State Money On The Way To Help With Tornado Recovery Costs

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network

The state is providing $11.6 million to local governments to help cover their costs from the tornadoes last fall.

Gov. Pat Quinn made the announcement in Washington, Ill., explaining how everyone got federal help except local governments.

“We got help for our businesses as well as our individual families, our residential, from the federal disaster relief, but the formula that’s used over in Washington, D.C., is not really fair to a big state like ours with urban areas, and we didn’t get the municipal relief from the federal government that we thought we are entitled to,” he said

This money comes from the state and goes to the cities of Washington ($7.6 million), Brookport ($1.8 million), Pekin ($115,666), Diamond ($441,853), Coal City ($446,096), East Peoria ($268,393), the village of Gifford ($379,295), Massac County ($31,399), Compromise Township ($1859,130), and a few others.

The governor also signed some new laws regarding disaster response:

• H.B. 4590, sponsored by State Rep Chad Hays (R-Catlin) and State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), creates the Illinois Gives Initiative that allows current and retired state employees to donate a portion of their paycheck or annuity to Illinois chapters of the American Red Cross whose territories are affected by disasters. The law is effective immediately.
• S.B. 2922, sponsored by State Sen. Bill Haine (D-Alton) and State Rep. Dan Beiser (D-Alton), sets a limit of 10 percent on the amount of compensation an insurance adjuster may receive when representing a consumer in a claim resulting from a disaster. The law is effective Jan. 1, 2015.
• S.B. 3259, sponsored by State Sen. Mike Frerichs (D-Champaign) and State Rep. Chad Hays (R-Catlin), phases in property taxes over a 15-year period for small businesses that rebuild after a disaster, to prevent an immediate tax hike on the repaired or rebuilt business property. The new law is effective immediately.