AGRICULTURE
Illinois House Republicans Working to Save Family Farms. On Wednesday, three Illinois House Republicans, who also work as family farmers, held a Capitol news conference to highlight legislation they are sponsoring to support Illinois’ agriculture industry. State Representatives Dan Swanson, Jason R. Bunting, and Wayne Rosenthal have sponsored legislation they say will help save family farms in Illinois.
State Rep. Dan Swanson is a 6th-generation family farmer near Alpha, Illinois. His family raises various crops and livestock. Swanson says Illinois must do more to preserve agriculture for the future. Swanson is sponsoring HB 1501, legislation that creates an income tax credit for the owner of an agricultural asset who sells or rents that asset to a beginning farmer.
“There are young people in Illinois right now who want to get started in farming, but don’t always have the opportunity,” Swanson said. “We need to get that next generation up and running in agriculture. Unfortunately, my bill wasn’t called before the required deadline. We need to get serious about preserving the future of agriculture in Illinois.”
State Rep. Jason R. Bunting operates a family farm in Emington in rural Livingston County. Rep. Bunting noted the very real and dangerous conditions that farmers encounter in several aspects of their work. Rep. Bunting is sponsoring House Resolution 29, which would designate the week of September 15-21, 2025, as Farm Safety Week. Bunting also noted two other bills that would emulate Scott’s Law, which requires drivers to move over and slow down for stopped emergency vehicles. Bunting’s HB 3204 and HB 3205 would make Scott’s Law provisions applicable to farm implements.
“My bill would require drivers to make room for farm equipment on the roads so they can safely pass the equipment,” Bunting said. “This legislation would make the road safer for farmers, and for every other Illinoisan who drives the rural roads of this state, so that we can all make it home safely to our families.”
State Rep. Wayne Rosenthal is the former Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and a 4th-generation family farmer. Rosenthal argued for the Illinois estate tax exemption to be raised to help save family farms from double taxation.
“I know first-hand what this unfair estate tax means to my family and to every other family farm in Illinois,” Rosenthal said. “This isn’t just a tax, it’s a threat to our way of life. Too often, I have heard from families, friends, and neighbors who have been hit hard by this unfair tax. Illinois estate taxes are levied on farm owners when they pass on. Unlike monetary assets that can be moved, land cannot, so our family farms are penalized. Illinois has not adjusted the estate tax on farmland in more than a decade. Inflation has risen, and we haven’t made the necessary changes to our estate tax. We still have time to fix this problem this Session; we need to get to work so we can save Illinois family farms.”
I also added the following statement:
“I’m proud to stand with the farmers in our caucus and across Illinois. Agriculture is the number one economic driver in our state, and it’s built by hardworking farm families generation after generation. Repealing the estate tax is critical to protecting those families and preserving their legacy. Together, we’re fighting to ensure Illinois’ farm families can continue to feed and fuel the world.”
ECONOMY
House Republicans Glad Democrats Want to Join the Conversation to Make Illinois More Competitive. State Representatives Jeff Keicher, Joe Sosnowski and Travis Weaver are calling on the Illinois General Assembly to prioritize state-level policies that directly benefit Illinois families and small businesses, rather than deflecting blame toward federal actions.
In recent hearings, Democratic members of the House Revenue and Finance Committee have repeatedly pointed to Washington and federal tariff policy as primary drivers of economic pressure in Illinois. The reality is that Illinois’ economy has been lagging for decades due to failed policies enacted under Democratic rule. While there is finally some acknowledgement of the current challenges facing our job growth and economy on all sides of the aisle, the Republicans said it is time for all Illinois lawmakers to take responsibility for their actions and control what they can control.
“Rather than using federal politics as a scapegoat, Illinois lawmakers should take ownership of the policies within our control,” said Keicher, Weaver and Sosnowski. “Illinois’ economic struggles predate current federal policy by decades, the result of burdensome regulations, tax hikes, and anti-business legislation championed by Democrats in Springfield. By acting responsibly and enacting better policies, our state can be set up to enjoy beneficial economic impacts once the federal trade deals and tariffs are negotiated and ironed out. While there is a lot of uncertainty going on at the federal level, no amount of blaming changes what can be done in Illinois.”
For example, Illinois has lagged behind the national average in home construction, with only a 3.4 percent change in housing units built between 2013 and 2023. That is only better than West Virginia and Michigan.
According to the latest WalletHub survey, Illinois families will pay the second-highest property tax rate in the nation in 2025, spending more than double that of the average American family. Illinois is also hamstrung by the nation’s largest unfunded pension liability, the third most outmigration, and the seventh-highest unemployment rate. This is all the result of bad public policy, not tariffs.
The Republicans concluded, “State lawmakers in Illinois can take this as a moment of unity to focus on cooperating with the federal government and enacting policies to lower taxes and strengthen our economy at home. It’s time to enact real pro-growth policy, and no amount of finger-pointing can undo decades of stagnation.”
I also added my own input: “I’m glad some Democrats say they want to have a real conversation, but we’ve been hearing that for decades. Illinois families and businesses can’t afford more talk — we need real action that makes our state more competitive.”
EDUCATION
House Republicans Fight to Protect Women in Athletics. Illinois House Republican lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Thursday to present legislation protecting women’s sports. In light of a recent Executive Order handed down by President Donald Trump, which prohibits biological men from competing against biological women in sports, House Republicans have continued to work to protect women and have filed legislation to provide those needed protections.
Last month, House Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the Illinois High School Sports Association to ask for clarification on how current policies will be amended to align with the Executive Order. Instead of action, the IHSA chose to deflect responsibility. That lack of direction has spurred further response from lawmakers, including State Representative Tom Weber and State Representative Regan Deering, who spoke out at a press conference to relay their own pieces of legislation to create clarity for women across Illinois.
“Our objective here is simple – to protect the many female student athletes here in Illinois who are facing undue challenges when competing,” said Rep. Weber. “Women have fought for decades to have equal athletic opportunities through Title IX, and we cannot let those great strides turn into steps backward. By designating interscholastic and intercollegiate teams as male, female, or co-ed, we can protect women’s sports by ensuring every athlete has access to safe and competitive opportunities.”
Representative Weber has filed House Bill 4027 to require public schools and colleges that have interscholastic or intercollegiate athletics to provide equal athletic opportunities for members of both sexes. The bill lays out clear requirements that schools designate sports teams as either male, female, or co-ed, and prohibits biological males from competing for or against teams designated for females.
State Representative Regan Deering has also backed a measure in the Illinois House, House Bill 1117, which would require school sports teams to be designated as male, female, or co-ed, with students only being able to participate on teams that match their biological sex.
“Fairness in girls’ sports is not up for negotiation,” said Rep. Deering. “Privacy and safety are not political issues. I refuse to stay silent while unelected bureaucrats and politically pressured institutions make decisions that compromise our daughters’ futures.”
The lawmakers were joined at the Capitol by two young women who have advocated for safety and fairness in women’s sports: Kaitlynn and Abbigail Wheeler, who are Riley Gaines Center Ambassadors. They were able to provide testimonials during Thursday’s press conference to further express the need for change to protect women in sports.
In response, I also released my own statement: “I stand with women and with my colleagues in fighting to protect fairness in athletics. Girls deserve a level playing field, and as a co-sponsor, I’m proud to support legislation that keeps opportunities for female athletes strong and protected.”
STATE GOVERNMENT
Illinois tourism agency hit with scandal. The self-described “face of Illinois tourism” was financially benefiting from efforts to market the state, according to findings from Illinois’ executive inspector general.
Daniel Thomas made frequent appearances in the media promoting Illinois through his work as deputy director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, but the inspector general found he was still profiting from his former company that was hired to help with the marketing effort.
“Mr. Thomas received over $136,000 in payments from TimeZoneOne after he began working at DCEO,” the inspector general determined.
At one point, Thomas was vigorously negotiating his own payment from his former firm, TimeZoneOne, while overseeing the company’s contracts with the state, “raising serious questions regarding his ability to be independent and objective in his dealings,” the inspector general concluded. […]
The inspector general said Thomas increased the firm’s production of marketing videos and marketing materials under the “Illinois Made” campaign during his tenure with the state. He also traveled to Europe, Mexico and the Rose Bowl in California as part of his work with the Illinois Tourism Office.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration said Thomas was terminated immediately following receipt of the results of the investigation.
In response I issued the following statement: “Public officials and state workers should be serving the people of Illinois, not looking for ways to profit off their positions. We need real ethics reform to hold everyone accountable and rebuild the trust our residents deserve.”
Read more about this scandal from WGN Investigates.
WOMEN TO WATCH
House Republicans Honor Local Female Leaders at Annual Conference in the Capitol. I held the fourth annual House Republican Women to Watch Conference in Springfield this week. The event drew women leaders from across the state on Tuesday to recognize and celebrate their efforts to make a difference in communities throughout Illinois.
I called for nominations from the 89th District, which ultimately produced 16 impressive area leaders. From that number, three were chosen to attend the Springfield event: Daisha Boehm, Katie Herrig, and Allison Huntley.
I stated: “It is important to continue to recognize and honor women who have worked hard to make communities throughout our state a better place to live and work. Beyond that, I am continually impressed with the number of nominations I received. This is just the beginning, and I look forward to continuing to celebrate all the leaders in northwest Illinois.”
I plan to invite all event nominees to a special event this summer to further recognize their accomplishments. The House Republican Caucus will continue to make Women to Watch an annual event, building on the success of the first such event hosted in 2019.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Don’t miss out on a few upcoming events: first up is the Spring Photo Contest! Get your cameras ready and submit a photo you believe best represents northwest Illinois. Check out the details and how to enter HERE.
With summer rapidly approaching, I am again offering my annual Summer Reading Program. This is a great opportunity to help students in the district keep up their reading during the months away from school. Check out the details below and find the form HERE:
