Barb Wheeler Reports on Springfield

State Rep. Barb Wheeler reports on what’s happening in Springfield:

A busy few weeks for District 64!

It’s been a busy few weeks down in Springfield which seem to have incorporated discussions on nearly every area of the General Assembly’s jurisdiction…. except for a state budget.

Rest assured that I won’t stop fighting for a balanced budget and I hope the progress that has been made over the last couple of weeks on the various other issues taken up will lead to budget progress in the coming days.

Despite our budget woes, I am proud to have been able to advance a few bills in particular that will help with college affordability in Illinois and save District 64 taxpayers thousands of dollars by consolidating local agencies.

State Seal of Biliteracy – A step to keep our college-bound students in Illinois

I was proud to advance legislation in the House that would improve the acceptance chances for college bound high school students in Illinois and provide an opportunity to earn credit at the same time. Students applying to one of Illinois’ many public universities are currently required to complete two years of foreign language to be considered for admission.

House Bill 4330 would allow students to qualify based on a proficiency exam and those who earn high marks can earn college credit for their skills.

This legislation passed out of the House on a 114-0-0 vote on Thursday and now awaits action in the Senate.

Sanitary District Consolidation into County Government to Save Taxpayers Thousands

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that I sponsored that will save local taxpayers thousands of dollars.
House Bill 5584 allows two Lake County Sanitary Districts to have their duties and obligations taken over by the Lake County government, potentially saving local property taxpayers thousands annually.

Barb Wheeler

Barb Wheeler

The bill provides that the Round Lake Sanitary District and the Fox Lake Hills Sanitary District may enter into agreements with Lake County to assume their assets and responsibilities and then dissolve. This would be a cost saver for local residents because the County already performs these duties in many areas and has the infrastructure to take over the sanitary district duties at lower cost to taxpayers. This legislation now also awaits action in the Senate.

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I’d also like to thank David Ormsby with the Illinois Observer for a piece in his newsletter emphasizing my qualities as a

“work horse, a lawmaker…with the intention of getting down in the weeds and advancing meaty policy ideas, [as opposed to] those more or less along for the ride” because of my legislative work on “…legitimate bipartisan efforts on serious-minded issues like human trafficking, eminent domain, breast cancer screenings, and environmental policy” (Illinois Observer, 4/8/2016).

Join Us to Celebrate Daniel Dennis’s Olympic Bid!

Lake County native Daniel Dennis won an Olympic placement on the U.S. team in wrestling for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games!
Join us for his fundraiser

Saturday April 23 3pm-8pm
Fairmont Shores on Fox Lake

Check out the Chicago Tribune article on Daniel HERE

The earlier portion will be kid-oriented with local wrestling clubs with an adult-oriented celebration later in the evening

I am looking forward to the next few weeks as we begin to wrap up our regular session and continue to emphasize our our need for a balanced budget now!

As always, please feel free to contact me at anytime with any questions or concerns either by phone at (815) 245-4556 or email at barb@barbarawheeler64.com.


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