Tag: U.S. Senate
In Springfield … The Illinois General Assembly convened for the first week of the fall veto session, which began Oct. 25. It was a tough week for Gov. Pat Quinn, with the General Assembly taking the following actions: Collective bargaining House Speaker Michael Madigan introduced HJR 45, which seeks to involve the General Assembly in...
In Springfield … The first week of the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session begins Tuesday, Oct. 25, and will run through Thursday, Oct. 27. It promises to be an interesting week, with many issues on the table. The House of Representatives Personnel and Pensions Committee has posted five pension reform bills for hearing –...
In Washington, D.C. … Last week, the Senate rejected, by a vote of 50-49, President Obama’s jobs bill and the Senate Democrats are now working with the president to disassemble the $447 billion package into smaller bills that will deal with specific elements contained in the jobs bill. The Democrats will try to force the...
In Washington, D.C. … Activities in Washington over the past week bring to mind a quote from that great sage, Yogi Berra: “It’s déjà vu all over again.” Once again, Congress found itself at a critical juncture to approve a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would allow the federal government to operate Saturday, Oct. 1, the...
In Springfield … Gov. Pat Quinn held a press conference Thursday, Sept. 8, to discuss his Fiscal Year 2012 budget management strategy. Quinn contends that the FY2012 budget approved by the General Assembly has a shortfall of approximately $313.5 million in operations and personnel across all state agencies, with the most severe deficiencies at the...
In Springfield … The latest rumors in Springfield surround Gov. Quinn signaling his intention to issue layoff notices to thousands of state employees and closing several state facilities, including a prison, juvenile detention center and homes for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. While no specifics are being released by the governor’s office at this...
In Springfield … The Illinois General Assembly comes back in session today. The purpose of this session is to deal with some outstanding issues, most importantly, the capital bill. The Senate had added an amendment that included more than $400 million in additional funding, including $17 million for the Monetary Assistance Program. The House had refused to...
The Senate and the House of Representatives have both taken a week of district time over the last several weeks, with both chambers scheduled back this week. The major issue facing Congress and the Obama administration is the need to increase the nation’s debt ceiling before the U.S. government begins to default on its borrowing,...
Congress came back in session last week after several weeks of spring recess. The two main agenda items they have been dealing with are the issue of raising the debt ceiling and the FY2012 budget. I previously reported that the U.S. government will reach the limits of its authority to borrow any additional funds this month. However,...
We are hearing details about the compromise Continuing Resolution (CR) that was approved last week that will fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 (through Sept. 30, 2011). The final CR includes nearly $40 billion in reductions from FY 2010 levels. For higher education programs, there is good and bad news. The...
Congress has approved, and President Obama has signed, the sixth short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the federal government running. This latest CR is set to expire Friday, April 8. It contains an additional $6 billion in spending cuts, mainly from funding rescissions, reductions and program terminations. No accounts impacting higher education were cut in this CR....
Congress continues to struggle with the Fiscal Year 2011 budget. Last week, the Senate defeated both H.R. 1, the Continuing Resolution passed by the House of Representatives that would cut spending by $61 billion, and the Senate Democratic counter-proposal that would cut federal spending by about $6.5 billion. With the defeat of both bills and...
