May 20, 2013

State Representative Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) presents “Property Taxes in Kendall County, Understanding the Assessment Process.”

State Representative Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) and House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) today advanced House Resolution 169 in the Illinois House, urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to revisit their recent decision to drop wrestling from the Olympic Games.

“Wrestling plays an important role in Illinois communities and provides our youth the opportunity to learn valuable life skills through discipline, strength, and hard work,” said Cross. “I remain hopeful that the International Olympic Committee will reverse its decision to eliminate wrestling from the Olympics.”

“Wrestling is an Olympic tradition dating back to the very first Olympic Games. Today, hundreds of thousands of student athletes here and across the country wrestle, many with dreams of participating in the Olympics. The Olympic Committee needs to continue to inspire young athletes’ dreams, not stifle them,” Representative Hatcher said. Continue reading »

Fox Valley property tax bills will be arriving in the mail soon. Before the first installment is due, State Representatives Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) and Pam Roth (R-Morris) invite local homeowners to a seminar to learn how the property tax assessment process works and how they can appeal their property tax bill.

The Seminar, Understanding and Appealing Your Property Tax Bill, will be held on Saturday, May 11th, 9:00am to Noon at the Yorkville Public Library located at 902 Game Farm Road in Yorkville. Presentations will include how the assessment process works, how property tax bills are compiled, and what steps homeowners can take to appeal if they believe they are being charged in error.

“Property taxes are a big part of every homeowner’s annual budget. It’s important to understand how local and county officials arrive at the figures on your bill, and what options you have to appeal if you believe a mistake has been made. That’s the focus of our seminar,” Representative Hatcher said. Continue reading »

 State Representatives Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) and Tom Cross (R-Oswego) today announced that Fox Valley residents will benefit from local road, mass transit and airport improvements included in the state’s six-year transportation construction program.

“The Fox Valley continues to be one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Our transportation infrastructure absolutely must keep pace with our growing communities,” Rep. Hatcher said. “These needed upgrade projects and the jobs they provide are all good news for local families.”

“Not only will this provide vital road and highway improvements, it will also create jobs in our communities,” added Cross. “These projects will ultimately improve the safety and quality of life of our residents.” Continue reading »

Legislation advancing in the General Assembly will help protect local businesses from losing business due to disruptive road construction projects. State Representative Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) says she worked with local business owners to draft the new protections when a recent, lengthy construction project created customer confusion and a significant drop in area small business revenues.

“The disruption to local businesses created by the recent improvement work at Routes 47 and 64 really highlighted the need for some new guidelines. I met and spoke with several local small business owners about the dramatic impact the construction was having on their businesses, and what we may be able to do to help. I also held hearings that allowed I-DOT to better understand local business frustration with the construction process,” Representative Hatcher said. “There’s no question that road repair and improvements are necessary especially in a growing area like ours; but we certainly need to take into account the disruption that will create for local businesses and do everything we can to minimize the impact.” Continue reading »

Stressing that the Illinois General Assembly this year faces its most difficult budget challenges in generations, State Representative Kay Hatcher is pushing for passage of a new, effective Constitutional Amendment that will require lawmakers to pass a budget that is truly balanced – or not be paid. Rep. Hatcher is also inviting area residents to join in the effort by visiting her website and adding their names to her petition.

“Our state Constitution requires us to pass a ‘balanced’ state budget each and every year. But over the years some General Assemblies and Governors have employed creative accounting to make budgets appear balanced on paper when they really weren’t; and we’ve all seen the catastrophic results – skyrocketing debt and $9 billion in bills we can’t pay,” Hatcher said. “We need to get serious about passing budgets that are truly balanced by implementing serious consequences for failing to do so.” Continue reading »

Victims of traffic fatalities involving impaired and distracted drivers may continue to be honored in roadside memorials if legislation sponsored by Rep. Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) and House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R- Oswego) continues to advance.

House Bill 2372 would re-enact the fatal accident memorial marker program, which sunset on December 31, 2012. The Roadside Memorial Act raises awareness of the dangers of reckless driving while allowing families an opportunity to remember the victims of crashes involving reckless drivers. Continue reading »

State Representative Kay Hatcher today said she was very disappointed in Governor Quinn’s budget priorities, noting that the Governor wants to increase overall spending while inflicting severe cuts to funding for suburban and downstate schools.

Rep. Hatcher (R-Yorkville) said the Governor’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2014 spends $1.9 billion more than the current year’s budget framework.

“As we did last year, the House has begun our budget process by setting a revenue total we expect to bring in. For 2014 we’re expecting about one billion dollars in new, additional revenue. We need to live within that framework, remembering that we also will have one billion dollars in additional pension obligations in the coming year,” Hatcher explained. “Today, the Governor proposed nearly two billion dollars in additional spending- that’s almost double the amount of new revenue that will be available.” Continue reading »

The buzz has begun about this spring’s Senior Spelling Bee, hosted by State Representative Kay Hatcher. This year’s Bee will on Friday, April 26^th at the Oswego Senior Center.

“Each year I host an event so mature adults in our area can show off their ‘spelling smarts’ and each year it gets more competitive and more fun,” Rep. Hatcher said. “We move the event throughout the district. Two years ago we were in Yorkville and last year we were in Sugar Grove. I’m hoping to find a great spot in Elburn next year.” Continue reading »

With continued high unemployment and billions of dollars in unpaid bills, Governor Quinn focused his State of the State speech today largely on gun control and social issues, State Representative Kay Hatcher said. Hatcher (R-Yorkville) says she was disappointed by the Governor’s misplaced priorities.

“With billions in unpaid bills, an unprecedented one billion dollar pension payment looming and families throughout the state looking for work, what we needed to hear today was the Governor’s vision for stabilizing our economy and creating opportunity. What we heard instead was his wish list on a variety of social issues,” Hatcher said. Continue reading »