Rep. Kay Hatcher Talks to Montgomery Chamber

State Rep. Kay Hatcher gave local business leaders a glimpse at her life in Springfield on Tuesday. And along the way, she advocated term limits for state legislative leaders, and said the state needs to completely restructure how it deals with business incentives.

Hatcher, a Republican, lives in Yorkville, and represents the 50th District. She is currently running for a second term, in a district that barely resembles the one she was first elected to, thanks to the recent redistricting. The new 50th stretches from Yorkville north along Route 47, touching parts of Montgomery, Batavia and Geneva. 

Hatcher was a guest on Tuesday at the Greater Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce’s monthly member luncheon, held at on Route 25. She began by giving a brief overview of her first three years in office, beginning with her first ever vote—to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Since then, she said, the state has passed a capital plan (for the first time in a decade), expanded the Freedom of Information Act, passed tougher drunken driving laws, created a transparency and accountability database online, enacted a “silver alert” for missing seniors, passed civil unions, abolished the death penalty, enacted an income tax, and passed ethics reforms, among other things.

And, she said, the state legislature approached the budget in a bipartisan way “for the first time in 10 years.” She said both Democrats and Republicans balked at Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to spend $1.5 billion more than the state expected to take in, so they set to cutting, and ended up with a budget that evens out revenue and expenses.

Next year, Hatcher said, the state will likely spend $4 billion more than this year on pensions and Medicaid expenses, so the same process will take place, but it will be “more intensive and harder.”

“Illinois is going through a financial and ethical tsunami, there’s no other way to put it,” she said. “Hold on to your lifeboat, because there’s more to come.”

One thing that would help, she said, is term limits for leadership positions. She did not specifically name Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, but said, “The same person has decided who wins and loses in this state for decades.” She said she has seen legislation that would “turn this state around in three months” left to languish in committee, never called to the House floor for a vote.

She also mentioned legislation she has supported that would demand any bill with 70 supporters be called for a vote. “Of course,” she sighed, “we can’t get that bill called.”

One Chamber member asked about the tax breaks the state passed in December to keep Sears in the state, after which the company announced its plan to close roughly 100 stores. Hatcher said the bill was sweetened before the vote—she described it as a “Christmas tree, with presents for everyone”—and said the state needs to completely overhaul its incentive program.

Despite the need she sees for reform, Hatcher said she enjoys her job. She said about 95 percent of what the state legislature does improves quality of life, and passes nearly unanimously. And the Fox Valley contingent, she said, works together well.

“The six months we spend in Springfield each year gets all the attention,” she said. “But what we do here every day… we solve problems every day quietly, to help people make their lives better.”

Hatcher will face Democrat Andrew Bernard in November, as she seeks a second term.

The Montgomery Chamber’s next luncheon is set for Feb. 28, at in Boulder Hill.