SPRINGFIELD – After listening to Gov. Pat Quinn's State of the State Address, Illinois State Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Loves Park) felt encouraged by the governor's plan to help small businesses and spur economic growth.

"I have been focused on economic development in Rockford," Stadelman said. "I was pleased to hear the governor talk about things we can do right now to help create jobs, like lowering business fees and establishing a small business advocate."

Stadelman is hopeful Quinn will work diligently with the General Assembly to pass legislation that improves the economic climate in Illinois.

"I look forward to hearing what Governor Quinn has to say about funding new infrastructure projects throughout the state in his upcoming budget address," Stadelman said.

SPRINGFIELD -- The vacant Singer Mental Health Center on Rockford's northwest side could be put to new use and back on the tax rolls as a result of legislation introduced by Illinois Senator Steve Stadelman and approved recently.

Under the State Surplus Property Revitalization Tax Credit Act, closed state buildings could be transferred to units of local government for as little as $1, with tax credits available to investors who redevelop the properties.

To qualify, the state facilities must have closed within the past two years and employed at least 100 workers. Singer shut its doors in October 2012 as Illinois began a shift from state-run mental health facilities to community-based care.

"The legislation gives communities the ability to control their own destinies and relieves the state of the fiscal burden of maintaining shuttered buildings," said Stadelman, chief co-sponsor of Senate Bill 341. "The incentives could spur new uses for the vacant facilities, create jobs, generate tax revenue and eliminate what in some cases have unfortunately become eyesores."

An article in the Rockford Register Star in August called attention to how rapidly overgrown the Singer campus at 4402 N. Main St. had become.

To obtain the tax credit, investors would be required to submit rehabilitation plans and expenditures to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for approval. Eligible projects would receive a tax credit of up to 30 percent of rehabilitation costs over $5,000, with projects that exceed $250,000 requiring an outside cost audit.

"If this legislation can give new life to once-productive places like Singer, that helps compensate for the loss of jobs, property deterioration and other hardships experienced in communities where the state has closed facilities," Stadelman said.

SPRINGFIELD – County officials are now required to clearly identify pay raises for public employees as part of their annual budgets, with the signing today by Go. Pat Quinn of a bill sponsored by State Senator Steve Stadelman and State Rep. John Cabello.

"This move toward more transparency in local government is the result of a bipartisan effort with Representative Cabello," said Stadelman, a Democrat whose Senate district includes the House district represented by Cabello, a Republican. "I was glad that our colleagues on both sides of the aisle agreed with the merits of this legislation."

The new law requires officials in all Illinois counties to include in their annual budgets a detailed statement showing any bonuses or increases in any salary, wage, stipend or other form of compensation for every agency, department or other entity receiving an appropriation from the county.

"I believe this legislation will lead to greater transparency when county salaries and pay increases are allocated," Stadelman said. "This is an effort to keep the taxpayers aware of how their tax dollars are being spent."

SPRINGFIELD – Victims of securities fraud in Illinois now have a much more realistic time frame for pursuing legal recourse under a bill sponsored by State Senator Steve Stadelman and signed earlier this month by Gov. Pat Quinn.

The bill amends the Illinois Securities Act of 1953 so that investors have three years from the time they learned or should have learned they were defrauded to seek relief. Under the 1953 regulations, fraud victims only were eligible to attempt to recover their investments within five years of the time they purchased the securities.

"It is entirely possible for people of modest means to lose their life savings and have no knowledge they were being preyed upon until many years later," said Stadelman, D-34, the bill's sponsor in the Illinois Senate.

"The old regulations add insult to injury by providing no avenue to recover losses if the fraud went undetected for more than five years. Fair is fair," Stadelman said. "Not only do these revisions give victims a fighting chance to reclaim their hard-earned savings, they reduce the ability for perpetrators of long-term financial schemes to avoid civil liability."

High-profile cases such as the federal prosecution of Bernie Madoff demonstrate how even the largest investment scams can go undetected over long periods of time. In Illinois, the Secretary of State Securities Department receives hundreds of complaints each year from investors, many of whom are senior citizens who have been with the broker or investment adviser for years.