SYCAMORE-- State Senator Brad Burzynski has announced winners of the 2010-2011 General Assembly Scholarship from the 35th Senate District.

Eight recipients will receive one-year tuition waivers from state universities starting this fall.

An independent, five-member Scholarship Committee selected the recipients based on a combination of the following criteria: academics, civic and community involvement, need and special circumstances.

"The Scholarship Committee always has an enormous task. Students from throughout the district are encouraged to apply and this year we received more than 60 applications,” said Sen. Burzynski.

“The tremendous quality of the students who apply, coupled with their achievements, reflects highly upon the parents, students, teachers and staff throughout the 35th District.  I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to these fine young students.”

Applications were received from students throughout Burzynski’s district, which includes all of Boone and DeKalb counties, and parts of LaSalle, Ogle and Winnebago counties.

Recipients of the 2010-11 General Assembly Scholarship through Sen. Burzynski are:

Kelly Boyce, of Poplar Grove, who will attend Illinois State University to study kinesiology with the goal of working with a major sports team as a licensed athletic trainer. A 2010 graduate of North Boone High School, she is the daughter of Dalon “Sam” Boyce, of Poplar Grove, and David Boyce.

Paige Diesner, South Beloit, will study biology at the University of Illinois-Urbana with the ultimate goal to become a pediatrician. Her parents are James and Susan of South Beloit, and she is a 2010 graduate of Hononegah Community High School.

Nathan Gibbons, Rockford, is attending the U of I-Urbana to study agricultural and biological engineering. He hopes to enter the field of alternative energy and energy conservation or to work at NASA developing biological systems to provide food sources to astronauts while in space. He is the son of Richard and Joyce Gibbons of Rockford. He graduated from Auburn High School’s Academic Gifted Academy in 2009.

Tyler Hayes, Genoa, will study pre-pharmacy and chemistry at Northern Illinois University with plans to continue his studies at UIC-Rockford in order to become a hospital pharmacist. A 2010 graduate of Genoa-Kingston High School, he is the son of Steven and Laura Hayes of Genoa.

Quinn Johnson, Rockford, will attend Western Illinois University to study law enforcement and justice administration. He would like to become a detective or FBI agent. The son of Mark and Susan Johnson of Rockford, he is a 2010 graduate of Rockford Lutheran High School.

Nathan Kenyon, Rockford, is an NIU graduate with a degree in psychology, who is attending the U of I College of Medicine in Rockford. His goal is to become a family physician in the DeKalb area. He is a 2003 graduate of Rockford Lutheran High School.

Elizabeth Peregrine, DeKalb, will attend WIU to study music education to become a high school teacher. She is the daughter of Roy and Caroline Peregrine of DeKalb, and a 2010 graduate of DeKalb High School.

Anthony Salis, Clare, is a student at the U of I-Urbana studying statistics to become an actuary. A 2009 graduate of Sycamore High School, his parents are Keith and Emily Salis.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Senator Brad Burzynski (R-Rochelle) called the budget passed by Senate Democrat legislators one of the worst examples of sloppy legislating in recent years.

“This dwarfs even the Blagojevich years,” Sen. Burzynski said. “Failure now has a 2,300 page definition that no one has read.”

The budget bill was introduced with only a handful of hours for the public to inspect it before it was on the Senate floor for a vote, Sen. Burzynski said, and contained billions more in deficit spending, pay raises for state employees and no spending reforms urged by Senate Republicans.

“This budget eagerly continues the same broken practices of the governor and his Democrat enablers of the past year, which placed Illinois into an ever-worsening financial crisis that’s affected our schools and social services,” Sen. Burzynski said. “It’s the worst in memory and apparently it’s something they’re eager to do.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Senator Brad Burzynski (R-Rochelle) opposed a constitutional amendment to change how Illinois draws its legislative maps, saying it is missing a key component of necessary redistricting reform.

Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 121 passed the Senate along partisan lines, 36 to 22 on Wednesday.

“The number one measure of reform the people want is to stop politicians from cherry-picking their constituents and drawing their own maps,” Sen. Burzynski said. “Yet, this cornerstone of reform is absent from the legislation passed today. Once again, the will of the people of Illinois has been ignored by the Senate Democrat majority.”

Sen. Burzynski pointed to at least 40 editorials in 17 newspapers across the state in favor of having an independent body draw legislative district maps instead of politicians contained in the Fair Map Amendment proposal, which is also supported by the League of Women Voters, Better Government Association, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and many more advocacy groups.

“It’s time to take the politics out of the process and put the citizens of the state back in charge,” Sen. Burzynski said. “But this violates the basic pillar of reform and places the politicians in control. Once again, we’re giving the voters of Illinois another reason to not trust us and further add to the growing cynicism.”

Sen. Burzynski noted SJRCA 121 allows the General Assembly to have the first opportunity to draw its own map and later in the process allows it to have a second opportunity at the end to decide on a map.

“This consolidates the power of redistricting with the legislative leaders: the Senate president and House speaker,” Sen. Burzynski said. “In many ways, this is worse than the current system we have now. It’s no wonder that none of the major reform groups have endorsed this proposal.”

Sen. Burzynski said it was unfortunate and transparent as to why the Fair Map Amendment that removed politicians from map-making, SJRCA 104, was killed in committee by Democrats.

“This amendment passed by the Democrats is about self-preservation and self-interest,” Sen. Burzynski said. “It disappoints me that we will not see reforms to increase competition or diversity in our legislature.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Senator Brad Burzynski (R-Rochelle) voted in favor of legislation to drastically reform the state’s pension systems on Wednesday.

“The state finally has pension reform that not only protects the benefits of all current employees in the system, but also allows the state to be able to meet its future obligations in the future,” Sen. Burzynski said. “With the worst-funded pension system in the nation, Illinois needed reform now or would risk a worse fiscal crisis than we currently find ourselves in after mismanagement under Blagojevich and Quinn.”

The reforms include raising the retirement age to 67 with 10 years of service, a base payment on the final average salary consisting of the highest 8 of the last 10 years, capping the retirement calculation earnings level, restricting the cost of living adjustment to the less of 3 percent or half of the Consumer Price Index and putting an end to “double dipping” from two pension systems. Also, the bill significantly reduces benefits for legislators and judges.

Sen. Burzynski stressed the reforms would affect new hires only, however, it would not change the benefit formula or the contribution levels for them, and current employees in the system would not be affected.

Still, Burzynski emphasized the need for further fiscal reforms in Illinois beyond just the pension systems.

“This is a bold first step to managing Illinois’ finances,” Sen. Burzynsk said. “However, we still have a several other steps to take. This cannot be the only reform we do this year as the state faces a budget deficit of $13 billion. Still, this plan puts Illinois on a fiscally-responsibly path for its pension system and is a major piece of the budget puzzle.”