Kifowit: New Leadership Focuses on COVID Recovery, Developing a Responsible State Budget

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, issued the following statement upon the General Assembly’s adjournment of the spring legislative session this week:

“Earlier this year, we underwent a refreshing, long-sought-after change to House leadership as my colleagues and I came together to elect a new Speaker of the House, Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch. He will continue to bring a new prospective to Springfield as we work together to focus on solutions that will help every day residents of Illinois.

“After the past year and a pandemic-induced economic recession, the General Assembly was tasked to work together to find bipartisan solutions for a post COVID-19 Illinois with proposals that will create jobs, put residents back to work and get our economy back on track. To address the immediate needs of all Illinoisans, we passed legislation making healthcare more accessible, providing emergency housing relief to renters and landlords, improving energy savings for homeowners and providing tax credits to small businesses.

“As Chair of the Veteran Affairs Committee, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to investigate the failed practices at Veteran homes in Illinois during the pandemic. We’re working to hold individuals accountable for the mistakes that were made and to find solutions for protecting these honorable men and women.

“We were also tasked with putting together a responsible budget that must reflect the difficult year we’ve had in 2020 and early 2021. It was necessary to craft a budget that had significant cost savings while ensuring we would help our local economies out of the aftermath of a global pandemic. It was important that we were able to maintain care for our more vulnerable residents, reduce the tax burden felt by so many Illinoisans and fully fund our public schools.

“I look forward to continuing the hard work we have started this past spring as we look to rebuild our communities and rebound from the global pandemic.”