Macon Reporter

State Rep. Sue Scherer (D-Decatur) is urging her constituents to donate to a winter clothing drive.

Scherer posted a link on Facebook promoting the Northeast Community Fund. The charity is accepting donations of sweaters, jeans and coats Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 839 N. MLK Jr. Drive Decatur.

Scherer also announced the state paid off the balance of its $302 million owed to the U.S. Department of Treasury on a $2.175 billion Federal Reserve Municipal Liquidity Facility loan due in December 2023.

“Working hard for the people,” the Macon Reporter reports she posted to Facebook. “Illinois paid off our Fed Reserve loan early and saved us $82 million in interest. Now we’re talkin’ fiscal responsibility.”

State officials have established they took out the loan to help stabilize the state economy during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state borrowed $3.2 billion from the federal government through a program that Congress instituted under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, to help states that saw dramatic declines in revenue during the peak of the pandemic.

“Repaying the federal government is an important step in our efforts to ensure the state remains on sound fiscal footing,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. “The General Assembly has been a critical partner in utilizing the federal dollars to help the most vulnerable get through the pandemic. I also credit the comptroller in strategically managing cash flow in these trying times.”

While the money was scheduled to be paid off in three installments by 2023, Pritzker said the state’s recent economic performance and stronger-than-expected revenue growth paved the way for state officials to be able to pay off the entire balance sooner than expected.

The Sangamon Sun has reported Scherer is working on luring and retaining teachers amid a statewide shortage. Scherer recently posted to Facebook, “we have to do everything possible to get more teachers and keep those we have."

Scherer is sponsoring a bill that would eliminate certain requirements that are considered to be restrictive, such as the requirement for teachers to pass performance tests, known in the state as EDTPAs.

The bill now sits in the House Rules Committee awaiting further review.

Scherer also recently applauded a plan that would see Decatur become home to a zero-emissions power plant that is expected to be capable of generating 280 megawatts of relatively carbon-neutral power through the capture of carbon produced in the combustion of natural gas.

According to WAND, The Broadwing Clean Energy Complex would be a joint effort between Archer Daniels Midland and 8 Rivers Capital LLC. The plant is planned to make use of ADM’s carbon capture and storage system to store carbon a mile and a half underground.

“I constantly work to bring more jobs to my district! This is huge!” Scherer said of the planned power plant in an April 18 post on her Facebook page.