Earning a 100% Pro-Small Business Voting Record

I’m proud to have earned a 100% voting record from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Illinois’s leading small business advocacy organization. I was one of only five state senators to receive a perfect score.

To me, this recognition is about the people who take a chance on opening a business. Whether it’s a pizza shop, hair salon, auto repair shop, family restaurant, or another local business, every one of them represents someone willing to work hard and invest in their community. My job is to make sure Springfield isn’t making that harder.

That’s why I’ve consistently supported legislation to cut unnecessary regulations, push back against costly mandates, reduce legal burdens, address rising energy and health insurance costs, and strengthen workforce development.

The businesses on our Main Streets are absolutely crucial to creating jobs, serving our neighbors, and helping keep our local communities strong.

I’ll continue voting for policies that give Illinois small businesses the opportunity to grow and succeed.

Meeting with the Stephenson County Highway Commissioners Association

I always appreciate the opportunity to meet with the Stephenson County Highway Commissioners Association and spend time with the people who help keep our roads safe and reliable.

During my visit, I shared an update on what happened during this year’s legislative session and talked about several of the issues coming out of Springfield that could affect our communities. The conversation afterward was just as valuable. I was asked thoughtful questions about the challenges facing local roads and infrastructure, and I appreciated hearing the perspective of the people who deal with those issues every day.

Meetings like these are an important reminder that the best ideas don’t always come from the Capitol. They come from the people doing the work and serving their communities. Hearing directly from local leaders helps me better represent the 45th Senate District and advocate for practical solutions in Springfield.

Thank you to the Stephenson County Highway Commissioners Association for the conversation, and everything you do for our communities.

Winnebago County Tornado After-Action Report

This spring’s tornadoes tested our communities in ways none of us will soon forget. While the damage was significant, they also brought out the very best in the people of Winnebago County.

I’m pleased to share Winnebago County’s After-Action Report, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at how first responders, emergency managers, local governments, utility crews, healthcare providers, nonprofits, volunteers, and countless others came together to respond and recover. It also highlights the lessons learned that will help strengthen our preparedness for future emergencies.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to read the report.

Most importantly, I want to thank everyone who answered the call. To our law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, highway departments, ComEd crews, public works employees, volunteers, businesses, faith-based organizations, and neighbors who donated their time and resources—your compassion and commitment made an incredible difference. Our community is stronger because of you.

Read the full report here.

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I’m pleased to share Winnebago County’s After-Action Report, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at how first responders, emergency managers, local governments, utility crews, healthcare providers, nonprofits, volunteers, and countless others came together to respond and recover. It also highlights the lessons learned that will help strengthen our preparedness for future emergencies.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to read the report.

Most importantly, I want to thank everyone who answered the call. To our law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, highway departments, ComEd crews, public works employees, volunteers, businesses, faith-based organizations, and neighbors who donated their time and resources—your compassion and commitment made an incredible difference. Our community is stronger because of you.

Read the full report here.

The post Winnebago County Tornado After-Action Report appeared first on Andrew Chesney.

During my visit, I shared an update on what happened during this year’s legislative session and talked about several of the issues coming out of Springfield that could affect our communities. The conversation afterward was just as valuable. I was asked thoughtful questions about the challenges facing local roads and infrastructure, and I appreciated hearing the perspective of the people who deal with those issues every day.

Meetings like these are an important reminder that the best ideas don’t always come from the Capitol. They come from the people doing the work and serving their communities. Hearing directly from local leaders helps me better represent the 45th Senate District and advocate for practical solutions in Springfield.

Thank you to the Stephenson County Highway Commissioners Association for the conversation, and everything you do for our communities.

The post Meeting with the Stephenson County Highway Commissioners Association appeared first on Andrew Chesney.

To me, this recognition is about the people who take a chance on opening a business. Whether it’s a pizza shop, hair salon, auto repair shop, family restaurant, or another local business, every one of them represents someone willing to work hard and invest in their community. My job is to make sure Springfield isn’t making that harder.

That’s why I’ve consistently supported legislation to cut unnecessary regulations, push back against costly mandates, reduce legal burdens, address rising energy and health insurance costs, and strengthen workforce development.

The businesses on our Main Streets are absolutely crucial to creating jobs, serving our neighbors, and helping keep our local communities strong.

I’ll continue voting for policies that give Illinois small businesses the opportunity to grow and succeed.

The post Earning a 100% Pro-Small Business Voting Record appeared first on Andrew Chesney.

“Every pizza shop, hair salon, auto repair store, family restaurant, and small business starts with someone willing to take a risk. My job is to make sure Springfield isn’t standing in their way,” Senator Chesney said. “The people who take that risk deserve a state that’s on their side, and that’s exactly how I’ll continue voting.”

Senator Chesney was one of just five state senators to receive a perfect NFIB voting record. He supported legislation to reduce regulations on employers, oppose costly mandates, protect businesses from expanded legal liability, lower compliance burdens, fight higher energy and health insurance costs, and strengthen workforce development opportunities for Illinois job creators.

“Small business owners appreciate Senator Chesney’s stance on issues impacting their businesses,” said NFIB Illinois State Director Noah Finley. “Senator Chesney understands that small businesses serve a vital role in our communities as neighbors, job creators, and investors and has fought back against special interests that want to burden Main Street businesses with higher taxes and more red tape.”

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Hope you had a great Independence Day! For 250 years, our nation has stood strong as a beacon of freedom and an example to the entire world of what is possible when people are truly free. The United States owns the finish line. Nobody does it better.

As a proud American from Northwest Illinois, I wake up every single day grateful for the blessings of this nation. I can speak freely about the issues that matter most. I can vote for leaders who represent my values. And I can thrive under the best system ever created: a government that allows us to chase the American Dream under a capitalist system that rewards hard work and competition.

There is no better place on Earth.

But for far too many on the liberal and progressive left, that is not how they see it. In fact, it often feels like they flat-out hate the country they live in. I am talking about today’s Democrat Party.

This is not just rhetoric. Scroll through social media for a few seconds and you will see liberals kneeling during the national anthem, mocking our athletes at the World Cup and the Olympics, or refusing to hang an American flag in their front yard. The numbers back it up. A recent Gallup poll on pride in being American showed that 93 percent of Republicans are proud to be American, compared with a dismal 27 percent of Democrats. The same poll asked about displaying the American flag outside their homes. Nearly 70 percent of Republicans said yes, while only 26 percent of Democrats did. Many of these people do not like America. How wrong and misguided they are.

A prime example sits right here in Illinois: Governor J.B. Pritzker. One of the signature events celebrating America’s 250th was the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a showcase of all 50 states and territories. Illinois should have been front and center. Instead, Pritzker chose not to have our state participate. He offered no real explanation, but we all know why. It does not appeal to his radical, far-left base. That is not leadership. It is pandering to the un-American fringe.

And with the disturbing rise of communism or so-called “democratic socialism” in this country, it is only getting worse. Under Pritzker’s watch, we are inching closer to the People’s Republic of Illinois. Sky-high taxes, crime without consequences, open borders, and government mandates that crush small businesses and families throughout Illinois.

This stands in total opposition to everything our founders fought for. They risked their lives for liberty, self-reliance, and limited government. Democrats reward dependency, punish success, and apologize for American greatness at every turn. They have turned Illinois into a cautionary tale: record budgets with massive tax hikes, failed schemes to soak the productive, SAFE-T Act insanity that endangers our police and communities, and policies that drive tens of thousands of residents and billions in income out of our state.

As we mark this historic 250th anniversary, the contrast could not be clearer. Real patriots fly the flag, teach our kids the truth about our exceptional nation, back the blue, secure our borders, cut taxes, and defend the Constitution. Democrats tear it all down in the name of so-called “progress.”

Here in the 45^th Illinois Senate District, we reject the Democrat agenda. We stand unapologetically for the America that won wars, landed on the moon, beat back communism, and gave more people more opportunity than any society in human history. The 250th is not just a celebration. It is a battle cry. It is time to reject the un-American left and restore the shining city on a hill our founders envisioned.

God bless America.

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I Stand with Our Daughters: Supreme Court Crushes Pritzker’s Radical Gender Agenda

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state laws protecting women’s sports from “transgender women”/biological males, and it delivered a long-overdue reality check to Governor Pritzker and his radical woke allies. Their dangerous fantasy that biological males belong in girls’ and women’s sports has finally been crushed by the highest court in the land.

For years, Illinois Democrats have pushed this insane ideology that puts political correctness over basic biology and the safety of our daughters. Biological males have clear physical advantages — greater strength, muscle mass, speed, and endurance — that make a mockery of fair competition. Enough is enough.

I’m calling on Governor Pritzker to stop subjecting Illinois families to his extreme gender agenda and immediately support my bill, SB 3724, the Gender in Athletics Act. This legislation protects female athletes by requiring biological sex, not radical gender ideology, to determine eligibility in sports. It bans males from girls’ and women’s teams and gives parents and students a fast-track process to fight back.

I stand proudly with women and girls across northwest Illinois to defend fairness and end this woke insanity. While Pritzker happily sells out our female athletes to appease his radical leftist base, I will always fight to protect real women and restore common sense in sports.

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Cases Against AR-15 and Assault Weapons Bans

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear major challenges to bans on AR-15-style rifles, including Cook County’s assault weapons ban. The consolidated cases could deliver a serious blow to Governor Pritzker’s 2023 gun control law that targets law-abiding citizens across our state.

Radical Democrats like Pritzker have spent years trampling the Second Amendment. They push unconstitutional restrictions on commonly owned firearms while violent criminals ignore every law already on the books. Their real goal isn’t public safety — it’s disarming honest, law-abiding citizens in Illinois who want to exercise their constitutional rights.

I have always stood strong with law-abiding gun owners. These broad bans do nothing to stop real criminals and everything to erode our God-given rights as Americans.

The Supreme Court now has the chance to restore the Constitution and reject these radical power grabs. I will keep working in the Senate to protect our Second Amendment rights and shut down Pritzker’s anti-gun agenda for good.

Another Major Business Flees Illinois: True Value Heads to Indiana

Another major business is leaving Illinois. Do it Best Group just announced it is moving True Value’s headquarters from Chicago to Fort Wayne, Indiana. This comes after True Value, a longtime Chicago institution, was acquired following bankruptcy.

This is the latest in a long line of high-profile departures — Caterpillar, Boeing, Morton Salt, Citadel, and many more. Illinois is bleeding jobs and taxpayers because Governor Pritzker and his radical allies have created a toxic business climate of sky-high taxes, crushing regulations, and reckless spending.

Hardworking families and communities in Illinois are paying the price as opportunities vanish and our economy suffers. Democrats’ big-government policies drive up costs and make it nearly impossible for businesses to stay and grow here.

We should be a state where businesses want to invest and expand, not flee. Until Pritzker and his supermajority stop their tax-and-spend addiction and start making Illinois competitive again, more companies and jobs will continue heading for the exits. It’s time for real change before it’s too late.

Supreme Court Disappoints on Birthright Citizenship – Illinois Taxpayers Lose Again

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a disappointing decision upholding birthright citizenship. I stand with President Trump. Birthright citizenship is completely destructive and extremely costly. Giving the children of illegal immigrant’s full citizenship benefits is absolute insanity and a betrayal of American sovereignty.

It is especially outrageous here in Illinois, where Democrats bend over backwards to placate to illegals with our taxpayer dollars. Just look at our most recent budget, which handed over a massive $150 million chunk to them while hardworking Illinois families struggle under crushing taxes and failing services.

We cannot keep rewarding illegal immigration at the expense of American citizens. This policy encourages more illegal crossings, overwhelms our schools, hospitals, and welfare systems, and undermines the rule of law. Democrats in Springfield repeatedly put illegal immigrants ahead of our own people.

It is time to end this madness and put American citizens first. Illinois cannot afford to keep subsidizing open borders with our hard-earned tax dollars.

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It is especially outrageous here in Illinois, where Democrats bend over backwards to placate to illegals with our taxpayer dollars. Just look at our most recent budget, which handed over a massive $150 million chunk to them while hardworking Illinois families struggle under crushing taxes and failing services.

We cannot keep rewarding illegal immigration at the expense of American citizens. This policy encourages more illegal crossings, overwhelms our schools, hospitals, and welfare systems, and undermines the rule of law. Democrats in Springfield repeatedly put illegal immigrants ahead of our own people.

It is time to end this madness and put American citizens first. Illinois cannot afford to keep subsidizing open borders with our hard-earned tax dollars.

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This is the latest in a long line of high-profile departures — Caterpillar, Boeing, Morton Salt, Citadel, and many more. Illinois is bleeding jobs and taxpayers because Governor Pritzker and his radical allies have created a toxic business climate of sky-high taxes, crushing regulations, and reckless spending.

Hardworking families and communities in Illinois are paying the price as opportunities vanish and our economy suffers. Democrats’ big-government policies drive up costs and make it nearly impossible for businesses to stay and grow here.

We should be a state where businesses want to invest and expand, not flee. Until Pritzker and his supermajority stop their tax-and-spend addiction and start making Illinois competitive again, more companies and jobs will continue heading for the exits. It’s time for real change before it’s too late.

The post Another Major Business Flees Illinois: True Value Heads to Indiana appeared first on Andrew Chesney.

Radical Democrats like Pritzker have spent years trampling the Second Amendment. They push unconstitutional restrictions on commonly owned firearms while violent criminals ignore every law already on the books. Their real goal isn’t public safety — it’s disarming honest, law-abiding citizens in Illinois who want to exercise their constitutional rights.

I have always stood strong with law-abiding gun owners. These broad bans do nothing to stop real criminals and everything to erode our God-given rights as Americans.

The Supreme Court now has the chance to restore the Constitution and reject these radical power grabs. I will keep working in the Senate to protect our Second Amendment rights and shut down Pritzker’s anti-gun agenda for good.

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