SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) received the “Lawmaker of the Year” award for his support of the soil and water conservation districts in Illinois and his leadership in preserving natural resources for future generations. 

Bennett, who chairs the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, was recognized at The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ (AISWCD) 71^st Annual Meeting & Summer Training Conference in Springfield this week.

“I have tremendous respect for local soil and water conservation boards,” Bennett said. “They have an important and challenging mission of protecting and educating the public and safeguarding our state’s natural resources. The work that they do not only enhances agricultural operation, but it also improves the ecological health of our farms, our water and our environment.”

The AISWCD is a grass roots organization that provides locally-driven solutions to natural resource concerns at both the rural and urban settings. For decades, AISWCD has worked with agricultural as well as environment stakeholders to protect and sustain the viability of Illinois’ natural resources for future generations. They provide legislative advocacy, public outreach, grant support, and training and development programs to enable soil and water conservation districts in Illinois to serve their communities.

This past session, Bennett partnered with Illinois Department of Agriculture Director John Sullivan to address the issue of farm chemic runoff polluting Illinois waterways. Senate Resolution 52 calls for further steps in a plan to protect water quality by limiting nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from agricultural operations – nutrients with important beneficial effects in farming but with potentially harmful environmental consequences. The effort to protect water quality in Illinois ultimately would benefit the Mississippi River environment all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, where nutrient runoff has contributed to a dead zone.

“Soil and water conservation districts provide a wide range of valuable services to communities, landowners, farmers and local municipalities,” Bennett said. “I look forward to continuing my work in Springfield to ensure that current laws are brought up to date to support this important work, to create opportunities for future projects and to support all that AISWCD does to protect our essential land and water resources.”

CHAMPAIGN – State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) joined Governor JB Pritzker at the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus today to talk about the urgently needed improvements to facilities the governor recently signed into law.

Dubbed “Rebuild Illinois,” the capital construction plan invests $2.9 billion to support Illinois’ nine universities and 50 community colleges, in addition to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.

“A lack of investment and a two-year budget impasse were devastating to our public university and community college system in Illinois,” Bennett said, who sits on the Senate Higher Education Committee. “I’m glad to see that Gov. Pritzker is committed to making the University of Illinois and our state leaders in higher education.”

The capital plan includes funding for long-overdue facilities maintenance and curricular programs for the University of Illinois, and funding for the Math, Statistics and Data Science Collaborative Facility and the Quantum Information Science and Technology Center at the Urbana-Champaign campus.

“I’ve always believed that higher education is the best and smartest investment that a state can make,” Bennett said. “After years of cuts to higher education, we now have a promising plan to bring fiscal stability and certainty back to the University of Illinois.”

DANVILLE – State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) is hosting a free senior technology workshop on Thursday, June 20 at Senior Source Danville from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Representatives from AT&T will be available to assist with smart phones and tablets, go over internet security and app safety measures, provide demonstrations and answer questions.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for seniors to learn how to better utilize their devices to connect with their friends and loved ones,” Bennett said. “I encourage those interested to come and receive one-on-one assistance on how to access and use technology.”

The event will be held at Senior Source Danville, a community resource center and meeting space that provides opportunity for seniors to engage more actively throughout the greater Danville community.

Attendees are encouraged to bring devices. To register, please visit www.seniorsourcedanville.com/upcoming-events or call (21) 274-7239.