ABOVE: 52nd District Democratic State Senator Paul Faraci, 51st District Republican State Senator Chapin Rose.
While it is true that the Democratic National Convention is coming to Chicago next week, Monday the 19th through Thursday the 22nd, 52nd District Democratic State Senator Paul Faraci says he does not see it as a distraction from doing state business. In fact, as of this week, Faraci told Central Illinois Media Group he has no plans right now to visit the Chicago festivities.
AUDIO: We’ve got our priorities set on the people of the district. We’re going to focus on that, independent of what’s happening. We’re just proud to serve those folks, and we look forward to continuing to do that.
Just last week, however, 51st District GOP State Senator Chapin Rose told us that if there was any recent distraction from state business it was Governor Pritzker’s vice-presidential candidate possibilities. Rose says that no, Pritzker was not selected; and few probably thought he would be. But Rose also believes that the governor was leaning on one big hope.
AUDIO: I think he thought he had a billion dollars that could get him a seat at the table, because he could fund the campaign. (To) be clear, this has been his life ambition, right? So, whether he thought he had a chance or not is sort of irrelevant, because that’s what he wanted to do.
If there’s one major issue that’s affected both Illinois and the entire nation that could come up during the convention, it’s immigrants coming across the southern border. Senator Rose says; thanks to the governor, Illinois has made major mistakes.
AUDIO: Governor Pritzker’s thrown out the welcome mat, with free health care paid for by the citizens of our state. And, it’s kind of amazing. As temperatures cool, September into October, you’ll see those masses again. And it’s a huge problem for our country, and certainly our state.
Senator Faraci says all Illinois lawmakers would certainly like some solid federal legislation dealing with this. But Faraci also says, as far as he’s concerned, Governor Pritzker took necessary action.
AUDIO: What the state has done is to be proactive. We’re going to pay for whatever those impacts are, one way or the other. And so the way the governor, I think, handled it; was to get ahead of it as best as possible; and do the best he can to protect the resources that we have as a state.
Faraci stated that a recent bill signed by Governor Pritzker that he was especially proud of was legislation he pushed for allowing Veterans and first responders to have control over whom they choose for mental health treatment.
