Kankakee Times

Rep. Thomas M. Bennett wants to talk about the issues and challenges in education.

In a Jul. 31 Facebook post, Bennett shared his meeting with school and ROE superintendents.

“Glad to be at Baby Bulls in Pontiac to meet with several school superintendents and ROE Superintendents in our district to talk about several education issues and challenges!" Bennett said. "Thank you Amanda Elliott from ISBE for coming! She is a wealth of information and insights! Great discussion! Excellent questions! Thank you for all you do for education, our children, teachers, staff and the community!"

In the June 28 primary, Bennett ran unopposed in the Republican race for District 106 according to the Peoria Journal Star.

Bennett recently discussed the unemployment issue the state is facing. He spoke about the declining rate of unemployment since the lockdown was lifted. In a Monday Facebook post, Bennett recapped the week's news, including unemployment figures. 

In a video posted to his Facebook page, Bennett made this statement: "The unemployment picture has been gradually improving since the lifting of the lockdown. The latest report gave us a look at how the different regions of the state are doing. In our part of the state, unemployment was down in the areas around Bloomington and Champaign and Peoria, but it was up slightly in the Kankakee area, and Danville was unchanged compared to where things stood one year ago. The region with the biggest gain was the area around Chicago and the suburbs and the Quad Cities area also did well overall the unemployment rate in Illinois went down by 1.6% from a year ago."

He has also commended the leadership at Safe Journeys. "Glad for the opportunity to visit (Executive Director) Susan Bursztynsky … at Safe Journeys in Streator," Bennet wrote on Facebook. "Safe Journeys assist victims and children of domestic violence. Thank you Susan, Josh and your entire team for all you do to help families put their lives back together! God Bless you!"