Click on the following to read all of the article: Backers of Stephenson County medical marijuana operation unveil plans - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Illinois governor lays out controversial agenda - Yahoo News
By Karen Pierog
(Reuters) - Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner laid out on Wednesday an ambitious and controversial agenda that includes constitutional fixes for the state's public pension system and budget.
In his inaugural state of the state address, the Republican, who holds political office for the first time, also took aim at public labor unions.
"It's make-or-break time for the Land of Lincoln," Rauner told state lawmakers.
Illinois has a chronic structural budget deficit, as well as the lowest credit ratings and the worst-funded pension system among the 50 states. The fiscal crisis is the worst the state has seen for decades, according to budget experts.
State pension payments are squeezing spending on essential state services and a 2013 law aimed at easing a $105 billion unfunded liability is being challenged in court by unions and others.
Rauner's policy agenda calls for "permanent pension relief" by amending the Illinois Constitution, which prohibits the impairment or diminishment of public worker retirement benefits.
The governor also wants to change the constitution to prohibit the carryover of unpaid bills between fiscal years, a practice that has fed Illinois' structural deficit.
Rauner called for banning political donations by unions representing government workers. He repeated a campaign pledge to create local “empowerment zones” in which workers would have a right to work, even if their employer has a collective bargaining agreement with workers. And he proposed that Illinois give employees of local governments the right to work even in communities where government workers are represented by unions.
“Local communities, local voters, deserve this option so that they can compete with other states and other nations for new businesses and new investment,” he said in his speech.
FACING A BATTLE
Rauner's proposals will face a battle in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters after the speech that some of Rauner's proposals will get a favorable reception in the legislature, while some will not.
"I wouldn't characterize anything as a nonstarter," Madigan said, adding that the top priority should be addressing a $1.5 billion deficit in the current budget with a mix of cuts and revenue.
Senate President John Cullerton, who is a Chicago Democrat like Madigan, said in a statement the new governor "has a lot to learn if he is to build on our successes in Medicaid reform, workers compensation, pension reform, cutting the bill backlog and meeting our obligations."
"The people of this state elected a divided government, but the governor will soon learn that it doesn’t mean that he needs to be divisive." Cullerton said.
Roberta Lynch, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, the biggest public labor union for state workers, criticized many of Rauner's proposals, including a ban on political contributions by unions.
"But while seeking to shut working people out of the halls of power, he leaves free access to the scores of corporations that have secured for themselves tax breaks costing Illinois taxpayers some $2 billion annually," Lynch said in a statement.
Despite the fact Illinois is facing big budget shortfalls in its current and upcoming budgets, Rauner called for higher funding for public school districts, particularly in disadvantaged areas of the state, while also expanding public charter schools to give parents choices.
The governor, who took office on Jan. 12 and is due to release his fiscal 2016 budget plan on Feb. 18, did not disclose where that money would come from.
Laurence Msall, president of Chicago-based government finance watchdog The Civic Federation, lauded the governor's plan to curtail the state's pile of unpaid bills, which is expected to total $6.4 billion when fiscal 2015 ends on June 30.
Rauner reiterated campaign initiatives that called for extending the Illinois sales tax to some services and freezing local property taxes for two years. On the pension front, he also repeated a call to protect state workers' accrued retirement benefits, while moving them into a less generous pension program or a 401k-type plan for future work.
His policy agenda also included seeking a state law providing bankruptcy protections to municipalities and launching an effort to reduce the number of governmental units in Illinois, which has nearly 7,000, the most among states.
(Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by David Greising, Bernard Orr)
Illinois governor lays out controversial agenda - Yahoo News
Only One Primary Race in Belvidere
With the exception of Belvidere all the municipal elections are non-partisan. There is a race only in Ward 5.
Belvidere Daily Republican: Hands and hearts help hooves at Bertell Farms
Hands and hearts help hooves at Bertell Farms
Jan. 21, 2015
By Rhonda Mix
Reporter
BELVIDERE - On a brisk and sunny January day, the horses stand in pastures with contentment etched across their faces. A cozy barn awaits in case the equines feel the need to escape the elements. Nearby, three goats frolic in a separate enclosure, one of them appearing to smile as it peeks with curiosity through the fence.
A light-hearted feeling lingers in the air at Bertell Farms. Perhaps it comes from the appreciation and gratitude its residents may feel for being given a second chance at happy lives.
Located at 1217 Barberry Lane in Belvidere, Bertell Farms is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) animal rescue that primarily focuses on horses – though the shelter has rescued several other animals including goats, cats and chickens.
It is the only horse rescue in Belvidere.
Lora Bertell and her husband, Jim, own the shelter, which they started seven years ago.
Originally from Rockford and Chicago, Lora Bertell said the couple moved to the area and purchased the home with its 13.4 acres after meeting several people who had hobby farms. She and her husband thought such an endeavor would be fun, and decided to do something similar.
“The previous owners had two horses and we decided to take them as well,” Bertell said. “We knew nothing about horses, but the former house owners taught us how to take care of them and everything we needed to know.”
Bertell said she and her husband fell in love with horses and decided they needed to find a way to make use of the house's large expanse of land, so they opened up a horse rescue.
“We just kept getting horses,” Bertell said, adding that most of the facility's equines come from homes where they have been hoarded and/or neglected.
The rescue can comfortably house up to 15 horses and currently houses 12. Bertell Farm's residents also receive regular veterinarian checks and complete dental work-ups. The horses are put through an extensive evaluation and, in some cases, rehabilitation process, before they are available for adoption.
“We do not rush them and we try to assess what they know,” Bertell said. “For horses that were taken in because of starvation, the goal is to feed them and build their confidence.”
Successful rehab
One successful rehab patient is Phoenix, a 16-year-old thoroughbred.
Horses are given body condition scores which range from 0 to 9 and a score of 4 to 6 is considered acceptable. Bertell said Phoenix was taken from a neglectful situation and came to the farm with a body condition score of 1. Initially, the horse had no muscle and appeared emaciated. He has improved significantly during his eight months at the rescue.
Though Phoenix will live out the rest of his days at Bertell Farms, there are a number of horses currently available for adoption. Two of them are Betty, age 10, and her comrade Mare Mare, 30, a guide horse. Betty is blind and Bertell said the two friendly horses are inseparable.
“They came in together and can only be adopted out as a package deal,” she added, gesturing to the two beautiful, noble-looking horses standing close together in the pasture.
Volunteer, donation opportunities
An important aspect of the day-to-day operations of Bertell Farms is its volunteers.
Poplar Grove resident Janet Gualano has volunteered with the organization for 5 years. She showed horses as a child and said she enjoys helping out at Bertell Farms in order to give back to animals she loves.
“The community needs places like this that take in large animals,” she said. “Horses do so much for people and it is really nice to be able to return the favor.”
There is always a need for more volunteers at the rescue and people with a wide range of skills are encouraged to apply.
Bertell Farms also is in need of donations. People can donate at Cherry Valley Feed, 1595 South Bell School Road, Cherry Valley, or through Paypal at Bertellfarms.org.
Items such as horse blankets, water buckets, trough heaters and enrichment toys also are much appreciated and can be brought directly to the farm.
The organization is unique not only because it is a horse rescue, but also because the Bertells and volunteers are hands-on in their work and passionate about horses.
“The horses are not numbers in a pasture,” Bertell said. “They are loved like pets and are family. We live by our motto here – hands and hearts helping hooves. We have learned a lot along the way.”
Upcoming events at Bertell Farms will include a horsemanship education class for adults in February and a horse show in September. The rescue also will host a volunteer orientation at 9 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 24.
For more information, visit bertellfarms.org.
Lee Hamilton: Can we have a regular Congress? | The Rock River Times
By Lee H. Hamilton
You probably didn’t notice, but the Senate passed a milestone a couple of weeks back. Before 2015 was a month old, senators had already had a chance to vote up or down on more amendments than they did in all of 2014.
This is a promising sign that new Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, might have meant it when he declared last year that he wants the Senate to return to the “regular order” of debate and amendments. For the last few weeks, a favorite inside-the-Beltway guessing game has been whether he’d be willing to stick with it in the face of demands, sure to come, to reduce debate and amendments and expedite approval of bills.
I know you’re thinking this is just inside baseball. Let me explain why it matters. In Washington, the line between process and policy is blurred. The policies Congress produces are forged by the process it uses, and the leaders of the two houses have great power over that process — and hence over the results. Talking about how Congress makes laws is the same as talking about what it does in those laws.
So, a return to the “regular order,” on either or both sides of the Capitol, has enormous implications. There is no single solution to Congress’s problems, but it’s hard to imagine Congress can get past its dysfunction without adopting the regular order.
If you’re uncertain what I mean, you’re not alone. There are a lot of lawmakers who have very little idea what it entails, either; because they were elected after Congress abandoned it in the 1990s.
At its simplest, the regular order is what you learned in school. A member introduces a bill, which is referred to committee. The committee hears from experts, looks at its options, considers amendments, and then reports the bill to the floor, where there’s more debate and deliberation. The other body goes through the same process, and the separate bills they produce get reconciled in a conference committee, where the members also talk to the president’s representatives about what he’ll want to see to approve the measure. Finally, the president approves or rejects the bill. The process, though never perfect, is relatively open, fair to all members, and promotes accountability.
Over the last few decades, however, Congress has adopted an alternative approach: the mega-bill. These bills usually run to hundreds, if not thousands, of pages. They bypass the committees and get drafted in the offices of the leadership. They limit amendments to a few, if any. They limit debate. They constrict — if not eliminate — thoughtful consideration and largely dispense with votes, except for an up-or-down vote on the entire mega-bill. They invite all kinds of last-minute and under-the-table deals. They shut ordinary members out of the process, undermine participation, shield Congress from public scrutiny, and are, in short, an outrage to democracy. Yet, they’ve become a habit on Capitol Hill.
Why? They’re convenient and concentrate power in the hands of the leadership.
At a very basic level, I’ve never understood why they’ve had such staying power. The regular order holds clear advantages for the majority of legislators. It’s more open, produces more accountability, and gives ordinary members a sense they’ve had a fair shot at influencing the course of national policy. This is no minor consideration. When the process works well, it produces better-quality legislation and pride in the institution, because members know they’re taking part in fair procedures. When members take pride in the work being done around them, they communicate that sense to their constituents.
But reliance on mega-bills has imposed a great cost on Washington. Federal agencies cannot plan ahead. Government operations get disrupted. Uncertainty abounds. Back-room deals flourish. Secrecy pervades the process from beginning to end. Public confidence in government erodes. Members themselves feel shunted to the sidelines.
It is hard to get voters focused on congressional process when they’re so focused on particular issues — how a candidate feels about climate change or abortion. But the plain truth is that the regular order enhances the chance that legislation that truly represents what’s best for Americans will emerge from Capitol Hill. Maybe one day Congress will come to believe this, too.
Lee Hamilton is director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.
Above is from: Lee Hamilton: Can we have a regular Congress? | The Rock River Times
Boehner's Blunder | Commonweal Magazine
Why the Invitation of Netanyahu to Congress Is Wrong
February 3, 2015 - 3:45pm
The bitter partisan politics of the past six years in Washington has made governing almost impossible, delayed economic recovery, and alienated the American people. This has damaged President Barack Obama’s standing with voters, but it has tarnished Congress even more. Partisanship has, of course, long played a role in debates about U.S. foreign policy. More often than not, however, Congress and the executive branch have forged a united front on fundamental questions regarding U.S. interests abroad.
Nowhere has this emphasis on bipartisanship been more evident than in U.S. support for Israel. Given the dangers Israel faces and the intensity of the feelings it arouses, turning the U.S.-Israel relationship into a partisan issue would be bad both for the Jewish state and for American politics. Yet that is the rash step House Speaker John Boehner has taken by inviting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress next month, and doing so without consulting the president or congressional Democrats. Netanyahu reportedly will speak in opposition to Obama’s ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with Iran that would prevent that country from developing a nuclear weapon. Obama has responded to the Boehner-Netanyahu gambit by making it known that he will not meet with Netanyahu during his visit to Washington. The U.S.-Israel relationship seems to have taken a perilous turn.
Netanyahu faces an election of his own next month, and this stunt may be calculated to burnish his waning popularity at home. But it could make a different impression on the American public. Americans usually do not take kindly to being lectured to, by either friends or foes, about the nation’s obligations abroad. Even some of Netanyahu’s longtime supporters have urged him not to go through with the speech.
Whatever political advantage Boehner hoped to gain by this unprecedented violation of diplomatic protocol, his decision is likely to backfire. Israel has long enjoyed unflinching support from congressional Democrats, but they will not sit by quietly as Boehner attempts to turn Israel into a wedge issue designed to make Democrats look weak on national security. Iran has been brought to the negotiating table because of the crippling economic sanctions imposed by the international coalition organized by President Obama. But any negotiation entails some degree of give and take. In an effort at confidence building toward a final settlement, the United States and its partners entered into an interim agreement with Iran in 2013. That deal—opposed by hardliners on both sides—lifted some sanctions. In return, Iran has curtailed its production of highly enriched uranium as well as its use and manufacture of centrifuges. Work on its nuclear reactor at Arak has also been suspended. In addition, Iran agreed to strict inspections of its facilities. A final agreement will not be easy to reach, but an escalation of hostilities at this time would be a serious mistake.
The interim agreement expires near the end of March, but could be extended until June. Netanyahu wants Congress to impose stronger sanctions should no final agreement be reached next month. Obama and the coalition partners have said that tougher sanctions now would sabotage negotiations, allowing the Iranians to claim the West is bent on confrontation. Any move to increase sanctions would also fracture the international coalition, making it nearly impossible to sustain economic pressure on Iran. Consequently, Obama has promised to veto such a bill.
Before Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu, many congressional Democrats were lining up behind stiffer sanctions. That support has now dissipated, giving an unexpected victory to the president. Cooler heads may yet prevail.
It is reported that Netanyahu, who did not disguise his support for Mitt Romney in 2012, has “written off” Obama. Shunning the president of the United States, however, will only further isolate Israel, which is already facing broad condemnation for its wars in Gaza and illegal settlements in the West Bank. As the Middle East sinks deeper into chaos, it makes no sense for Netanyahu to meddle in American politics, and in so doing undermine the bipartisan support Israel has long enjoyed.
Boehner and Netanyahu are flirting with another danger. Younger Americans, including younger American Jews, while supportive of Israel, are critical of its expansionist policies and its treatment of the Palestinians. They also strongly support the current president. These Americans have come of age during a time when Israel has been a powerful military and political force, not a vulnerable land of refugees threatened with extinction. Their support for Israel is genuine but not unconditional. When confronting Israel’s enemies, Netanyahu may have good reason to set the niceties of diplomacy aside. But it is a mistake for him to bully his friends. If he cannot tell the difference between his friends and his enemies, Israel is in greater danger than he imagines.
rvpnews | Belvidere Daily Republican
Community supports Grandstand Project Fundraiser
Jan. 28, 2015
BELVIDERE-The Boone County Fair Association has raised nearly $50,000 so far in its fundraising campaign to refurbish the 50 year old grandstand at the fairgrounds, “The Boone County Fair Grandstand Rejuvenation Project” as its being called is looking to raise $125,000 to complete the project.
“The time has come to give some needed attention to this hard working grandstand. The 2,000 seat grandstand has held some great audiences over the years enjoying a wide variety of entertainment from Loretta Lynn twice to George Jones to Blake Shelton,” Lyle Lee, president of the Boone County Fair Association said. “Not to mention the tractor pulls, harness races, demo derbies and such.”
The Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization receiving no government funds from the city or county with limited funds from the state which go towards the premiums paid to the exhibitors. Any donations toward this project will be tax deductible.
“We continually work to keep the fairgrounds well maintained, but this grandstand project turned out to be larger than we planned on and something we needed to do this year , said Lee. “That’s why we’re asking the community to help keep the Boone County Fairgrounds one of the nicest fairgrounds in the state.”
“The outpouring of support for this project from the community has been very gratifying. We have a ways to go, but in the meantime we can’t thank everyone enough.” Lee added.
According to Lee, one hundred percent of the monies donated will go toward the rejuvenation of this icon of the fairgrounds. The project will include improving the entire structure with new aluminum kick boards, aluminum walking planks, a fresh paint job and some new fencing.
All donors will be acknowledged on a sign to be hung on the back of the grandstand. Donors giving $2,500 or more will have a larger listing on the sign but everyone who donates will be listed on the sign.
If you would like to contribute to the “BCF Grandstand Rejuvenation Project” call the Fair office at (815) 544-2900 any Monday or Wednesday from 8a.m. to 4 p.m. or mail your donation to BCF Assn., PO Box 456, Belvidere, Il 61008. Write “Grandstand Project” on the envelope.
“Our goal is to have the money raised and the project completed in time for the 2015 fair,” Lee said. “The fair association’s grounds crew has been busy preparing the structure so that painting can begin as soon as weather permits in the spring.”
The 2015 Boone County Fair starts Tuesday Aug. 11 and runs through Sunday Aug. 16. The entertainer for Aug. 15 has not yet been announced
Boone County Board approves 'use-it-or-lose-it' vacation policy - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL
By Ben Stanley
Rockford Register Star
Posted Feb. 3, 2015 at 3:00 PM
Updated at 7:33 PMBELVIDERE — When it comes to vacation days, it’s now “use-it-or-lose-it” for Boone County employees.
According to a new county employee vacation policy approved by the County Board on Jan. 24, county employees can now only carry over five days of vacation per year with permission from their department heads. Vacation days that carry over must be used within six months of the anniversary of employment.
Under the previous policy, employees could save up vacation days for years and cash them in for huge sums just before retirement. The saved vacation days were paid out according to the employee’s most recent rate of pay — unused vacation days increased in value if a person’s salary rose.
Thousands of dollars worth of unused days can strain the budget when claimed unexpectedly. Winnebago County released a report in 2014 regarding vacation policy abuse that revealed an unpaid bill of $805,255 worth of vacation racked up by 105 county employees.
According to county officials, similar data has not been gathered in Boone County.
Boone County Administrator Ken Terrinoni and County Board Chairman Bob Walberg said the board began discussing changes to vacation policy during executive session in December. Talks started around the same time former Boone County Public Defender Azhir Minhas was cut a $28,000 check for 10 weeks of unused vacation he had stored up during his final years in office. -
See more at: http://www.rrstar.com/article/20150203/NEWS/150209822#sthash.8TC8O5UG.dpufBoone
Additional story on Azhir Minhas go to: http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2015/02/boone-county-benefits-from-case-of.html
Below is the revision which occurred to the vacation policy: The corrections are the recent changes. It is very interesting that Mr. Minhas is the Depart Head of the Public Defenders Office and apparently allowed the carry-over of his own vacation days.
Above is taken from: http://www.boarddocs.com/il/boone/Board.nsf/files/9SBQWE6A7C4E/$file/Personnel%20Policy_201412311240.pdf
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