The Illinois General Assemby is supposed to be in session right now. They were scheduled to re-conviene in Springfield on March 18th, but did not due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the the “Stay at Home” executive order made by the Governor. Western Illinois State Representative Randy Frese says when they get back to Sprigfield there are alot of issues that need addressed including some relief for the gas tax, small busines relief for the minimum wage increase and pensions …
“The way the Constitution reads, we can’t do anything to reduce pension. So, the immediate things to do in order to manage municipalities like Monmouth, a little bit healthier, is some of the goals that they are to reach like putting money towards their pension program. We could extend the dates. We could maybe lower from a 85 down to a 75 percent by a certain date, and maybe give them an extra 5 years or so to reach that, so it doesn’t ramp those payments up as quickly.”
Frese represents the 94th District which includes Monmouth and most of Warren County and all of Henderson County.