Years served: 2007 - Present
Committee assignments: Approp-Elementary & Secondary Educ; Human Services; Adoption Reform; Tollway Oversight; Environment & Energy; Computer Technology; Renewable Energy; Tourism & Conventions.
TAXES AND SPENDING
Cole was absent when the Democrats’ pork-bloated FY2008 $59 BILLION budget was voted upon.
Republicans who voted for HB3866 demonstrated an inability as a legislator to seriously address Illinois’ chronic fiscal crisis that’s attributable to out-of-control spending, an antiquated pension system, and government corruption. (2007)
Cole was absent for the vote to allow the Mayor of Chicago to DOUBLE the telephone tax.
SB0837 would give Mayor Richard Daley the ability to raise the telephone tax from $1.25 to $2.50 per month for all customers. (2007)
Cole voted against electric rate relief.
In January 2007, a 10-year electric rate-freeze expired, exposing thousands of Illinois residents to huge increases in their electric bills. SB1592 provided $1 billion in rate relief to Illinois consumers. More importantly, the law establishes an independent Illinois Power Agency that will be responsible for planning and purchasing electricity at the lowest possible price for consumers. (2007)
EDUCATION
Cole voted against groundbreaking school choice legislation.
Cole voted against SB2494 which would have given parents in underperforming Chicago school districts a voucher to cover educational expenses at nonpublic schools. SB2494 represented a lifeline to poor children who face bleak futures as a consequence of the awful and dangerous public schools in the City of Chicago. To read more about this disgrace - go here. (2010)
Cole voted to prohibit parents’ right to alternative education.
HB0232 prohibits the State Board of Education and school boards from establishing, maintaining, or in any way supporting any virtual schools or virtual classes for elementary or secondary students in this State. (2007)
Cole voted to increase education spending by nearly $600 million.
Cole vote for HB3866 proves she is incapable and unwilling to address the public education-spending crisis in Illinois. Instead of leading with bold reforms, Cole follows the Democrats’ dishonest argument that blames school failures on “not enough money.” (2007)
STEM CELL RESEARCH
Cole voted for taxpayer funded embryonic stem cell research.
SB0004 was signed into law at the end of August 2007, capping off a long effort to proceed with all forms of stem cell research, including human embryonic. SB0004 became effective January 1, 2008. (2007)
ABORTION
Cole voted to allow a minor girl seeking an abortion to circumvent her parents’ authority.
According to the Illinois Family Institute, HB0317 would all but eliminate a parent’s right to be notified if his or her minor child seeks to have an abortion. This legislation is a blatant attempt to stop the Parental Notification Act of 1995 from going into effect. (2007)
PROTECTING OUR FAMILIES
Cole voted against silent reflection and student prayer.
SB1463, amended the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act to require (instead of allow) a teacher to observe a brief period of silence at the opening of every school day with the participation of all pupils assembled. (2007)
Cole voted to give children access to contraceptives and condoms.
SB0715, “School Health Centers” Act creates 20 new “school health centers.” These school-based clinics can dispense contraceptives, condoms and refer girls for abortions. The Administrative Code for School-Based/Linked Health Centers states that medical services WILL include “family planning” and “prescribing, dispensing, or referring for birth control”. (2007)
Cole voted against internet filters in public libraries.
HB1727 required public schools and libraries to filter/block internet access to illegal obscenity, child pornography, and material harmful to minors. (2007)
NANNY STATE
Cole voted with the Radical Left for a ban on trans fats.
Cole voted with the Radical Left for a ban on trans fats on food served in restaurants, movie theaters, cafes, bakeries, and through school vending machines (HB1600). Fortunately cooler heads prevailed in the Senate where the nanny staters and their ridiculous bill were defeated. (2011)
REFORM (or the lack thereof)
Cole was absent for the vote to make it more difficult for write-in candidate to get on the ballot.
SB662 changed the deadline for filing to be a write-in candidate to 61 days before an election. The purpose for this change is purely for incumbent protection. (2007)
Cole desperately opposes a common sense reform that would once again allow ALL Republicans to directly elect the senior leadership of their own Illinois Republican Party.
Cole continues to keep rank-and-file Republicans from having the same voice all Illinois Democrats enjoy in their State Party. Cole opposes SB600 - returning to the better system of direct election Illinois Republicans used until the late 1980’s. Illinois has been a “Blue State” ever since the change to the easily corruptible system Cole dishonestly still protects.
Cole did nothing to help cleanse the Illinois Republican Party of the tainted National Committeeman Bob Kjellander.
Bob Kjellander could have been removed and replaced with an honest leader a lot earlier, if only Republican “leaders” like Cole were serious about reform. Cole never joined the rank-and-file and more serious officials who overwhelmingly called for Kjellander’s immediate ouster. It’s only because Cole and a tiny handful of other old guard faces refuse to unify on reform that even this simplest of clean-ups remain difficult to accomplish.
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