Summary of Work and Looking Ahead
The House was in session for five days last week spending hours debating and eventually passing 324 bills out of House. Those bills now move over to the Senate for consideration by the Senate. Many of these bills will fail or be amended in the Senate.
Neither the House nor the Senate are in session this week. When we return our work will focus on two things: consideration of Senate bills that have passed the full Senate and budget discussions. However, as to the latter, Republicans are usually cut-out of the negotiations on the budget. In our committee hearings, there have been numerous requests by the agencies for increased funding.
The most problematic discussions on the budget will center around requests for migrant funding coming from local governments and especially from school districts. The House Appropriations for Elementary and Secondary Education Committee held a hearing this week on the cost of education for migrant care. A proposal was made by Representative Fred Crespo on behalf of an organization that works for suburban Chicago School districts for $188 million to support 5,600 migrant children in NW Cook County suburban school districts and others. To come up with this number, the organization ED-RED used the average cost per student at $14,256 multiplied by 5,600 Newcomers (migrant students) in the NW Cook area they represent, plus $20 million for South Cook County school districts, $38 million for DuPage districts and $50 million for Chicago Public Schools.
Alarmingly, what also came out in the hearing is that the Illinois State Board of Education’s budget estimates that there are 36,200 migrant children (Newcomers) in the state. If the same cost calculation was used, then the cost of educating these newcomers would be over $500 million – for just one year.
Illinois will continue to see an influx of illegal aliens as our sanctuary policies are an open invitation to come here. The budget pressures of illegal immigration at every level of government will continue and it is US citizens who will feel the impact through higher property taxes and diminished services for their own children – that comment was made numerous times in the hearing.
Right to Life March in Springfield
IGOLD Draws Huge Crowd at Capitol to Support Second Amendment
On Thursday at the Capitol, we saw a huge crowd show up in support of Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day (IGOLD). Owning a firearm is a right guaranteed by our Constitution. The constant attacks on our Second Amendment rights are a blatant assault on the principles underlying our Constitution. If the government can take away one right, then they can take away all of our rights.
It is not surprising that the same Governor who used the excuse of the pandemic to lock down our economy, close churches, schools, and businesses. The same Governor who pushed for mask and vaccine mandates would also be the architect of an unconstitutional gun registry and weapons ban law. The lack of regard for our Constitutional rights, seems to be the calling card of this power-hungry administration.
Lake Land Student Government stopped by to get a look at how the sausage is made in the legislature.
Graphic of the Week
In Other News
It’s All About Money and Control
Layers upon layers of greed, deception and corruption are bleeding Illinois dry. Leading the pack of wolves is the public education establishment. Not only do they thirst for endless amounts of money, they are particularly skilled at wasting it and producing ZERO results for students and taxpayers.
Here is just a smattering of recent headlines highlighting the BIG CON:
Chicago Teachers’ Union’s Contract Demands Revealed:
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-teachers-union-contract-demands-about-politics-bosses-power
Teachers’ Unions More Political Than Ever:
https://amgreatness.com/2024/04/17/the-teachers-unions-are-more-political-than-ever
Illinois Education Officials Trying To Hide Failures:
How Teachers’ Unions Influence Illinois Politicians:
Number Of Half-Empty Chicago Public Schools Doubles:
Chicago Public Schools Spending YOUR Money To Train Children To Become Anti-Western Activists:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2964595/chicago-schools-decolonize-anti-western-activists
Pay No Attention to The Man Behind the Curtain
Despite what our dear leader Pritzker tries to sell us, Illinois is now ranked the 48th lowest state on economic indicators. Illinois’ cumulative score was tracked by the American Legislative Exchange Council Center for State Fiscal Reform in its 16th “Rich States, Poor States” report. High taxes, high public debt, high rates of people moving away and slow economic growth drove the ranking.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/how-economically-competitive-is-illinois-not-very
Illinois State Board of Education Wants More of Your Money
The recent surge of illegal migrants arriving in Illinois has Democrats chomping at the bit for more taxpayer money for things like food, clothing, shelter, health care and social services.
Kimako Patterson, chief of staff at the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), (pictured above), said that in the last two years, a total of 62,644 ‘newcomers’ (Democrats’ new code word for illegal immigrants) have arrived in Illinois’ schools.
The $35 million that ISBE and Democrat supporters are begging for is based on old statistics and will likely be closer to $188 million!!
Pritzker Is Trying to Shake Down The Money Tree Again
MORE MONEY is Democrats’ answer to just about every problem, yet it never seems to fix anything.
Now, Governor Pritzker wants $40 million of YOUR money over the next four years to pay for hundreds of thousands of individuals’ medical debt. He calls it a ‘uniquely American issue’.
He says ‘it’s preventing individuals and families from attaining financial stability’.
Ummm… your terrible policies have nothing to do with that instability, Governor?
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_214c8b2e-fb5b-11ee-90c0-7b47110ea363.html
$ Biden Bucks For Illinois $
It’s an election year…
Nearly 39,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have arrived in Chicago alone since 2022. Illinois’ U.S. Senator Dick Durbin announced that Illinois will receive more than $19 million in congressionally approved funding to assist our state with President Biden’s southern border nightmare. Durbin says he will push for additional funding for Illinois, noting how cruel (Democrat) policies have treated migrants themselves.
Where has Governor Pritzker allocated the federal COVID money that our state has already received? To Illinois small businesses that were damaged or ruined entirely? To the mental health care for young people whose schools were indefinitely closed?
Pay close attention to the priorities of our so-called ‘leaders’ this election year.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/chicago-illinois-receive-19-million-205300062.html
Illinois Festivals In 2024!
It’s not too soon to mark your calendar for the fun! You can plug in dates and locations on this website to see what’s planned for your neck of the woods and all across the state:
https://festivalnexus.com/festivals/illinois
Here is a map of the new 101st House District. Use this link for a clearer picture and to enter your address to see if you live in the district: https://repcmiller.com/district/
As your state representative, my office is available to assist you with any issues you may have when interacting with a state agency.
Please call our office at 217.508.4108 to get help or schedule an appointment to see me.
The office is located at 1113 Lincoln Ave, Charleston and is open Mon-Fri from 9am- 4 pm.