Rep. Sosnowski talks about cost savings

State Representative Joe Sosnowski (R-District 69) held four "Coffee Talk with Joe" events at area restaurants, where he sat down with constituents (at each of their tables) to answer questions. He scheduled five meetings in June and July, at Nora’s Place in South Beloit, Ray’s Family Restaurant in Rockton, Jessica's Restaurant in Roscoe, Johnny Pamcake's in Rockford,  and Sophia's Family Restaurant in Roscoe.

Ironically, under proposed redistricting, Rep. Sosnowski wouldn't be representing any of those communities in the future.  The only exception: one block of Joy Lane west of Atwood Road. Instead, the new map for District 69 includes the rural areas and smaller towns to the east, such as Hunter, Argyle, Caledonia, Poplar Grove, Candlewick Lake, (but not Belvidere), south to Interstate 80 toward Starved Rock State Park. Under the new map, Roscoe and Rockton would become part of District 89, which is represented by Andrew Chesney.  However, the redistricting plan has been challenged in court by Republicans and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF).

At Jessica's,  Rep. Sosnowski talked at one table about how the State of Illinois can reduce costs. For one thing, the State of Illinois needs to consider how to modernize offices. He said that some state government offices are still using computer systems that were purchased in the 1970s. The Secretary of State's system doesn't talk to the Department of Revenue's revenue.  "Sharing of information doesn't happen functionally well," he said.

"But tied to that is how we spend our money," he said. "Pensions are tied into that. benefits, healthcare, our unemployment benefits.... Our budget is balanced right now, on a year to year basis, but we have a deficit in our unemployment fund that needs to made up by employers, employees... Spending less... we have to do it. We can't rely on the federal government.

Rep. Sosnowski said Illinois' final need is "just economic development, those policies that encourage companies to grow. We don't want to go out and spend money recruiting a lot of businesses to come to Illinois. But how do we help our businesses that are here already? Can we bring their costs down a little bit, can we make it a friendlier environment, how do we reduce property taxes without hurting schools, can we consolidate governments to reduce costs, or consolidate schools to reduce costs. There's a lot that we can do.. . [Frankly,] there are a lot of states that have done this already."

Rep. Sosnowski supports school choice. At Jessica's, Village of Roscoe Trustee Carol Gustavson, who is a former teacher and a union member, told him, "I think money should follow the kids, parents should choose. And if parents can choose their school, it would get rid of a lot of these dysfunctional [programs]."

Rep. Sosnowski agreed, "It would help all of our public schools, the charters, it would help our private schools. It would actually raise the bar for everybody because all of a sudden the model would change. And schools would have to ask 'What do I have to do to convince that parent to come here because we deliver a top-notch education?' Because once they start losing students [who] choose a different public school, or private school or whatever... It's a world of difference."

Rep. Sosnowski is serving his sixth term in the Illinois House of Representatives. He is a licensed real estate broker and was the Director of Institutional Advancement at Rockford Christian Schools.