ALTON - State Representative Amy Elik recently gave a few updates on her work at the State House of Representatives, as well as what she wants to accomplish during the rest of her session and the great things going on in her district.
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Elik discussed these topics and more on a recent episode of Our Daily Show! On Riverbender.com.
Last Friday, June 9, Elik said she received word that Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed three of her bills into law.
“That’s always exciting, to see the bills that you wrote and that you worked on coming to fruition, and that they were signed and not vetoed, no surprises or anything like that came along."
Among the bills signed was one requiring schools to recognize and celebrate Constitution Day, which she said despite some pushback in the Senate, ultimately passed with bipartisan support - something she seeks for all of her bills. 
“Any of the bills that I do, I’m always going to have bipartisan support on, because that’s just really important and I think it shows that you’re a reasonable person that’s putting forth good legislation that anybody could support,” Elik said.
Another one of Elik’s bills signed by the governor was an extension of a teacher retirement program - while the program isn’t widely used, she said it will help some educators with their retirement and won’t cost taxpayer money as the participants actively buy-in to the program. The third bill Governor Pritzker signed adds clarifying language to one of her previous bills requiring more consistent guidelines for background checks on DCFS transportation drivers.
She added that she has one more bill awaiting a signature, but she expects it to get signed sometime in the next few weeks.
During her next legislative session, Elik said she will work to get passed a bill she’s been working on this summer regarding the “protection of kids in schools from predators that prey on kids and groom kids in schools,” which she said could include teachers, school staff, and volunteers.
Elik said she’s already received plenty of feedback from her constituents and that she’s proud of the things going on in her district.
“What’s really exciting is to share that [progress] with the Governor and the Governor’s Office and with department and agency heads - ‘Hey, we’ve got great things going here, come visit,’” she said. “I will meet with you anytime, anywhere, Republican or Democrat, so that I can showcase what we have to offer.”
She said the economic development of the local area “has been very active” lately and that “there’s a lot going on,” adding that “there are some big things that we can accomplish around here.”
The full interview with Elik can be watched at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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