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Illinois News
- 07/14/08 - In Food, Big Money Still Goes to Corporate Agribusiness & Big Corporations
- 07/12/08 - Corn, Incorporated: The Ethanol Scam
- 06/30/08 - States Taking Initiative on Environmental & Climate Crisis while Feds Do Little or Nothing
- 06/24/08 - Fluoride's Glory May Be Cresting
- 06/24/08 - Great Lakes Deal Ready
- 06/19/08 - Crop Supply Concerns Persist, Policy Options Discussed
- 06/18/08 - Measles Outbreak Rekindles Debate
- 06/18/08 - Cigarettes: 1.7 Billion Pounds of Trash
- 06/18/08 - Wal-Mart Opponents Plan to Continue Fight
- 06/16/08 - U.S. Cities Promote Bicycling as Gas Prices Soar
- 06/14/08 - Obama's Chicago Boys by Naomi Klein
- 06/13/08 - Brain-Cancer Hearing Begins
- 06/11/08 - Move Over MoveOn: Grassroots Netroots Alliance (GNA) Launches New Progressive Campaign to 'Press the Politicians'
- 06/11/08 - W. Dundee Residents Still Say No to Wal-Mart
- 06/06/08 - Tinley Park Homeowners Hire Attorney in Wal-Mart Dispute
- 06/05/08 - Wal-Mart Opponents Speak up in W. Dundee
- 06/02/08 - Growing Controversy Over Biofuels, Food Security, & Rising Food Prices
- 06/01/08 - Let Them Eat Kale: Schools Get Serious about Nutrition
- 05/28/08 - Haven for Birds Still Harbors Traces of Chemical Poison
- 05/27/08 - Wal-Mart Hearing Plan Draws Criticism
- 05/21/08 - Family Farmers Are Not to Blame for Food Crisis
- 05/20/08 - Concerns Over Ethanol Deserve Frank Discussion
- 05/19/08 - Affording Organics in a Time of Recession
- 05/17/08 - Chicago Once Again Allows Controversial Foie Gras to Be Served in Restaurants
- 05/16/08 - Green Cleaners Required in Illinois Schools
- 05/15/08 - How Obama WON Tuesday, Even Though He Lost WV Primary
- 05/15/08 - Center for American Progress: What Are You Paying for the War?
Submit News Stories
Green Cleaning Schools Act Goes into Effect in Illinois!
This act makes Illinois the second state in the nation to require schools to use green cleaning products.
How schools are cleaned and the products that are used can significantly affect the health and performance of students, administrators and cleaning staff. Choices in cleaning products, equipment and procedures also affect the lifespan of building materials and furnishings. The Green Clean Schools Act will ensure that Illinois schools are providing healthier and safer environments for students and staff while also preserving the environment.
Click here to see an article with more information related to this campaign.
Updated 5/5/08
Illinois 2008 Legislative Roundup
(From Progressive States Network)
Running for the US Senate representing Illinois in 1858, Abraham Lincoln said,
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." In present-day
Illinois, animosity between Democratic leaders - Governor Rod
Balgojevich and Speaker Michael Madigan - may bear this out. The hostility
between the two men, who are not on speaking terms, is the result of
fierce disagreements over past and current budget provisions and a
federal investigation into gubernatorial appointments and campaign
donations. The Speaker recently sent a memo to Democratic legislative
candidates with talking points concerning when and how to bring
impeachment proceedings against the Governor. The breakdown in
communication has clearly effected the state's business.
Ill Will Fuels Stalemate:
- Budget: Before adjourning at the end of May, the legislature presented the Governor with a $59 billion budget. However, the Governor says the budget is $2.1 billion in the red and legislators have not done their job to present him with a balanced budget. Legislators say it's now up to him to use use his line-item veto to amend the package and bring it in line with state expenses. The back and forth has not abated. Meanwhile, the Administration is issuing stop-work orders to 39 construction projects across the state because its lawyers claim the legislature's budget plan prohibits them from moving forward. Rep. Gary Hannig, who wrote the bill language in question, says the Administration is misreading the bill.
- Infrastructure Improvements: Despite broad agreement on a massive package of infrastructure improvements that would be financed largely with federal funds and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, the political rancor in Springfield has held up the plan. While disagreement over the funding's state portion - created, in part, by leasing the state lottery to private investors - has not helped, the package passed the Senate but stalled in the House. The Speaker said House members do "not have enough trust" in the Governor "to give him them authority to spend the amount of money that was being proposed in the bill." The package, the first in nine years, would build and repair roads, bridges, schools, sewers, civic centers, and other public works. The Governor is waging a public relations campaign to try and coax lawmakers back to Springfield to reach an agreement and pass the package.
Public Transit: A sales tax increase was enacted in the Chicago area to increase funding for public transit agencies, including a proposal inserted by the Governor to allow senior citizens to ride public transportation for free.
Health Care: Lawmakers passed a five-year plan that will provide $640 million annually in state and federal funds to hospitals that serve a large number of Medicaid patients. The Governor's efforts to expand access to FamilyCare for 147,000 parents and caretakers, which subsidizes health care for families, through an emergency order after the legislature refused to go along with his proposal in 2007 were dealt a final blow by a state appellate court.
Campaign Finance: Lawmakers have sent HB 824
to the Governor to curb "pay-to-play" contracting - where state
officials award contracts to campaign donors. The law bars people with
state contracts worth more than $50,000 from contributing to the
official who awarded the contract - or to the politician's opponent in
an election year. Despite passing without a single no vote, Governor
Blagojevich has suggested he may re-write the legislation, which supporters say could derail the entire effort. As we wrote previously,
the bill is the result of years of corruption and comes amid a federal
investigation into campaign donations and contracts awarded by the
Governor.
Elsewhere, the Legislature postponed action on
a bill that would have given spousal caregivers the same Medicaid
payments that other caregivers receive (SB 2112). And, for the second year in a row, lawmakers failed to reform payday lending and prevent predatory lenders from putting families into long-term loans that charge up to 700% APR.
Take Action. Support Green Jobs!
The Green Jobs Act of 2007 authorized $125 million per year to create an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program as an amendment to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The Green Jobs Act (GJA) is an initial pilot program to identify needed skills, develop training programs, and train workers for jobs in a range of industries - including energy efficient building, construction and retrofits, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, biofuels, and manufacturing that produces sustainable products and uses sustainable processes and materials. It targets a broad range of populations for eligibility, but has a special focus on creating "green pathways out of poverty."
Congress has not yet appropriated money for the Green Jobs Act. Please contact your Senator today and urge them to fund the Green Jobs Act of 2007!
Read more at Green for All's web site.
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