House Republican Leader Tom Cross
Illinois families are facing tough challenges each day.
They're not always the ones you hear about on the news -- whether we should privatize the lottery or reduce pension payments. The big challenges facing Illinois families are how they are going to afford to send their child to college or if their job is going to keep pace with rising property taxes.
Real day issues are affecting real families. And only through real change can we begin to address these issues.
Illinois' greatest natural resource is the ingenuity and thoughtfulness of its 13 million residents. We believe the most effective way to address the critical issues facing Illinois is to use this natural resource to develop innovative new approaches to solving age-old problems.
We are looking for new, innovative ideas. Failed policies of the past, closed door deal making and legislation from special interest groups have created a culture of cynicism and disengagement. Illinois will not move forward until government re-engages people in the process. We need real discussion and real debate driven from innovative ideas from real people-from all 102 counties of Illinois.
No one person or party has the market cornered on ideas. Every citizen, every legislator has ideas on how to improve Illinois. We need to share these ideas and create a real "marketplace of ideas" where all Illinois residents have an opportunity to share ideas with lawmakers.
The Illinois House of Representatives is your house-- "The People's House". 118 members are elected every two years to serve the citizens of Illinois. It is the pledge of the 52 members of the House Republican Caucus that we will listen to your ideas and take many of them to floor of the Illinois House of Representatives for debate and discussion.
No secret agendas. No smoke and mirrors. No more partisan politics at the expense of progress.
Our shared vision will be implemented through your ideas. To help craft this agenda, we have established www.102illinoisideas.com, a website for all of us to share ideas, debate issues and submit ideas and keep up to date with our progress. This is a website for you to interact directly with lawmakers and tell us what can be done to make your family's life better. It is an opportunity for you to make a real difference.
We will keep you updated on our progress and let you know how you can help along the way. But right now, we need your ideas. See you at www.102illinoisideas.com
Change begins with you.