SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House of Representatives unanimously approved common-sense pension reform legislation on April 19 sponsored by State Representative Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, to allow a municipality to hire a chief of police that had previously retired from the municipality without allowing them to collect a pension in addition to a salary.  The legislation, House Bill 5490, will now advance to the State Senate for consideration.

Specifically, Representative Sosnowski’s legislation provides that a chief of police who has voluntarily entered into an irrevocable agreement with a municipality to not participate in that municipality's pension fund is not eligible to participate in that municipality's pension fund.

“Cities around the state are looking to enter into these types of agreements,” Representative Sosnowski said. “This is common-sense, good government legislation. Municipalities can bring a retired former chief of police back to work and without having them entitled to start earning a second pension. Communities can benefit from the public safety experience and leadership of their police chief in a way that does not add additional taxpayer burdens on the pension fund.”

Our children’s education remains a top priority for Illinois House Republicans, which is why they have taken action to address the growing teacher shortage in our state. First and foremost, our members are committed to ensuring highly prepared and effective educators are teaching our children. To do that, Illinois must address the teacher shortage. 

Background 
The Illinois State Board of Education said the 2017-18 school year began with about 2,000 unfilled teaching positions across the state.* And a recent survey conducted by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools found that school districts were increasingly having difficulty finding qualified candidates to apply for teaching positions.

SPRINGFIELD – State Representative Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, joined Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, and members of the House Republican Caucus in filing House Resolution 975 on Tuesday to state their opposition to a proposed progressive income tax on Illinois residents. 

“The General Assembly cannot continue spending money frivolously and expect Illinois taxpayers to pick up the tab with more tax increases like this progressive income tax proposal from the Democrat party,” Durkin said. “It is our constitutional duty to protect our constituents, and we will remain firm as a caucus on blocking any progressive tax measures.”

Sosnowski echoed Durkin’s remarks, adding, “These progressive income tax proposals would raise taxes on most Illinoisans, including the vast majority of people living in Boone and Winnebago Counties. By implementing a progressive income tax, we would be driving higher income earners out of Illinois and saddling middle class families with a huge tax increase, all without any spending reforms whatsoever. This is the wrong solution for Illinois.” 

I am very excited for the Indoor City Market. This will be a great addition to downtown Rockford and continue to breathe excitement into the central business district. Congratulations!

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State Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, and his staff participated in the 2018 Boone County Business Expo at the Community Building in Belvidere on Saturday, providing constituents with information and resources about state government. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!

SPRINGFIELD – State Representative Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, issued the following statement today in response to Governor Rauner’s State of the State address delivered to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly:

"The fact is, Illinois’ economy is not growing the way Wisconsin and other neighboring states are. With a shrinking population following jobs and opportunity out of state, we need to put our priorities back in the right place with a new approach in 2018. This means passing budget reforms that will set Illinois back on a path toward growth and prosperity, such as real property tax relief, meaningful workers compensation reform and pension reform. We know that will not be easy with the current political dynamic in Springfield, but I am committed to doing my part to bring Republicans and Democrats together on issues where we can find common ground.”

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