News: May-June 2008

Headlines

• Legislature Passes ‘09 Budget
  
• The California Court’s Marriage Ruling
• Thanks for Your Support
• Schedule for  2008
• Bits and Pieces

Legislature Passes ‘09 Budget

On Saturday, May 31, 2008, the Illinois General Assembly adjourned after passing a new budget for 2009. The budget was passed on a partisan basis, with no Republican votes in favor of the budget in either the House or Senate.

Although the legislature adjourned, claiming the victory of establishing a budget, there is much concern that the legislature will be called back into session, since the budget is estimated by some to have a deficit of $2.1 billion.

Because the House failed to pass over $500 million in sweeps of funds for the governor, and failed to enhance other revenue (which the Senate did do), there is a shortfall in the budget.

On top of the problems with the budget, the Senate passed legislation to raise $34 million for a massive statewide construction program, The funds for the bonding for the capital (construction) plan were to come from a casino for Chicago, another land-based casino, and an additional riverboat, along with the sale of the license for the existing tenth riverboat.

The casino bill passed out of the gaming committee, but failed to pass on the floor. The Senate tied the bonding issue, the lease of the lottery, and the expanded gaming bill together, so that if one failed, they all failed. The lease of the lottery failed to pass out of the House Revenue Committee, thereby dooming the entire capital funding issue.

When the legislature came back to the floor of the House late Saturday night, Rep. John Bradley (D), introduced a motion to table all the Senate amendments on the gambling bill, thus stripping the bill. That motion passed by a vote of 59-52.

The Governor has pledged to bring the legislative leaders back to Springfield to revamp the entire spending plan. If necessary, he plans to call the legislature back into session to deal with the issue. It is widely believed that the lack of trust of the governor by the House Democrats killed the capital bill.

The California Court’s Marriage Ruling

On Thursday, May 15, 2008, in a landmark ruling, the California Supreme Court struck down, on state constitutional grounds, two marriage statutes for the state of California. One of the statutes which was struck down was the citizen-sponsored Proposition 22, which stated, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

Although Proposition 22 passed with over 61% of the vote, four justices in the California Supreme Court overturned it, saying it was inconsistent with the State Constitution. Thus, the California courts become only the second in the land to grant same-sex couples the right to marry.

The California ruling rested upon the fact that the state already provided same-sex couples the right to a domestic partnership, which essentially granted all the legal benefits and responsibilities of marriage.  Since the Court’s ruling was based upon the California constitution, it cannot be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Essentially, the California Court ruled that there is a constitutional right for all Californians. The court rejected the idea that marriage is for opposite-sex couples alone, resting their decision upon the 1948 court decision barring interracial marriage.

The California Court also ruled the “sexual orientation” is a suspect classification, like race or sex. Therefore, the court’s reasoning was that even though same-sex marriage had not been traditionally recognized, since marriage is a fundamental right, it cannot be denied to specific groups.

The decision that sexual orientation is a suspect classification changes the standard of review, raising the marriage law to “strict scrutiny,” meaning that the government of California needed to prove that restricting marriage to opposite sex unions was a “compelling interest.”

The backers of Proposition 22 have gathered enough signatures (over 400,000 more than necessary) to put an amendment to limit marriage to opposite sex couples on the ballot in the fall election. This, of course, raises the question of whether or not the California Supreme Court should put a stay on their ruling. At this point, it looks likely that the constitutional amendment under consideration on the ballot will pass in the fall, which would raise a question about the validity of same-sex marriages performed on out-of-state couples

In California, the result of the ruling is different than that of Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, people have to be residents of the state in order to have a same-sex wedding, while in California, anyone can come in and get married at any time. This will cause lawsuits in other states, which currently do not recognize same-sex marriages, and especially in states that do not have a state DOMA.
Attorney Generals from ten states have asked the California Supreme Court to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriages, which are scheduled to begin on June 17, 2008. This letter is written in light of the constitutional amendment on marriage that will be voted on in the November election, which would overturn the court’s decision if it passes.
Liberty Counsel, in Florida, and the Alliance Defense Fund, in Arizona, have also asked the state to stay its ruling until after the November election, when voters could overturn the court’s ruling. The court is expected to rule on the stays by the evening of June 16.
Meanwhile, the Democratic governor of New York, David A. Paterson, has already ordered that state agencies recognize same-sex marriages from California, Massachusetts, and Canada. This has prompted the attorney generals to appeal for a stay.

What are the implications for Illinois? The California decision should raise questions for anyone who would consider supporting “civil unions” for same-sex couples. The California Supreme Court citied the domestic partnership laws of California, which gives comprehensive rights to same-sex couples, saying if the domestic partnership law had not been enacted in California, the court would have ruled on a different question.

Because the California legislature had already essentially decided that the rights and privileges of marriage belong to same-sex couples, it was now up to the courts to decide whether those rights and privileges should be called marriage or something else (such as “civil unions’ or “domestic partnerships”).
 
If Illinois, by passing HB 1826, confers all the rights and responsibilities of marriage on same-sex couples, the next logical step is to challenge whether it is discriminatory to call it by a different name. HB 1826, which is a Trojan Horse, should not be allowed out of stable.

Schedule for 2008

Following are confirmed events where Rev. Vanden Bosch is scheduled to speak this summer.

June 8 AM Westchester Bible Church, West-chester, IL  PM Calvary Baptist Church, Normal, IL

June 22 AM Fellowship Church of Carol Stream,  Carol Stream, IL

June 26 AM 55 and Better, Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church, Lake Zurich, IL

June 29 AM Prairie Baptist Church, Gibson City,IL

July 6 AM Grace Baptist Church, Lombard, IL

July 8 AM Zion Ministerial Association, Zion, IL

July 20 AM Faith Baptist Church, Toulon, IL PM Bethany Baptist Church, Altona, IL

July 24-25 Grace Conference, Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church, Lake Zurich, IL

July 27 AM Argyle Bible Church, Colchester, IL  PM Faith Baptist Church, Pekin, IL

August 3 AM Faith Baptist Church, Godfrey, IL  PM Victory Baptist Church, Jerseyville, IL

August 10 AM Bethel Evangelical Congregational Church, Dixon, IL

August 17 AM Faith Baptist Church, Geneseo, IL

August 24 AM Crosspoint Church, Fox Lake, IL

August 31 AM New Beginnings Evangelical Free  Church, Quincy, IL

Show your support for our ministries by asking Rev. Vanden Bosch speak. Please contact our offices at (847) 526-7339. Right now there are still a few dates available in the fall.

Thanks for Your Support

Thanks to God, we have made it through another legislative session—at least that’s what we’ve been told. In reality, it looks like there will be ongoing budget negotiations this summer with a resolution needed before July 1, the new fiscal year for the state.
Please continue to pray that God will continue to supply all our needs, and prayerfully consider giving regularly.

CONCERNED CHRISTIAN AMERICANS
works on behalf of churches, families, and biblical moral values, lobbying and ministering to legislators.

Concerned Christian Americans, Inc., is not a 501 (c)(3) organization (it is a 501 (c) (4) lobbying organization), and donations to it are not tax-deductible. If you would like to donate to help cover our travel expenses in lobbying the legislature, please send donations to:

Concerned Christian Americans, Inc.
P.O. Box 351
Wauconda, IL 60084

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Bits and Pieces

The session is finally done. Or is it? With the governor calling for a meeting of the legislative leaders and calling the passed budget unconstitutional, we may have another busy year in Springfield.

Because the Senate and House had 30 days of legislative session in which to vote on the pay raise (which takes effect unless voted down by both Houses), the Senate President does not want to have the Senate in session this summer. Senate President Jones wants the pay raise to take effect, bringing his salary to over $100,000.

If the legislature goes into session this summer, it could cause the 30 days to come up before the November elections. If that happens, the pressure of the rank and file Senators will certainly rise in asking the Senate to reject the raise. (The House has already rejected the raise.)

By not being in session this summer, it is possible that the 30 days of session will come after the Fall Veto Session (and after the election). If the Senate takes the pay raise in the veto session, it cannot be held against the Senate Democrats in the November election.

What are the options for the budget? The governor could do a slash and burn budget, and cut $2.1 billion out of the budget which was sent to him. This would be difficult, since he would be the one getting all of the bad publicity. The legislature could help the governor in cutting expenses, or there could be a total rewrite of the state’s budget.

Much of what happens will depend upon whether the legislature will agree to revenue enhancements (tax and fee increases), and whether some common ground can be found on putting together a capital bill to fund construction projects. If a capital program of some kind is not put together, Illinois will lose about $9 billion in federal dollars for the rebuilding of our roads and bridges.

Special prayer request: Project Reality, the leading abstinence education organization in the nation, has not received their funding from last years budget, and have been omitted from the budget this year by Senator Donne Trotter and Senator Debbie Halvorson. Please pray that can be rectified in redoing the budget this summer.