Issues

Caring for our seniors and mentally ill

Keeping families safe

Protecting Illinois' consumers

Advocating for and honoring our veterans

Fighting for Responsible Budgeting

Fighting for fair taxes

Cleaning up state government

Caring for our seniors and mentally ill

Jack Franks is a member of the Aging Committee of the House of Representatives and has worked hard to provide Illinois seniors with expanded benefits. These citizens, who have worked for our state and our country for decades and are experiencing increasing property taxes and a broken healthcare system that has led to some of the highest medication costs in the world.

Franks believes that we have made a promise to our citizens for a better life. In working to fulfill that promise, he has continually worked to expand services and benefits for Illinois seniors and disabled citizens. Seniors should never have to choose between paying rent and purchasing necessary prescription medication.

In 2009, Franks sponsored a bill to expand Illinois’ Circuit Breaker program so more seniors and disabled citizens would be eligible to receive benefits such as property tax abatement, a discount on license plate registration renewals and assisantance with the cost of their prescriptions through Illinois Cares Rx. The bill increased the income limitations one must meet to qualify for the Circuit Breaker program and made additional medications available to participants.

Franks’ ongoing effortsto expand the Circuit Breaker program were recognized by the Make Medicare Work Coalition in 2009 when he received the organization’s Make Medicare Work Award.

In 2005, Franks helped establish the Rx Buying Club in Illinois, which provides cheaper prescription drugs for those with an income of 300 percent or less of the Federal Poverty Level.

Other key senior issues Franks has worked on include sponsoring legislation to allow persons aged 75 or older to request preference over other persons in obtaining and casting ballots. With safety in mind, Franks also co-sponsored and passed legislation to expand the alert system law enforcement agencies use when a senior citizen, person with disabilities, or other "high-risk" person is missing or endangered. Franks has repeatedly filed legislation to increase the Personal Needs Allowance provided to Illinois Nursing Home residents, who often are unable to afford even simple hygiene products like toothpaste.

 

Keeping families safe

As a father of two, Jack Franks understands that keeping our families safe is a constant concern. Citizens must be safe in their communities. That’s why Franks has voted time and again to crack down on sex offenders and increased channels of support for victims.

In 2010, Franks worked with Attorney General Lisa Madigan to pass legislation requiring all sexual assault evidence be submitted for DNA testing. After Franks’ wife, Debby, showed him a Chicago Tribune article in June 2009 detailing the failure of suburban Chicago police departments to submit rape kits to crime labs for DNA testing, Franks took up this important issue. He believes that victims should not be re-victimized by the very people who are sworn to protect them.

Franks also sponsored and passed legislation in 2010 to prohibit sex offenders from public parks or park buildings, as well as from loitering within 500 feet of those locations. He also voted to make sex offender registration retroactive and to expand the definition of “sex offense.” In 2009, Franks sponsored and passed legislation to extend GPS tracking requirements of convicted sex offenders for the duration of their parole in an effort to increase neighborhood safety.

Franks met with football Hall of Famer Dick Butkus in 2008 and Franks was inspired by Butkus’ “I Play Clean” program. In 2009, Franks worked closely with Butkus and the Taylor Hooton Foundation to pass legislation to expand random drug testing for high school athletes in order to curb abuse of performance-enhancing substances.

 

Protecting Illinois' consumers

Jack Franks has a strong record of protecting consumers’ rights and punishing those who commit fraud.

Responding to the needs of citizens who have been victimized by the current economic climate, Franks passed legislation to create the Employee Credit Privacy Act. The Act prohibits an employer from inquiring about or using a current or prospective employee’s credit history as a basis for employment or discharge. Despite being hardworking and responsible, workers can easily fall behind on their bills when they lose their jobs. Citizens should not be faced with yet another obstacle to obtaining employment based on a credit history that may simply be a reflection of today’s troubled economy. This law will help increase countless Illinoisans’ chances of gaining employment.

Franks also worked to increase oversight of traveling precious metal buyers, who often settle in temporary buying locations, such as hotels and motels, by including those businesses in the Illinois’ Pawnbroker Regulation Act. In 2008, Franks passed a law to disallow companies from placing expiration dates on gift cards and certificates. The law also prevents companies from levying fines on the balance of the gift card or certificate if not used in a specific time period. This law has been a huge success for consumers and gift card users throughout the state.

Additionally, Franks voted to amend the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act in order to simplify consumers’ ability to cancel complicated and misleading service agreements. Under the law, Internet game service providers must simplify their cancellation policies and post instructions for cancellation on their website.

Franks also filed legislation to create the Prescription Drug Ethical Marketing Act. The Act would require drug marketers to disclose gifts and promotional activities presented to health care personnel and facilities. Medications should be prescribed based on their ability to heal, not on the success of their marketing campaign.

 

Advocating for and honoring our veterans

As a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, Jack Franks has a record of advocating on behalf of veterans, ensuring that veterans and their loved ones are provided benefits during their life and after they pass on.

In 2008, Franks chaired hearing where families of soldiers killed in the line of duty testified they had yet to receive promised financial assistance from the state. At that time, it was revealed that 74 veteran families were waiting for their Line-of-Duty benefit. Franks promptly filed and passed legislation that directed the Comptroller to pay overdue Line-of-Duty benefits. When soldiers make the ultimate sacrifice for this country, the least we can do is keep our promise to take care of their families.

Franks worked to help active-duty military personnel make the most of their short time on leave by passing a 2010 law to allow them to hunt and fish without obtaining a license from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Many military families are also sportsmen families who enjoy these activities. Servicemen and women will be able to enjoy more time with their loved ones, rather than worry about the red tape involved in obtaining a license.

To help veterans hit the ground running upon their return from active duty, Franks co-sponsored legislation to create the Illinois Jobs for Veterans Task Force within the Governor's Office. The Task Force reviews and prepares a report on the training received by active military service members to determine if the training applies towards or satisfies any State professional licensure requirements.

Franks voted to create the Disposition of Veterans' Remains Act, which requires funeral directors to make a reasonable effort to determine if a deceased person, whose remains have been submitted for final disposition by cremation, was a veteran of the armed forces, the spouse of a veteran, or dependent child of a veteran. If yes, the funeral director must notify the authorizing agent that the decedent may be eligible to be interred at a veterans' cemetery.

Franks has co-sponsored bills to reduce returning veterans’ property taxes. Franks bills apply the homestead tax exemption when a veteran acquires a principal residence the same year he or she returns from duty. Furthermore, under Franks’ legislation, a veteran does not lose a previously awarded homestead exemption just because he or she subsequently becomes a resident of a facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act or a facility operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Additionally, Franks has advocated for ensuring veteran funds from the budget actually reach the veterans they are intended to support. He co-sponsored legislation directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to employ and maintain sufficient qualified staff at veterans’ homes. The legislation also provided that no more than 10 percent of the moneys in the Veterans Service Organization Reimbursement Fund may be used by the Department of Veterans' Affairs for administrative purposes. Moreover, Franks co-sponsored legislation providing that veterans will not be liable for any services provided by a State mental health facility which are not covered by the veteran's existing insurance plan.

 

Fighting for responsible budgeting

Jack Franks has been a vocal critic of the irresponsible budgeting processes that Illinois has employed year after year. Rather than maintain the status quo, Jack Franks has made every effort to lead Illinois out of a manmade budget disaster with insightful suggestions for spending cuts and by calling for an overhaul of Illinois’ budgeting process.

Franks filed several proactive amendments to the 2011 budget plan, including one to eliminate the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and save $1 billion, one to eliminate pay for all Governor-appointed state boards and commissions, and a third to implement a 25 percent pay cut for all General Assembly members and constitutional officers.

In addition, Franks approached the Governor with several other spending cut suggestions, which have not been heeded. Franks proposed elimination the Lieutenant Governor’s office, eliminating all pork projects from the budget, and combining the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority with the Illinois Department of Transportation to eliminate extra overhead.

Franks also voted to eliminate the General Assembly Scholarship program. Franks has continued calls for wholesale change to the way Illinois creates its budget. A zero-based budgeting system would require every expenditure to be justified and allow the General Assembly to provide more oversight into how taxpayer dollars are spent.

 

Fighting for fair taxes

We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and citizens are struggling to make ends meet. Common sense and decency dictate that we should give back to the taxpayers instead of taking more from them. To help families with school-aged children, Franks succeed in helping to pass legislation for a back-to-school sales tax holiday in fall 2010, an initiative he has worked toward since his first term.

Responding to constituents’ concerns, Franks also took on the issue of red light cameras. He sponsored legislation to decrease the maximum civil penalty for a red-light camera violation from $100 to $50 and to prevent red-light camera systems from issuing tickets for persons making an otherwise legal turn at a red light.

Franks passed legislation through the House of Representatives to allow any county to opt out of a tax increase imposed by the Regional Transportation Act, if the revenue gained by the tax increase is set to be used within the county. Franks, who has never supported a tax or fee increase, maintains that McHenry County should decide if it wants to raise taxes on its citizens locally, not be forced to by the state legislature.

 

Cleaning up state government

Blagojevich
Jack Franks is committed to standing up for responsible and ethical government, even if that means taking a stand against those in his own party. Franks was the first Democrat to speak out against former Governor Rod Blagojevich and reveal many of the abuses of power on which Blagojevich was impeached through hearings he held as Chair of the State Government Administration Committee. Franks then sat on a special committee to investigate Blagojevich’s impeachment. Franks secured the first-ever audit of a sitting governor, which revealed Blagojevich had spent more than $1 million in unnecessary and unusable flu vaccines. Later, Franks requested the inspector general audit which uncovered that the Department of Economic Opportunity awarded a $1 million grant for Loop Lab School, which at the time was not registered with the State Board of Education and had no students, no faculty, and no assets. Because of Franks’ efforts, the state is in the process of recouping its money.

Throughout the Blagojevich impeachment trial, Franks was revered as an expert on government ethics and how Illinois could repair the damage done by the Blagojevich Administration. In 2009, he was asked by the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws to be a keynote speaker at its annual convention. Frank discussed “The Anatomy of a Downfall,” which detailed the ethical blunders of the Blagojevich Administration.

Corruption
In light of the grave abuses of power by the Blagojevich Administration and the Ryan Administration, Franks succeeded in the bringing the issue of recall to the attention of the voters. This November, voters will weigh in on whether they want to amend the state constitution to include a recall provision, which would be similar to that of California. Franks believes elected officials should be held accountable every day, not only on Election Day, and a recall provision would demand accountability. This is the first constitutional amendment to be put to the voters in more than a decade.

In response to Blagojevich’s post-impeachment antics, Franks passed the Elected Officials Misconduct Forfeiture Act. The Act forces any elected public official convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving a violation of his or her oath of office to forfeit any profits derived from his or her notoriety as a corrupt public official. The bill encompasses all proceeds from any medium that aims to depict or detail the crime for which the elected official was convicted. The former elected official will be forced to forfeit any monetary gains derived from such a deal, as part of his or her sentence, to the state of Illinois. More recently, the Franks co-sponsored the Public Corruption Forfeiture Act, which expands his original law to include any goods, property or ownership interests criminally obtained.

Transparency
Franks co-sponsored legislation to strengthen the public’s access government information through Freedom of Information Act requests. The legislation made the gubernatorial appointment process for state boards, commissions, authorities, and task forces more stringent, more transparent and made teachers more accountable for student performance in schools.

Franks also co-sponsored legislation which established the Illinois Accountability Portal. The Portal is a website that provides direct access to information concerning state employees and individual consultants, state expenditures, state tax credits, state contracts, and revocations and suspensions of occupation, and use tax certificates of registration and professional licenses. Additionally, Franks introduced legislation that would have made ethics violation investigation reports done by the Inspector General available to the public.

 

Jack Franks welcomes ideas for legislation from his constituents. If you have an idea for future legislation, please contact Franks’ at (815) 338-6363 or email jackfranks@franks4illinois.com.