SPRINGFIELD ­ - Providing Illinois motorists with some relief at the gas pump and promoting the development and use of alternative fuels like ethanol is the aim of legislation cosponsored by State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-Dixon).

Senate Bill 2570 requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to establish and administer the Illinois Corn Grain to Fuel Research Consortium Assistance Program. The legislation also exempts a portion of state sales tax on gasoline when the pump price of motor fuel ­ including gasoline, gasohol and diesel fuel ­ exceeds $2.50 per gallon.

“A year ago, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gas was about $2.88, now it is more than $3.50. Consumers need some relief,” Bivins said. “What this legislation proposes is to exempt a portion of the state sales tax on gasoline when the price at the pump goes higher than $2.50 per gallon.”

The 45th District Senator says Senate Bill 2570 exempts the tax for that portion of the price that exceeds $2.50 per gallon. In other words, for gas selling at $3.50 per gallon, the full sales tax remains payable on $2.50, but the additional $1.00 per gallon is exempt from state sales tax.

Senate Bill 2570 requires the DCEO to develop and administer a grant program to support research and efforts on behalf of corn kernel to fuel alcohol, and cellulosic fuel alcohol production. The Department is to further solicit grant proposals from projects that provide for research in the laboratories of the Consortium’s members, for collaborations among Consortium members, or for members outside the Consortium conducting pilot testing of the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center.

In fiscal years 2010 through 2014, the program is be funded at $25 million, annually, with 70% of the grant funds being used for ethanol facilities and 30% being used for biodiesel facilities in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. In fiscal years 2011 and after, only $5 million per year is to be used for biodiesel facilities.

Passed by a unanimous vote of the Senate on April 8, Senate Bill 2570 is currently pending in the House of Representatives. The legislation is supported by the Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Corn Growers Association.

REPUBLICAN NIGHT

Rockford RiverHawks vs. Midwest Sliders

August 3 @ 6:05 p.m.

Road Ranger Stadium, 4503 Interstate Blvd, Loves Park, IL

HOSTED BY SENATOR TIM BIVINS AND THE OGLE COUNTY REPUBLICANS

Grand Slam Sponsor $1,000 (includes 100 tickets)

Home Run Sponsor $500 (includes 50 tickets)

Team Sponsor $250 (includes 25 tickets)

Tickets $10.00 Now only $5

Youth Clinic 4:00 PM

Meet & Greet 5:00 PM

Game Time 6:05 PM

Freeport, Ill. - After three months on the job as an appointed state senator, former Lee County Sheriff, Republican Tim Bivins, visited The Journal-Standard Thursday to talk about his first legislative session in Springfield, what’s coming next, and his future objectives.

“It was intimidating, I’ll admit that,” he said, adding that some “hazing” went on at his expense by veteran senators when he introduced his first legislative initiative. Figuring out “the process” was the first challenge for him, he said.

The Capital Plan
Bivins said the General Assembly will reconvene July 9 “to straighten out the budget mess.” He said part of the capital improvement budget includes $100 million for road improvements in the 45th Senate District, of which $27 million is designated for Stephenson County. That allocation could disappear during the upcoming budget balancing process, he said.

“As we go back next week where will that end up? Will it stay in the budget? Or will the governor be sweeping it out and starting more programs?” Bivins said.

“Playground Politics”
Bivins took aim at how politics “works” at the Capitol. The Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, won’t sit in the same room with the governor, Rod Blagojevich; and the governor and the lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, haven’t spoken to each other in months, Bivins said.
“It’s playground politics. It’s all about what happened to who five years ago, six years ago. That’s all you hear. Old history,” Bivins said.

Rather than political gamesmanship, Bivins said he would like to see legislators spend more time reviewing the state budget prior to voting on it.

“You have a $2.5 billion deficit, and we’re given a $59 billion budget document two hours prior to voting on it,” he said.

Poor Public Policy
Bivins is particularly critical of using more gambling revenue for the general fund, a primary reason he voted against the budget, he said. It’s poor public policy, he believes. According to the Illinois Gaming Board, gambling revenue in 2008 was $142.3 million compared to more than $166 million through the same period in 2007; a 14 percent decrease that demonstrates another reason relying on that revenue is a poor choice, Bivins said.

“I don’t think it’s going to do what they say it’s going to do,” he said.

Most residents in the 45th Senate District share his opinion, Bivins said, citing a polling survey indicating that district residents are opposed to gambling revenue by a 2 to 1 margin.

Bivins did vote in favor of leasing the lottery because the government shouldn’t be running that, he said.

Pet Projects May Break Bank

Medicaid is growing at a rate three times faster than the rest of the budget and constitutes 30 percent of total state spending, Bivins said. People — including illegal aliens — are moving to Illinois to take advantage of free or low-cost public services and Illinois call ill-afford to provide for the nation’s indigent for free, he said.

Bivins also decried the governor’s announcement that the state would continue to fund its pre-school education program, which will reportedly cost $380 million this next fiscal year. He conceded that “Preschool for All” may be a good program, but questioned the wisdom of such spending while the budget is in crisis. News reports quoting the governor as “moved to continue the program after witnessing his own child graduate,” are “interesting,” Bivins said.

“We’re ruling on emotions, I guess.”

He also voiced interest in environmental issues, saying efforts by a local citizens group that tried to stop a large dairy farm from locating in Jo Daviess County “woke the state up,” and changed the original plans of the project to include a methane digester.

Bivins said it is now the responsibility of the state agencies that are overseeing the farm, to make sure the operation complies with regulations that are intended to protect the environment.

Budget Process Stinks

The budget is the most important issue facing legislators, Bivins said, but the process of developing that spending and revenue plan is a huge problem for legislators and taxpayers. The solution, he suggests, is to make the budget process more “transparent.”

Changing how the budget is prepared, continuing his work on ethics legislation, and working on environmental concerns and sales tax issues are all top priorities for the Republican candidate.

“As soon as we get through the veto session, I’ll probably have time to talk to some staff about some of these things and get some direction as far as how I want to write legislation.” he said.

When he was county sheriff, he kept his budget in check, sometimes making dramatic changes to keep costs within the spending limits of the county budget. Bivins said he authorized, but did not publicize, cutting patrols, reducing the staff of part-time people and “slamming the brakes on spending.”

“The state is a bigger budget, obviously, but the principles are the same,” he said. Staying within the budget is something that doesn’t happen in this state, he said.Bivins has a solution: Pay the bills and don’t spend more money than taken in.

Too Many Chicagoans

Bivins said he doesn’t care about partisan politics as much as he cares about getting the job done.

“Good legislation, bad legislation, good budget process, bad: It’s a problem for senators. It’s not just a democrat or republican problem to fix. That’s my attitude,” he said.

He’d like to see more cooperative leadership.

And of his opponent’s criticism of the appointment process, Bivins said Democrat Marty Mulcahey, who will face off against Bivins in November, “can make an issue out of it all he wants. I was Senator Sieben’s choice. I didn’t select myself,” he said.

“The Petunia Festival is always a lot of fun,” Bivins said. “I’ve been participating in this parade for years, but the turnout this year was the best I’ve seen.”

Dressed in red, white and blue “Bivins for State Senate” shirts, supporters carried signs, tossed candy and distributed information to thousands of parade watchers. Supporters attached signs to baby strollers, bounced beach balls in the air and chanted as they made their way across Dixon.

“I was honored to have so many volunteers come out and walk,” Bivins said. “We had a very strong showing, and I think we rallied excitement for the campaign.”

Geneseo, Ill. - The start of the new fiscal year, July 1, arrived in Illinois without the state having a new budget in place to cover spending for the next year.

The $59 billion-plus budget sent to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich includes an estimated $2.1 billion shortfall.

Blagojevich set a July 9 budget for lawmakers to send him a more balanced budget, but House Speaker Michael Madigan has said it’s up to the governor to make cuts in the budget.

It’s a stalemate that soon will affect citizens across the state. If a budget isn’t in place by July 10, approximately 4,900 state employees won’t receive a paycheck.

The lack of an operating budget also will prevent funds from being distributed to hospitals, nursing homes and school districts.

“Right now, there’s a game of chicken being played to see who blinks first,” said first-year State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-45), whose district includes Geneseo.

“(Madigan) has said if the House is called back, they’ll start impeachment processes (against the governor),” said Bivins. In response, Blagojevich has threatened deep cuts in funding to, among others, services for the disabled, the mentally ill, seniors and veterans.

“It’s part of the game,” said Bivins of the governor’s budget threats. “He’s going for where it will hurt the most and for the groups that will scream loudly.”

Disagreements between Blagojevich and Madigan, both Democrats from Chicago, occur frequently at the state level.

“It’s playground politics,” said Bivins. “Too much time is spent reliving old history. It’s time to just get over it and make things work.”

The constant bickering between members of the majority party has hurt the state and its reputation.

“The opinion from outside the state is that Illinois has passed even Louisiana in terms of corruption,” said Bivins, who called Illinois government “non functioning.”

“You need to have leadership, and right now we’re lacking that. You also need leadership from someone who understands the entire state, not just Chicago,” he said.

As for the state’s financial quagmire, Bivins said the state’s budget process is “broken and in need of fixing.”

“We need sunshine on our budget,” said Bivins, calling for more open discussion and debate on the annual budget.

“It doesn’t matter which party is in charge, you’re missing out on input when you close the process,” he said. 

Bivins said he received the current budget “two hours before I was suppose to vote on it.”

“The budget process needs to be transparent, and it needs to have everyone involved,” he said. 

The budget also needs to be balanced, said Bivins. “We need to stop spending. The state doesn’t have a money problem, it has a spending problem. We can’t keep adding new programs and then not paying for the old programs,” he said, mentioning the state’s current $2 billion in unpaid Medicaid benefits.

“If we don’t meet our current obligations, then we become a deadbeat state,” he said. “We have to be fiscally responsible.” 

In the past, the state has met certain financial obligations from borrowing from other accounts, but, cautioned Bivins, “We can’t borrow our way out of debt.”

In addition to cutting programs, other budget solutions proposed by the governor include expanding gambling and leasing the state lottery.

Bivins said he’s opposed to expanding gambling because the majority of the voters in the 45th district oppose the idea. A former law enforcement official, Bivins said when he first started his career, “gambling was considered vice … now it’s considered ‘gaming.’”

He also doesn’t think expanding gambling will raise as much revenue as proposed.
“Gambling revenue is down 14 percent, and we’ve seen no real increase in the number of people gambling,” he said.

Bivins is, however, in favor of leasing the state lottery. “The private sector can usually run things more efficiently than government can,” he said.

Bivins said it’s also not fair to Illinois families for “scare tactics” to be used, in which  state programs or jobs are marked for elimination in an attempt to force certain budgetary agreements.

“You put a lot of stress on Illinois families and individuals that way,” said Bivins. As a result, there’s a growing “lack of trust” Illinois residents have of their government.

“People react when something personally affects them,” said Bivins. “They need to be involved in the process, if we get 70 or 75 percent voter turn out, things can turn around over night. It’s going to take the citizens of not only this district, but the state, to change things.”

SPRINGFIELD ­ - Facing an upcoming deadline, the Illinois Senate spent much of the week approving and amending legislation, including a measure that would provide financial relief for Illinois families through an annual sales tax holiday on school supplies and clothing, according to State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-Dixon).

Senate Bill 2892 creates an annual sales tax holiday on school supplies, shoes and apparel that would begin the first Friday in August and continue through the following Sunday. Bivins is sponsoring the legislation to help parents afford the increasing cost of school-related supplies and clothing, and would apply to clothing or shoes that cost $200 or less and computers $3,000 and less. Senate Bill 2892 only affects the state’s 6.25% sales tax rate. Local municipalities may opt to do a tax holiday of their own, but are not required to do so. The bill is now awaiting consideration by the House of Representatives.

DIXON, Ill.- State Senator Tim Bivins expressed his support for the Whiteside County Community Health Center during his tour of the facility Tuesday.

Since the health center opened in May 2006, over 40,000 visits for medical, dental or mental health purposes have been recorded. The clinic has given more than $800,000 of free care to those who qualify for Medicaid or Medicare or cannot afford health insurance. On average the center cares for 150 patients per day.

“I’m impressed with the services the health center provides,” Bivins said. “The clinic has benefited the community by providing accessible health care to people who don’t have other options.”

According to U.S. Census data, from 2000 to 2005 the Whiteside County poverty level rose from 8.5 percent to 10.9 percent, exceeding the national average.

“The high unemployment rate and poverty level in Whiteside County create a great need for the health center,” Bivins said. “It’s remarkable to see the impact the center has in Whiteside County and throughout the Sauk Valley.”

Sen. Bivins talks with Beth Fiorini, Administrator at the Whiteside County Health Department, in one of the dental suites at the Community Health Center in Rock Falls.

We talked about a variety of state issues — budget, capital plan, leadership, etc.

I asked him about expanding gambling to pay for a capital plan. He said he thinks it’s poor public policy and questions revenue estimates in light of the fact that gambling revenues are down about 14 percent.

“Thirty-two years ago when I entered law enforcement we called gambling a vice,” Bivins said. “Today we call it the Lotto.”

Quite a change.

“Speaking with families in Winnebago was very beneficial,” said Bivins. “Many people voiced their concerns about gas prices, the state budget and other issues.”  

The visit to Winnebago was one of many walking tours planned throughout the 45th district for the upcoming weeks. Supplied with campaign brochures highlighting positions on some issues, Bivins and supporters will visit neighborhoods in all the district’s eight counties. 

 “I do realize the importance of really listening to Illinois citizens,” said Bivins. “Representing them is an honor.  As a fellow citizen, it’s important to me to hear what’s on their minds and speak directly about the issues facing Illinois.”