Above / Rep. GRANT WEHRLI, NACC Chairman ROSEMARIE BRESKE GARVEY, NACC President and CEO NICKI ANDERSON and Sen, MIKE CONNELLY met at the State Capitol on Feb. 19. The women were in attendance for the legislative session to talk about economic development issues in DuPage and Will counties. Photo courtesy Ron Deedrick.
For many, the beginning of March means spring’s ahead and time to say goodbye to winter for another year. But for the Illinois General Assembly, it means session has convened and Springfield is open for business. Since January’s inauguration, many events have occurred from receiving committee assignments to getting a first glimpse of the Governor’s budget turnaround plan, where I had the opportunity to have guests of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce join me in the state capitol.
At the beginning of February, I was excited to receive my first committee appointments for the new 99th General Assembly. The appointments were to the Small Business Empowerment & Workforce Development Committee, Appropriations Committee on Higher Education, House Special Committee on Special Needs & Services, Consumer Protection Committee, International Trade & Commerce Committee and the Public Utilities Committee.
To me, these appointments present a great opportunity to investigate the issues that have plagued our economic and education funding goals. I look forward to hearing ideas from local residents, the private sector and small businesses to develop a plan that can restructure the state’s failing economic agenda and its heinous budget cuts to education.
Days after my committee appointments were released, we got a glimpse of Governor Bruce Rauner’s agenda starting with his State of the State Address. The Governor spoke strongly about job creation, education and giving opportunity back to the people of Illinois. Many issues that he touched on were the very issues I campaigned around. He offered us a very real assessment of our state’s financial situation, calling on us to meet our challenges head-on together. I applaud the Governor for the honesty and commitment he showed.
I was excited to have had the opportunity of welcoming special guests Rosemarie Breske-Garvey and Nicki Anderson from the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce to Springfield for the Governor’s Budget Address. I took advantage of this opportunity by interviewing Rosemarie and Nicki on the budget the following morning regarding the potential prospects that were addressed by the Governor and the potential economical benefits that could be afforded to the 41st District. The full interview will be aired in the coming days on NCTV17 and available to watch on my website at www.repwehrli.com.
All residents who would like to express their opinions or concerns on policy are encouraged to contact me via email at Wehrli@ilhousegop.org or contact Maureen in the district office at (630) 696-4160.
