SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, issued the following statement after being sworn in for a new legislative session in Springfield on Wednesday:
“I am humbled that my community placed their faith in me to continue working to address the issues affecting our families. After the reckless partisan leadership under Gov. Bruce Rauner combined with a president who has given tax breaks to his wealthy friends and corporate donors on the backs of the middle class, the work ahead of us as a state that believes in compassion and fairness is clear.
“We must come together, as Democrats, Republicans, and independents to provide real property tax relief for middle class families and to ensure we have tax system that makes the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be introducing legislation to make government more transparent, to ensure nurses and retail employees have more consistent work scheduling, and to increase accountability at the local level to get property tax increases under control.
“Illinois faces many challenges. Solutions won’t easy and tough choices will have to be made, but despite Bruce Rauner’s inability to compromise we were still able to make crucial progress. By working together, we were able to fully fund bilingual education for the first time in decades, protect access to health care for our most vulnerable children, as well as enact reforms that made state agencies more transparent and accountable to taxpayers. I am encouraged by the signs of bipartisan leadership the incoming governor has shown and I look forward to working with him and all of my colleague to move Illinois forward.”
