We made a commitment this year to work across the aisle to help move Illinois forward. We are keeping that promise through clean energy legislation.
The Illinois Senate announced at the beginning of this spring legislative session that I would co-chair the Senate State Government Committee with a Republican – my colleagues Sally Turner – for the first time in many years. Our politics have become too polarized, and this would be a way to show we can work together as Republicans and Democrats on important policy decisions.
Before our spring break began, I was proud to join neighboring State Sen. Sue Rezin, a Republican, to push Senate Bill 76 through the Senate. The bill calls for an end to the moratorium in Illinois that prevents any nuclear power generation facilities from being built here.
Not only are the jobs at the nuclear facilities in our region really critical to support families, our state’s push to be a national leader in clean energy demands we also lead on supporting nuclear generation. As I said on the Senate floor when we voted for the legislation, we have to be in the conversation on nuclear if we want reliable, affordable energy as fossil fuel plants are retired and we embrace solar, wind, water and other renewable sources. The strong bipartisan vote for the legislation is proof the Senate recognizes this reality, and I hope the Illinois House follows our lead in the coming weeks.
I spent much of the break visiting local communities in the 40thDistrict and celebrating important achievements.
Road construction is picking up as the weather warms. Republican Rep. Jackie Haas and I have worked for months to finally see the Illinois Department of Transportation announce funding for reconstruction of the interchange of Interstate 57 and Illinois 17 in Kankakee. This is a win for freight traffic moving through the area, for roadway safety there, and for our state local and state economy.
I joined a number of excited local families on the Kankakee County Courthouse lawn to cut the ribbon for the State’s Attorney’s Easter Egg Hunt.
CSL Plasma in Bradley is a great local business at a new locationworking on innovative technologies that are changing the world for the better. I heard the story of how plasma therapies changed the life of Annesley Clark after 18 months of isolation, and I am eager to see how CSL Plasma will continue to grow and thrive right here in our district.
I will have more updates on my work in Springfield as the spring legislative session hits its final month in May, and we work to pass a new state budget. You can see the various bills I am sponsoring at the Illinois General Assembly website: https://ilga.gov/senate/SenatorBills.asp?MemberID=3164&Primary=True.
I urge you to contact me anytime I can help: 708-756-0882, or at http://www.senatorpatrickjoyce.com/. I will continue to share the latest news on my website and on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/senPatrickjoyce40/.
Sen. Patrick Joyce
D-Essex, 40th State Senate District
