Republican 104th District State Rep Brandun Schweizer kicked off his second annual “What’s Brewing” coffee tour at Mad Goat South along Gilbert Street Tuesday morning. Speaking with a handful of residents, one topic that came up was the amount of power that will be needed for the future Artificial Intelligence coming to the world. The feeling from many is that leaning too much on solar and wind power won’t cut it. Schweizer says Small Nuclear Reactors take up less space and provide energy for significantly more homes per acre than wind or solar. Therefore, a compromise getting everything involved makes senses.
AUDIO: If we’re looking at trying to create clean energy, I think nuclear’s probably the best chance that we can go about doing it. It’s going to create enough energy to power all the homes that were trying to build; power these AI generation buildings. That’s the way, I think, that we’re going to have to go about it; for trying to entice these businesses to come here, and have enough power on the grid to be able to handle all that.
Schweizer says one problem being in the minority GOP party in Springfield is proposing bills that often never get called to the floor. Therefore, he’ll be getting some help next session from a Democratic state legislator and fireman from Chicago, on a first responders bill he’s been working on; especially involving volunteer fire fighters and service workers.
AUDIO: They have to do mandatory training. A lot of times, they have to take their own either vacation days, sick days, or paid time off. So the bill that I have is basically going to kind of mirror the same way that the National Guard or Reserves do. So, the bill would basically allow them to do that mandatory training, and not have to use their sick days or personal time off.
Continuing on the topic of frustration with the majority democrats, Schweizer says when it comes to the part of the Safe-T Act that ended cash bail in Illinois, and effectively put dangerous criminals back on the streets while awaiting trial; Democrats often say ‘we can talk about possible adjustments,’ but then they never get called to the floor. Then, Schweizer pointed out that the budget has gone up 40% during Governor’s Pritzker’s time in office; and that during the previous session, and the year before, the GOP didn’t even see the proposed budget until the day before the vote. Schweizer says it’s important to let constituents know that this is going on.
AUDIO: This year, we got it at 9 PM the day before session ended. And that gives us 30 hours to read 35 hundred pages. We need to get the budget much earlier, so we can let all of the folks in our districts know what is in the budget; and be able to advocate for or against what is inside there.
State Rep Schweizer’s next “What’s Brewing” session is set for Friday, August 15th; 8-9 AM at Lupita’s Restaurant in Tilton.
ORIGINAL STORY: https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/2025/07/28/schweizer-to-host-coffee-tour-in-july-and-august/
