Party Circle Bills 



In order to make possible the adop- 

 tion of the Gateway amendment, the 

 Association joined with others in spon- 

 soring the so-called "party circle" meth- 

 od of voting on the Gateway amend- 

 ment. 



Under this party circle method of vot- 

 ing the state conventions of the political 

 parties would be requested to take a posi- 

 tion upon the proposed amendment. If 

 the state convention of the party took 

 such a position, either for or against the 

 proposed amendment, then the position 

 of the party upon the proposed amend- 

 ment would be printed in the party col- 

 umn at the bottom following the names 

 of the party's candidates. 



The proposal for the amendment of 

 the constitution would also be printed 

 in a separate column on the ballot. A 

 vote in the party circle, that is a "straight 

 ticket" would be counted for the posi- 

 tion taken by the political party unless 

 the voter crossed over and voted other- 

 wise on the proposition where it ap- 

 peared in the separate column. 



It was hoped that the two political 

 parties would approve the proposed 

 amendment and that through this meth- 

 od of voting a majority vote on the pro- 

 posed Gateway amendment could be se- 

 cured and the amendment adopted. The 

 Gateway amendment, when adopted, 

 would write into the constitution pro- 

 visions barring the use of the party cir- 

 cle method in the future. This method 

 could have been used only this one time, 

 that is, for the adoption of the Gate- 

 way amendment. 



After members of the Senate fully un- 

 derstood that the party circle method 

 could not be used in the future, the bills 

 passed the Senate by a vote of 40 to 1. 

 There was no particular opposition. 

 When the bills reached the House, the 

 state administration actively opposed the 

 bills. The Chicago Democratic machine 

 was also prevailed upon not to support 

 the bills in the House. When the bills 

 were called for passage on the last night 

 of the session, they received a bare 77 

 votes, just enough to pass them. Then 

 after it appeared that the bills had 

 passed, a number of representatives who 

 had sat silent during the roll call jumped 

 on the band wagon and the final roll 



call showed a vote of 127 to 3. How- 

 ever, Governor Green vetoed these bills. 

 This veto and these bills are discussed 

 elsewhere in this issue of the Record. 

 The roll call pn these bills is given on 



page 9. :\.^_: ;- ;. ' 



School Legislation 



The Illinois Agricultural Association 

 supported legislation which substantially 

 increases the amount of state support for 

 schools. The flat grants, that is, the 

 amount given to each school regardless 

 of need are increased from |13 to $19 

 per pupil for elementary schools and 

 from $2 to $4 per pupil for high schools. 



The special equalization aid which is 

 made available to needy districts where 

 local taxes do not provide adequate rev- 

 enues is increased from $1048 to $1200 

 per school for rural schools. In the 

 larger elementary schools this special 

 equalization aid is increased from $62 

 to $80 per elementary pupil and from 

 $85 to $90 per high school pupil. These 

 changes are expected to bring the state's 

 contribution to elementary and high 

 schools to approximately $26,000,000 per 

 year. 



The lAA sponsored legislation which 

 was enacted which increases the maxi- 

 mum state contribution to the cost of 

 pupil transportation from $15 to $20 per 

 pupil. State contributions to transporta- 

 tion materially assist in securing school 

 reorganisation. 



County School Surveys 



The Association, with other groups, 

 sponsored legislation providing for coun- 

 ty school surveys. As previously re- 

 ported, this legislation provides that the 

 school directors- in each county shall be 

 called together prior to Dec. 1, 1945 and 

 shall vote upon the question of making 

 a county school survey. If a majority 

 favor the survey, then a survey commit- 

 tee of nine members is to be selected. 



Five members of the committee are 

 to be selected by the school directors 

 from the rural districts and four mem- 

 bers are to be selected by the school 

 board members from urban districts. 

 This committee will survey and study the 

 school system of the county and file a 

 tentative report with recommendations. 



Hearings will be held on the tentative 

 repxjrt and the committee will then pre- 

 pare its final report. If the county com- 

 mittee in its final report proposes re- 

 organized districts, an election will be 

 held in the proposed reorganized district 

 upon the question of reorganizing the 

 district as proposed by the committee. 



Provision is also made for a state ad- 

 visory committee to advise with the 

 county committees concerning their prob- 

 lems. It is expected that a number of 

 counties will make surveys under this 

 law which will result in plans for the 

 future reorganization and improvement 

 of their schools. The roll call on this 

 bill is given on page 9. 



Bangs' Disease Control 



The committee on livestock legislation 

 appointed pursuant to legislation enacted 

 in 1943 recommended a number of 

 changes in the Bangs' disease control law 

 of the state. The Association supported 

 this legislation as it was finally enarted. 



In general this legislation provides 

 that calves between the ages of lOu, and 

 eight months, may be vaccinated without 

 first testing either the calf or the entire 

 herd for Bangs' disease. Testing is op- 

 tional with the owner. Vaccinated calves 

 may move freely until they reach twenty 

 months of age. Adult animals may be 

 vaccinated but are required to be tested 

 for Bangs' before vaccination. So long as 

 the vaccinated animal reacts to the test, 

 the movement of the animal is restricted. 



After July 1, 1947 no female animals 

 or breeding bulls over eight months of 

 age may be sold either at private sale or 

 at a farm or community auction unless 

 such animals either (a) come from an 

 accredited herd; (b) are calves under 

 twenty months of age which were vac- 

 cinated between four and eight months 

 of age; or (c) were tested for Bangs' 

 within thirty days prior to the date of 

 sale. Animals which react may be sold 

 only for slaughter or into herds where in- 

 fection is known to exist. Animals 

 which are tested and found negative may 

 move freely. 



The legislation also provides for an 

 advisory commission of 13 members to 

 advise with the Department of Agricul- 

 ture concerning animal disease control 

 rules and regulations and programs. 



In this article Mr. Mathias discusses nine of the major issues which were acted upon by 

 the State Legislature — and gives vote of each representative on four of the issues. 



SEPTEMBER, 1945 ^- v : ■- - , ■ /t 



CH 



