Page 44 - Avery Bourne News Today

With about three weeks left in the 2021 legislative session, lawmakers from both parties say bipartisan budget negotiations have begun. "I think were well on our way. In the House last week, our House Democratic appropriation committee chairs and revenue committee chairs met with our Republican counterparts, and we came to a common understanding of the basic numbers were going to need to begin to work together on crafting a (fiscal year) 2022 budget," House Majority Leader Greg Harris, D- Chica...

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois House Republicans continue to demand a “fair” redistricting process, following a news report depicting Democratic lawmakers meeting behind a closed door to discuss the mapmaking process. The “secretive” room on Capitol grounds where House Democrats are said to be drawing maps was first reported by WCIA-TV’s Mark Maxwell. In response to the report, House Republicans held a news conference Thursday outside of the room to address their concerns....

Democratic lawmakers brushed aside criticisms Thursday from Republicans who said secret meetings of Democrats this week in Springfield were contrary to Democrats’ promises for more transparency in the redrawing of state and federal legislative maps. “This is absolutely what people don’t want to see — politicians picking the people they represent,” state Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said outside a fourth-floor room in the Capitol Complex where a WCIA-TV story on Wednesday showed Dem...

Photo: Saga Communications The opposing political parties in Springfield offer opposing views of just how diabolical the every-ten-years process of redistricting really is. Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) and other House Republicans found themselves in an office building next to the Capitol Thursday afternoon. “My colleagues and I are standing in front of a locked door,” Bourne said, “where politicians are literally walking in and selecting their voters.” House Redistricting Commit...

If there’s no map by June 30, then it goes to a draw. If the GOP would win the draw, have they committed to the kind of bipartisan, cooperative process they are now demanding? Are the Republicans not meeting at all internally to discuss the map? Or are they doing it in the hallway, completely open to the public, and I’ve missed coverage of it? I wish I could have been a fly in the wall on those closed door remap hearings. Would be interesting to see what they proposed for especially for th...

WBGZ Radio 5/7/2021 | By Doug Jenkins - WBGZ Radio The process to redraw legislative districts at the state level is causing many Republicans to speak out about what they see as an unfair and possibly corrupt process. On Thursday, House Republicans responded to a Champaign TV news report that allegedly showed dozens of House Democrats filing in and out of a locked door on the Capitol Complex grounds. Assistant Republican Leader Avery Bourne of Morrisonville says members of House Speaker Chris ...

I’m not sure a drab, empty meeting room sends the message HGOP was hoping for… But then, tbh, I’m not sure what message they were hoping for? - Louis G Atsaves - Thursday, May 6, 21 @ 11:28 am: So right now only Democrats are looking at these proposed maps? The maps still aren’t in the hands of the GOP? Doesn’t sound all that transparent at the moment. And the same old same old procedure being used is no excuse based on all the claims that this would somehow change. It hasn’t. It w...

An Illinois House measure with one sponsor that passed in the late evening hours last week will harm families with children in private schools, opponents say. House Bill 2789 would have the Illinois Department of Public Health provide requirements for in-person instruction at not just public schools, but nonpublic schools, to include “personal protective equipment, cleaning and hygiene, social distancing, occupancy limits, symptom screening, onsite isolation protocols.” The measure also has...

WBGZ Radio 4/30/2021 | By Greg Bishop - Illinois Radio Network An Illinois House measure with one sponsor that passed in the late evening hours last week will harm families with children in private schools, opponents say. House Bill 2789 would have the Illinois Department of Public Health provide requirements for in-person instruction at not just public schools, but nonpublic schools, to include “personal protective equipment, cleaning and hygiene, social distancing, occupancy limits, sympto...

April 29, 2021 State Rep. Dan Swanson has sights set on boosting rural EMT recruitment. The Republican from Alpha is sponsoring a bill that allows exceptions to the EMT credentialing process in rural areas. Basically, it would let nurses, physicians assistants and APN’s with active licenses serve as volunteers, and be able to do the same work as certified EMTs. Swanson says, “rural areas often struggle with finding volunteer EMTs but may have several people in their community capable of...