An effort is underway in the Illinois legislature to protect water supplies from a new climate technology that still faces many questions about its safety.
A state Senate committee is considering a ban on carbon injections near aquifers in Illinois.
Carbon capture involves injecting liquefied CO2 deep underground to remove it from the atmosphere. Supporters tout it as a climate solution. Critics say the technology is unproven and unsafe.
Much of Republican State Sen. Sally Turner's district, including parts of McLean County, is served by the Mahomet Aquifer.
"We are very protective over our water source, and I think there’s every reason why to be like that,” Turner said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas. “That’s our life. If we didn’t have water, we can’t live.”
Committee members delayed an outright ban on carbon injections near aquifers so they can further study environmental risks. Turner said she has all the evidence she needs, but she's not entirely against the technology.
“They need to come to some kind of idea of how to help the environment, but yet not drill holes through the aquifer. That just can’t happen," Turner said.
State Sens. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, and Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, are among the bill co-sponsors, along with Turner.
The City of Bloomington and McLean County have approved proclamations asking the state to keep carbon capture away from the Mahomet Aquifer that serves nearly 1 million water customers in Central Illinois.
State budget
The state of Illinois is facing a projected $3.2 billion deficit for the budget year that starts July 1.
Turner calls the deficit “frightening,” adding the state will need to cut its way out.
“No revenue increases,” Turner said. “I’m hopeful we can go back to having a good balanced budget and not one that’s on the backs of the taxpayers.”
Turner said the state should drop health care for non-citizens — a common refrain from Republicans — but didn't offer many specifics about where else to cut, saying Democrats aren't being transparent about how things are funded.
Turner served on the Senate budget negotiating team this year, adding she hopes to have that role again in the spring.
Ballot questions
In the recent election, Illinois voters endorsed the so-called "millionaires tax" as a way to offer property tax relief by a 60-to-40 margin.
Turner said she doesn't expect the state legislature will act on that vote, noting voters rejected a similar referendum four years ago.
“The people are having a really rough time and they are having a rough time because they can’t afford their groceries, they can’t afford their gas, they can’t afford their electricity and every day. If they had a savings account, there isn’t one left," she said.
Illinois would have to change its Constitution to move to a progressive tax, where higher income earners pay more.
Just over 72% of voters backed the state requiring insurers to cover invitro fertilization [IVF] and other assisted reproductive treatments. Turner said the wording of the referendum is vague, but noted her support for a bill that lawmakers proposed in the spring to require insurers to cover fertility treatments. The measure did not get out of committee.
“Illinois already has the most liberal and progressive ideas for [women’s reproductive health care]. Women are well protected in Illinois,” Turner said.
Nearly 89% of voters backed an advisory referendum to lodge civil penalties against anyone who interferes with official duties of election workers.
Turner, who previously ran elections as the Logan County clerk, said such a law could make it easier to attract and keep election judges.
“Every protection that’s given to them I greatly appreciate and would support,” Turner said.