Please read this message from Cynthia Kanner, Executive Director of the Prairie State Conservation Coalition, about important legislation being debated tomorrow 3/8/23 in the IL General Assembly:
Dear Prairie State Conservation Coalition Members and Friends:
There is an exciting bill moving through the Illinois legislative process THIS WEDNESDAY 3/8/23 and we appreciate you taking a moment to file a witness slip in SUPPORT of this legislation.
Please broadly share with your organizations’ membership as well if at all possible! The more visible the support for this bill, the likelier it is to make it out of committee. Thank you!
The Illinois Agricultural and Natural Resources Legacy Act will create a state program to provide matching grants for conservation land trusts and local government to allow landowners to voluntarily protect their farmland and associated natural areas through the sale of a permanent farmland conservation easement.
The goal is to allow Illinois to capture its fair share of the BILLIONS of available Federal dollars for farmland conservation. In order to be eligible for these Federal funds, a state or local government must have a local program. Over 30 states have adopted their own version of SB2011/HB2573, but Illinois is currently not equipped to take advantage of these Federal dollars. (See a FACT SHEET here)
The Bill is on committee schedules for the House and Senate THIS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 AT 1 PM and 4 PM. We are asking supporters to:
(1) Fill out Witness Slips for the committee hearings
- This is an online form
- Go to the Links for both HOUSE and SENATE here
- Fill out your name and address
- Make sure you click “Proponent” (in support of)
- Select “Record of Appearance” to note your support on the record
- If you can only do one thing, please fill out the witness slip for the House committee
(2) Contact the committee members and ask them vote YES
Illinois Senate, State Government Committee Members
| Role | Senator | Party |
| Co-Chair : | Patrick J. Joyce | D |
| Vice-Chair : | Willie Preston | D |
| Member: | Michael W. Halpin | D |
| Member: | Meg Loughran Cappel | D |
| Member: | Steve Stadelman | D |
| Member: | Doris Turner | D |
| Co-Chair : | Sally J. Turner | R |
| Member: | Donald P. DeWitte | R |
Illinois House of Representatives, Appropriations – General Services Committee Members
| Role | Representative | Party |
| Chairperson : | Fred Crespo | D |
| Vice-Chairperson : | Kam Buckner | D |
| Republican Spokesperson : | Brad Halbrook | R |
| Member: | Jaime M. Andrade, Jr. | D |
| Member: | Amy Elik | R |
| Member: | Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar | D |
| Member: | Matt Hanson | D |
| Member: | Hoan Huynh | D |
| Member: | Lilian Jiménez | D |
| Member: | Michael J. Kelly | D |
| Member: | Martin McLaughlin | R |
| Member: | Debbie Meyers-Martin | D |
| Member: | Suzanne M. Ness | D |
| Member: | Adam M. Niemerg | R |
| Member: | Kevin Schmidt | R |
(3) Consider submitting a written statement to PSCC
Please share with us and we can hand them out at the committee meetings. Your help to support these upcoming bills is greatly appreciated. Together we can make things happen!
Cynthia Kanner
PSCC Executive Director
Sustainability Studies @ Roosevelt University 
Reblogged this on Schaumburg's Sustainable Future.