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·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Illinois Senate Passes Firearm Owners Identification Card FOIA Exemption Bill!   Friday, May 20, 2011   Today, the state Senate passed House Bill 3500 by a 42 to 1 vote, with two voting “present” and 14 absent.  Sponsored by state Senator Kirk Dillard (R-24) and introduced by state Representative Richard Morthland (R-71), this legislation seeks to incorporate a necessary reform to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to ensure that the personal information of those who have applied for or received a Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) shall not be disclosed...

Gov. Pat Quinn wants to stop nearly $100 million in monthly payments to Chicago, the suburbs and other Illinois towns if lawmakers won't let him borrow billions of dollars to pay overdue bills, according to a confidential memo the Tribune obtained Thursday. The idea drew immediate blowback from local leaders worried about balancing their own budgets in a sluggish economy. "To me, it sounds like they're holding us hostage," said Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki, a former Republican legislator. The proposal, outlined in the memo and quietly distributed to top legislators, represents a pressure tactic by the Democratic governor. He...

Dear Readers, each pro-homosexual law makes it easier for school administrators and teachers to allow the one-sided promotion of homosexuality in their school, as occurred recently at Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Illinois (see photo). The state’s Democrat-dominated General Assembly passed a “Civil Unions” bill in a lame-duck session last year (before a new elected, more conservative legislature could take office) — and Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed it into law January 31. (The bill, which also allows heterosexual “civil unions,” thus further undermining marriage, takes effect June 1.) America’s public schools are becoming de facto ”Homosexuality-Promotion Zones” —...

Fiscal Policy: Illinois becomes the latest state to enact a law imposing a sales tax on Internet retailers. Advertised as saving "main street" jobs, it's yet another creative way to drive them off. Ignoring the truism that when you tax something you get less of it, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday signed legislation making the Land of Lincoln the latest state to enact what's dubbed the Amazon Tax. It's designed to collect state sales taxes from online companies if in-state businesses do business through websites such as Seattle-based Amazon.com. In the past, online companies such as Amazon avoided collecting...

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a death penalty ban into law on Wednesday, making Illinois the 16th state to end capital punishment. Quinn also commuted the sentences of the 15 inmates on death row in the state. Instead, they will serve life in prison without parole. The ban on executions will take effect July 1. “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history,” the Democratic governor said after he signed the bill. “I think it’s the right and just thing to abolish the death penalty.” Illinois last performed an execution in 1999. In 2000, then-Gov. George Ryan placed a moratorium on executions...

Of America’s 7,382 state legislators, only 85 are openly gay or lesbian. They are, however, playing an outsized and often impassioned role when the agenda turns to recognizing same-sex couples with civil unions or full marriage rights. In Hawaii and Illinois, gay state representatives were lead sponsors of civil union bills signed into law earlier this year. In Maryland and Rhode Island, gay lawmakers are co-sponsoring pending bills that would legalize same-sex marriage. In New York, gay state Sen. Tom Duane is preparing to be lead sponsor of a marriage bill in his chamber later this session. “For my colleagues,...

US - Illinois, which plans to sell $3.7bn of pension bonds next week, may seek a federal guarantee on retirement-system debts if its unfunded liabilities can’t be eliminated, according to budget documents. Illinois's pension plans have an unfunded liability estimated at over 60%, the documents show. Governor Pat Quinn disclosed the potential need for a federal guarantee of pension debt in his $35.3bn general-fund budget on February 16, without going into specifics.

The state of Illinois hopes to issue $3.7 billion in bonds, next week. The funds will be used to pay this year's pension payments. Writes NYT, which is starting to get the picture of the serious problems in the muni market:

Conservative NJ Governor, Chic Christie has begun airing ads on Chicago area media encouraging overtaxed Illinois businesses to relocate to his state. Illinois' liberal Governor, Pat Quinn told him to back off. Neighboring Wisconsin, with a new Republican Governor and legislature, has also begun an ad campaign aimed at attracting Illinois business.

State Finances: As Illinois passes a draconian tax increase on people and businesses, surrounding states with GOP governors are moving in the opposite direction, ready to pick the Land of Lincoln's bones. The Founding Fathers envisioned the states as laboratories where ideas could be tested and evaluated. Each state would be different and freedom of movement guaranteed that if a citizen of any given state was unhappy, he or she could move to one more hospitable. Well, a great experiment is about to begin, and we may soon witness a migration to rival the exodus from East Germany. At least...

Headline in today’s SJR Business section: "Bernanke optimistic on unemployment." Whoever wrote the headlines needs to be charged with journalistic malfeasance. Quoting the first paragraph of the AP article; "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sketched a more optimistic view of the economy Friday but said the Fed’s $600 billion bond-buying program is needed because unemployment will likely stay elevated for up to five more years." We need to print money out of thin air increasing the risk for a bond crisis that would result in hyperinflation and economic chaos while unemployment is going to stay high for another five years....

This is not a frivolous effort. It is a serious undertaking and one in which I intend to see to the end. It will take hard work and lots of volunteers but we will be successful. We need to be successful because Governor Quinn has plans that will destroy Illinois. Massive Tax Hikes Will Drive Businesses Out Of Illinois

Greetings from the Amazon Associates Program: We regret to inform you that the Illinois state legislature has passed an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that, if signed by Governor Quinn, would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with Illinois-based Associates. You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of Illinois. If our records are incorrect, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. Please note that this not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Amazon Associates Program. But if the governor signs this...

Did Voters Chose To Continue Democratic Legacy Of Corruption In Illinois? Or Did Brady Lose Because He Did Not Distinguish Himself From His Democratic Foe? by Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director Let me preface this column by saying I voted for Bill Brady for Governor. I am the Republican Committeeman for Lincoln West 4 in Logan County. I distributed literature regarding the Brady campaign, including yard signs, etc. I know the State Senator from Bloomington personally. Brady had an excellent pro-family voting record in the Illinois State Senate. Brady recently conceded victory to incumbent Governor Pat Quinn. One of Quinn's...

http://www.wgntv.com/news/elections/wgntv-brady-quinn-race-nov04,0,559149.story

The Olin Corp. announced Wednesday that it will suspend production of centerfire ammunition at its plant in East Alton and re-locate the manufacturing operation to Oxford, Miss. The move comes less than 24 hours after members of the union representing over Olin 800 workers rejected concessions that would have allowed them to keep their jobs. "Our focus always has been on ensuring that we continue producing high-quality products for our customers in an increasingly competitive market," president and CEO Joseph D. Rupp said in a prepared statement. "While I am disappointed that employees represented by the International Association of Machinists...

At a fundraising event in Illinois, the old Solidarity union leader and former Polish president showed he had lost none of his passion for freedom fighting. Less than a week before TuesdayÂ’s midterm elections, Illinois conservatives welcomed an unlikely ally. Legendary Polish Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa, appeared in downtown Chicago last Thursday at a fundraising event organized by citizen watchdog group For the Good of Illinois. The former Polish president, trade-union organizer, and Nobel Prize laureate came rhetorically armed with a new Solidarity rallying-cry for Illinoisans yearning for new leadership.Before 300 conservative leaders and activists on Thursday, Walesa dourly remarked...

The Chicago Association of African American Transporters told Governor Pat Quinn that they'd mount a no-to-Quinn campaign if he didn't pay the back bills owed them by the state. And now, despite the fact that other vendors are still not getting paid and the State is practically bankrupt, the CAAAT has suddenly found all its past bills paid by Quinn's government. It sure is pretty convenient that this union miraculously found its bills paid by Quinn just when they threatened to mount a campaign against his reelection, isn't it? Capitol Fax reminds us that this newest union payoff comes on...

Republican Bill Brady holds an eight-point lead over Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn in the four-way race for governor of Illinois. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Brady, a state senator, earning 45% of the vote to Quinn’s 37%. Democrat-turned-independent Scott Lee Cohen gets six percent (6%) support, and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney has the backing of two percent (2%). Another one percent (1%) favors another candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) also see this crock http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2010/10/illinois-gov-1-point-race.html

On Monday night, my opponent Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) delivered this speech to Democrats at a restaurant in Chicago–with U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias and Governor Pat Quinn in attendance