Our lawmakers tell us what they want to achieve

SPRINGFIELD — Given the state's sorry financial condition, it can be tough to catch state lawmakers talking about much else.

But there are other priorities. And as the legislature reconvenes this week, the Daily Herald polled 46 suburban lawmakers — who'll meet almost every week until the end of May — on what they hope to accomplish.

The answers include the predictable, such as pension reform, improving government efficiency and the business climate. But there are a host of less-obvious ideas that may be put on the table.

Those include: requiring children to wear bike helmets; keeping the death penalty as law in some cases; limiting junk food purchases with food stamps; taking away pensions from new lawmakers; reviving plans for more casinos; expanding Route 53; scaling back overly harsh sentencing guidelines; identifying illegal immigrants in prison and releasing them early to be immediately deported.

Sen. Pamela Althoff

The Crystal Lake Republican wants to work toward improving the business and job climate of the state and obtaining equitable education funding reform. She also wants to address senior health issues.

Rep. Mark Beaubien

The Barrington Hills Republican plans to work on a law requiring children under 18 to wear bike helmets. He'd also like to work to establish a clearer definition of a #8220;distracted driver,#8221; making it more consequential for people to multi-task while driving.

Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia

The Aurora Democrat co-chairs a committee crafting legislation that focuses on linking teacher performance to tenure and pay, simplifying dismissal practices, and reforming some negotiation practices. She'd also like to see a task force established to find efficiencies in the state's 863 school districts.

Rep. Fred Crespo

The Hoffman Estates Democrat said he'd like to focus on education reforms, as well as plans to eliminate regulations on businesses.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross

The Oswego Republican wants to explore further state pension reforms, set up a commission to find more cuts in government and establish a charter school in Aurora that focuses on math and science.

Rep. Sandy Cole

Among the Grayslake Republican's priorities this session will be policies that address job creation and retention, transportation improvement and property tax relief.

Rep. Michael Connelly

The Lisle Republican wants to find ways for various units of local government to consolidate, as well as ask local chambers of commerce what government regulations could be eased to help businesses.

Sen. Kirk Dillard

Dillard, a Hinsdale Republican, plans to file legislation that would reinstate the death penalty in #8220;the worst of cases#8221; if Gov. Pat Quinn signs a ban in the coming weeks. Dillard says he's also working on legislation that would ban physicians on the sex offender registry from practice.

Sen. Dan Duffy

The Lake Barrington Republican wants to see more reforms to the state's pension system, as well as Medicaid, the program that pays for health care for the poor.

Rep. Keith Farnham

The Elgin Democrat would like to bring more green energy companies to his hometown and create more job training opportunities for people who are out of work or want to find a new career.

Rep. Mike Fortner

The West Chicago Republican is a redistricting expert and said he'd like to see a transparent process as the new legislative districts are drawn in the coming months.

Rep. Jack Franks

The Marengo Democrat has plans to try to take away pensions for new members of the General Assembly starting in 2013, as well as strip the salaries and benefits of members of Chicago-area transit boards.

Sen. Susan Garrett

As chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, the Lake Forest Democrat plans to hold hearings on fostering more business opportunities. She will also continue to push for what she terms #8220;much-needed#8221; oversight of Metra, and work to find ways for state and local governments to share services.

Sen. Don Harmon

The Oak Park Democrat was named Senate president pro tempore for the upcoming session, a leadership position. He wants to make sure spending controls already approved by lawmakers are implemented well.

Rep. David Harris

The Arlington Heights Republican wants to see the recommendations that came from Gov. Pat Quinn's ethics committee fully implemented. He'd also like to see his constituents get some property tax relief.

Rep. Kay Hatcher

The Yorkville Republican said she's asked to be on the finance committee because of the high rate of foreclosure in her district. And because her district has grown sharply in population in the last 10 years, she says she'll be paying special attention to plans to draw new legislative district borders.

Sen. Linda Holmes

The Aurora Democrat said she wants to research a plan that would somehow limit people on food stamps from using their cards to buy junk food. She'd also like to research finding ways to get healthier food into school lunches.

Sen. Tom Johnson

The West Chicago Republican plans to use his experience on the Prisoner Review Board to add perspective to debates over criminal justice legislation.

Sen. Dan Kotowski

The Park Ridge Democrat has a plan to allow people to get a credit toward their income taxes worth 10 percent of their property tax bills. Now, Illinoisans can get credits worth 5 percent of their bills.

Sen. Chris Lauzen

The Aurora Republican said he wants further reforms to limit current state employees' retirement plans.

Sen. Terry Link

The Waukegan Democrat didn't win support last year for a plan to create new casinos in Illinois #8212; including one in Park City #8212; and allow for slot machines at racetracks. He said he plans to try again.

Rep. Sidney Mathias

The Buffalo Grove Republican said it is a good time to expand Route 53. He said it would help his district as well as the whole state by building a necessary road and putting people back to work.

Rep. Rita Mayfield

The Waukegan Democrat said she wants to continue to develop friendly policies for small businesses and focus on improving early childhood education.

Sen. John Millner

The Carol Stream Republican thinks the state's sentencing guidelines need changes. He says penalties for some crimes were made too severe by lawmakers who want to appear tough on crime.

Rep. Tom Morrison

The Palatine Republican wants to finish the workers' compensation reforms that were begun last session.

Rep. Rosemary Mulligan

The Des Plaines Republican has a plan to create a trust fund to help veterans pay for artificial limbs. She also will continue her focus on human service programs.

Sen. Matt Murphy

The Palatine Republican said he wants to see the unemployment rate drop in Illinois and that means creating an attractive business environment. He said a good first step would be meaningful workers' compensation reform.

Rep. Michelle Mussman

The Schaumburg Democrat said she would work to improve the quality of education. She said special needs education is especially lacking resources.

Rep. Elaine Nekritz

The Northbrook Democrat said she would like to start an ombudsman program for mediation services for condo renters. She said many families cannot afford lawyers to settle property disputes so an alternative method would help.

Sen. Michael Noland

The Elgin Democrat said his top priority is securing property tax relief for his constituents. The best way to accomplish that is to limit new programs and reduce government's #8220;appetite.#8221;

Rep. Chris Nybo

The Elmhurst Republican said his goal is to open up the political process for his constituents. He plans on meeting regularly with an advisory board of citizens to let them know what is going on and get their thoughts on important issues.

Rep. JoAnn Osmond

The Antioch Republican said she would like to see more transparency in state government and incentives for businesses to stay in Illinois.

Sen. Carole Pankau

The Roselle Republican said she wants to build on the Medicaid reform passed by the previous General Assembly. She said she would pursue stricter eligibility requirements that would include proof of legal citizenship in Illinois.

Rep. Sandra Pihos

The Glen Ellyn Republican said she wants to see the legislature work closely with the auditor general on shrinking the size of state government.

Senate Republican Leader Christine RadognoThe Lemont Republican said she wants to reform the workers' compensation system. She said it is a critical step to lowering costs for businesses.

Rep. Randy Ramey

The Carol Stream Republican is working on multiple local issues and also illegal immigration legislation. He proposes nonviolent offenders who are identified as illegal immigrants be released early and immediately deported to deal with the overcrowding and budget constraints on prisons.

Rep. Dennis Reboletti

The Elmhurst Republican said he wants to give military personnel overseas the ability to cast absentee votes on the Internet. He would also look to reinstate the death penalty if it is repealed.

Sen. Ron Sandack

The Downers Grove Republican said he'd like to prevent gambling expansion and make sure legislation doesn't take home-rule authority from communities.

Rep. Angelo #8220;Skip#8221; Saviano

The Elmwood Park Republican said there are a litany of issues from education to the budget that need attention, but nothing will be done without bipartisanship. He said Democrats and Republicans need to work together more closely more often this session.

Sen. Suzi Schmidt

The Lake Villa Republican said that because she's a former county official, she won't vote to erode authority of local control. She also wants to research further pension reform.

Rep. Timothy Schmitz

The Batavia Republican said he wants to keep working on reforms to workers' compensation and the state pension system with the kind of bipartisan effort that was shown in Medicaid reform.

Rep. Darlene Senger

The Naperville Republican wants to adopt Chelsea's Law in Illinois. It would mandate a life sentence without parole for certain sexual assaults against children. It would be named after Naperville native 17-year-old Chelsea King, who was raped and murdered in California by a convicted sex offender last year.

Rep. Carol Sente

The Vernon Hills Democrat said she wants to mandate jail time for serious government ethics violations, strip pensions from corrupt public officials and revoke tax incentives from businesses that move jobs out of Illinois.

Rep. Ed Sullivan

The Mundelein Republican said he wants to clamp down on ethics violations from township officials. He said he is proposing legislation that would prevent #8220;lame duck#8221; officials from discarding records and giving employees pay raises before leaving office.

Rep. Michael Tryon

The Crystal Lake Republican wants to make Illinois more attractive to businesses. The legislature should look at everything from workers' compensation reform to tax breaks to become more competitive with Indiana and Wisconsin.

Sen. AJ Wilhelmi

The Joliet Democrat said he would focus on economic development, specifically progressing the Illiana Expressway.