Lawmaker tapped as Illinois ag director - AgriNews

 

Lawmaker tapped as Illinois ag director

Jeannine Otto, Field Editor

Saturday, November 14, 2015 5:00 PM

Poe

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Raymond Poe didn’t have long to pack.

“I told them, it’s better packing and going to the Department of Agriculture than it would be packing and going home,” said the Illinois agency’s new director.

Gov. Bruce Rauner announced Poe’s appointment Nov. 13. He takes over from acting Director Warren Goetsch.

“First of all, we’ve got to go in there and look at it, make sure there are not any big fires to put out. A lot of it is going to be looking, listening and seeing how we can improve on things,” said Poe, R-Springfield.

Poe emphasized the need to promote Illinois agriculture.

“I think we need to always point out, every chance we get, whenever we’re out there talking that it’s the most important industry, the largest industry in Illinois and how we’re doing our part. We have to keep bragging about that because there are a lot of people who go to the grocery store and think a truck is how food gets there,” he said.

Troubled Times

The Sangamon County grain farmer takes over an agency that has seen its share of strife.

Philip Nelson, former director and past president of the Illinois Farm Bureau, resigned abruptly at the end of September, followed almost immediately by the resignation of Patrick Buchen, Illinois State Fair manager.

While Nelson has not commented publicly on the reason for his departure, Buchen blamed Rauner’s aides for forcing Nelson out.

Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr. referenced the department’s state of affairs in his statement on the Poe appointment.

“Based on the past relationship with Representative Poe, we are confident that his door will be open to discussing the many difficult challenges that face agriculture and the Illinois Department of Agriculture,” he said.

Guebert said the appointment continues Rauner’s commitment to putting a farmer as head of the department.

“The announcement by Governor Rauner to appoint state Rep. Raymond Poe as the next director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture continues the governor’s commitment to keep the department a viable and relevant agency. Representative Poe has proven his support of agriculture throughout his career,” he said.

The agency is operating under the constrictions caused by the ongoing state budget impasse between Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan.

“Everything is sort of bare bones,” said Poe, who is confident that department employees can keep things operating until the state has a budget.

“We’ve got a lot of people who have worked here for anywhere from 10 to 30 years, and they know how we can make things work until we get a budget passed,” he said.

Farm Roots

Poe has farmed in Sangamon County since 1967. He has been in the Illinois General Assembly since 1995 and serves on the agriculture and conservation, appropriations-higher education, personnel and pensions, and business occupational licenses committees.

“I live five minutes from the state fairgrounds. We farm out there,” he said.

His son, Lance, now heads up the family farming operation and has a cow-calf herd, Poe said.

Poe is a former president of the Sangamon County Farm Bureau and Lincoln Land Farm Supply.

Allen Entwhistle, a grain and cow/calf farmer from Riverton, is past president of the Sangamon County Farm Bureau and chairs its governmental affairs committee.

“I’ve known Raymond for years. I knew him when he was farming and was president of our board of FS when I worked there. At least he knows some ag issues and hopefully he’ll be able to help us in the ag field,” he said.

Entwhistle said he’d like Poe to continue advocating for agriculture at the state and national level.

“I hope he keeps on looking at that water deal, WOTUS, and the EPA and the interests of the livestock, chemical and fertilizer industry. Hopefully, he will look at those issues as a farmer and help us continue to grow our commodities,” he said

Lawmaker tapped as Illinois ag director - AgriNews

Madigan Can’t Attend Budget Summit, Rauner Postpones It « CBS Chicago

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. Bruce Rauner has postponed the Nov. 18 budget summit because a family matter will prevent House Speaker Michael Madigan from attending.

Rauner deputy chief of staff Mike Schrimpf said Saturday that the meeting will instead be held Dec. 1 in Springfield.

The change came shortly after Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, released a statement saying he needed to attend an out-of-state family funeral next week. Schrimpf offered the governor’s condolences.

The much-anticipated meeting will be the first time in months that the Republican governor and the four legislative leaders have met. They’ve bickered over a state budget that should’ve taken effect July 1.

Good-government groups encouraged the meeting before Rauner announced he would host the summit.

Madigan Can’t Attend Budget Summit, Rauner Postpones It « CBS Chicago

Our View: Boone County Board jail tax transfer to General Fund is questionable - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By The Editorial Board
Rockford Register Star

Posted Nov. 14, 2015 at 9:00 AM

We were taught by our parents that "a promise made is a promise kept." For some of us, it's a lesson we need to relearn from time to time.

Evidently that message didn't get through to nine members of the Boone County Board, judging by what they did on Oct. 21 and what they plan on doing Wednesday.

In 1999, Boone voters passed a measure to enact a 1 percentage point sales tax, with the revenue going to expand the jail. This public safety tax, voters were told, would be used only to pay off the bonds, and it would end in 2018.

The voters said yes because they knew the old jail was obsolete and needed replacement. They also voted yes because the tax would be used only to pay off bonds. Then it would end. Seemed reasonable.

Ah, but times and members of the County Board changed. And that promise to use the tax only to pay off bonds? Well, that was then. Whatever those folks said in 1999 applied only to them, the new thinking goes. This is now, and we have other needs.

So on Oct. 21, the board voted to transfer $900,000 from the public safety tax's reserve fund to the general fund to balance a 2016 budget that otherwise faced a deficit. Chairman Bob Walberg defended the transfer. He was quoted in the Oct. 22 Register Star as saying, "I believe this is a very necessary action the board took. It's been a very confusing issue ... (and) people have tried to portray it other than what it really was intended to be, as far as the use of the money."

The board is voting on the 2016 budget, which includes the transfer, on Wednesday.

Walberg, in a conversation with the Register Star on Friday, again defended the board's action and said the County Board in 1999 made no specific promises about the future of the tax. He said that the bulk of the money to be transferred to the General Fund still will be used for public safety purposes, "chiefly for corrections." Although the transfer from the public safety tax fund to the General Fund is authorized at $900,000, Walberg said that only $800,000 will be needed to balance the budget. He called the fund transfer "a technical issue," not a breach of trust.

We understand what Walberg is saying. But we have a different view.

Ted Biondo, the region's leading taxpayer advocate for more than 20 years, said the Boone County Board action is "a betrayal of the taxpayers who approved that referendum. They changed the intended purpose of the tax, and I think it's going to hinder any other government that wants to put up a referendum for a property tax or sales tax."

Biondo is a Republican member of the Winnebago County Board, a former member of the Rock Valley College board of trustees, a former Rockford School board member and an op-ed contributor to this newspaper on tax-related matters.

Stephenson County Board Chairman Bill Hadley had a similar view.

"They shouldn't be going against what they told the people they were going to do. If you weren't on the board when that referendum went through, you still need to protect the integrity of that referendum. This is an example of why the people don't trust government at all levels," Hadley said.

We understand that Boone County is in a financial bind. All local governments in Illinois are in the same boat, thanks in part to the inability of our state lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner to pass a budget. Funds that supply money to counties, cities, community colleges and other governments have been frozen; these governments may never receive all the money the state owes them.

However, voters who passed the 1999 referendum say that the public safety tax was passed specifically to pay off bonds for the jail expansion. When that happens in 2018, they believed, the tax would disappear.

The current board should honor the voters' beliefs. If that means there's not enough money to fund the current budget, the right thing to do would be to go back to the voters and ask for a tax increase. And if voters turn that down, make the cuts required. It's their government, after all.

Our View: Boone County Board jail tax transfer to General Fund is questionable - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

My View: Boone board betraying public trust - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Cathy Ward

Posted Nov. 14, 2015 at 4:36 PM

Banning wind farms in Boone County and raiding the county's public safety sales tax funds will highlight the County Board meeting this week.

The board will vote on both issues at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Both decisions will have a huge impact on the county's financial future for years to come and will especially affect children, as wind farms could provide millions for schools as they do in numerous counties throughout the state.

Board watchers on both topics predict lopsided votes in favor of both the ban on wind farms and the raid of the public sales tax fund as committees have been stacked on both issues by Chairman Bob Walberg.

On the wind farm topic, Boone County's current ordinance has a 1,000-foot setback from any structure. The proposal seeks a 2,640-foot setback (eight football fields) from a property line — a huge difference. That would eliminate any wind tower to be built in the county, unless a waiver is given by a private property owner. None has been offered.

Those who support wind farms believe in green energy. They believe that property owners have the right to harvest the wind and that all people and taxing bodies in the county will benefit from the millions of dollars this new business will bring.

The anti-wind farm group contend wind farms are a safety and health hazard. They brought in so-called experts for 10 months to testify of the dangers, but ironically, despite the fact that we have three outstanding health facilities in our midst, OSF Saint Anthony, SwedishAmerican and MercyRockford, and dozens of excellent doctors with medical degrees, not one person was invited to testify or come and share proof of these supposed dangers.

Also, our Boone County Health Board found “no evidence of public health impact” from wind farms.

On the subject of raiding public safety sales tax to balance the budget, I believe this is a violation of public trust. In 1999, board members and other supporters of a new jail promised the tax would “finance bond payments only. The statue allowed the county to sunset (end) the tax when the bonds are paid (2018). ”

Five years ago, the County Board feared this current raid. We passed an ordinance that decreased the use each year of funds from the tax and stated in 2016 (the new budget year) that only $125,000 would be transferred. We also stated that the tax would end in 2018 as promised.

However, this current board deleted the ending date of 2018, meaning this tax could go on forever. They also decided to increase the transfer this year from $125,000 to $875,000.

So far, taxpayers had paid $19 million for a jail that cost $9 million, and we still owe $1.5 million.

It's interesting that board members will be voting on both of these critical financial issues on one night. On the one hand, a group wants to help bring business and millions of dollars of tax money to our county to help all of our people and help balance our budget. On the other, a group wants to ban this business and create an anti-business climate. It's created the certainty of a costly lawsuit and animosities that will last for generations.

Cathy Ward is a member of the Boone County Board.

My View: Boone board betraying public trust - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL