ALTON, Ill. – As part of her ongoing support for Illinois veterans and military members, state Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, is hosting a Veterans’ Advisory Council Meeting, allowing veterans and their loved ones to discuss ongoing issues and offer advice on how the state can best help veterans and members of the armed forces.

“We owe our veterans and the men and women who bravely serve our country our freedom and much more,” said Bristow. “I believe that it is critically important that we ensure those returning from service and all of our veterans have the proper care, access to resources and are receiving their deserved benefits. This advisory council meeting offers a great opportunity for new legislative ideas or to share any issues veterans may have encountered that need to be addressed.” 

Bristow will be hosting her Veterans Advisory Council on Tuesday, April 23, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Alton VFW Post 1308, located at 4445 N. Alby St. in Alton. Veterans, military members and their family or loved ones are invited to share their thoughts or ideas on how the state can provide the best care and resources necessary for veterans, or any new ideas for legislation surrounding veterans’ issues.

“As a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I have had the chance to support a lot of good legislation that helps our veterans and their families, but there is always more that we can do,” said Bristow. “I look forward to seeing many of our local veterans for not only a chance to say thank them for all that they have done in protecting our freedom, but a chance to have a conversation about new ways we can help ensure they are receiving all that they deserve.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, will bring experience from her service in the US Marine Corps and focus on public integrity to two key House committees this year, as she has been selected to chair the Veterans Affairs and State Government Administration Committees.

“I am excited about the work ahead of us, and the opportunity to use my chairmanships to advocate for better care for Veterans and increased government accountability and transparency,” said Kifowit. “As a Veteran, I am passionate about addressing barriers to Veteran employment, services and housing, in addition to ending Veteran suicide. These are not easy goals to accomplish, but I am optimistic about the progress we can make in the coming months.”

Kifowit has previously introduced and supported legislation to assist Veterans and help restore accountability to state government. In response to mismanagement of the Quincy Veterans Home that led to the deaths of 13 residents, Kifowit passed House Bill 4278, which requires public reporting of infectious disease outbreaks at Illinois’ Veterans homes.

Kifowit also passed Senate Bill 3604 to prevent government entities from awarding severance pay to employees who were dismissed for misconduct, as well as limit the amount of severance pay to the equivalent of 20 weeks’ compensation. The legislation was introduced in response to at least two incidents at Illinois colleges and universities in which upper-six-figure severance packages were granted to former presidents dismissed for improper behavior.

“Disgraced administrators should not be taking hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars after being terminated from their duties,” said Kifowit. “Eliminating these types of payouts is one example of my efforts to bring more accountability and transparency to how we are running our state agencies, and I am committed to weeding out additional instances of corruption.”