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Veteran named student trustee
STATE BUDGET ADDRESS
Will serve on MCC board for spring semester By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com
AP photo
Gov. Bruce Rauner enters the House to applause Wednesday before delivering his first budget address to a joint session of the General Assembly in the House chambers in Springfield. State Rep. Greg Harris is seen on the far right.
DEEP CUTS PROPOSED Rauner: Budget plan ends ‘reckless practices of the past’ By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner submitted a 2016 budget heavy with cuts that drew almost immediate fire from the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Calling his plan “our last, best chance to get our house in order,” Rauner used his first-ever budget address Wednesday to make the case for cutting back on Medicaid, shared revenue with local governments and higher education, and future public-employee pension benefits, without raising taxes. He called the budget for the 2016 fiscal year starting July 1 an “honest” one that eliminates a projected $6.2 billion shortfall and ends what he called “the irresponsible and reckless practices of the past.” “It will take time to restore Illinois to fiscal health. Now is the time to start on a responsible path after years of financial recklessness,” Rauner said. “Instilling discipline is not easy, saying ‘no’ is not popular – but it is now or never for Illinois.” Rauner ran on a campaign to fix the state’s deep fiscal woes, which include having the worst credit
AP photo
Speaker of the House Michael Madigan (left), D-Chicago, and Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, talk before Gov. Bruce Rauner delivers his budget address Wednesday. rating of all 50 states, more than $5 billion in unpaid bills, and an $111 billion shortfall and rising, the worst-funded public pension system. But Democratic lawmakers, who hold House and Senate supermajorities, were quick to pounce on the proposed plan as hurting
the state’s most needy citizens and working families. “Gov. Rauner’s plan includes proposals that will undermine access to health services, child care, affordable college and retirement security for working- and middle-class families. These programs provide many
of the work supports and opportunities that families need to succeed and respond to the economy,” said Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, in a statement. About half of the cost savings Rauner outlined would come in the form of pension and health coverage reform for state employees. In a clear challenge to public-employee unions, his budget proposes allowing existing state employees to keep the benefits they have earned to date, but moves them to the “Tier 2” for employees hired as of 2011, which requires higher payments into their respective pensions and a smaller cost-of-living adjustment. His plan does not diminish pension benefits for those already retired, and does not apply to pensions for police officers or firefighters, given their dangerous jobs. Rauner said he believes altering benefits going forward for existing employees will pass constitutional muster. A 2013 reform passed by state lawmakers that lowers retiree benefits will be heard next month by the Illinois Supreme Court – unions took the state to court, arguing the
See BUDGET, page A5
CRYSTAL LAKE – For the first time, the student voice on the McHenry County College Board of Trustees will be a veteran. Jason Memmen of Johnsburg, who started at McHenry County College in the fall, was recently installed as the board’s student trustee for the spring semester, wrapping up the unfinished term of student Trustee Justin Peters. Originally from Chicago, the 28-year-old Memmen moved to the area after returning from a recent deployment. He is working toward an associate degree in general education. Memmen serves as a key leader within the Student Veterans of America chapter on campus and is a member of the college’s Student Veterans Association. Off campus, he works as the volunteer director of public affairs for the nonprofit group, Supporting All Veterans Equally Foundation. “I look forward to working with students of all ages and backgrounds and hope to leave a positive legacy at MCC,” Memmen said in a news release, adding in an interview that his top priority is emphasizing the need for student space. In addition to being a student, Memmen continues to serve in the Illinois Army National Guard out of Midway Airport. He has completed two combat tours as part of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and has received numerous
See TRUSTEE, page A2
“I’m impressed with [Jason Memmen’s] energy and desire to learn, and he has already had a positive impact on many at the college.” Loreen Keller McHenry County College’s associate dean of Humanities and Social Sciences
Marengo man who got teen pregnant violates probation Sentenced to 3 years in prison for trying to contact girl By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – A 21-year-old Marengo man lasted less than two weeks on probation before being rearrested on allegations that he contacted the teenage girl he impregnated.
McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather sentenced Austin J. Vesely on Jan. 26 to two years of probation on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse. Part of his sentence was that he have no contact with the victim, who is now 16 years old. On Feb. 6, Vesely attempted to
make contact with the girl who was at Rockford Memorial Hospital, Assistant State’s Attorney John Gibbons said. Prosecutors were notified by police, and Vesely was taken back into custody Feb. 11. Neither Gibbons nor Vesely’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Angelo Mourelatos,
would comment on the nature of the contact or why the girl was at the hospital, citing patient privacy. Prather on Tuesday sentenced Vesely to three years in prison for violating the probation she previously ordered. He will receive about six months credit for time served earlier this year. After his release, he must serve two years
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on parole, and he will have to register as a sex offender. According to an order of protection filed by the girl’s mother in July 2014, Vesely had been homeless and was invited to live with the girl and her mother in Marengo, where he had sex with the girl sometime between May 19 and July 22. The woman had previously filed an order of protection against Vesely in 2012.
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Austin J. Vesely