State Representative and Sycamore Rotarian Jeff Keicher gave an update on the recently completed legislative session during this week’s meeting. He highlighted issues related to legislative district remapping, state budget revenues, and pending energy legislation.
Legislative District remapping happens every ten years to adjust boundaries based on the latest census numbers. However, Keicher said the delay in detailed census data caused by the Covid-19 pandemic led to a remap plan by the Democratic controlled legislature using an alternative data base. As a Republican, Keicher says he and other members of his party question the accuracy of the alternate data and have filed a Federal lawsuit against the remap. Other groups and organizations have also filed lawsuits or indicated they plan to do so. Additionally, Keicher expressed disappointment with the remap in the way it splits DeKalb County into several different legislative districts saying it favors a specific Democratic legislator.
Despite the pandemic, Keicher said revenue to support the state budget is ahead of projections by $938 million. Keicher said this is due to positive economic development like the Facebook data center in DeKalb. Keicher was a backer of legislation that encourages data center investment in Illinois. Keicher also noted other types of investment, such as a major Amazon distribution center in Huntley, brought on by the location of key highway and rail linkages and robust airport systems in the state plus a world class workforce.
Yet to be resolved, according to Keicher, is legislation to preserve continued operation of the state’s nuclear plants like the Byron Generating Station and subsidize wind and solar construction to achieve the Governor’s goal of 100% carbon-free energy by 2050. A sticking point is setting a date requiring all coal plants in the state to shut down, since several municipally-owned power systems have specific bond commitments for a power plant that went on line in 2012.