DeKalb Times

State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) wants all his colleagues in Springfield to get the message as clearly as he does. 

“What you are hearing today is a lot of frustration,” Keicher said while speaking at a House Republican press conference on the lack of legislative action on jobs and the economy. “The frustration I’m hearing from my constituents is a lack of jobs. You saw us pass today nothing but resolutions. We passed no consequential issues in the General Assembly in the House this past week. For months during COVID, we were talking about the need to come to Springfield to do business and now that we’re here what do we do, no business.”

Keicher says it's a travesty that Illinois Department of Employment Security offices remain closed. He also decries the growing number of state residents now being asked to reimburse the government for assistance they received through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

“Jobs are the kitchen-table issue most families are concerned about now in the state,” he said. “As your elected representatives, most importantly what we can do is give to your family sound economic footing by providing an environment in our state economy that allows for robust job growth. This entire spring we have failed to have meaningful conversation about what we can do to spur that in Illinois.”

Keicher said that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has done little to stem the tide.

“This is what we have seen from the governor by walking back the informed economic incentives that goosed the economy into action in 2019 on a bipartisan basis,” he said. “In a year where so many families have suffered, those two items should be foremost in what we are addressing in the state of Illinois. It’s time to have a real conversation to allow the Illinois economy to be the behemoth it was meant to be.”

 In addition, The Center Square reports that IDES is now probing more than 212,000 suspected fraudulent claims, with many of them targeting individuals that rated as their companies' highest earners. With the state having issued more than $17 billion in unemployment assistance since the beginning of the pandemic, IDES spokeswoman Rebecca Cisco claims much of the potential fraud can be blamed on data breaches outside the confines of the agency.

Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Shelbyville) is also demanding that Springfield take immediate action.

“I continue to call on the governor, the Speaker of the House, the Senate president and members of the majority party to publicly call for the General Assembly to reconvene,” Plummer told Metro East Sun. “It is a disservice to the people of Illinois that we are MIA during these trying times.”