Second attempt to pass measure proves successful for Senger backed measure 

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SPRRINGFIELD – State Rep. Darlene Senger (R-Naperville) passed legislation today further protecting children at Illinois parks and park district programs by adding juveniles convicted of heinous crimes to the list of those barred from employment to park districts, including the Chicago Park District.

“This legislation just makes sense to protect children,” Senger said.  “We’re not talking about shop lifiting, we’re talking about serious crimes that would be troubling to any parent.”

The legislation, SB3809, specifically requires that park districts perform a criminal background check on juvenile applicants for employment including minors who have been adjudicated delinquent for the commission of a number of serious crimes.  These restrictions currently apply to adults; however, with the intimate nature of many of these jobs in relation to minors, the supporters believe this should also apply to minors.

These crimes include murder, any Class X felonies, exploitation of a child, obscenity, child pornography, stalking and criminal sexual assault among others including various drug related crimes.

Current law states that any applicant for employment with a park district must submit to an investigation and criminal background check as a condition of employment within 7 years of the application.  Juveniles are currently exempt from this law due to confidentiality restrictions of law enforcement records.  Continue reading »

SPRRINGFIELD – State Rep. Darlene Senger (R-Naperville) passed legislation last week aimed to better protect those who are victims of Internet hijacking and harassment.

“I am proud of the continued collaboration between the Naperville Police Cybercrimes Unit Detective Rich Wistocki and myself,” Senger stated. “We’ve had quite a bit of success in producing legislation and I hope it continues. Our laws must continue to reflect the advances and changes in technology.”

The legislation, House Bill 4642, amends the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act to include in the offense of harassment through electronic communications. Specifically, this bill is intended to punish and deter the increasingly common practice where a person takes unauthorized control of another’s computer or data in order to impersonate the other person or engage in other online mischief using that person’s computer, network or data.

Additionally, the measure seeks to define this type of harassment as that to which making repeated, unwanted, and harassing communications to another person within the period of a week by transmitting any comment, request, suggestion, or proposal which is obscene. Continue reading »

SPRINGFIELD – State Representative Darlene Senger (R-Naperville) voted in favor of a measure setting a lower spending limit for the upcoming budget negotiations, targeting $32.9 billion as the cap on state spending for Fiscal Year 2013.

“Since taking office three years ago, we’ve been like a broken record stating over and over, we need to rein in spending,” Senger stated. “This year, there’s a real chance at that and we have to take it.”

The resolution, HR706, passed today with bipartisan support capping our state’s expenditures at a level that will allow the state to reduce its debt for the first time. Under this plan, the state will pay off $1.5 billion of the $8 billion in backlogged bills and make the state’s full $5.1 billion pension payment.

“These decisions will not be easy, true solutions to problems never are,” Senger added. “I hear everyday from my constituents that they are tired of excuses; they want solutions.”

Senger also noted that for the past two years, she has pushed repeatedly for comprehensive state pension reform. She currently sits on the special legislative committee tasked with crafting a bipartisan pension reform solution for the state of Illinois, and has been unflinching in her support of reform.

“It should be noted that this year’s pension payment sits at $5.1 billion. If unchecked, next year’s full payment, $7 billion, could eclipse the amount we spend on primary and secondary education,” she added. “I can’t say this enough, without comprehensive pension reform, we are going to continue to crowd out funding for everything from health care to education. This must be addressed.”

The next step for HR706, and the budget process, will be for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to comb through the budget line-by-line and determine individual agency spending levels. A special committee has also been charged with looking at ways to reduce the state’s Medicaid liability by $2.7 billion.

Click to hear Rep. Senger discuss HR706…..

Springfield, IL – A new initiative sponsored by State Representative Darlene Senger (R-Naperville) to keep better records of the Illinois Pension Systems passed the House today.

House Bill 5791 requires the Illinois Pension Systems to perform actuarial audits to measure funding, sustainability and salary rates every three years. Currently these reports are done every five years.

“Doing these reports regularly will help us track the current state of the Pensions and allow us to have an accurate number of the funding status of each Pension System,” said Senger.

The last report produced by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability showed the pensions at 42.5 percent funded.

“Given the current market fluctuation it is better to do the reports more often to allow us to have the most accurate numbers available,” said Senger.

Click to hear comments from Rep. Senger discussing HB5791…..

Springfield, IL – A new initiative sponsored by State Representative Darlene Senger (R-Naperville) to safeguard against online identity theft and harassment won unanimous approval from an Illinois House committee Thursday; gathering momentum behind the movement to impose criminal penalties on those who use the internet and social media to inflict harm or harass victims.

House Bill 4642, approved by 9-0 vote in the Judiciary II – Criminal Law Committee, makes it a crime to use unauthorized access to another person’s e-mail, instant messaging, or social media account; specifically to respond to the alarming increase in online intimidation, harassment, and misrepresentation using either a fictitious or other person’s identity.

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