Rep. Bunting’s Springfield news update for October 16

In this issue:

• Illinois needs a proactive approach to diesel crisis
• Applications being accepted for small equipment grant program
• Constellation announces major refit of nuclear plants
• Illinois headlines

Illinois needs a proactive approach to diesel crisis

A strong agriculture community means a strong Illinois.

In our district, agriculture is the backbone of our communities and local economy. Rising diesel costs put added pressure on our farmers, and Illinois needs to take a proactive approach to provide relief, lower costs, and keep our farmers competitive.

Our farmers deserve support. Illinois needs to act. The actions at the state level have been a day late and a dollar short. While they do help farmers, they do little for truck drivers and others who use a lot of diesel. At the end of the day, much of this action is just a band-aid for the real, underlying problem which is that we have a real lack of refinery space nationwide. If one refinery goes down, it has a nationwide ripple effect. This has to be addressed.

After the federal government and several other states acted to reduce diesel fuel costs, I joined my fellow farmer-legislators in calling for action here in Illinois.

“We appreciate President Trump taking the lead to provide relief to farmers facing rising diesel costs. Farmers across Illinois are feeling the pinch from every direction. While this is a step in the right direction, Illinois needs to take a more proactive approach to lower the cost of doing business and keep the top industry in Illinois competitive.

“Washington has made it clear that they are willing to work with states to provide relief from the diesel crisis, and Illinois should take advantage of every opportunity to lower the cost of living.  As the Illinois Farm Bureau continues to work with the Department of Revenue to fully understand any future motor fuel tax implications, we will continue to work to make life more affordable for Illinois families. At the end of the day, a strong agricultural community means a strong Illinois.

“We are also working to address the practical challenges farmers could face when the temporary authorization expires on January 1, 2027, particularly how enforcement will be handled and what happens to residual dyed diesel that may remain in farm equipment and fuel systems after the authorization expires.”

In addition to myself, our statement was signed by Reps. Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City, Brad Halbrook of Shelbyville, Brad Fritts of Dixon, Charlie Meier of Okawville, Chris Miller of Hindsboro, Dan Swanson of Alpha and Wayne Rosenthal of Morrisonville.

Applications being accepted for small equipment grant program

The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) has opened the application period for its annual small equipment grant program.

According to the OSFM, applicants will be eligible for up to $50,000 for the purchase of small firefighting and ambulance equipment. Click here for a list of commonly requested items. Funding priority will be given to those items listed in Tier I.

The applications are due by November 30.

Questions can be directed to the Fire Marshal’s office at (217) 785-4717. Find out more about the grant program and how to apply by clicking here.

Constellation announces major refit of four nuclear plants

In a planning operation spurred by an agreement between Illinois electricity generator Constellation and the tech firm Google, Constellation will invest $2 billion over the next 20 years to implement a massive refit of the turbines at its Byron, Braidwood, La Salle and Quad Cities plants. These locations are home to eight of the 11 nuclear reactors licensed to operate in Illinois.

When these reactors were planned and built, they contained state-of-the-art machinery to use heat from nuclear reactions to generate electricity. Advances in turbine engineering have made it possible for these licensed reactors to transform heat into power more efficiently. The upgrades will, over time, increase their output by a total of 890 megawatts over the four complexes to be refitted. The refit will not change the reactors but will increase the quantity of power that will come out of them. As Illinois currently has capacity to generate about 60 gigawatts (60,000 megawatts) of electricity, Constellation’s announcement will lead to an increase in Illinois’s total power generation capacity of approximately 1.5%.  Under the terms of the agreement, none of the costs of the turbine investment will be borne by Illinois electric ratepayers.

Our current bill backlog

When a vendor provides the state with goods and services, they submit the bill to the Illinois Comptroller for payment. The Comptroller processes the paperwork and pays the bill when funds are available in the state’s checking account. Currently the total amount of unpaid bills is $1,680,301,801. This figure changes daily. Last year at this time the state had $2.5 billion in bills awaiting payment. This only includes bills submitted to the Comptroller for payment, not unfunded debts like the state’s pension liability, which is well over $100 billion.

Illinois headlines

Request for emergency aid for Illinois counties denied, Pritzker says

A defendant free on electronic monitoring is charged with murder

Proposed changes to SAFE-T Act mostly being ignored

Here’s what the newest El Nino winter forecast says about snow in Illinois