Unfunded Mandates Suddenly OK with Chicago Tribune

I must admit that I had not figured out that Crystal Lake High School District 155 was one of the districts that got an exemption from the new law requiring six hours of behind the wheel driver education.

Tuesday's lead editorial in the Chicago Tribune informed me of that fact.

Every year school districts get the chance to ask for exemptions from state mandates imposed upon them by the legislature or the state board of education.

This past year a couple of school districts targeted the behind the wheel mandate.

The Tribune said the schools' officials “went whining to Springfield.”

The General Assembly never got around to voting on whether that was wise or not.

Add it to the list of things the General Assembly hasn't gotten around to.

The Tribune does not mention that Operation Click (first called “Operation Cool”) started in District 155.

Its editorial is an attempt to make it sound like the listed school districts have no interest in traffic safety.

A bit over the top on the Tribune's part, I would say.

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You can see 2007 winner Kate McNamee getting out of her new car, donated by Crystal Lake Pontiac dealer Sam Oginni. High school students are encouraged to buckle their seat belts through positive re-enforcement. I wrote this article in February, 2007, after the horrendous Oswego crash. You can see how Operation Click has changed teenage driving habits since its initiation in 1998.

Published first on McHenry County Blog.

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Jesse White and Tammy Duckworth Talk About Adding “VET” to Veterans’ Driver’s Licenses

Earlier on McHenry County Blog, I wrote about a petition campaign being conducted by Crystal Lake’s John Blanchard to urge state officials to put the word “VET” on the driver’s licenses of veterans.

Blanchard already has over 100,000 signatures on the petition, the wording of which you can see here.

Wednesday I learned that last week Secretary of State Jesse White talked to Department of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth about the idea.

White’s Public Information Officer, David Drucker, told me,

Jesse met last week with Tammy Duckworth last week and they discussed the idea of doing that.

They do tell me that we would need to get the approval of the General Assembly.

Duckworth's press person, Jessica Woodward, confirmed the meeting:

The Secretary of State thought it was a good idea.

It was just a first meeting. It’s a possibility that that will happen.

She added, "The director did talk to John Blanchard at the Stand Down."

Duckworth was the featured speaker at the early March Stand Down sponsored by Blanchard’s National Association of Systems Administrators Educational Foundation, which hires and trains homeless veterans for good paying jobs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to Camp Algonquin for her talk, but did attend the second day. Blanchard also put together an earlier October Stand Down.

So, which member of the General Assembly wants to get legislation passed that would allow the Secretary of State to follow Georgia’s example?

If you look closely on the image, which is a copy of a copy of a Georgia veteran’s driver’s license with the man's identifying information removed, you can see the word “VET” in the bottom center.

Drucker reminded me that Jesse himself is a veteran himself, having served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division.

Drucker even knew how many veterans there are in Illinois:

We have 1.2 million vets in Illinois.

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State Senator Pam Althoff and State Rep. Mike Tryon talk to Crystal Lake's John Blanchard at October's Camp Algonquin Stand Down for homeless veterans.

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