Please join me and Reps. Kelly Cassidy, Greg Harris, & Alderman James Cappleman for a Mortgage Assistance Seminar  

Tuesday, November 29

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Truman College - McKeon Building

1145 W. Wilson

Certified mortgage counselors and lenders and representatives from the Illinois Attorney General's Office and Illinois Housing Development Authority will be on hand to offer foreclosure prevention counseling and mediation to anyone with housing related needs.

For more information, please contact my constituent service office at 773-769-1717 or info@heathersteans.com

CPAs for the Public  

Interest is again  

providing free personal

income tax return  

filing assistance and

guidance to immediate

families of deployed

military members.

The Military Service

Tax Preparation Project

is available to US

Armed Forces

personnel having

served in a combat

zone or qualified

hazardous duty area

during the current tax

year, US Armed Forces

personnel serving in a contingency operation,

per the Military Family

Tax Relief Act of 2003,and must be current Illinois residents. A spouse or family member can request assistance for military personnel still overseas.  

For more information, please visit www.icpas.org/military 

taxerquest.

You can also contact Jill Wiles Wolf, Public Service Manager at 800.993.0407, ext. 277 or by e-mail at wilesj@icpas.org.

Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood is proud to welcome the launch of a new non-profit art gallery called Good News Only. The Mission of Good News Only is to teach local youth how to manage a fine art gallery and thus build their critical thinking and work-study skills, to unite various socio-economic groups in the community, and to develop public art around Chicago. Good News Only also offers a free after school program for local teens to gain real-world experience of the business and curatorial sides of the art industry.  

The gallery's first exhibition is called Here, Not Here. It is inspired by the journeys of many Edgewater Residents as they emigrated to the United States. Good News Only is located at 5604 N. Ridge Avenue. The public is welcome to visit this interactive exhibition.   

Dear Neighbor,

Veto session did not end last week as planned; we will return to Springfield on November 29th to conclude. There are three significant items we will potentially address when we return:

1. Budget reallocation. As the budget negotiator for the Senate, I have been pushing to restore funding for many of the human service programs that were cut. In negotiations with members from the House and Senate Republican and Democratic caucuses, our tentative agreement includes restoring the cuts to community mental health, substance abuse, homeless assistance, and indigent funeral and burial services. The potential reallocation will also enable the 7 facilities the Governor proposed closing this year to remain open. The Governor plans to close some state facilities for the developmentally disabled and mental health patients over the next 2 fiscal years; keeping them open this year provides time for planning and appropriate transitions to community care. The plan will keep within total spending. Offsetting cuts are from education transportation and regional education office lines; Medicaid funding (we will not increase unfunded liabilities, however, as we will use about half of the Governor's vetoed funding to fund Medicaid and federal Medicaid matching dollars for it); and a variety of statutory transfers that historically have not undergone scrutiny in the budget process.
2. Gaming. There is a new gaming proposal being developed that maintains the new casinos, provides greater oversight of them, and reduces the number of slot machines (including no slots at airports). The bill may be further amended and come for a vote on November 29th.
3. Tax Relief. There are a number of elements that may or may not be included in a final bill:

• Reduction in corporate income tax for federal exchanges (CME/CBOE). Currently all electronic transactions are taxed as if an Illinois party is involved because they occur in an Illinois facility, while in fact many of the orders subject to the tax do not involve anyone residing here. There is a proposal to rectify this situation.
• Research & Development Credit. This current credit is scheduled to expire, but may be extended through 2015.
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The proposal may increase what low-income workers are allowed to deduct from their Illinois income taxes.
• Sears tax credit/economic development area (EDA). The state awards EDGE credits to business to create and retain jobs in the state, enabling companies to offset their income tax liability. Sears may be awarded EDGE credits. An EDA (similar to a TIF) that has been in place may also be revised and extended 15 years.

We did complete work on a number of other significant issues, including the following.

1. Unemployment Insurance Fund :  Illinois' Unemployment Insurance fund has been in jeopardy of becoming insolvent due to the economic downturn that has left it more than $2 billion in debt. Business and labor leaders worked together with legislators and the Governor's Office to create a plan to keep the fund solvent. The legislation allows the fund to borrow up to $1 billion and restructure the way businesses collect unemployment taxes. There is a sure plan for paying back the borrowed money. Benefits are not reduced, and businesses will save millions of dollars, particularly if they have no history of layoffs. The bill also creates the Social Security Retirement Pay Task force to identify how to rid Illinois of the discriminatory practice of reducing senior's unemployment benefits due by social security benefits.
2. Cameras near schools and parks:  This bill passed the House last week, with a trailer bill that further limits hours of operation (from 6am to 8:30 pm around schools) and reduces the fine for lower levels of speeding to $50.
3. Regional School Superintendents' pay:  The Governor's Office vetoed pay for these elected officials, who have thus been working since July with no pay. Last week a bill passed both the House and Senate to pay these officials from the local Personal Property Tax Replacement fund for one year. A commission is also established to determine the best way to deliver services currently provided by the regional offices of education.

Please let me know if you have questions on these or any other items. You can reach me by email at hsteans@senatedem.ilga.gov or by phone at 773-769-1717.

Best Regards,

Heather A. Steans

State Senator - District 7