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Countering the Democratic majority in Springfield and uplifting women in the workplace.

In the cities.

We're days awa from a conference in the cities that could change the lives of women entrepreneurs.

That's coming up.

But first, fighting against the majority party.

Democrats in Springfield have supermajorities.

That means they could pass most any piece of legislation without any input from Republicans.

But the Republican minority is standing up to legislation it feels is wrong for Illinois.

From the budget to schooling at your home.

We're joined with Illinois House Minority Leader, representative Tony McComb of Savannah and Representative Dan Swanson of Woodhall.

So let's start with you, representative McNamee.

How is this session going?

And what is your biggest complain about how the Democrats have him have run this legislature?

Well, this is a short segment, so I'm not going to go too deep into that.

But here we are.

We have, two days off this week that we're supposed to be scheduled to be doing work.

We do this every year.

They end up cutting us shorter and shorter.

We haven't done anything to speak of yet.

We haven't passed anything on the floor.

And now we go back week after next, and it's deadline week, and it's going to be complete and total chaos.

And also we have, we do have a new chief of staff, which we appreciate is starting session on time.

However, it has certainly opened up and changed the decorum in th General Assembly where we are, every day hearing all the negativity about the Trump administration.

And we have state business to do.

And so it just becomes a battle back and forth.

So it is very polarizing right now under the dome.

And that's not healthy for good legislation.

So we're a little concerned about that.

So tell me about that.

What are your concerns this session as opposed to past sessions?

Well, I think I'll talk about transparency is that it's continued year after year.

And when we're not in session today.

It means we're going to be working late hours and I'm okay with it.

I was in the Army.

I'm a farmer.

I know what it means to work long hours, but the public doesn't get to see us in motion.

They don't get to see wha we're doing on the House floor.

And I think they're the real losers when we're not doin our schedule during the normal work hours of the day.

And as a leader said the new chief of staff is great getting us started on time at 12:00.

We're we're ringing in.

We're.

It used to be an hour and 40 minutes sometimes before it starts session.

So, I agree that, there's a lot of work to be doing and taking these two days off.

We like being in our districts, seeing our people, seeing the constituents in our districts.

But we should be down there doing work when we're not there.

And, well, there always seems to be one, two or maybe three beside the budget that are huge issues.

That comes before the Illinois legislature.

And right now it seems to be the homeschooling bill, representing Macomb.

Tell me about why Republicans are almost unanimously opposed to this.

Well, we are completely opposed.

And, you know, we have over I think, 51,000 witness slips.

So we have 51,000 people also oppose, which I think is a record in Illinois for that.

During the hearing which, Dan is on that committee, we, homeschooler advocates and public private schools and even some public school folks were there advocating against this bill.

And so many people came that they had to shut the Capitol down for safety purposes.

Really?

The sponsor walked in and and stated, you know, we're going to have an amendment.

And I think really that was on purpose because she didn't want to pass the bill with and walk out.

Because of of other people there.

This is a prim example of government overreach, of the government trying to tell parents how to, raise their children, educate their children.

And, this is a very, I don't even want to say this is a slippery slope because this particular piece of legislation, is much more than just a form.

This is much more than about safety of children, and this is much more about education of children.

This is the government, really wanting lists and, registering kids.

And what are they going to do with it?

We can't handle we have a truancy rate in Illinois.

I think of about 31% right now.

This bill is not going to help that.

And we're not addressing the truancy rate in our public schools.

So why are we now going to try to do this through our home school?

You know, Representative Swanson, I mean, you you've heard the argument that there's no accountability, Zippo, zilch as far as homeschooling is going.

So you could have your your kids eating cornflakes and watching cartoons and classify that as a school day, and it's unaccountable.

Well, I think that that's maybe not happening.

I have more faith in our families.

When we look at the the caliber of the students we're bringing through our home schools.

I think there's some pretty high standards set in many of our schools.

I met with the family this after before I came in here.

This morning.

Four young children all presented themselves.

Well, as we talked about, what they learn at home with their mom as their school administrator.

And I think that, it's goin to be a cost involved in this, even though the sponsors are saying it's not going to be a cost to the state, they're going to be cost to it.

And I think this is one of the last great things Illinois has going fo our families is homeschooling.

And, I thin the family should be left alone.

I think that I hear what you know, it's frustrating.

It's disgusting that families are teaching their kids durin school hours how to do laundry, teaching their kids how to work on an engine, teaching their children how to do things that most kids don't ever get taught.

So we're teaching them how to be adults, too.

And and also they're opening the books and cracking the book for school.

But are you worrie that some children are falling through the crack that you don't even know about?

I feel that way about our whole school system throughout the state of Illinois, and that's not any mark against our public schools.

It's just, I think the parents need to be more involved.

And many cases, our parents are the ones who are, not as involved as they're in their child's schoolwork as they should be.

Well, real quick, too.

And like you were saying when we started, you know, with all of the mandates that are put on our public schools, administrators and teachers, they're they are not just teaching, and that's a real big problem.

That's how kids fall through the cracks.

$55 billion budget being proposed.

Education funding to be increased.

The budget is going to be your last big bill, as it always is, wher you get the, what, 1300 pages.

12 hour before you have to vote on it.

This year is going to be no different.

Yeah, I think so.

But we hopefully the Senate, I think, will be the one crafting the budget again, which does give us a couple days.

Like last year, we did have at least that.

From my understanding, that's probably going to same be the same amount that it'll start in the Senate and come to us in the House.

But it's it's going to be a mess.

There's a lot of things tha were, removed from the budget.

The budget framework, let's stress that it's just a framework, that I think pits the Democrats against each other and also a huge piece that was missing.

We hear talking abou all the time the mass transit, fiscal cliff of, what, 760 or 80 million, I don't know, top of my head.

Wasn't even $1, wasn't even put in there.

So there's a lot of things in that budget that are certainly going to have to be addressed.

And I think unfortunately, it's going to set up, Illinois for a tax increase.

What that tax increases, I don't know.

Will it be on services?

Will it be on sales tax?

Will it be an income tax.

Because we also have to tackle, obviously our unfunded liability.

We hear a lot about tier two rollback.

There's a lot of big issue right now that are being debated and have been debated for, roughly the last year.

Education still is a major, there's agreement, a major agreement with Republicans and Democrats in regard to funding school K through 12.

Are you satisfied with the way Illinois is right now?

Funding.

It's a K through 12 education I think right now, yes.

When we look at education that K through 12 while $11 billio that's a large amount of money then throwing the the 350 million that's always been promised to the schools.

On top of that, it's just, are we using it wisely at our schools?

And, you know, it's.

Yeah, it's a lot of money, and I get calls and I'm sure you've heard of people.

Well, where's that lottery money going?

Where is, the marijuana money going?

Well, that's about $1 billion of general revenue fund, and we're spending $11 billion in our schools.

So it's a small part of that.

But it all goe into the general Revenue fund.

You know, it leads me then to ask, o course, about higher education.

You know, that there's been major cutbacks, particularly at Western Illinois University.

Do you do you have an issue that you think the brick and mortar universit system, best days are behind it?

Yeah, I'm not sure.

I certainly think it's a, just my personal opinion, a better way to learn instead of online learning.

But some do excel in that, especially in the, the new environment we have.

But, you know, the president, the new president at Western is doing a good job.

And that we can see in our opinion and certainly making some really tough decisions.

And a lot of those decisions are due to fiscal need.

I don't I don't think throwing money a a problem is always the answer.

I'm not a big fan of the new, proposed funding formula, and I think, Representative Swanson can talk about that a little bit, that it's certainly not, complete.

But, I mean, this could be setting us on a path, that is not going to be effective once you star something like the evidence base funding model with K through 12 and you talk about, are we satisfied with it now?

Yeah.

But I don't know that it's necessarily working the way it was necessarily intended to.

So I think it's something you always have to analyze.

It's kind of like a new tax once you get a new tax.

And they say, well, we'll sunset this in ten years then.

No, we know it's never going to go away.

Yeah.

So I've been on the task force on the negotiations, on this.

And it's come a long ways, but it's not soup yet.

There's still a lot of work to do with it.

I think the sponsors of both the House and the Senate a little bit more hopeful.

And many of us are, there are some winners in this, and there are University of Illinois is one of the biggest losers.

And and University of Illinois has half the population of all of our college students.

So if they're not on board, it's going to be tough to get this passed, I think.

But Western Illinois University does pick up some money early on, an increase in their budget, college funding budget.

But it's come in the formulas based upon three different buckets of data one buckets about the one buckets, the, maintenance and operations of the school.

Another bucke is about the institution itself includes salaries.

And then a third bucket is the the research part of that hospital where they contribute or the, the schools where they contribute and research and data then is used to, draw the money for those schools.

And when we look at those three buckets, the middle bucket of the to, of payment to the, the staff and the institution itself, of course, that's the larger budget of those three.

But, we need to keep that money going towards the operations of and maintenance of the school as oppose to throwing it into one bucket.

We need to keep the research or the the classroom sizes an all those into separate buckets.

They're maintained for the schools.

Otherwise we put in one big bucket.

It's going to be a free for all, I'm afraid.

So.

It's it's been a long process.

Like I said, it's not soup yet.

You're minority leader.

It's super majority Democrats in both the House and the Senate.

Not actually your your district borders, Iowa.

And you see, just on the other side of the Mississippi River, Republicans in full control are the are there moves tha the Republicans that are in Iowa that are making that you wish were happening in Illinois?

You take a look at some of the, cutbacks that they have.

They've cut back on, agencies.

They've cut back on, well I think of that, the government, being smaller, but also the DEA requirements and other things that the state of Iowa has been doing.

Are there things that I was doing tha Illinois should be doing better?

Well, one, I mean, just being in the majority is better.

Yeah.

But yeah, I definitely think there's some ideas.

As a matter of fact, I was, having a conversation with representative, Walz from, Tom one or Hans was.

And I said he was talking about, snap and some things that they were doing and, to maximize the best dollars and, and so, yeah, there's definitely some ideas I think we can look in and, and our Democrat governor, has sent, past letters to the agencies.

Hey, look for efficiencies, look for ways to cut your budget.

There's going to be less money.

So this is not a looking for, efficiencies and better use of dollars is not a Republican, issue.

We've had administrations whether it's Obama or Clinton.

Do the same thing.

This is just about the messenger here.

And as a representative of a very rural district, I mean, is that what you're hearing from constituents as well?

Sure.

Yes.

Lower, lower property taxes, less income tax.

You know, the property tax.

It's hard, especially when we look at ou elderly when the senior freeze, is not at the level where they can actually, get a reduction in their taxes because their income now is exceeded, that with the Social Security cost of living increase.

So they're they're resettin that property tax on their home, which is more than it's been since it was froze.

And it's causing problems.

And, you know, and they loo at that price of gas, the $0.32 or 33 whatever right now on the, the gallon of gas, drive over to I when you see a lot of Illinois plates that the the gas pumps filling up, takin advantage of that cheaper gas.

So, yeah, it's it's hard to explain to our colleagues in Chicago that this is going on.

We say that, you know, people go to Iowa to buy groceries, eat a meal and fill their car up with gas, three taxe that are lost in that process.

And it's hard to convince them of that because they don't see it in Chicago.

And Iow stole our ideas with a flat tax.

So they're out of the graduated and now they're not taxing retirement.

So, I mean, we have good ideas and we're able to compete.

And then they take them And then there's no reason to.

So it makes it it does make it difficult.

And I would say Illinois by far, and I think Dan would certainly agree is is in the best position to be one of the best states in the nation.

But, you know because of bad policy, it isn't.

And too many times the, the blunt of property taxes, the cost of the inclines is increases, as is the school boards, those county boards, those townships take the brunt of it, but it's because of mandates coming out of the state capital is causing those increases.

And, you know, we certainly tal to our colleagues about here's another mandate.

This is going to cost money.

Do we really need it?

And they passed it through the chambers.

So it's hard to convince people not to spend money sometimes, sometimes most of the time.

Our thanks to Illinois Hous Minority Leader, Representative Tony Macomber of Savannah and Representative Dan Swanson of Woodhall.

In a moment, a conference designed to make women glow in their career field.

But first, some of the events that will help you kick off the great month of April.

Thanks to visit Quad Cities The Glow conference is coming up April 11th and 12th at the Saint Ambrose University.

Now, Glow stands for growing, leading, and owning the win.

It's designed to help further empower women in the workplace.

And we're joined by one of the people that's involved in the conference, Marcy Ordaz, the executive director of Lift Women's Foundation.

So, Marcy, tell me, why was the Glow conference created?

What is the genesis of this?

Well, the Glow conference was created by Doctor Adrina Wilson.

And the mission was really to be able to empower women with an emphasis on minority women to be able to create a space where we can come together and learn on leadership skills and build together and making sure that women again, with the emphasis on minority women.

We don't typically see other women in leadership spaces and business spaces that we can relate to or recognize.

And so this really creates that space for us to network, to create more relationships and see other leaders in that same space.

I know you have breakout sessions that are great, but you just hit upon the one thing that I think is so critically important and correct me if I'm wrong, is the networking, people supporting one another and building upon that.

That is worth more than anything.

Yes.

Yes.

So we're looking forward to the day.

So the experience that our attendees are going to get, not only from the breakout sessions, but from our keynote speaker, Nicole Salis, and really hearing different aspects of life and how we can apply that in the business world, but also for personal growth.

And there's that undertone of culture built into it.

So these are our guest speakers who have these lived experiences for the cultural lens and to be able to take those and intersect leadership with culture.

And again, just telling that story and creating that space of how we can help support each other in this growth and development.

We're talking about a wide range of, business people, whether they're they're just getting first started.

Entrepreneurs, people who have established businesses, people who want to build their businesses stronger.

How does this work for all those type of people?

Yes.

So we do have a workshop on April 11th, and that is a deeper dive into personal and business growth.

And that will really help the entrepreneur woman at any level.

And it's really because whether you're new or in it already, it's always beneficial to take time, set those goals for the year.

Make sure you have attainable, achievable goals that you can reach out.

And so that's what that session will really dive into on the 11th and then coming into the 12th.

So many of the topics are truly again just across the board for new middle or developed businesses and leaders on knowing how to have things like your financial stability, right, bringing an income, not just bringing it in, really learning and understanding how you can grow it to make sure that you're building a foundation for yourself, for your family, and for your future.

Because it's more than inspiration.

It's some practical knowledge as well, because you can be as inspired as you want and still not necessarily succeed.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And so many of our speakers, just thinking about the list in my mind, some of them I know personally, some of them I don't know.

And I'm excited to hear them speak.

I know the ones that I know personally have had that chance to fail forward.

And so you're not going to come out of this thinking like everything's going to be easy, but really understanding that they have gone through experiences they have had challenges, they faced barriers and are still themselves learning.

And so being able to really emphasize messages like that to the attendees, I think it's going to be phenomenal.

Is there still a big stigma for women operated businesses, let alone minority women operating businesses?

I believe so.

I've had the privilege over the last two years to work directly with entrepreneurs, and most of them that we have supported our minority business owners.

And really, just to hear the challenges for women across the board, the barriers of family, and always, almost always being the caretaker.

And so that is a setback from a financial perspective a lot of times.

So there's many women who don't have their own personal wealth or assets to present for a loan, for example.

It's the capital that is all, but it's capital for everyone.

Yes, yes.

And so knowing that these challenges still exist, but also knowing that there are ways to get through it and there are ways to succeed, I think will be a huge highlight of the day.

Well, the 11th and the 12th.

Well, the Glow conference is relatively new.

So I mean, you're going kind of into unchartered territory.

You didn't know what to expect.

You didn't know who would show up.

Yeah.

What what have you heard from from registrants so far?

I mean, are you surprised by the number of people who have reached out and said, thank you, thank you, thank you?

Yeah, we've got a lot of women.

I've been able to talk to.

A couple who, even want to know is this for me?

And yes, it is for all women in, even though we have said that especially for minority women, it is still for all women.

And it's so important to understand experiences through all of the lenses of the speakers that we're going to have.

Because all of the women are going to walk away with this hopeful take away of personal growth, development, some cases, allyship, and really being able to support each other.

And that really is a key, that the supporting of each other is really important to get your business started and to have a core feeling that you're doing better, but also the understanding that you do have to reach out to a larger public in order to get your business idea to succeed.

Yes.

Yeah.

Especially people that you don't know.

Right.

And knowing that maybe those core friends, your family, you know, of course they're your cheerleaders.

But will that test well in areas that you're not familiar with, women that you're not familiar with.

And so being able to have that networking opportunity open up the conversation with women that you don't know, ask the questions or talk about your business will really give you a new perspective.

A different perspective gets you thinking about things a little bit differently.

And again, the support and knowing not only maybe will they walk away feeling supported, but how can I walk away now and support these other businesses that I didn't know about, or these other leaders that I wasn't familiar with?

So your best pitch?

It is, the Glow conference at Saint Ambrose University, Friday, April 11th are the workshops.

Yeah.

And then a lot of the sessions are Saturday, so that if you can't make it on Friday because of your business, perhaps you can make it on Saturday.

Yeah, Saturday is going to be just as exciting and cross so many more avenues of personal development, growth, leadership and, in a personal sense as well, not just business.

So there's so much that will come out of those sessions that even if you're unable to attend that deep dive for your business, specifically on the 11th, you will still gain opportunity on the 12th.

Our thanks to Marcy Ordaz, the executive director of Lift Women's Foundation.

And once again, the Glow conference is being held at Saint Ambrose University April 12th with a pre-conference workshop offer the day before, and you can get more information at Glow empowerment.org.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on the city's.

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