JOLIET, Ill. – Will County-area legislators, including state Rep. Larry Walsh, Jr., D-Elwood, will sponsor their third annual Veteran Appreciation Breakfast on Saturday, Nov. 9.

“It is our privilege to honor the service of veterans and their families,” said Walsh. “We will once again welcome veterans and their families to a free breakfast at the Stone City VFW Post 2199, which provides a wonderful breakfast and celebration atmosphere.”

“Almost 300 veterans and family members attend our event each year,” Walsh added. “It is always great to talk with them and hear their stories from being in the armed forces, as well as to learn about how their commitment to community service and country continued after their military service. So many of our veterans are leaders in their communities. We look forward to greeting old and new friends at the Veteran Appreciation Breakfast.”

“I applaud Rep. Walsh for again taking the lead in organizing this Veterans Appreciation Breakfast, a celebration of the patriotism of our veterans and the gratitude of us legislators,” added state Sen. Pat McGuire.

Veterans and their families are invited to the free event, Saturday, Nov. 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Stone City VFW Post 2199, 124 Stone City Circle in Joliet. For reservations, call or e-mail Walsh’s district office at 815-730-8600, statereplarrywalshjr@gmail.com.

Who:               State Rep. Larry Walsh, Jr., State Sen. Pat McGuire, State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, State Rep. Natalie Manley and State Rep. John Connor

What:              Veteran Appreciation Breakfast

Free for Veterans and their Families

When:              Saturday, Nov. 9

8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Where:            Stone City VFW Post 2199

124 Stone City Dr., Joliet

JOLIET, Ill. – State Rep. Lawrence “Larry” Walsh, Jr., D-Elwood, has been appointed to serve on the Route 66 Centennial Commission, which will help organize official events celebrating the historic highway’s 100th anniversary.

“Route 66 is famous around the world and people visit from all over to travel it and see the sights,” Walsh said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to be part of this commission and celebrate the history of the Mother Road.”

The Route 66 Centennial Commission is a bipartisan group of elected officials and appointees from the governor’s office and the various state agencies. They will meet quarterly to discuss the planning of official events, programs, and activities for the upcoming Route 66 centennial celebration in 2026. The commission will be overseen by the Illinois Office of Tourism and Walsh will serve on the commission. Walsh’s position on the commission is on a volunteer basis, which means he will not receive pay or reimbursements.

“Right now our state is the only one planning any sort of celebration for the Mother Road,” Walsh said. “Route 66 cuts right through our community which means when people come to enjoy this once in a lifetime they will be supporting our local economy.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Larry Walsh, Jr., D-Elwood, held a hearing with the House Transportation: Regulation, Roads & Bridges Committee in Springfield last week to hear testimony from state and Will County transportation officials on the safety and conditions of the Des Plaines River Bridge.

“The purpose of the committee hearing this past week was to dispel some of the fear mongering going on and give some people perspective on actions being taken to ensure the Des Plaines River Bridge is safe,” Walsh said. “While the bridge is currently safe, we need to make fixing it a priority so that it’s condition doesn’t deteriorate further.”

Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) lists any infrastructure below a score of 80 as ‘deficient.’ The Des Plaines River Bridge has been rated with a 6 out of 100. While this number is alarming, IDOT’s ratings are not just indications of structural safety, but an overall rating pending lanes on a bridge, average daily traffic, roadway width and more. It has been previously reported that IDOT has been inspecting the bridge twice a year and the project to rebuild the bridge is still in the study phase. However, given that the bridge handles on average 42,000 vehicles everyday with an ever increasing amount of freight traffic, IDOT has stepped up its safety inspections on the bridge and is sending money for emergency repairs.

In addition, Walsh introduced House Joint Resolution 50, which would authorize the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (Tollway) to expand the Tollway’s authority over additional parts of I-80, specifically the stretch from I-294 to Route 47 in Morris.

“The bridge was originally designed as a rural bridge, however today, with the booming freight and logistics businesses popping up all around Will County, the increased traffic has caused the bridge’s rating to decrease at a much faster rate,” Walsh continued. “Now that we’ve had the hearing, I hope we’re able get everyone in a room to take proactive action.”

JOLIET, Ill. –State Rep. Larry Walsh, Jr., D- Elwood, praised Gov. J.B. Pritzker for delivering on promises made to state workers that had been denied by former Gov. Bruce Rauner.

“The people that will benefit the most from this will be honest working people and middle-class families,” Walsh said. “Governor Pritzker did the right thing by signing this executive order to pay state workers what they’re rightfully owed.”

In 2015, Rauner froze incremental pay increases for over 20,000 state employees. These gradual step increases were promised as part of a contract with the state workers’ union, AFSCME, but unilaterally blocked by the Rauner. A court order sided with the workers over Rauner, citing that the state was obligated to pay its workers what was negotiated, but the Rauner administration did not comply. Walsh, a life-long union member, is glad to see steps being taken to correct the string of broken promises made by Rauner to middle-class workers.

“I’ve been saying from the very beginning that these promises were made and we had to keep them,” Walsh said. “Illinois has its fair share of problems that need to be addressed, but by refusing to honor the terms of the contract that was made, former Governor Bruce Rauner hurt working families and wasted taxpayer dollars on an unnecessary legal battle.”

JOLIET, Ill. – State Rep. Larry Walsh, Jr., D-Elwood, applauded the Illinois State Board of Elections’ decision to end the state’s participation in the widely-criticized Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program.

“It is reassuring to see Illinois withdraw finally from the disastrous Crosscheck Program.,” Walsh said. “We have better options available and thanks to the unanimous decision by the Illinois State Board of Elections, we can now pursue them.”

The Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, often referred to simply as “Crosscheck”, was created by Kris Kobach, head of President Donald Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. It is an interstate program designed to identify voters illegally registered in multiple states, but has proven to be unreliable, unprotected, and racially-biased. Since 2015, Crosscheck has only identified and prosecuted a small handful of instances of voter fraud. 

Walsh previously filed House Bill 4542 in the 100th General Assembly which would have prohibited Illinois from using Kobach’s disastrous Crosscheck program in favor of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a non-partisan, more secure, more accurate voter registration data comparison system. Illinois will continue to participate in ERIC while also entering into a data-sharing agreement with Indiana.

“Crosscheck failed to provide a safe and secure way for us to keep track attempted voter fraud,” Walsh said. “At the end of the day any of the supposed benefits of Crosscheck were overshadowed by the problems it caused.”