eral Assembly increases the portion of 

 total relief funds permitted to be used 

 for administration from 5% to 10% out- 

 side of Chicago and from 8% to 10% 

 in Qiicago. Representatives of the town- 

 ship supervisors who are charged with 

 administration of relief did not believe so 

 great an increase necessary. 



The Special Sessions also appropriated 

 a total of $7,300,000 from state funds for 

 relief purposes, increasing the state's con- 

 tribution beginning in July, 1938 to $3,- 

 900,000 per month. While the Associa- 

 tion did not have sufficiently definite in- 

 formation as to relief needs to warrant 

 active opposition to these appropriations, 

 it did, however, question the need of 

 large additional appropriations for relief, 

 especially in the season of the year when 

 jobs are most numerous and the needs of 

 the unemployed are least. If, as often 

 charged, the relief rolls include many 

 cases of persons fraudulently receiving re- 

 lief or persons who refuse to accept em- 

 ployment at fair wages or if they accept, 

 who refuse to give fair service, then it 

 would seem that effective measures first 

 should have been devised to remove such 

 persons from relief rolls and that if this 

 had been done, there would have been 

 little, if any, need of additional funds to 

 take care of unemployables and the de- 

 serving unemployed. 



The "Agreed" Program 



In discussing provisions of certain of 

 the bills included in the "agreed pro- 

 gram" with members of the legislature 

 and particularly the relief bills, your leg- 

 islative representatives repeatedly met 

 with statements to the effect that there 

 might be merit to the lAA's position, but 

 that the bill was included in the agreed 

 program and the member had promised to 

 support it without change. As was true 

 when the state offices and the majority 

 of both houses of the legislature were of 

 the opposite political faith, the Associa- 

 tion questions the propriety of pledges by 

 members of the General Assembly of 

 either party to support a bill or legisla- 

 tion merely because it has been agreed 

 upon by the Governor of the state and 

 the Mayor of the City of Chicago or any 

 other officers, and regardless of the merit 

 of the legislation. The Association holds 

 that members of the General Assembly 

 should exercise independent judgment 

 and should refuse to pledge their support 

 for any measure until they are fully in- 

 formed concerning it. 



It is unfortunate too that in special 

 sessions careful committee consideration 

 is not given to all measures and there is 

 not the same opportunity to discuss and 

 present information concerning proposed 

 measures as in the regular session of the 

 Legislature. 



Diversion of Gasoline Tax 



As a part of the "agreed program," 

 legislation was enacted authorizing the 



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City of Chicago to divert $2,500,000 of 

 the gasoline tax monies allotted to it for 

 street purposes, for relief in that city. 

 The legislation, as introduced and in the 

 form it passed the House, in the opinion 

 of the Association and of many legisla- 

 tors, would have endangered Illinois' al- 

 locations of federal funds for highway 

 purposes. The federal statute requires 

 not to exceed one-third of the total fed- 

 eral funds to be withheld from states 

 which divert motor vehicle tax revenues 

 in excess of the amount being diverted in 

 June, 1934. This legislation was amended 

 in the Senate to provide that the amount 

 diverted for relief should be replaced 

 from a now authorized diversion for 

 school purposes, that the school diversion 

 should terminate in 1941 and that in the 

 event federal funds were withheld be- 

 cause of this diversion for relief pur- 

 poses, that the state allocation of gasoline 

 taxes to Chicago should be reduced by 

 the same amount. It would apjjear that 

 with this amendment federal highway al- 

 locations are not in danger. The Associa- 

 tion opposed the legislation in its original 

 form and was active in securing the 

 amendment but did not oppose the leg- 

 islation in its amended form. 



Drivers' License Legislation 

 Legislation was enacted requiring op- 

 erators of motor vehicles, after May 1, 

 1939, to have a drivers license. This li- 

 cense is to be issued without examination 

 to present drivers unless the application 

 discloses some handicap or impairment 

 which leads the Secretary of State to be- 

 lieve that the qualifications of the appli- 

 cant are questionable and that an examin- 

 ation should be had. The license is for 

 a three year period and the fee is 50c 

 except for persons under 18 years of age 

 when their application is accompanied by 

 the application of a parent, guardian or 

 other person in which case the fee is 25c. 

 The legislation provides that the Secre- 

 tary of State shall issue the licenses and 

 that the Department of Public Works 

 and Buildings shall enforce the Act. 

 $300,000 was appropriated to the Secre- 

 tary of State and $100,000 to the Depart- 

 ment of Public Works and Buildings for 



administration of the Act. Licenses may 

 be revoked by courts of record for cer- 

 tain offenses such as driving while in- 

 toxicated, conviction of three charges of 

 speeding or reckless driving, manslaugh- 

 ter with a motor vehicle, etc. 



Resolutions adopted by the delegates 

 to the annual meetings of the lAA favor 

 a simple drivers' license law without fees. 

 The legislation conforms fairly well to 

 the lAA resolutions except for the re- 

 quirement of the license fee, 



Financial Responsibility Law 



A bill providing for the suspension of 

 the driver's license of any f>erson who 

 fails to pay a judgment for damages to 

 persons or property within thirty days, 

 after the judgment becomes final, until 

 such person has secured public liability 

 and property damage insurance, was also 

 enacted. This legislation is commonly 

 referred to as a financial responsibility 

 law. It does not apply until after there 

 has been one accident and a judgment 

 again the operator and is to be distin- 

 guished from compulsory insurance leg- 

 islation. Inasmuch as the voting dele- 

 gates had not considered this legislation, 

 the lAA took no position upon it. 

 State School Board 



A bill to establish a state school board 

 was introduced early in the first Special 

 Session. The board would have consisted 

 of the Sujjerintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion and eight other members appointed 

 by the Governor. The apjwinted mem- 

 bers would have had staggered terms, one 

 term ending each year after which the 

 term of office would be eight years. Mem- 

 bers were to receive no compensation but 

 were to be reimbursed for all necessary 

 expenses. The bill proposed to give this 

 board power to prescribe standards for a 

 minimum program of education, including 

 but not limited to the salaries of teach- 

 ers, length of class day and school year, 

 building standards and conditions, educa- 

 tional equipment and transportation of 

 pupils. The bill further authorized the 

 state board to withhold state funds from 

 any school district failing to comply with 

 the minimum standards fixed by the state 

 board or failing to submit a sworn budget 

 within the first quarter of each fiscal year. 



This state school bill was supported by 

 officials, legislators and organizations 

 whose primary purpose was to force con- 

 solidation of schools, especially countr)' 

 schools. Most of its supporters assumed 

 that the consolidation of such schools 

 would reduce the average cost for country- 

 pupils and would also reduce the school 

 tax levies on country property. This con- 

 clusion has been disproved in most of 

 the consolidated school districts in Illi- 

 nois. Consolidation usually has increased 

 the taxes on country prof>erty, partly be- 

 cause of the cost of new or additional 

 school facilities, including school busses 

 (Continued on pjife 19) 



AUGUST, 1938 



