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The three downstate legislators presented the Governor's staff,
outside his office in the Capitol, with stacks of power bills from
all over the state. This was the latest attempt by downstate
legislators to call on the Governor to take a lead on this issue.
Sen. Jones asked that the public begin to send copies of their power
bills to the Governor. "My office has been getting these bills for
two months now and every bill has been forwarded to Springfield. We
ask that the citizens begin to take this issue directly to the
Governor because he is the only one that will be able to convene a
meeting to provide relief to the consumers of Southern Illinois,"
Jones said.
People traveled from points in central, western, and southeastern
Illinois to meet with the Governor to discuss the skyrocketing
electric rates. Citizens who came to "Bring Your Power Bill to the
Governor" Day March 7 were turned away a security official who
stated that the Governor was only available to meet with those that
had appointments.
Debbie Smith, of the Edwards County Housing Authority, stated, "It
is just the Ameren customers that are feeling the pain. We hope that
the Chicago Leadership will feel the same pain as we have. We have
now had to install a kilowatt per hour overage fee on our residents
because we must try and maintain our costs."
Sen. Risinger stated, "I appreciate all the people who took time
from their busy schedules to come to the Capitol and give us their
power bills. This issue is obviously quite important. While we did
not have a chance to meet with the Governor, I think he will get the
message. We hope he will get engaged in the process to bring
much-needed relief to utility consumers."
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 Deanna Mitchell, also representing a local housing authority,
noted, "Electric rates have contributed to staff cuts. The future of
the Richland County Housing authority is so uncertain, what further
costs we are going to face if Ameren decides to raise the rates
further?"
Sen. Brady said, "Today we were pleased to have a number of
citizens come to Springfield and try to visit the Governor to
attempt to come up with a compromise. I was upset that the Governor
gave it barely ‘half a phrase' today in his speech. This is the most
important issue affecting us today and his lack of leadership is
pathetic. The Governor of the State of Illinois should call a
special session to bring about the solution."
Sen. Jones was not surprised by the reaction of the Governor.
"Apparently letters, e-mails, phone calls and even citizens will not
sway this Governor into action. This Governor has shown no
leadership to provide utility customers relief. When will he come to
the table and begin dialogue with us?" Jones said.
Citizens can send copies of their bills, with personal
information obscured, to Office of the Governor, 207 State House,
Springfield, IL 62701 (fax: 217-524-4049).
[Text copied from news release sent
on behalf of
Sen. Bill Brady and received
from Illinois
Senate Republican staff]
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