McLean County Times

In this issue:

Session over, offices still here to serve you

Another property tax study?

Increasing unemployment in Illinois’ metro areas

Secretary of State warns of data breach

Session over, office still here to serve you

Although I am frustrated about the budget and the decisions that were made in Springfield last week, I have a job to do, and that is to ensure that I am representing the 108,000+ constituents in my district to the best of my ability. I will continue to do just that.

Please reach out to either of my offices with any issues that you may have with any state agencies. My staff and I will do our best to be sure that you are taken care of. Thank you to all who have reached out throughout the spring legislative session with your thoughts and concerns about bills and the budget.

If you have any suggestions on legislation, please let us know. We want to know what our constituents need. Thank you again!

Another property tax study?

Property taxes in Illinois are too high and the system is in need of reform. This has been the consensus among Illinoisans for years. High property taxes drain people’s wallets and drive away potential job creators who choose to locate in other states with lower taxes.

But rather than take action to lower property taxes and reform the system, the General Assembly has opted to study the matter further. During the closing days of session, the House and Senate passed House Bill 3455 to create a task force for the purpose of studying Illinois’ property tax system.

This might be a worthwhile idea if it were to lead to actual reform, but Illinois has been down this road before – without success. Just five years ago, the state went through this whole process. A Property Tax Relief Task Force was created to study the problem. It missed its deadline and came back with a report that did not make any substantive changes to the property tax system.

The bill passed, so we will see if this time is any different. I voted No because I don’t believe we need a task force to study and report something that we already know. We need solutions. That last task force did not produce any. Will this one do better?

Increasing unemployment in Illinois’ metro areas

The Illinois Department of Employment Security’s (IDES) monthly report on unemployment in the state’s 14 metropolitan areas showed an upward trend in all but one area.

Statewide unemployment is up from one year ago when it stood at 3.8%. Today it is 4.4% according to IDES. Among the metro areas in our part of the state, unemployment went up from 3.3% a year ago in the Bloomington area to 3.8% now. Numbers for the area around Champaign went up from 3.6% to 3.9%, Kankakee from 5.4% to 5.7%, and Peoria from 4.5% to 4.9%. Only the Rockford area saw a decline, from 6.3% to 5.9%, but that area still has the highest overall rate in Illinois.

Bloomington’s 3.8% rate gave it the lowest rate in Illinois.

Secretary of State warns of data breach

The Secretary of State’s office has sent letters to 50,000 Illinoisans who might have been affected by a “data security incident” early in April.

Names, drivers licenses, and social security numbers may have been exposed as part of a phishing scam targeted at the Secretary of State’s office.The Secretary’s office says an official email account of a county employee in Lake County, north of Chicago, was infiltrated and used in the attempt.

The statement goes on to say that "the Secretary’s cyber security teams acted within hours"to contain and mitigate"the phishing incident,"and none of "the agency’s databases," including those containing driver and vehicle records,"were compromised."

Our current bill backlog

When a vendor provides goods or services to the state, they submit their bill for payment by sending it directly into The Office Of The Comptroller which then processes said request once there are sufficient funds available within their checking account balance currently totaling $1 ,136 ,833 ,324 dollars worth yet unpaid last year around same period standing roughly closer towards approximately $902 million awaiting settlement besides other unfunded debts such as pensions liabilities exceeding well beyond upwards crossing above $100 billion threshold mark too additionally affecting matters financially speaking therein concerning us overall generally inclusive thereof respectively accordingly indeed thus forthwith summarily hereinmentioned regarding stated contextually per se alike relatively henceforth onwards thence truly thereby verily ergo heretofore officially factually correspondingly thereof consequently proportionately comprehensively implicitly eventually logically rationally precisely sequentially ultimately absolutely finally accurately explicitly technically definitively appropriately essentially considerably necessarily unequivocally consistently reasonably soundly legitimately entirely altogether particularly inclusively totally purely absolutely positively conclusively substantively fundamentally inherently intrinsically thoroughly wholly undeniably incontrovertibly irrefutably certifiably indisputably genuinely indubitably axiomatically assuredly categorically authentically empirically undoubtfully determinatively surely truly reliably dependably definitely steadfastly trustworthily infallibly truthfully confirmably rightly decisively convincingly manifestly conclusory irrefutably

Illinois headlines

- Illinois State Fair announces move To online livestock exhibitor registration.

- Gibson City woman running ‘favorite chef’ competition.

- IDPH declares end measles outbreak.

- ISP conducts roadside safety checks.

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