Rep. Chris Miller’s Week in Review
Unemployment Fraud
An issue I have long been adamant about is the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) and the amount of fraud and waste we have seen over the past year stemming from this department. Recently IDES admitted to losses totaling at least $14.8 million with that total being likely much, much higher. This is typical of bloated bureaucracies in state and federal governments; now the burden of regaining those losses will fall on the backs of employees, employers, and other future unemployed workers. In other words, fixing the State of Illinois’ mess is your responsibility while IDES is left to go unchecked. IDES and the Pritzker administration are refusing to answer calls to open offices, and they certainly refused to allow for legislative audits such as my own HJR17, which was prevented from moving forward by House Democrats. Our administrative officials must do better and I will continue to call for the answers you deserve. In the meantime, please contact my office with any IDES concerns you may have.
Chicago Violence
While Democrats continue to demonize the police, call for cutting their funding, and impose new burdensome restrictions, violence in Chicago continues to spiral out of control. Many lawmakers blame the violence on guns themselves while ignoring the root causes of these issues. And instead of allowing these discussions to be had and working toward solutions, lawmakers have done little but make the job of our men and women in blue more difficult. My fellow Republican colleagues and I stand ready to have the necessary, hard discussions and we call upon the Democrat majority to join us in taking action.
2021 Deer Hunting
Avid hunters of the 116th District will be gearing up soon for the 2021 deer hunting cycle. An important aspect of this is limited public access to deer hunting opportunities on private land through the Illinois Recreational Access Program (IRAP). Hunters can access and apply for the limited number of slots through IRAP’s webpage here.
The IRAP program has leased access to 323 public access deer hunting sites in 39 counties across Illinois. These sites stand on 13,365 acres of privately-owned deer habitat, leased to IRAP for this program. IARAP applicants must be submitted online no later than the close of business on Friday, August 13, 2021.
Blood Donations Needed
Illinois is currently facing a shortage of donated blood and the Red Cross is asking Illinoisans to consider donating. If you are so inclined, please visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/ to learn more about how you can donate and help save lives.