A Quincy State Senator slated to take over the listening area within the next year was in Jacksonville last night as a part of a listening tour. Current 47th District State Senator Jil Tracy joined current 50th District State Senator Steve McClure along with fellow state Senators Win Stoller and Neil Anderson.
Tracy says that she’s familiar with her new district and has lived, studied, and traveled through Jacksonville her entire life: “I feel like I have a good pulse of the area, and certainly a town hall meeting like this helps us learn even more. There was a couple of issues [brought up tonight] that I was unaware of, and so I want to keep listening. The constituent service that we do in my office – I am very proud of my staff. They are outstanding and I think Senator McClure and I know Representative [C.D.] Davidsmeyer have done an outstanding job, and I want to continue that service. To me, constituent service is one of our main obligations and duties, so that to me, is very important. Then, hearing from people about ideas for legislation. Tonight, we heard some issues that needed to have some problem solving, and I enjoy doing that. I’m looking forward to it. I feel like it’s really like what I have already been doing in my current district.”
Tracy says that she has spoken with McClure and Davidsmeyer about the district extensively over the years. She says she has a plan on tackling infrastructure problems like completing the Corridor 67 project and the JDC Grounds: “Infrastructure is one of my main concerns. That’s one of the biggest functions of government is to provide good infrastructure because people can’t do that themselves…I’ve always worked towards capital improvements and infrastructure because I think it’s a key to economic development in our area. As a rural community, we have so many commuters and we want to make sure that public safety is at the highest level. I’ve advocated for infrastructure since I started in the legislature since 2006, and I will continue to do so.”
Tracy says part of the tour was to show that Republicans are fighting for things in Springfield despite not having a majority in either chamber of the General Assembly or no executive offices. She says she hopes the tour builds a grass roots conservative movement in state politics and to raise awareness of current legislation to constituents: “Doing these town halls, this is the third one we have done in the last 6 weeks. I’ve got colleagues that are driving 2 hours to these events. Tonight, we will go to Springfield because we have session tomorrow. This is one part of our plan to bring our mission out to tell people about the bills that are out there that they may not know about or been made aware of to try to decrease the apathy. It takes a grass roots level to start a rebuilding of Illinois, and to spread the message of how we can effectively change Illinois’ direction.”
Tracy says that her and her colleagues have seen some progress in recent weeks since the listening tour began. She says people have been filling out witness slips and sending testimony to state committees in opposition to or in favor of Republican-backed legislation in the General Assembly. A teleconference forum is scheduled for Wednesday night from 7-8PM. You can visit this link to register for the event.