The effort to encourage more awareness of small and midsized manufacturers’ needs in the Illinois legislature continues to grow.
TMA’s Small and Midsized Manufacturing Caucus, first set into motion two years ago, started its first year with 31 Illinois House members and 23 Illinois House Senate members.
As members retire or choose not to run for re-election, the effort to differentiate between large corporations and manufacturers with less than 500 employees increases in need for education among lawmakers.
TMA members are often owned by families, with generations of knowledge and experience, but struggling to be kept aware of changing state and local policies that can seriously affect their businesses.
With hope of encouraging lawmakers to consider first hand experiences of small amd midsized manufacturers in dealing with legislation being considered, TMA continues to build the SaMM Caucus.
In the past year, with two SaMM Caucus members retiring, nine new members signed on:
- Rep. Harry Benton of Plainfield
- Rep. Anthony DeLuca of Chicago Heights
- Rep.. Jeff Keicher of Sycamore
- Rep. Nicole La Ha of Lemont
- Rep. Joyce Mason of Gurnee
- Rep. Kevin Schmidt of Cahokia Heights
- Sen. Patrick Joyce of Kankakee
- Sen. Julie Morrison of Deerfield
- Sen. Laura Murphy of Des Plaines
The SaMM Caucus will be discussing possible bi-partisan legislation that would help Illinois small and midsize manufacturers over the next few months.
“We are delighted more and more state lawmakers are seeing the need to join the SaMM Caucus and support the all-important sector of manufacturing among those companies with less than 500 employees. They make up a substantial portion of the state’s workforce and create a continued, appreciated resource for Illinois’ economic growth,” said TMA’s lobbyist David Curtin.
For more SaMM Caucus information, see – https://tmanews.com/?s=SAMM+Caucus