Illinois

Illinois Republicans
by Edward Kwong

           The state of Illinois is the largest populated state of the Midwestern states. It ranks 24th in size among all the states and eighth in size among the Midwestern states. According to the 1990 census, provided by the US Census Bureau, it ranks fifth in the nation with a population of 12,045,326; the urban population of Illinois ranks fifth in the nation with 9,668,552. Chicago is the state’s most populated city with a population of 2,721,547. In fact, the Greater Chicago area contains 1/3 of the state’s population. The Caucasian population of Illinois comprises 81.3% of the state populous with 9,671,367, ranking it seventh in the nation. Conversely, the Black population of Illinois comprises 15.3% of the state populous with 1,825,051, ranking it sixth in the nation. The remaining percentage comprises of the Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian population (in order of size).
           Illinois is a high ranking growth agricultural state. The acres of soybeans (10,650,000) and grain (10,450,000) harvested in 1998 ranks first and second, respectively, in the nation; it also harvested 1,200,000 acres of wheat (rank: 13). In addition to its growth agricultural crops, Illinois also breeds livestock with cattle totaling 1,510,000 and hogs/pigs totaling 4,700,000 to rank 13th and 4th, respectively. Illinois also ranks first in producing corn products used in syrups, starch, and alcohol used in making fuels.
           In 1996, Illinois had a Gross State Product of $370,778,000,000 to rank it fourth in the US. It’s 41 Fortune 500 Companies and its high new business incorporations (36,090) contributed to Illinois’ high personal income of $332,241,000,000 (rank: 4) and median household income of $40,613 (rank: 11) in 1997. However, the US Department of Defense expenditures ($3,368,603,000) and total contracts ($1,248,130,000) ranked only 18th and 21st in the nation. Although Illinois has a large agricultural economy a large contributor to its economy is its rich mining and drilling operations of bituminous coal and petroleum.
           Politically, Illinois is relatively divided even between the Republican and Democratic parties making it a swing state. In the State Assembly, the Democrats have a six-member lead whereas, in the State Senate, the Republicans control it by five-members. In the US Congress, the Republicans and Democrats equally divide the Senate and House of Representatives with 1 Senator and 10 Representatives each. This distinct fact compels these state leaders to continuously compromise on legislation, thereby making it a legitimately functioning bipartisan government.
           Republican power is split between the suburbs, with their affluent free-marketeer dislike for taxes, and downstate, with their old fashion, practical-minded Midwestern politics. Democrat power is split between Chicago, the suburbs, and downstate. The large minority population in Greater Chicago area makes it a Democratic stronghold. Political trends in the state usually sway towards the party controlling the state’s most visible government position, the mayor of Chicago. In the two previous presidential elections the Illinois electorate have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Democrats (Clinton) by an average 16% margin.
           The Illinois Republican Party has taken the initiative in dealing with Illinois’ social and economic issues. One of its primary concerns is in the field of education. Republicans recognized that the deterioration of the public school system required a major infusion of innovative ideas. In response, Governor George H. Ryan and the Republican Party designated that 51% of all new tax dollars is spent on education and workforce development. The Fiscal Year 2000 budget increases these funds to $528 million with the intention of closing the gap between the state’s wealthiest and neediest schools. In trying to improve the quality of education in the state, the Governor is allocating enough funds to hire 10,000 qualified new teachers over the next four years to reduce class sizes—especially in the kindergarten through 3rd grade range. There is also a $3 million increase for reading grants to improve the reading ability in the Illinois public school system. To fight the war against illiteracy, the Governor created the Governor’s Office on Literacy. The literacy office is responsible for the coordination of literacy programs among the various state agencies and offices to maximize state and federal resources.
           In an effort to provide for a safe learning environment in Illinois, the Republicans have accelerated school construction and repair grants and appropriated approximately $4 billion in state funds and local matching dollars over the next 5 years. An additional $14 million was secured to support Attorney General James E. Ryan’s “Safe to Learn” program that creates a school based safety and violence prevention grant that will give school districts the resources and technical support needed to create a safe and secure school environment. A $13 million allocation for Illinois’ “Teen Reach” program supports after-school activities for at-risk school children designed to combat the lure of gang involvement and substance abuse.
           The issue of taxes and budget are significant parts of the Republican Party platform. In 1999, the Illinois Republicans instituted a Tuition Tax Credit program that will provide families of children in public and private schools a tax credit worth 25% of their qualified school related expenses with a maximum credit of $500 per family. The Economic Development for a Growing Economy Tax Credit Act provides tax credits for businesses that create new jobs and make capital investments in Illinois. This keeps Illinois in a competitive range with other states. In regards to the budget, former Illinois Republican Chairman Harold Smith most eloquently described the party’s sentiment by declaring that “the Balance Budget Amendment will force politicians and bureaucrats in Washington to permanently change the way government does business. Illinois Republicans feel that the Democratic idea of deficit spending imposes hidden taxes on American families in artificially high mortgage rates, higher college loan payments, and higher costs for an averaged priced car. Balancing the budget will help erase these hidden taxes by putting more money into the hands of hard working Americans. In addition, government will stop wasting scarce economic resources that are needed to expand the economy, create jobs, and boost incomes.
           Quality of life is an important issue to the Republican Party. In an effort to improve the quality of life in Illinois, the Republicans have directed efforts towards improving Illinois’ health care system. In 1999, the Illinois Republican Party negotiated a serious bipartisan reform to Illinois’ managed care system. The reforms include a “Patient’s Bill of Rights” that levels the playing field between the patients and their health maintenance organizations (HMOs). It ensures emergency care without prior authorization, prevents the use of “gag” orders, creates a grievance procedure, a guarantee that only physicians or other health professionals can deny care, and requires confidentiality of patient information.
           The most important health issue to Illinois Republicans is the improvement of a child’s life in Illinois. Beginning in January 1999, Governor Ryan took action to increase the enrollment in Illinois’ “Kid Care” program. The program provides health care coverage to uninsured children. By organizing outreach programs, coordinating marketing among state agencies, providing additional training to outreach workers and a simplified application form has resulted in a 35% increase in the program’s enrollment. Republicans also expanded the quality childcare opportunities throughout the state with the reinvestment of savings from welfare reform to quality childcare. An additional $85 million was appropriated to allow more than 157,000 children access to childcare. A 78% funding increase to AG Ryan’s “Child Advocacy Centers” will allow these facilities to assure coordination among state agencies when a child requires to be removed from an abusive setting.
           In dealing with the recent gun related violence across the nation, Illinois Republicans are passing decisive gun control and criminal punishment laws. The “15-20-Life” law intends to provide a major deterrent for crime. The law adds 15 years for possession of a gun during a crime, 20 years for firing a gun during a crime, and 25 years to life imprisonment for shooting someone during a crime. A budget increase was made to accommodate 100 new police officers in the state. In progress is a comprehensive rewrite of the criminal code to adequately reflect the increased violence of gangs, the growth of drug trafficking, and computer technology crimes. In an effort to stop Illinois’ rise in gun homicides among youths, the passage of the Governor’s “Child Gun Access Prevention” bill provides necessary safeguards, including trigger locks, and penalties for improper storage of guns near minors. Early in the year, the Governor established the Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes to identify and develop new and innovative strategies to eliminate discrimination and hate crimes. Illinois Republicans intend to provide for a safer Illinois for all.
           Illinois Republican support of Women’s Rights issues has resulted in the creation of the Commission on the Status of Women. The commission’s duty is to evaluate the status of women in Illinois in effort to remove economic, legal, societal, and equity barriers for women. The Governor’s support for equity in the workplace, equal opportunity for success in the marketplace, and fair access to governmental procurement contracting has led to the implementation of a proposal to increase the goals for women procurement from 5% to 12%. The new goal is based on a disparity study conducted by National Economic Research Associates. To address the special health risks that inflict women the resources to the Office of Women’s health was doubled to launch the new “Women’s Health Illinois” initiative.
           Environmentally, the Republicans support the Illinois EPA “Cap and Trade” program. The program will reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides in the state to help maintain air quality set forth by the US EPA. The emissions trading program is a cost effective means of obtaining reductions in nitrogen oxide emissions, which in turn reduce the threat of illnesses such as asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, allergies, respiratory problems, and heart and lung diseases. The “Open Lands Trust Initiative” is set to use $160 million over the next five years for the largest open space land acquisition and preservation program in Illinois history.
           The initiatives selected by the Illinois Republicans are taken in the hopes that they will provide a bright and prosperous future for the state of Illinois and its people