South West Illinois News

State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) is encouraging her supporters to come to a chicken dinner campaign fundraiser in Du Quoin on Feb. 27.

“I hope you can join us for some good food and fellowship,” Bryant recently tweeted.

Tickets are $25, and sponsorship levels range from $500 to $10,000. Children under 12 eat for free. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Du Quoin American Legion Hall.

Bryant recently launched her re-election campaign in the newly drawn 58th District by reminding voters of of her conservative stances.

“The people of the 58th district deserve a Senator with a strong conservative record,” Bryant said in a post to Facebook. “My record as state senator reflects my pro-growth, pro-jobs, limited government philosophy. I’ve stood strong against what I think are executive overreaches and I’ve taken JB Pritzker to task for his failed handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Bryant was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2014, and was then elected to the Illinois Senate in 2020.

Along with blasting Pritzker over his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, Bryant has assailed him for what she sees as his mangled distribution of state unemployment benefits, arguing his actions led to even more hardship and suffering for residents across the state.

“The Governor’s lack of engagement with the legislature in managing the COVID-19 pandemic amount to the actions of an out-of-control chief executive and people are sick of it,” she said.

Bryant was recently appointed to the newly created Nonprofit Electric Generation Task Force, which aims to investigate carbon capture and debt financing options for the Prairie State Energy Campus in Marissa.

“Prairie State is a vital economic driver that employs more than 600 permanent, full-time workers and stimulates an additional 800 jobs within Southern Illinois,” she said. “Without Prairie State, 180 different communities would lose access to cheap and affordable electricity that provides power to more than 2.5 million families and businesses.”

The Nonprofit Electric Generation Task Force has been charged with investigating the technical and financial options to install carbon capture, sequestration, and direct air capture systems at the Prairie State Energy Campus, as well as evaluating the existing regulatory construct and legislative support mechanisms needed to reduce carbon at the facility. The members of the Task Force will be responsible for preparing and filing a report of their findings to the General Assembly and Governor.