It's lights out for State Senator Dan Duffy's plan to flip the switch on Illinois's red light cameras. Duffy's bill, SB2466, would have outright banned the familiar red light cameras from all but a few traffic intersections. But SB2466 has for all intents and purposes been tabled, having been sent to an ad hoc Transportation Subcommittee with a promise the subcommittee would take "genuine action". According to the Daily Herald ... Traditionally, sending legislation to a subcommittee that would never meet was a way to kill legislation without ever taking a vote.Anyone reading the LakeCountyChai tealeaves knows that Duffy's bill had to be killed for the simple reason that fines levied by red light cameras are the only source of revenue currently funding State of Illinois day to day operations. Illinois has found itself in this unusual and precarious state of affairs on account of opportunistic politicians who have gotten themselves elected by sweet talking their electorate with promises of draconian tax cuts.
Red-light camera debate delayed
Were this red light revenue stream to dry up, Springfield would not be able to pay its bills. As your LakeCountyEye reported this week ...
Q the Eye/02.14.10Illinois State government would shut down, nonessential services like libraries would be shuttered, while legislators would be evicted from their lavish State of Illinois subsidized district offices and have to go home. The Daily Herald underscored this very nightmare scenario when it reported that the State of Illinois, as of last October, has not paid rent on Duffy's spacious Barrington digs.
State senator threatened with eviction from Barrington officeCoincidentally it was last October that Duffy originally filed SB2466:
VEH CD-AUTOMATED TRAFFIC LAWOf course where some see a coincidence, those with the LakeCountyEye of discernment see a red flag.
4 comments:
Barney, far be it from me to point out a flaw in your usually twisted and often hilarious logic, but ... does the state of Illinois actually get any revenue from red-light camera tickets? Or does the revenue go to the municipalities that install them?
Hi Nicki,
I always forget to post my standard disclaimer:
This post is meant for satirical use only. Any resemblance to real facts, living or dead is purely coincidental.
-BB-
Hmm, a Republican's efforts stopped by a motion to re-commit?
Isn't that what Repubs in DC wanted to do to the healthcare reform legislation? The one that did have bi-partisan cooperation (can you say group of six?).
Motion to re-commit at federal level: good.
Motion to re-commit at state level: bad.
Of course, most of us would be significantly impacted if nothing is done on the healthcare reform front: double digit rate increases, less coverage, etc.
The Dem's could have been more transparent. Though the same could be said for the Repubs when rubber-stamping W.'s initiatives that helped put us where we are today. (No peace prize for starting a war on precarious grounds.)
Yea, but a peace prize for bailing out big banks. Yikes!
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