Friday, May 3, 2013
The Illinois House Thursday approved a controversial plan to eliminate the state's $100 billion pension debt.
The Illinois Senate may soon vote on House Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension reform plan that passed the House Thursday. The bill passed by a vote of 62-51 and seeks to eliminate the state’s $100 billion retirement system debt. Illinois ranks dead last in the nation when it comes to funding its public pension plan, according to WBEZ. The bill asks state workers for less in future cost-of-living increases, an increase in the retirement age for workers under the age of 46 and asks for more money to be taken from state employee paychecks. The bill may have difficulty making it through the Senate where Senate Leader John Cullerton supports a different plan that gives workers the option of pay increases or government-funded health care in …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
State representatives Kay Hatcher and Pam Roth will present on how the assessment process works and what steps homeowners can take if they feel they are being charged in error.
No one likes opening their mailbox to find their property tax bill, but soon enough we'll all be getting them. Before the first installment is due, State Representatives Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) and Pam Roth (R-Morris) invite local homeowners to a seminar to learn how the property tax assessment process works and how they can appeal their property tax bill. The seminar, Understanding and Appealing Your Property Tax Bill, will be held on Saturday, May 11, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Yorkville Public Library. Presentations will include how the assessment process works, how property tax bills are compiled, and what steps homeowners can take to appeal if they believe they are being charged in error. “Property taxes are a big part of every …
Monday, April 22, 2013
The program also includes funding for passenger rail development in Kendall County and the purchase of new buses for service expansion into Kendall County.
Route 47 is going to be getting some love over the next six-years. State Representatives Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) and Tom Cross (R-Oswego) announced that area residents will benefit from local road, mass transit and airport improvements included in the state’s six-year transportation construction program. “The Fox Valley continues to be one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Our transportation infrastructure absolutely must keep pace with our growing communities,” said Rep. Hatcher in a release. “These needed upgrade projects and the jobs they provide are all good news for local families.” “Not only will this provide vital road and highway improvements, it will also create jobs in our communities,” added Cross. “These projects …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
State Rep. Kay Hatcher is pushing a bill that would lessen the impact of state construction projects on small business owners.
The toll a major road construction project can take on local small businesses can be huge. It’s no secret many mom and pops have had to close up shop as the latest multi-million dollar project rolls through town. With that in mind, State Rep. Kay Hatcher, R-Yorkville, has advanced House Bill 2382 that requires the Illinois Department of Transportation to work with local business owners to lessen a project's impact before the first shovel hits the ground. “The disruption to local businesses created by the recent improvement work at Routes 47 and 64 really highlighted the need for some new guidelines." Representative Hatcher said. “... There’s no question that road repair and improvements are necessary especially in a growing area like ours…
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Evening is co-sponsored by the Oswego Police and District 308.
State Reps. Kay Hatcher, R-Yorkville, and Tom Cross, R-Oswego, will host a drug abuse forum at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, according to the Oswego District 308 website. The forum will be held at Oswego High School, and is co-sponsored by the Oswego Police Department and District 308. Topics covered will include “establishing a dialogue and raising awareness among public officials, law enforcement, educators and local families regarding the risks of substance abuse in our community; including the threat of heroin, marijuana, prescription drug abuse and alcohol among teens and young adults.” Families are welcome, and light refreshments will be provided. For more information, call Cross’ office at (815) 254-0000, or e-mail tom@tomcross.com
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Named for a Naperville boy killed in a tragic crash, the law would allow roadside memorials to remain in place as a warning against impaired and distracted drivers.
State Reps. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) are seeking to renew a law that will allow roadside memorials in honor of victims of traffic fatalities involving impaired and distracted drivers. House Bill 2372 would re-enact the fatal accident memorial marker program, which sunset on December 31, 2012. The Roadside Memorial Act raises awareness of the dangers of reckless driving while allowing families an opportunity to remember the victims of crashes involving reckless drivers. The Act is named Adam’s Law after 5 year-old Adam Miller of Naperville who was tragically killed in a traffic accident in 2008. Related: State Law Based on Family's Tragic Loss House Bill 2372 passed unanimously out of the Transportation Committee …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
State Rep. Kay Hatcher is gearing up for annual Senior Spelling Bee, this year hosted in Oswego.
The following is from a press release issued by Representative Kay Hatcher: The buzz has begun about this spring’s Senior Spelling Bee, hosted by State Representative Kay Hatcher. This year’s Bee will on Friday, April 26 at the Oswego Senior Center. “Each year I host an event so mature adults in our area can show off their ‘spelling smarts’ and each year it gets more competitive and more fun,” said Hatcher. “We move the event throughout the district. Two years ago we were in Yorkville and last year we were in Sugar Grove. I’m hoping to find a great spot in Elburn next year.” Read: See Photos of Last Year's Spelling Bee Hatcher said the local Senior Spelling Bee is open to everyone 50 and better. The event will begin with a 1 p.m. check-…
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Rep. Kay Hatcher of Yorkville said Gov. Pat Quinn's Feb. 6 State of the State speech showed misplaced priorities. Hatcher, like her Republican colleagues in the state Senate, Jim Oberweis, of Sugar Grove, and Sen. Karen McConnaughay of South Elgin, said t
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Hatcher, a Yorkville Republican, reacts to Quinn's state of the state address.
Rep. Kay Hatcher of Yorkville said Gov. Pat Quinn's Feb. 6 State of the State speech showed misplaced priorities. Hatcher, like her Republican colleagues in the state Senate, Jim Oberweis, of Sugar Grove, and Sen. Karen McConnaughay of South Elgin, said the governor failed to address the state's most-serious problems of high unemployment, financial insolvency and pension reform. Instead, Hatcher said the governor focused on social issues, such as gun control, legalization of gay marriage and raising the state's minimum wage to $10 an hour. “With billions in unpaid bills, an unprecedented one billion dollar pension payment looming and families throughout the state looking for work, what we needed to hear today was the governor’s vision for …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Kay Hatcher won the 50th State House Race in the November 2012 election, defeating challenger Andrew Bernard.
Republican Kay Hatcher has won the 50th State House Race over challenger Democratic Andrew Bernard with nearly 64% of the vote across the three counties her district spans. She received 59.45 percent of the vote in Kendall County, according to that Clerk's Office. Hatcher came away with 9,863 total votes with 7,930 coming in on election day and 1,933 in early voting. Bernard had a total of 6,727 votes with 5,175 votes on election day and 1,552 in early voting. According to the Aurora Election Commission, Hatcher had 60 percent of the vote, or 2,583, and Bernard had 40 percent of the vote, or 1,703. In Kane County, Hatcher received 17,373 votes, or 68 percent, to Bernard's 8,354 votes or 32 percent. Hatcher has been representing the …
Truth will set you free
12:46 pm on Friday, May 3, 2013
These representatives voted to punish public employees who had no other options then to pay a fixed percentage of every pay check to their retirement system. No other option. And yet the State of Illinois failed to pay their required portion and spend the pension on other projects. Cannot make it any nicer.... they are thieves and crooks. Even this new bill contains no provision to guarantee that… more ›