Jeb Bush Publicly Endorses ‘Gang Of Eight’ Amnesty Bill In New Hampshire - Breitbart

 

 

That means Bush is essentially publicly supporting the centerpiece of President Obama’s agenda, an open borders immigration policy where illegal aliens get to take jobs away from American workers. The exact policy he’s describing is the foremost goal of Obama’s second term, and what Democrats in Congress including Sens. Chuck Schumer (NY), Dick Durbin (IL) and Harry Reid (NV) have been fighting to implement for years.

Jon Ward of Yahoo News added more reporting from New Hampshire, in which Bush says his support for amnesty for more than 11 million illegal aliens is the “grown up plan” on immigration.

Ward wrote on Friday, quoting Bush throughout:

Bush kicked off his first pre-2016 trip to New Hampshire with a visit to the Integra Biosciences manufacturing plant in Hudson, where he took questions from local business leaders. The former Florida governor, whose position on immigration reform has come under criticism from members of his party, once again endorsed “earned legal status” for immigrants who entered the country illegally.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Well, anything you can propose is amnesty.’ But that’s not a plan,” Bush said. “That’s a sentiment perhaps.”

Read the entire article:  Jeb Bush Publicly Endorses ‘Gang Of Eight’ Amnesty Bill In New Hampshire - Breitbart

State of Illinois - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

The salaries listed are all payments issued on paychecks in calendar year 2014, including overtime.
Total positions: 82,104
Total payroll: $4,785,307,485.39

Search individual state employee by name.  GO TO:  State of Illinois - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

Type in the name such as “James Smith”

Bill eliminating local government notices in newspapers fails - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

 

bill that would have taken legal notices out of the newspaper will not be making its way to the House floor.

Rep. Joe Sosnowski's House Bill 261 would eliminate the requirement for local governments to post public notices in local newspapers. Instead, it would require governments to post notices only on their websites.

The bill failed in committee Thursday by a 5-6 vote.

Sosnowski, a Republican from Rockford, said he wasn't discouraged by the committee's decision.

"This was an initial litmus test at the committee level," he said. "I think, generally, the committee was open to the legislation. We've just got some fine-tuning to do."

The state's nearly 7,000 units of local governments are currently required to print notices of public hearings in the local paper. Other notices are required by law as well, such as from land developers.

Newspapers are legally required to upload these notices to a centralized website, publicnoticeillinois.com.

Sosnowski said he introduced the bill to save taxpayers money, but opponents said the savings were negligible and that government transparency was more important.

Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Round Lake Beach, said he thought it was hypocritical for local governments to say this was a cost-saving measure while fighting other bills requiring similar measures.

"If they want to say that they can't post things on their website because it costs too much money, then the same principle applies here," he said. "So I don't see a cost savings for the local governmental bodies."

Josh Sharp, a lobbyist for the Illinois Press Association who spoke against the bill, said he was glad it failed.

"I was really glad to see that legislators were not ready to turn over informing the public to units of local governments, specifically their websites," he said. "They're tasked right now with posting three different things online, and they don't seem to be doing a very good job at all."

Sharp said the three postings local governments are required to put online include notices of public meetings, agendas and minutes from the meetings. But according to a Citizen Advocacy Center study, the governments only complied with posting notices of the meetings 73 percent of the time, agendas 57 percent of the time and meeting minutes 48 percent of the time.

Sharp said this shows newspapers should stay involved in the process.

"You do not get that same kind of check and balance with someone posting it on a government website and someone taking a look for it," he said. "It's not nearly the same thing."

Rep. Margo McDermed, R-Mokena, said she was for the bill because most people get their information on the Internet now anyway.

Bill eliminating local government notices in newspapers fails - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities

Are Boone County governments’ websites ADA Compliant?  Read and see what you think.

U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section

Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites
to People with Disabilities

The Internet is dramatically changing the way that American government serves the public. Taking advantage of new technology, many State and local governments are using the web to offer citizens a host of services including:

• corresponding online with local officials;
• providing information about government services;
• renewing library books or driver’s licenses;
• providing tax information and accepting tax returns; and
• applying for jobs or benefits.

These government websites are important because they:

• allow programs and services to be offered in a more dynamic, interactive way, increasing citizen participation;
• increase convenience and speed in obtaining information or services;
• reduce costs in providing programs and information about government services;
• reduce the amount of paperwork; and
• expand the possibilities of reaching new sectors of the community or offering new programs.

Local government websites provide important information and services to citizens

When government is constantly being asked to do more with less, the Internet is playing a vital role in allowing government to better serve all of its citizens.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, if the government entities receive Federal funding, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, generally require that State and local governments provide qualified individuals with disabilities equal access to their programs, services, or activities unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of their programs, services, or activities or would impose an undue burden. One way to help meet these requirements is to ensure that government websites have accessible features for people with disabilities, using the simple steps described in this document. An agency with an inaccessible website may also meet its legal obligations by providing an alternative accessible way for citizens to use the programs or services, such as a staffed telephone information line. These alternatives, however, are unlikely to provide an equal degree of access in terms of hours of operation and the range of options and programs available. For example, job announcements and application forms, if posted on an accessible website, would be available to people with disabilities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Online Barriers Faced By People with Disabilities

Many people with disabilities use “assistive technology” to enable them to use computers and access the Internet. Blind people who cannot see computer monitors may use screen readers – devices that speak the text that would normally appear on a monitor. People who have difficulty using a computer mouse can use voice recognition software to control their computers with verbal commands. People with other types of disabilities may use still other kinds of assistive technology. New and innovative assistive technologies are being introduced every day.
Poorly designed websites can create unnecessary barriers for people with disabilities, just as poorly designed buildings prevent some from entering. Designers may not realize how simple features built into a web page will assist someone who, for instance, cannot see a computer monitor or use a mouse.
One example of a barrier would be a photograph of a Mayor on a town website with no text identifying it. Because screen readers cannot interpret images unless there is text associated with it, a blind person would have no way of knowing whether the image is an unidentified photo or logo, artwork, a link to another page, or something else. Simply adding a line of simple hidden computer code to label the photograph “Photograph of Mayor Jane Smith” will allow the blind user to make sense of the image.

Accessible Design Benefits Everyone

When accessible features are built into web pages, websites are more convenient and more available to everyone – including users with disabilities. Web designers can follow techniques developed by private and government organizations to make even complex web pages usable by everyone including people with disabilities. For most websites, implementing accessibility features is not difficult and will seldom change the layout or appearance of web pages. These techniques also make web pages more usable both by people using older computers and by people using the latest technologies (such as personal digital assistants, handheld computers, or web-enabled cellular phones).
With the rapid changes in the Internet and in assistive technologies used by people with disabilities to access computers, private and government organizations have worked to establish flexible guidelines for accessible web pages that permit innovation to continue.

Resources for Web Developers

To make web pages accessible, the web developer needs to know about web page features that can make a web page less accessible or more accessible. Information about such features is easily available and many software developers are adding tools to web development software to make it easier to make web pages accessible.
Two important resources provide guidance for web developers designing accessible web pages. One is the Section 508 Standards, which Federal agencies must follow for their own new web pages. To learn more about the Section 508 Standards:

• The Access Board maintains information on its website at www.access-board.gov and has a useful guide for web developers at www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.22.htm;
• The Department of Justice has information about accessible web page design in an April 2000 report to the President. This report is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/report/content.htm, and
• The General Services Administration hosts an online course for web developers interested in accessible web design. This program was developed in conjunction with the Access Board, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Education and provides an interactive demonstration of how to build accessible web pages. This course is available at www.section508.gov, which also provides information about the Federal government’s initiative to make its electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.

A more comprehensive resource is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative. These guidelines help designers make web pages as accessible as possible to the widest range of users, including users with disabilities. The Web Accessibility Initiative is a subgroup of the World Wide Web Consortium — the same organization that standardizes the programming language followed by all web developers.

• Information for web developers interested in making their web pages as accessible as possible, including the current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (and associated checklists), can be found at www.w3c.org/WAI/Resources, and
• Information about the Web Accessibility Initiative can be found at www.w3c.org/WAI.

Voluntary Action Plan for Accessible Websites

• Establish a policy that your web pages will be accessible and create a process for implementation.
• Ensure that all new and modified web pages and content are accessible:
  • Check the HTML¹ of all new web pages. Make sure that accessible elements are used, including alt tags, long descriptions, and captions, as needed.
  • If images are used, including photos, graphics, scanned images, or image maps, make sure to include alt tags and/or long descriptions for each.
  • If you use online forms and tables, make those elements accessible.
  • When posting documents on the website, always provide them in HTML or a text-based format (even if you are also providing them in another format, such as Portable Document Format (PDF)).
• Develop a plan for making your existing web content more accessible. Describe your plan on an accessible web page. Encourage input on improvements,
  including which pages should be given high priority for change. Let citizens know about the standards or guidelines that are being used. Consider making the more popular web pages a priority.
• Ensure that in-house staff and contractors responsible for web page and content development are properly trained.
• Provide a way for visitors to request accessible information or services by posting a telephone number or E-mail address on your home page. Establish procedures to assure a quick response to users with disabilities who are trying to obtain
  information or services in this way.
• Periodically enlist disability groups to test your pages for ease of use; use this
  information to increase accessibility.

¹ Web pages are written using a language called HTML (or “hypertext markup language”). HTML is a “markup language” that tells
a computer program (called a “browser”) how information will appear or will be arranged on a computer screen. HTML
tags are specific instructions understood by a web browser or screen reader. (back)

Examples of Accessible Features for Websites

Notes:

1. When navigation links are used, people who use a screen reader must listen to all the links before proceeding. A skip navigation link provides a way to bypass the row of navigation links by jumping to the start of the web page content. (back)
2. All images and graphics need to have an alt tag or long description. (back)
3. Use alt tags for image maps and for graphics associated with the image map so that a person using a screen reader will have access to the links and information. (back)
4. Some photos and images contain content that cannot be described with the limited text of an alt tag. Using a long description tag provides a way to have as much text as necessary to explain the image so it is accessible to a person using a screen reader but not visible on the web page. (back)
5. Text links do not require any additional information or description if the text clearly indicates what the link is supposed to do. Links such as “click here” may confuse a user. (back)
6. When tables with header and row identifiers are used to display information or data, the header and row information should be associated with each data cell by using HTML so a person using a screen reader can understand the information. (back)
7. A link with contact information provides a way for users to request accessible services or to make suggestions. (back)

For More Information

Technical Information Regarding Web Accessibility

For technical assistance regarding Section 508 Standards and how to make web pages accessible to people with disabilities, please contact the Access Board:

800-872-2253 (voice)
800-993-2822 (TTY)

Information about the ADA

The Department of Justice provides technical assistance to help State and local governments understand and comply with the ADA. An important source of ADA information is the Department’s ADA Home Page on the World Wide Web. This extensive website provides access to ADA regulations; all Department ADA technical assistance materials, including newly-released publications; proposed changes in the ADA regulations; and access to Freedom of Information Act materials, including technical assistance letters. The website also provides links to other Federal agencies with ADA responsibilities.

In addition, the Department of Justice operates a toll-free ADA Information Line that provides access to ADA specialists during business hours.

ADA Information Line
800-514-0301 (voice)
800-514-0383 (TTY)

Reproduction

Reproduction of this document is encouraged.
June 2003

The Attorney General has determined that publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of the Department of Justice.

Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities

BCJ Editorial: Questions Boone County’s request for share of revenue from a Winnebago County Casino

Boone County Treasurer supports Rep Sosnowski’s proposal to relief local government the duty to publish notices

Readers should know that Rep Sosnowski’s bill failed in committee on March 12.  SEE:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2015/03/bill-eliminating-local-government.html

The above is taken from the March 13, 2015 Boone County Journal which is available free of cost at merchants across the county and on line at:  http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/news/2015/Boone-County-News-03-13-15.pdf#page=1

BCJ: Letter to Editor endorsing Allison Reid-Niemiec for District 100 School Board

 

Commentary: 10 things residents should know about the Illinois justice system | The Rock River Times

 

By Bryant Jackson-Green
Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois’ criminal-justice system has serious problems.

For example, despite having a $1.3 billion budget, the Illinois Department of Corrections, or IDOC, won’t be able to make payroll come April.

The Innocence Project continues to dig up and overturn wrongful convictions. In short, the system is ripe for change.

Reform won’t come easy, and it won’t happen until people understand how much they’re paying for the state’s criminal-justice system, and have an idea of its strengths and weaknesses.

Here are 10 things you should know about Illinois’ criminal-justice system:

1. Illinois’ prison population has increased sevenfold since the 1970s. The state has over 48,000 prisoners today.

1. Illinois prisons were only designed to hold 32,075 inmates. Therefore, our prisons are now holding over 150 percent of their design capacity.

1. Incarceration breaks up families. Nearly 62 percent of Illinois inmates have at least one child.

1. Incarceration disproportionately affects racial minorities. African-Americans made up over 57 percent of the state’s prison population in 2013.

1. Illinois has the sixth-highest rate of wrongful convictions per capita. It’s because of the risk of wrongful convictions that former Gov. George Ryan enacted a moratorium on capital punishment in 2000, which was made permanent by legislation passed in 2011.

1. The IDOC budget was $1.3 billion last year. But with the added cost of pension contributions, employee benefits and capital costs, Illinoisans contribute an additional $566 million to their criminal-justice system each year.

1. Illinois had a recidivism rate of 47 percent in 2012, meaning that 47 percent of IDOC inmates returned to prison within three years.

1. Illinois operates 25 prisons but only four adult transition centers, which allow offenders to serve out the end of their sentence under community supervision while finding work. A 2008 study showed that inmates who participated in a transition program with the Safer Foundation were 62 percent less likely to reoffend.

1. Alternatives to prison are proving successful. The Redeploy Illinois program, for example, gives counties funding for community supervision and treatment programs for youth who would otherwise be incarcerated. The sites that participated in the program were able to reduce their commitments to the Department of Juvenile Justice by 53 percent in 2010.

1. IDOC spent over $320 million in the last five years in overtime costs for employees, according to an investigation by the Better Government Association.

Commentary: 10 things residents should know about the Illinois justice system | The Rock River Times

More than 500 apply for Rockford Police Department openings - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

ROCKFORD — The Rockford Police Department will know by May whether ramped-up recruitment efforts to hire more home-grown officers were successful.

Dozens of applicants who passed a physical agility test this week are taking a written test of basic skills this weekend. More than 500 submitted applications; 60 percent is expected to make the cut after Sunday’s final round.

“The amount of people we have for the application process is really strong,” Lt. Mike Ahrens said. "We haven’t seen numbers like this in a couple years."

The 280-person department is attempting to reach 290, the maximum number of officers authorized by the City Council.

Stringent testing standards and background checks, in addition to medical and psychological examinations, make it difficult to find qualified applicants. A four-year hiring freeze was lifted in 2012, but the department has struggled to return to full strength.

Chief Chet Epperson and the Rockford Board of Fire and Police Commissioners announced plans in January for additional recruiting officers to reach out to community groups, schools and businesses. Education-based programs, academies and camps are encouraging young people to consider a career in law enforcement.

The department implemented orientation and practice sessions designed to help applicants prepare for tests and interviews. Physical agility tests were held for a dozen applicants at a time every two hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. all week, and multiple sessions were scheduled for the written test this weekend….

….one morning this week for a test of his physical agility, endurance and strength. Each applicant had to bench press 78 percent of his or her weight, do 30 full sit-ups in one minute and finish a 1.5-mile run in less than 15 minutes, 54 seconds.

Click on the following to read all of the story:  More than 500 apply for Rockford Police Department openings - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Belvidere police arrest 16-year-old after Starbucks holdup - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

BELVIDERE — A 16-year-old male is accused of holding up a Belvidere Starbucks on Thursday night.

At 5:30 p.m. Belvidere Police officers and Boone County sheriff's deputies responded to an armed robbery call at the Starbucks in the 1900 block of Gateway Center Drive. According to a statement released by the Belvidere Police Department, the teenage suspect showed Starbucks employees a handgun, took an unspecified amount of cash and ran away.

Police say he was arrested within minutes of the robbery by a Boone County Sheriff's deputy who was already in the area.

A handgun believed to be used in the robbery was recovered at the scene.

No injuries were reported.

Armed robbery is a class x felony, punishable by 6 to 30 years in the Department of Corrections.

The Belvidere Police Department is investigating the incident. The teen is being held at the Winnebago County Juvenile Detention Center.

Anyone with information regarding a crime or drug trafficking is encouraged to call the Belvidere Police Department at 815-544-2135 or Crime Stoppers at 815-547-7867.

Belvidere police arrest 16-year-old after Starbucks holdup - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Pope Francis Gets The Problem With Money In Politics Exactly Right

Francis succinctly summarized the corrupting influence that money can have in elections during an interview with a group of Argentine teenagers from a Buenos Aires slum, Crux reported.

Speaking about elections in his home country of Argentina, the pope said that candidates can become too beholden to donors who back their campaigns.

"Because many interests come into play in financing of an election campaign and then they ask you to pay back," he said in the interview. "So, the election campaign should be independent from anyone who may finance it."

The pope also said that a public finance system for elections would create more transparency.

"Perhaps public financing would allow for me, the citizen, to know that I'm financing each candidate with a given amount of money," he said.

Although the pope was speaking about Argentina, some quickly seized on his comments to make the case for reforming the influence of money in American politics. In the landmark 2010 case Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that independent political groups, such as corporations and unions, could spend unlimited sums of money in elections. The ruling has led to a flood of campaign spending from various groups, and President Barack Obama has said that the decision "has caused real harm to our democracy."

Pope Francis Gets The Problem With Money In Politics Exactly Right

King Rauner wants carte blanch trust

 

Gov. Bruce Rauner has met with dozens of state legislators both individually and in small groups since his election. By all accounts, every meeting has been cordial and he has scored lots of points with legislators who aren’t accustomed to this sort of gubernatorial attention.

Until last week, that is, when he had the Senate Black Caucus over to the mansion for breakfast.

Things started out well enough, but turned south in a hurry when Rauner said he couldn’t accept the Senate super-majority party’s stand-alone proposal to patch about $600 million of the current fiscal year’s $1.6 billion budget deficit with transfers from special state funds. He wanted, he said, an “all or nothing” solution.

Rauner repeatedly said he wouldn’t raise taxes to solve this year’s budget problems and therefore absolutely needed to make big cuts. Legislators should “trust me,” Rauner said. “We don’t know you,” was their reply.

And since his proposed budget for next fiscal year, which begins July 1, demands huge cuts to major social programs, why should they trust him to not go after those same cherished programs in this year’s budget if they give him the carte blanche he is demanding to make whatever reductions he desires?
The governor, in turn, warned the legislators that up until now he’s been blaming former Gov. Pat Quinn for this mess, but if they didn’t give him what he wanted he’d start blaming the General Assembly. Threats don’t often work too well with that caucus, to say the least.

You may recall that Gov. Rauner’s public criticism of the Senate Democrats after they moved their budget fix bill out of committee last week was pretty harsh. “After weeks of detailed negotiations, including three hours yesterday morning,” Rauner’s spokesman said via a press release, “it is clear that Senate Democrats are more interested in playing politics than solving this problem.”
But Rauner was told by Caucus members that as far as they knew there had been no “real” negotiations. Instead, Rauner’s staff has been meeting with legislative staff. But that staff has no authority to approve any agreements. The legislative “budgeteers” (appropriations committee chairmen) have so far been eliminated from the process. And they, along with the chamber leaders, are the only ones who can negotiate any deals, particularly in the Senate.

Indeed, a spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan said last week that his boss did not view the staff talks as “negotiations.” Instead, he said, staff is listening to the ideas presented by the governor’s budget folks and is offering advice on what is doable and what has to be changed to be legal and what isn’t legal.

And speaking of the House, the governor also accidentally stepped on a land mine during the meeting. Rauner had met with a few members of the House Black Caucus the night before, and he chastised the Senate Democrats for not working with him like the House has been.

As anyone who has ever visited with African-American state Senators undoubtedly knows, there is no more “anti-House” group in their entire chamber than the Senate Black Caucus.
“We’re not the House,” the governor was informed.

Making matters somewhat worse, failed African-American Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson showed up in Springfield the day before and asked Senate President John Cullerton to convene a Senate Black Caucus meeting with him that very day.

Wilson essentially offered himself up as a conduit to the Republican governor, whom he supported last year. One member did give him a list of items on her wish list and he apparently took it to the governor. Rauner told the Caucus that he’d read the list and could support almost everything in it for next fiscal year, but he would need them to back him 100 percent this fiscal year. His offer was firmly declined.

At one point, the governor’s demands grew so loud and insistent that one Black Caucus member noted aloud that Illinois voters “didn’t elect a king” last year.

Senate President Cullerton has so far avoided the fate of his Democratic predecessors, who almost constantly battled internal caucus intrigue and coup attempts. He has done this partly by listening respectfully to all sides and not proceeding without consensus. Unless those wounds are healed quickly and the governor begins to accommodate opposing views, he is going to have a really tough time with his budget fix.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

King Rauner wants carte blanch trust