One of my travels to Springfield recently was for a special bill signing ceremony on Agriculture Day at the state fair. I partnered with the Illinois Beef Association to pass HB5115, creating an extra layer of protection from nuisance animals grazing on vital pastureland.

With the drought conditions all across the state, the legislation was especially timely. The change was suggested by a local farmer at one of my traveling office visits. This is how government is supposed to work.



Traveling office update

I am often able to help a community, organization or individual at our 50th District Traveling Office, and I always learn something that makes me a better legislator. I have visited Sandwich, Batavia, Sugar Grove, Campton Hills, Montgomery, Oswego, Elburn, Maple Park, North Aurora, Newark and Plano with more scheduled in September. The mayors in Montgomery, Newark, Campton Hills and Plano stopped in with community updates, and the Plano mayor even presented a nifty commemorative Smallville plaque for the district office.

Constituents in many towns discussed pensions, and one fireman shared information about a pending fire district consolidation bill. An Aurora resident provided background material on a congressional bill (HR3643) promoted by the Make Congress Work organization which would withhold paychecks of congress members if they fail to pass a budget. The goal is to get government to stop fighting and start fixing. Good goal. 



Township outreach

Township Officials Education Coordinator and Associate Director Jerry Crabtree joined me to host a 50th District Township Supervisors gathering. As issues in Illinois become increasingly complex, I think it is important that we work hard to stay in communication with each other. It benefits all of us to better understand what impact Springfield can have on each of us. There was a great exchange of information, and I’m looking forward to more such meetings.’



Around town

Since we last visited, I’ve worked on issues as diverse as the 50th District. A lead executive for Com Ed agreed to meet in my office with representatives of several subdivisions that had suffered frequent outages, and AT&T provided me with an update on pending communications legislation. I supported the Hiring Our Heroes job fair at Waubonsee Community College, and was pleased to see that the Illinois Department of Transportation was among those encouraging veteran job seekers.

Along with a wide variety of other gatherings, I also attended numerous chamber of commerce events.