Looking for a new friend to keep you warm and happy this winter? Consider adopting a new cat from The Tree House Humane Society! Tree House and Bridgeview Bank Andersonville Branch are teaming up on Saturday, January 21 to introduce you to some loving cats that need a home! Stop by the Andersonville Branch, 5117 N. Clark St. on Jan. 21 from 11 am to 2 pm. Or, you can always contact Tree House to stop by and be interviewed by some of their cats. Contact
First and foremost on my legislative agenda for 2012 will be working to pass meaningful, comprehensive and fair reforms to reduce the state’s growing Medicaid and pension liabilities. I am honored to serve as a member of the bi-partisan Joint House Senate Committees on Medicaid Reform and the Health Insurance Exchange, as well as working with Personnel and Pensions Committee Chair Elaine Nekritz on a bipartisan House working group on public pension reform.
It is important that we implement substantial changes to the traditional Medicaid delivery model in Illinois to improve access, improve health outcomes, decrease costs and eliminate waste and fraud. Similarly, it is important that Illinois begin to implement the Health Insurance Exchange to expand coverage for families, individuals and small businesses at lower premium costs, with increased access to providers and better health outcomes than our current system is providing.
Along with Medicaid, the state’s contribution to public pensions continues to be a major ongoing issue. Our bipartisan House working group is looking at potential near-term solutions to reduce the financial impact of the pension obligations on the state budget, as well as long term strategies to guarantee the financial stability and viability of the various public pension plans.
Also, I plan to work on these pieces of legislation this year:
- Cell Phone Theft. Responding to the major escalation in thefts of cell phones and other mobile devices, Rep. Jim Durkin and I have been working with law enforcement, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the cell phone industry to crack down on the illicit buyers of stolen phones.
Similar to the pawn shop law, our proposed law will require all retailers who purchase a phone for resale to get positive ID of the seller, along with all identifying numbers on the device. This information would then be made available to law enforcement to trace illegal merchants and merchandise.
- Preventative Healthcare. This bill would allow the state’s CHIP program (the program that provides health insurance to people and families with pre-existing conditions) to pay for physicals and other preventative healthcare costs for its members.
- Abusive Payday Lenders. There are now thousands of unlicensed payday loan outfits on the internet who are victimizing Illinois residents with super high interest loans, and illegal and abusive collection tactics. This law would absolve any Illinois resident from the obligation to pay one of these loans if the lender is not licensed in Illinois and operating illegally.
- Reinsurance Collateralization. This very technical piece of legislation would change the methods by which reinsurers (companies that reinsure insurance companies against catastrophic loss) prove their capitalization and creditworthiness.
- Marriage Equality. I also intend to continue to work on full marriage equality and equal treatment under the law for all Illinois residents.
If you have questions or suggestions, please call me at 773 348 3434 or write me at greg@gregharris.org
