to head down to Champaign but he spoke briefly to WBEZ and committed himself to discussing prisons. He said that an interview would have to wait until after he finishes the state budget at the end of May.

“I think it’s the best time to first see what our budget for the department of corrections before talking about initiatives of the future,” Quinn said.

Quinn laying out his prison priorities is an indispensable first step in addressing the significant problems facing the Illinois Department of Corrections. Keep sharing your questions about state prisons using the links in this story. We’re listening.

***

Over the last several weeks the Illinois Department of Corrections has moved 600 men into prison gymnasiums across the state. It’s the latest sign of the overcrowding problem facing the prisons — but it’s something the public will not see.

That’s because Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn refuses to let cameras in the facilities to document conditions. It’s part of Quinn’s pattern of obstructing public debate on prisons in Illinois, prisons that cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars every year.

Here’s a little history for some context.

A year ago, when WBEZ asked to visit a couple minimum security prisons, Quinn said no — citing safety and security. When WBEZ threatened to sue the governor, his administration quickly resolved safety and security concerns. To head off the litigation, the Department of Corrections planned guided tours for reporters.

The day before the tour at Vandalia in southern Illinois I interviewed several inmates, who all said something similar to what I heard from 51-year-old William Jessup.

“Well, what I was going to talk to you about today was some of our conditions that I have experienced and yes, they fixed part of them today, miraculously, like the broken windows,” Jessup said. “I can only assume because of the media coming in.”

As we walked through the prison, numerous inmates approached reporters to tell us about very recent improvements like bathrooms being cleaned with pressure sprayers and black mold being scrubbed off the ceilings.

At Vienna, another prison in southern Illinois, inmates told us that the showers had been painted just the day before the tour. Warden Randy Davis didn’t try to hide that fact.

“Do you get ready for visitors at your house? We do the same thing,” Davis said. “That’s what you do. You want to look good and put your best foot forward.”

The pre-tour improvements may be minor but they show a government agency being responsive to public scrutiny. That’s as it should be. But that scrutiny is being hampered by the fact that Gov. Quinn continues to prohibit cameras inside the prisons. The reason for prohibiting cameras? It’s one we’ve heard before.

“It could be a security issue,” said IDOC director Tony Godinez. “You know we have a population here that not all of them take very kindly to be scrutinized with cameras, you know, quite honestly, some of these people don’t want to be on camera.”

Vandalia inmates Martell Saulter and Jeffery McKenzie don’t think cameras would be a problem.

“It’s not like we’re gonna break the camera. Every inmate here at Vandalia has an outdate, if it’s no more than five years. I don’t think he want to risk that,” said McKenzie before he was interrupted by Saulter, who was sitting next to him.

“Don’t nobody do nothing like that ‘cause everybody’s short,” Saulter said.

Prisons don’t have to be shut off from the rest of the world. Take the Cook County Jail, where Steve Patterson used to work as the director of communications under Sheriff Tom Dart.

“Openness and transparency not only is good for the public, but it’s good for your operation and it breaks down a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions,” Patterson said.

When Patterson worked for the sheriff he says they had dozens of reporters in the jail, which with a population of 10,000 is much larger than any state prison.

“I can’t think of anyone who wasn’t allowed access to the facility,” Patterson said.

That includes television crews.

“The very first group that we worked with was from Chicago’s Towers Productions and they developed a three-part documentary for the Discovery Channel, which meant allowing them in the Cook County Jail with unfettered access for roughly nine or ten weeks," Patterson said. "And I remember distinctly Sheriff Dart saying, as long as everyone’s doing their jobs and doing it right, we should have nothing to hide, there’s no reason not to let them in."

Patterson says they also had a crew from MSNBC in the jail for about seven or eight months over the course of a year and a half. And the Oprah Winfrey network spent eight or nine weeks filming a two-hour documentary.

“Through all of that I cannot think of a single incident that we had a problem where the crew was put in danger or anything like that,” Patterson said.

During this time, when camera crews were spending months at the jail without incident, the jail was being run by the then-Executive Director Tony Godinez. Godinez is now the head of the Illinois Department of Corrections. He’s the person we heard from earlier in the story who, with the blessing or at the behest of Gov. Quinn, is now saying cameras could be a security risk.

The union representing prison workers says Quinn has other reasons to keep cameras out of prisons, not just concerns about safety and security.

“Pat Quinn, you know, seems to be very concerned about public scrutiny,” said AFSCME Regional Director Eddie Caumiant while standing outside the Vandalia prison after the media tour there.

Caumiant says he thinks Quinn doesn’t want visuals coming out of the facilities because the governor is closing prisons, which requires him to say the system’s not overcrowded.

“The narrative that they’ve been telling is that there’s all these facilities that are totally underused in the state,” Caumiant said. “You know, if you come in with a camera or your eyeballs, you can see that they’re stuffed to the gills. They’re not half full. They’re stacked to the rafters so I believe it gives the lie to the narrative, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t want visual evidence of that around.”

A spokeswoman for Gov. Quinn says that’s false. She insists it’s an issue of safety and security. It’s something we’d like to challenge Gov. Quinn on but we can’t. For the last nine months now I’ve been seeking an interview with the governor to ask him about the camera ban and a number of other issues related to prisons. His press office has repeatedly refused the interview requests.

In our most recent back and forth with Quinn’s office, his spokeswoman Brooke Anderson told us that there certainly won’t be time for an interview for at least another two months while legislators are in Springfield. She said maybe they’ll think about an interview after that.

As with any public issue, we think the public has a right to know the governor’s thinking and planning when it comes to this billion dollar agency.

Again, here are a few of our questions:

Governor, there are almost 50,000 inmates in Illinois prisons. It’s an historic high. Nonetheless, you’ve closed prisons. Hasn’t that just exacerbated the overcrowding problem? Why isn’t the state bringing down the prison population first and then closing facilities?
Governor, your Department of Corrections has a new policy of housing men in gymnasiums at six facilities. The department insists this is a temporary fix, but the prison watchdog John Howard Association says there’s no public plan that will bring down the prison population anytime soon and, in fact, there’s good reason to think the population will continue to climb, so how can housing men in gyms possibly be a temporary fix?
Governor, I’ve heard horror stories about health care in prisons but the state has a more than $1.3 billion contract with a private health care company to do the work. What is the state doing to ensure that inmates are receiving the health care that taxpayers are paying for?

There are a lot of other issues to discuss: little education or training, overcrowded and dilapidated facilities, poor prospects for inmates who are released.

I have spent nine months trying to get the governor to discuss these issues. I have clearly been spectacularly unsuccessful, so I’m turning to you.

If you think it’s important that he address this issue please take a few minutes to send him a note. You can copy and paste the questions we’ve posed and/or write your own.

We’d also like to hear your questions. What do you want to know about Illinois prisons? Leave a voicemail at our prison phone line: 888-915-9945 or fill out this form.

You can also tweet your questions about Illinois prisons to @GovernorQuinn. If you'd like Quinn to answer the questions posed by WBEZ, consider linking to this story. Example tweet:

Hey @GovernorQuinn, we have questions about Illinois prisons: http://wbez.is/10aKNL4

In the meantime: Gov. Quinn, please consider our interview requests an open invitation.

Officials kick off youth violence prevention week

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:59:00 -0500

Gov. Pat Quinn and public health officials are kicking off a youth anti-violence awareness week focused on prevention measures.

The Chicago Democrat and Illinois Department of Public Health Director LaMar Hasbrouck joined doctors at a Chicago children's hospital Monday to call attention to the start of National Youth Violence Prevention Week.

Hasbrouck says the first step is to increase awareness. He says his agency's website has resources for schools and youth, such as anti-cyber bullying methods.

Health officials did not outline any new measures, strategies or additional funding for violence prevention. Instead, they said health departments need to coordinate better.

Quinn has recently focused more attention on anti-violence efforts. He spent the last two Sundays at Chicago houses of worship pushing for an assault weapons ban.

What is the state of Illinois's 'fiscal house'?

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:11:00 -0600

Today Gov. Pat Quinn will unveil his next budget. When he does, he's likely to use a metaphor that mentions Illinois's "fiscal house." It's one he and other politicans are fond of using.

But what exactly is the state of our fiscal house?

"Dire," said Illinois's State Comptroller, Judy Baar-Topinka, adding the state is a "risk," similar to the way people think of Greece's finances. "We borrowed from ourselves, especially in the last four years, something fierce. We’ve basically used our pension funds like an ATM. Also we spent more than we took in, plain and simple."

"We are the Beverly Hillbillies of financial management," says Lawrence Msall, head of the nonpartisan budget watchdog group the Civic Federation.

We've been living beyond our means for too long, Msall says, and borrowing way too much money.

"It's like you use your credit card to pay your groceries, and then you don’t pay your grocery bill at the end of the month, you pay the bare minimum," Msall said.

Most people really only know two things for sure about Illinois's fiscal state: it's bad, and it's complicated. So we set out to translate the state's finances into plain English.

After 8 months Quinn still won't discuss prison policy with WBEZ

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:38:00 -0600

Monday marks exactly eight months since WBEZ requested an interview with Governor Pat Quinn to discuss prison policy. He has steadfastly refused.

The request started in June of last year when WBEZ asked Quinn to explain his decision to keep reporters out of the prison system.

WBEZ has reported extensively on deteriorating conditions, poor health care, unmonitored contracts, and Quinn’s plans to close prisons at a time of historic overcrowding. Last week his administration announced plans to start housing prisoners in gymnasiums at six already overcrowded facilities. A prison watchdog group has sharply criticized that move saying the administration doesn’t seem to have a plan to ensure that it won’t become the new status quo.

Over the last eight months, WBEZ has repeatedly asked Quinn to come on-air and explain his prison policies and plans, and has made clear to his press office that it is a standing request. That request continues to be denied.

Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon won't seek re-election

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:38:00 -0600

Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon says she won't seek re-election next year but is weighing her options when it comes to seeking another public office.

She declined to give details, but she spent much of a Wednesday news conference playing up her legal and financial experience.

Political experts say the move points toward exploring a run for attorney general or another statewide office and would allow for Simon to fundraise separately from Gov. Pat Quinn, who's seen his approval rating dip.

It would also allow Simon to see who else is running.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Wednesday that she hasn't decided yet on a 2014 gubernatorial run.

Simon told Quinn her decision in December. She said that in a few months she'll make another announcement about her future plans.

Gov. Pat Quinn says he's not taking it personally that Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon won't seek re-election with him next year.

Quinn says he'll seek re-election. He wants a potential running mate who's honest.

Several Republicans say they're interested in challenging Quinn. They include Treasurer Dan Rutherford and Congressman Aaron Schock. Democrats, including former White House chief of staff Bill Daley and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, say they haven't made a decision yet.

Chicago-area waterways slated for a clean-up

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:09:00 -0600

Asked whether people might one day go for a swim in Chicago's Little Calumet River, environmental advocate Tom Shepherd snorted.

“When I was a kid we used to jump in there,” he said. “And we didn’t know anything about what kind of dangers were lurking in there but we did nevertheless, and we came out all black and grimy.”

Shepherd, who works with the Southeast Environmental Task Force, now knows as well as anyone that the Calumet waterways have been severely polluted for over a century by a potent mix of toxic run-off from steel mills and sewage from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of the greater Chicago area. To this day, water flows from MWRD plants into the river without being disinfected to federal standards. An innocent kayaker who splashes water in her own face may be hit with a faceful of fecal bacteria.

“We have been advocating for disinfection for a long time,” Shepherd said.

That disinfecting treatment is finally in sight. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced Monday that the state is giving $250 million in loans to the MWRD to help clean up Chicago-area waterways and replace aging infrastructure. More than half of the money will go to build facilities at the Calumet and O’Brien treatment plants that take dangerous bacteria out of wastewater before it hits the Chicago or Calumet Rivers. Some of the funded projects will also help keep sewers from overflowing, which sends raw sewage into the waterways with relative frequency.

Quinn also touted the creation of 2,000 unionized jobs with the low-interest loans, which are a part of the Illinois Clean Water Initiative.

The shift towards cleaner rivers hasn’t come easy. For years the publicly-elected MWRD commission fought for the right to not clean up Chicago’s waterways. After a prolonged legal struggle, in 2011 the MWRD announced it had reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to start better managing polluted storm runoff and enforcing EPA standards for water it releases from its plants. At that time the Chicago Tribune reported that between 60 and 100 percent of the water in the Chicago River on a given day originated in a wastewater treatment plant and came out only partially treated. The numbers in the Little Calumet, Chicago’s branch of the Calumet River, are similar.

Shepherd said he doesn’t see swimmers getting in the Little Calumet any time soon, but boaters are already coming back.

“It’s pretty exciting. This summer we’re doing more paddling on the river, we’re bringing recreation, we have a great trail that’s being developed,” he said.

With Governor Quinn’s support, in 2011 the Southeast Environmental Task Force was involved with declaring a large area of heavily polluted wetlands near Lake Calumet a future wildlife reserve. At a press conference Monday, Quinn referenced the positive effects the water clean-up will have on that project, called the Millenium Reserve.

“You have eagles who actually live here. How many urban areas in the whole United States have eagles?” Quinn said. “It’ll be the largest conservation area in any urban environment in the whole United States, but in order to make it worthwhile, you’ve gotta have clean water.”

Shepherd, who has seen the eagles nesting in the south side wetlands, was hopeful about the clean-up efforts, but a little more reserved than Quinn.

“Someday we may be able to fish out there,” he said.

Full text of Gov. Quinn's State of the State speech

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:18:00 -0600

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Below is a transcript of Gov. Pat Quinn's State of the State address, as written for delivery Wednesday.

_________

President John Cullerton, Speaker Mike Madigan, Leaders Christine Radogno and Tom Cross, members of the General Assembly, and distinguished guests: Good Afternoon.

It is an honor to address you at the start of a new legislative session. And let me again welcome our 38 new legislators, women and men committed to serving their districts and our state.

We are joined this afternoon by Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, Treasurer Dan Rutherford, Auditor General Bill Holland, and Superintendent of Education Chris Koch. Thank you for your presence.

And thanks, in particular, to Secretary White, for your career of public service and the impact you have made in reducing traffic fatalities over the past four years to historic lows.

I'd like to recognize today Erin Merryn, who advocated to give us "Erin's Law" to prevent sexual assault and abuse of children. Thank you Erin.

As we gather today, let us also pause to thank our Illinois men and women in uniform, whose service and sacrifice make occasions like this possible.

We're honored to have with us today Sergeant James Cissell, a Lead Firefighter with the Illinois National Guard 662nd Fire Fighting Team based in Sparta.

Last year, Sergeant Cissell was scheduled to leave military service, but instead he volunteered to extend his service so he could deploy with his unit to Afghanistan. There, he and his 7-man team responded to dozens of fires and emergencies.

He just returned to his wife Angela and children Courtney, Cori, and Cody in October. Sergeant Cissell, you are man of great courage.

This year, we mark the 10th anniversary of the Illinois Military Family Relief Trust Fund, a program which has provided more than $14 million to support families of our deployed service members, including Sergeant Cissell and his family last year.

In Illinois, we understand the profound debt of gratitude we owe our heroes. And I'm proud to say, on behalf of the people of Illinois, to Sergeant Cissell, and to all our servicemembers, veterans, and their families: thank you for your service and sacrifice.

Fellow citizens of Illinois: I am here to report on the state of our state.

And let there be no mistake: our state is at a critical juncture.

We have made strong progress in the last four years, on everything from creating jobs and reforming our education system, to enacting strong ethical standards and improving our roads, bridges, and rail systems like never before.

We have moved Illinois forward. But we have much more to do. At this point, each and every one of us has a choice to make about what we want our Illinois to look like.

Do we want, in the years to come, a prosperous Illinois where working people continue to have good jobs...where businesses thrive.. and where all our children have a world-class education?

Or do we want to stop the progress and watch our economic recovery stall?

This is a choice about whether we'll make the tough decisions necessary to balance our budget by reforming our public pension systems.or whether we will let our jobs, our safety, and our schools be squeezed out by skyrocketing pension costs.

We have a tall task ahead of us. This is no small issue. And doing what's hard isn't always what's popular at the moment.

But, we must remember that hard is not impossible.

In fact, last year, we made major progress on some of the most impossible issues that have ever confronted our state.

We overhauled our Medicaid program and saved it from the brink of collapse.

We abolished the troubled legislative scholarship program.

And we successfully closed 54 state facilities, saving taxpayers $100 million a year.

We did these hard things working together.. in good faith. across the aisle.

And that's because we're not an Illinois of 13 million individuals, each going their own separate way.

No. We're a community.. a community of shared values.

And we all share a vision of an even better Illinois. An Illinois that is more prosperous. An Illinois that embraces all people.whose communities are safe.and whose children are educated for the good jobs of the future.

We all want this.this is our Illinois.and we've made great strides toward making it a reality.

JOBS

Our Illinois is a place where everyone has an opportunity to work...and where our companies innovate and grow.

When I took the oath of office four years ago, Illinois had not had a jobs program to build highways, bridges and schools in more than 10 years.

Within 10 weeks, we passed Illinois Jobs Now!. the largest public works investment in our state's history.

Between that and our Tollway initiative, we've been investing $43 billion to build and strengthen our infrastructure. This is supporting more than half a million jobs.

Construction workers, like operating engineer Dawn Voce, who is with us today, have been busy working. Thank you, Dawn.

Dawn and her fellow workers are ready to rebuild the Jane Addams Tollway to Rockford. They're building a bridge across the Mississippi River in East St. Louis. And they've already completed the new Wacker Drive in Chicago.

But we have much more to do. So, Members of the General Assembly, let's enact House Bill 190 without delay - and keep creating construction jobs.

That's our Illinois.

Four years ago, many thought high-speed rail was a pipe dream. But now, we're making it a reality in Illinois, creating thousands of jobs and paving the way for more economic growth.

Four years ago, we had leaky pipes, broken water mains and obsolete wastewater treatment facilities.

Some of the pipes still in use in Chicago were laid when Ulysses S. Grant was president of our country.

That's why one year ago, right here in this chamber, I made a commitment to every Illinois resident to update our water systems and make sure that everyone has access to clean drinking water.

Through our Illinois Clean Water Initiative, we're investing $1 billion in clean water.supporting more than 28,000 jobs to replace broken water systems, upgrade sewers, and clean up environmental threats.

And to Larry Swope of the Illinois Pipe Trades, and Jim Coyne, head of Plumbers Local 130: thank you for your hard work.

We're investing in clean water in Pekin, in Princeton, in Hinckley, in Elmhurst, in Flanagan, and in Chicago.

And we have much more to do.

Soon, we'll be putting workers on the job for new Clean Water projects in Kankakee, Murphysboro and all across Cook County.

We are leading the way in creating clean water jobs.

That's our Illinois.

In our Illinois, small business means big business.

Driving economic growth for small businesses requires doing all we can to make sure government is not in the way - while always protecting the health and safety of consumers.

Four years ago, Illinois had one of the most burdensome worker compensation systems in the country. That didn't help our businesses or our workers.

So we reformed the system, saving business millions of dollars in insurance premiums. And we did it working together, with both parties. Thank you, Leader Christine Radogno.

Achieving this reform was not easy; but hard is not impossible.

Now, we all know that business requires capital. And four years ago, capital was hard to find as all of Illinois suffered from the Great Recession. So we invested in our small businesses, providing $23 million in federal funding to scores of companies through Advantage Illinois.

And we've awarded micro-loans to hundreds of businesses, primarily to minority- and women-owned small businesses in high-need communities. In the past four years, we've increased the participation of minority- and women-owned firms in state contracts. And we're going to do more.

Our investments are helping businesses like Urban Juncture in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, where owner Bernard Loyd is creating 70 jobs and tackling the food desert. Thanks for putting people back to work, Bernard.

In our Illinois, working people find good jobs not just for today but for tomorrow.

We've worked to expand our Clean Energy Economy, creating 10,000 green collar jobs. But we have much more to do.

We're making buildings more efficient. And we're expanding our renewable energy capacity.

That's what our Illinois looks like.

To create 21st century jobs, we're also investing in innovation.

We worked with Argonne National Laboratory to bring a new research facility to Illinois.

In the next five years, Argonne will lead a public-private team to create the next-generation battery - a battery that is five times cheaper and lasts five times longer than today's batteries.

We also helped create 1871, a digital hub that has become home to more than 200 startups.

But there's more to be done.

Now is the time to take that same innovative, public-private approach to advanced manufacturing.

In the last 3 years, manufacturing has been one of our state's leading growth sectors, creating nearly 40,000 new jobs. We're at the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing, and we need to stay there.

That's why we're partnering with the University of Illinois and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications to create an advanced manufacturing hub where companies - big and small - come to learn and use the world's most sophisticated tools and software.

The Illinois Manufacturing Lab will make our manufacturers more competitive.

Now, in our Illinois, we leave no worker behind.

As we create next-generation jobs, we must ensure that our workers are equipped for them.

Today there are 140,000 job openings in our state that are unfilled because the people looking for jobs don't have the necessary skills.

So we're closing this "skills gap." Over the past year, we've trained thousands of workers for jobs in high-demand industries like healthcare, manufacturing and construction.

But let's not forget one community that already has great technical skills and training. That's our veterans. We need to make sure their military training counts here in Illinois.

That's why, this morning, I signed an Executive Order that directs our licensing agencies to assess military training for state license requirements.

Just last month, we completed a great first step, with the Board of Nursing approving a suggested "bridge" curriculum for military medics to obtain LPN licenses.

We owe it to our veterans - and to our companies - to keep this process moving.

And that's exactly what my Executive Order will do. We'll help more companies hire veterans and take advantage of the Hiring Veterans Tax Credit we passed last year.

Our shared vision for a better Illinois also means we must honor the productivity of our workers.

Our businesses are only as good as the employees who drive their success.

Nobody in Illinois should work 40 hours a week and live in poverty. That's a principle as old as the Bible.

That's why, over the next 4 years, we must raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour.

Senator Kimberly Lightford, you are doing the right thing with your mission to raise the minimum wage.

And as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, it's always the right time to do the right thing.

HEALTHCARE

Dr. King also said, "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane."

In our Illinois, everyone should have access to decent healthcare.

Twelve years ago, when I walked 167 miles across Illinois, I met a young mother in Mendota who worked full-time as a waitress. She didn't have health insurance.

That wasn't right then and it's not right now. Hundreds of thousands of working people in Illinois today do not have health coverage.

Fortunately, thanks to President Barack Obama, we now have the Affordable Care Act, which will improve the health of the people of Illinois and create thousands of jobs.

But to make this a reality, we must act now. We have work to do.

So I call on the General Assembly to increase access to health coverage for the uninsured through Medicaid and to create the Illinois Health Insurance Exchange.

I want to thank Speaker Mike Madigan for his commitment to ensure that we reap the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. And to the members of the Legislative Black Caucus, thank you for making sure it's "everybody in and nobody left out."

EDUCATION

We also share a vision of an Illinois where every child is prepared to succeed.

That starts with education reform. Four years ago, Illinois was behind.

But now we're setting the reform agenda for the nation.

I signed into law education reforms that put the students of Illinois first.

These reforms have improved school report cards, so that parents are empowered with more information about the schools that educate their kids.

These reforms also set clear benchmarks for teacher evaluation and put performance above tenure.

In addition to these reforms, we've invested $45 million to build early childhood education centers in high-need communities across Illinois, including in Carpentersville, Dolton, and Cahokia.

But there's much more work to do.

That's why we are rededicating a new Lincoln Hall at the University of Illinois next week.

And why we're building Phase 2 of a new campus for Western Illinois in the Quad Cities.

And why we've just completed a new automotive aeronautics building at SIU in Carbondale.

In our Illinois, anything is possible.especially when it comes to educating our students.

But let's be frank.

The pension squeeze is draining our ability to teach our students. Our children are being shortchanged. And in the end, that shortchanges our economy, too.

That's not our Illinois.

In our Illinois, we find a way to get hard things done.

PUBLIC SAFETY

We address the hard issues. Issues like the threat of gun violence.

Last December, our hearts broke along with the parents of the children who died in the horrific massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

And our hearts break every day with families who suffer from violence in Illinois communities.families like the Pendletons, whose daughter Hadiya Pendleton was stolen from us last week.

I spoke with Hadiya's family on Monday. There are no words in the English language.or any language.to relieve the pain of parents who lose a child.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah wept day and night for the slain of his people.

Today, we all weep over the senseless violence in our communities.

But as elected officials, we're in a position to do something about it. We have life-saving work to do.

We cannot wait for another tragedy to happen before we take action.

We must move forward with a comprehensive plan that includes gun safety legislation, mental health care, and violence prevention strategies.

That's why today, I ask you to move forward with strong public safety legislation that will safeguard the people of Illinois.

We must prohibit the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines in Illinois.

Of course, we must abide with the second amendment. But there is no place in our state for military-style assault weapons designed for rapid fire at human targets at close range.

And I want to thank Orland Park Police Chief and former Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, an American hero who saved the life of President Ronald Reagan, for his help on this issue. Thank you, Tim.

We must ensure that guns are kept out of everyday public places, because guns don't belong in our schools, shopping malls, or sports stadiums.

And we must make Illinois safer by strengthening background checks and requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen guns.

I want to salute Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel for their leadership on this issue.

We also must empower our law enforcement to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands. That means we need reliable mental health records.

For years, counties across our state have not been reporting their mental health records to the Illinois State Police. This year, we need every county to step up and do its part to ensure mental health records are updated in real time.

And if there is one thing we can learn from Newtown, it is that we can never rest when it comes to school safety.

Last month, I convened a School Safety Summit with education, public safety, mental health and law enforcement leaders to identify better ways to protect our schools.

Our students and teachers can never be too prepared. That's why we should pass legislation that will require every school in our state to practice active safety drills that will prepare them for even the worst.

Our Public Safety Agenda is both comprehensive and common sense. Together, we can get it done.

That's our Illinois.

EMBRACING ALL PEOPLE

We also believe in an Illinois where people from all walks of life are welcome.

And over the past four years, we have made major strides towards achieving this vision of a more perfect democracy.

We share the belief that everyone deserves an opportunity to follow their dreams and reach their full potential.

But four years ago, there was no scholarship program for high school graduates from immigrant families. We changed that by creating the Illinois Dream Commission. And this year, that Commission will start awarding scholarships to dreamers across Illinois.

And just a few days ago, we made history in Illinois, becoming the fifth state in the Union to legalize driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants. This will make our roads safer and our families stronger. Thank you, Representative Eddie Acevedo and the entire Latino Caucus.

Four years ago, Illinois lagged behind the nation in providing community care to people with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges.

We were institutionalizing more people than any other state, even though community care has been proven to provide a better quality of life.

So we are changing that. We're committed to making sure all our citizens - regardless of the challenges they face - have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

That's why we closed outdated institutions - and we invested in community care.

We invested in people.

People like Eddy Fleming are now thriving with a better, more independent life.

After 12 years of living at a state institution, Eddy recently moved to a community home. He chooses what he wants to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He goes shopping, he walks around his neighborhood, and he practices guitar on his porch.

Eddy makes his own choices and chases his own dreams. That's our Illinois.

And I am pleased to announce today that, because of our commitment, Illinois will soon receive significant new resources to provide supportive housing for people with disabilities.

These resources will provide not only a roof over their heads.but also the skills training, counseling, and services they need to become productive members of their communities.

And we're not done yet.

We want Illinois to be the nation's leading employer of people with disabilities.

With your partnership, we can double the rate of employment for people with disabilities by 2015.

Our Illinois is an "employment first" state.

But our Illinois is not a land of discrimination. Four years ago, nobody thought civil unions would be possible here.

Today, civil unions are the law of our state. And nearly 5,200 couples across 94 counties have joined in a civil union.

Now, it's time to take that next step in achieving full equality.

Marriage equality is coming to Illinois. And yesterday was a great start in the Senate Executive Committee.

I want to thank Senator Heather Steans and Representative Greg Harris for their work to move Illinois forward. Let's pass this bill for marriage equality.

In our Illinois, we embrace the voices.and the votes.of all people. Our democracy is strongest when more voters raise their voices at the ballot box.

That's why Illinois should join 15 other states in making voter registration available online. We must move our election process into the 21st century.

And while we're at it, let's pass a long overdue law to allow voters to participate in primary elections without having to publicly declare their party affiliation.

That's our Illinois.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS

And in our Illinois, consumers are protected. Everyone in the marketplace deserves a fair shake.

Four years ago, runaway bankers brought the Illinois economy to its knees.

These shady operators peddled risky mortgage loan products - costing far too many people their homes.

We must protect our homeowners from this kind of fraud and abuse.

Thank you, Senator Jackie Collins and former Representative Karen Yarbrough, for your legislation to help people who are facing foreclosure. I will proudly sign your bill into law later this week.

In our Illinois, we do not forget about our hardest hit families during their time of need.

That's why we've helped 6,550 families in 92 counties stay in their homes through our Hardest Hit program. And more than half a million families received counseling and other resources through the Illinois Foreclosure Prevention Network that I launched last year.

But there's much more to do. We want to help more families in the year to come.

A fair shake for consumers also means protection from unfair rates and practices by big utility companies.

Thirty years ago, I spearheaded a referendum campaign which created the Illinois Citizens Utility Board, our watchdog over the utility giants. Since then, CUB has reduced utility rate hikes and won billions of dollars in refunds for consumers.

Now more than ever, we need a strong Citizens Utility Board and a strong Illinois Commerce Commission.

That's why I'm nominating a proven advocate for the public interest, Miguel del Valle, to serve on the Illinois Commerce Commission. Thanks for your service, Miguel.

ETHICS

In our Illinois, government belongs to the people, not to the office holders.

Citizens should be able at all times to trust their elected officials.

Four years ago, Illinois was the Wild West of campaign fundraising.

And it showed.

We had a corrupt governor removed from office and headed to prison, and another already in prison, both for fundraising abuses. This was not our Illinois.

So we changed it. We passed a strong ethics code for office holders and public employees.

For the first time in history, we enacted campaign contribution limits.

And we gave the people of Illinois the ability to use the power of petition to recall a corrupt governor.

But our constant mission to restore integrity to Illinois government cannot end here. We have more work to do.

In 1976, I led a petition drive to ban conflict of interest voting in the General Assembly. 635,158 voters signed this petition - the greatest number of signatures ever gathered on a single petition in Illinois history.

Silence about conflict of interest voting wasn't our Illinois then, and it's not our Illinois now. We can do better.

Conflicts of interest are regulated all over: from the Illinois Supreme Court, to right here in the Executive Branch.

And more than 30 states have banned conflict of interest voting.

Illinois should too.

With this reform, we can keep moving towards a state government that always puts the people first, and a government that tackles the tough issues, no matter how hard.

And that brings us back to the toughest of issues: the public pension system which, left unreformed, is squeezing out education, public safety, and other vital services to the tune of $17 million a day.

In our communities, that squeeze looks like Crete-Monee District 201 eliminating art, music and PE classes for grade schoolers.

In DuPage High School District 88, it looks like larger class sizes and less attention for students.

And across Illinois, it looks like credit downgrades and fewer roads and bridges repaired.

This is not our Illinois.

In the last four years, we have created jobs, invested in our public works, and enacted major reforms.

We've helped our auto industry recover, with Chrysler in Belvidere going from 200 jobs when I first took office to more than 4,500 jobs today.

And we're bringing our economy back, lowering unemployment from 11.4 percent at the peak of the Great Recession to 8.7 percent today.

But we have a long way to go.

And we cannot allow our economic recovery to be held hostage by the pension crisis.

We simply must act.

Our vision for our Illinois cannot be fully realized without pension reform.

This problem cannot be delayed, deferred, or delegated to the next session... to the next generation.

President Cullerton, thank you for recognizing this, and thank you for your leadership in providing us a path forward through Senate Bill 1, a comprehensive bill that stabilizes our pension systems and fixes the problem.

And thank you, Leader Tom Cross and Representative Elaine Nekritz for working together on a bi-partisan basis to make sure that pension reform is Job One for this General Assembly.

I urge all of you to be part of the solution. And while refinements may come, Senate Bill 1 is the best vehicle to get the job done.

Hard is not impossible.

Last year was an election year, but many of you in this chamber did not let that stop you from working together to reduce our Medicaid liability by $2 billion. That wasn't easy to do with a $14 billion program, but you did the right thing.

You also worked with me to abolish the much-abused legislative scholarship program. That program was around for more than 100 years.but you did the right thing.

And when I proposed closing 54 facilities across Illinois to save taxpayers millions of dollars, some of you weren't happy.but we got it done.because it was the right thing to do.

As you look around this chamber, please realize: you are the answer. What we all need in this coming session is courage, real political courage to do the right thing.

We don't need to look any further for examples of courage than our men and women in uniform.

Men like Sergeant Tyler Ziegel, a proud Marine who grew up in Metamora, Illinois.

On Christmas Eve 2004, Ty suffered massive and disfiguring injuries when a suicide bomber attacked near his vehicle in Iraq.

Like so many of his fellow Wounded Warriors, Ty fought back. He fought back through 59 surgeries and untold emotional scars to become an advocate for veterans and military families.

Last December, Sergeant Tyler Ziegel died in an accident. May his immortal soul rest in peace. He was a good Marine - Semper Fi - and a man I was proud to know.

If our service members can summon that kind of courage day after day, then surely we can summon political courage in the days to come.

With courage, hard is not impossible.

We are not a state - we are not a people - that shies away from hard things.

Not in the Land of Lincoln.that Illinoisan who showed the whole country and all posterity what's possible when commitment and integrity are brought to bear.

Together, we can guide Illinois safely through this pension challenge that we face.

And we can continue to make our Illinois a reality.

An Illinois whose people and businesses prosper.

An Illinois which lives up to its proud history and which would make Abraham Lincoln himself proud.

An Illinois in which the will of the people is the law of the land.

Thank you.