Illinois State Representative Tom Bennett talks about HB 2532, Reimagine Illinois legislation he introduced to eliminate the backlog of FOID card renewals. 

Have All Voted Who Wish · Reimagine Illinois with Rep. Tom Bennett

Imagine an Illinois with the best-trained public safety personnel, and where public safety agencies function the way they are supposed to.

Every night on the news we see stories of murders, carjackings, shootings and other acts of violence. Law enforcement officers don’t get the support they need from state government, and law-abiding citizens have to navigate endless bureaucracy just to get paperwork approved. 

Illinois House Republicans are asking for more transparency and open communications from the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and the Pritzker administration on policy changes and communications regarding prison furloughs or inmates released early during the coronavirus pandemic.

State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), whose district includes correctional centers in Taylorville and Hillsboro, said inmates released into her district include high-level drug and meth dealers.

In February 2018, after floodwaters caused destruction in Watseka, Illinois, for the third time in as many years, State Representative Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) knew something more needed to be done.

“Flooding is unlike any other natural disaster we have in Illinois,” Bennett said. “There are lots of things an individual can do to prepare for an ice storm or even a tornado. You can stock up on canned food, you can buy a generator, you can have a safe room in your house. Floods are different: they require entire communities or entire regions to work together to take action.”

Our children’s education remains a top priority for Illinois House Republicans, which is why they have taken action to address the growing teacher shortage in our state. First and foremost, our members are committed to ensuring highly prepared and effective educators are teaching our children. To do that, Illinois must address the teacher shortage.

Background
The Illinois State Board of Education said the 2017-18 school year began with about 2,000 unfilled teaching positions across the state.* And a recent survey conducted by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools found that school districts were increasingly having difficulty finding qualified candidates to apply for teaching positions.

State Representative Tom Bennett of Gibson City talks about his plans for the spring session and the changes in the process he believes are needed in order to accomplish real reform.

We also talk about his travels around his large 106th district, his days as a school teacher, Gospel singing, and time with his grandkids.

Read a little about what members are doing when they are not in Springfield:

BENNETT: Area Lawmakers Call for Higher Education Compromise

BOURNE: Representative Bourne Joins Local Law Enforcement to Tackle Synthetic Drug Epidemic

JESIEL: House in Recess; Republicans Protest

MCAULIFFE: Resolution Raises Awareness for Cardiovascular Disease in South Asian Community

MCDERMED: Rep McDermed Hosting Property Tax Seminar

WINGER: Winger, Munger listen to women’s concerns, explain fiscal crisis

A group of Central Illinois legislators gathered inside Normal’s Uptown Station Friday to call on House Speaker Michael Madigan to bring the Illinois House back into session.

The chamber isn’t schedule to return to Springfield until April 4.

State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) said he’s proposed legislation to fund higher education and MAP grants, but that’s fallen on deaf ears so far.

“We cannot get those bills called if we cannot be in Springfield to do the work of the people,” Brady said.

State Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) said it’s “amazing” they’re not in Springfield right now.

“We should be in Springfield until this is done. Things do not have to be this way,” said Bennett. “We may not get a budget, perhaps, until January of next year.” WJBC has the story.

FY16 Budget Crisis
Democrats send unbalanced partial-month budget to the Governor. As the State of Illinois entered the third week of the new fiscal year without a balanced budget in place, the Democrat majority continued to take a piece-meal approach to the budget crisis.

On Wednesday, the Illinois Senate concurred with House changes to SB 2040, an unbalanced partial month budget set to expire on August 1. The Democrats’ plan passed the House by the bare minimum of 71 partisan Democrat votes in the House the previous week. SB 2040 does not contain one-month spending levels based on the projected FY16 revenue estimate of $32 billion.

United States Marine Private Jack Redman has finally been laid to rest with full military honors in his Illinois hometown of Watseka, more than 70 years after his combat death in World War II. State Representative Tom Bennett's resolution honoring Marine Private Jack Redman's heroism and sacrifice,  adopted on Memorial Day, was an fitting tribute.

Just a few of the visitors who came to Springfield last week:

School Boards in Illinois will be better able to ensure student safety while discussing building security under legislation guided through the Illinois House Thursday by State Representative Tom Bennett. House Bill 1498, Bennett’s first bill passing the House, ensures local school districts have the flexibility they need to thoroughly discuss measures to keep students and staff safe from threats of harm.

“The current language of the Open Meetings Act presented school boards with a serious dilemma. As they interpret the Act, it requires them to discuss security planning, including reports about where their buildings are specifically vulnerable, in open, public session. Obviously, that could put students and staff at risk and needs to be clarified.”  Read more.

Rep. Bennett was raised on a small farm near Gibson City IL, today he works as an IT manager for a national insurance company.  Rep. Bennett has a BS in Education and in Applied Computer Science, He also earned  MBA, and a Doctorate of Business Administration. He and wife have two grown children and three wonderful grandchildren.

Rep. Bennett served on the House Committees for Elementary & Secondary Education & Higher Education Appropriations, Consumer Protection, Higher Education, Renewable Energy & Sustainability and State Government Administration.

Read more about Rep. Tom Bennett.

An Illinois lawmaker wants driver education teachers to spend more time warning beginner motorists to be on the lookout for motorcycles.

Under a proposal by state Rep. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, teachers would be required to incorporate more time behind the wheel to helping students learn about motorcycle safety.

Bennett, a freshman member of the House who is not a motorcycle rider, said he drafted the legislation to ensure students understand their surroundings when they are operating a vehicle.

"This is a concern raised by the constituents in my district," Bennett said. "I think I've ridden a motorcycle one time

"We've often heard motorists say, `I hit him but I didn't see him,'" Bennett said. "We'd like to get a little more focus on that." Read more in the Southern Illinoisan.

The Bennett caucus of the Illinois General Assembly reported for work Wednesday.

One in the Senate, one in the House; one a Democrat, one a Republican; one appointed, one elected. Both freshmen.

Rep. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, was sworn in Wednesday to serve the 106th House District, north of Champaign-Urbana. His nephew, Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign, was sworn in on Monday to complete the two years remaining on the term of Mike Frerichs, the new state treasurer. Scott Bennett's 52nd District includes most of the population of Champaign and Vermilion counties.

"I'm very proud of him, I really am," said Tom Bennett, 58. "We've talked about politics for a long time at the dinners, the family get-togethers. And it's always been a good conversation."

"You would tell me that you supported certain people and I would tell you about people I liked," Scott Bennett, 37, said after the two met in the Capitol rotunda for the first time since they had been sworn in at separate events, "and you would never say that that was stupid or wrong. You might say, 'Well, have you considered this?' I always liked that we could disagree without being disagreeable. That was a nice way to discuss issues." Read more by Tom Kacich in The News-Gazette.