HARRISBURG, IL – After two days of legislative session that resulted in a new school funding formula, State Sen. Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg) said he is looking forward to beginning work on economic development.
Due to the budget and educational funding instability, lawmakers’ focus has been drawn away from efforts to seriously address the state’s lagging economic condition. As a result of governmental dysfunction and population declines, Senator Fowler said it is critical that more time and attention be dedicated to his main passion and priority–economic development.
Senator Fowler took part in an Aug. 30 meeting with the Illinois Department of Transportation and area legislators to seek some common-sense ways to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on the region’s interstates. The elected officials sat down with IDOT engineers to find ways to help slow or reduce traffic flows, due to a 30 percent uptick in the number of fatalities on the I-57 & I-24 corridors.
Additionally, this week area legislators were briefed by the Illinois Department of Employment Security on the department’s initiative to streamline payroll filings. Illinois employers previously had to deal with two different agencies’ systems when filing taxes and employment insurance payments. Thanks to advances, Illinois employers will be able to deal with both the Department of Revenue and Employment Security through the same software, thus reducing business and government expenses.
Senator Fowler closed out his week with a series of constituent meetings in his district office.