The Issues
Education
State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel chairs the Senate Appropriations-Education Committee which ensures Illinois schools are adequately funded. She is proud of this role because as a former special education teacher and Joliet school board member, she understands how vital education is to the success of our communities. Senator Meg Loughran Cappel knows that to guarantee quality education for students, schools need to have the necessary funding and teachers must have the resources and support to succeed in the classroom. That’s why Senator Meg Loughran Cappel is committed to investing in all of our schools and providing $350 million in additional state funding for schools in order to alleviate local property taxes.
Supporting Educators:
Senator Meg Loughran Cappel has passed legislation that allows educators to take excused mental health absences because teachers need to take care of both their physical and mental well-being. Mentorship is critical for our new educators. Having the support of more experienced educators, gives teachers who are new to the field someone to lean on and rely on for support. It is for that reason that Senator Meg Loughran Cappel is working to pass legislation that increases the financial incentive for teachers to become mentors to new educators and counselors.
Supporting All Career Paths
Students should have options that put them on a path to successful careers in whatever field they choose. Senator Meg Loughran Cappel supports creating diverse career pathways for our youth which is why she has brought investment to Joliet Junior College to fund workforce training and development, manufacturing, and electric vehicle technology. By creating more options for students, we are helping them find a career that fits them.
Further highlighting her support of technical careers, Senator Meg Loughran Cappel passed legislation to designate February as Career and Technical Education Month to celebrate Career and Technical Education across the State of Illinois.
Higher education should be accessible to all students. To reduce financial barriers to pursuing higher education, Senator Meg Loughran Cappel supported expanding the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants for Illinois residents who enroll in an approved Illinois college or university. Her hope is to help students and encourage them to become responsible contributing members of society and remain in Illinois.
Promoting Careers In Education
Our schools need educators and there are certainly qualified and passionate people who want to work in our schools. To help with thus, Senator Meg Loughran Cappel passed legislation that makes it easier for a student pursuing higher education to become a certified substitute teacher. This gives higher education students more exposure to working in schools while also helping address the substitute teacher shortage.
Senator Meg Loughran Cappel has also passed legislation that gives teachers bargaining rights throughout Illinois. Teaching is no easy task and educators deserve to feel empowered to ask for the resources and support they need.
Jobs
Senator Meg Loughran Cappel is paving the way to bring new industries and quality jobs to the 49th District while securing funding that will help skilled workers transition to new industries. She believes bringing new industries isn’t only about creating jobs, it’s also about creating new tax revenue sources for the district so that we can prevent hikes in property taxes and new fees.
New Industries
Opportunities for clean energy jobs and industries are coming to the 49th District thanks to the help of Senator Meg Loughran Cappel who supported the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) and passed legislation that lifts the ban on nuclear plant development. Senator Meg Loughran Cappel worked across the aisle to lift the ban on nuclear plant development because it is a promising carbon-free energy source that can generate high skilled and good paying jobs in the 49th district.
Fiscally Responsible Government
Government isn’t a business but it does need to operate in a fiscally responsible manner that prioritizes serving people and communities. During her time as State Senator, Senator Meg Loughran Cappel has helped pass fiscally responsible budgets that have given Illinois seven credit upgrades in under two years.
She will continue working to ensure Illinois stays on track to more credit upgrades and balanced budgets without compromising the quality of life for the people of Illinois.
Resources To Our Municipalities
Thanks to Senator Meg Loughran Cappel’s collaborative spirit, dedication to improving the economic prosperity of our region, and fundamental belief that government should serve the people, the 49th district has secured millions of dollars for improvement projects and funds for townships and municipalities to provide and enhance services to their communities. These include:
Millions for improvements to I-55, which serves as an economic lifeline to the region and will improve safety and accessibility. The improvements are part of a $93 billion dollar capital investment that is projected to have a $181 million annual economic impact and generate $72 million in state and local tax revenue
Nearly $160,000 for Romeoville to support workers impacted by plant or mine retirements through workforce initiatives, housing support, business attraction efforts and more.
$1.2 million to the Village of Shorewood and the Plainfield Township Park District for land acquisition and development for parks and outdoor recreation projects.
$6 million in funding for Will County’s first air traffic control tower at Lewis University Airport, which will increase safety at the airport, benefit airspace in the entire region, provide enhanced training for aviation students at Lewis University, and foster economic opportunity and new transport options in one of the fastest-growing parts of the state.
Supporting Working Families:
Families should not have to choose between putting food on the table or a quality education for their children. That’s why Senator Meg Loughran Cappel has worked hard to prevent any additional fee hikes or increases to property taxes. She voted to freeze the gas tax and suspend the sales tax on groceries to provide direct relief to families, and she will continue looking for ways to alleviate financial hardship on the hardworking families of the 49th District.
Public Safety
Senator Meg Loughran Cappel understands that everyone must feel safe within our communities for our communities to truly thrive. That is why she voted for increased funding for local law enforcement, ensuring that they have the resources and support they need to do their job safely, including funds for body cams to increase accountability and transparency.
Senator Meg Loughran Cappel stays in tune with the needs of our law enforcement through open communication with local law enforcement chiefs. They know that they can come to her with their needs and concerns. She will continue to support our law enforcement and fight for true public safety for all our communities.
Women's Health
As a woman and a mother, Meg knows the importance of a women’s right to privacy to control her own body. That is why Meg will always protect a women’s right to privacy in making her own healthcare decisions no matter what happens at the national level. Deciding who has access to safe and quality healthcare is not the job of government, and Meg will ensure it never becomes the job of government in Illinois.
Fighting Corruption
Meg believes that elected officials should be held to the highest ethical standards just as all other employees are. That is why Meg voted to close the “Revolving Door” loophole, which allowed legislators to become lobbyists immediately after they were no longer an elected official. Meg also voted to impose term limits on legislative leaders to ensure that no one person holds all the power again. Meg will always fight for stronger ethics laws in Springfield to hold all elected officials accountable.
Seniors
Curbing the rising costs of health insurance for seniors and making our Medicare system easier to maneuver is a priority for Senator Meg Loughran Cappel. She knows that rising inflation is cutting into fixed income for seniors. That is why she will continue championing legislation to cut costs for seniors like registration fees and will NEVER vote to raise taxes on retirement income.
Caring for people during the end of their life is not an easy job but it’s an important one. Senator Meg Loughran Cappel wants everyone in Illinois to have access to quality end-of-life care, which is why she is sponsoring legislation that will increase the capacity of hospice residences and expand the number of licensed hospice locations per county from five to 16.
Pensions
As a former teacher and union representative, Meg knows the importance of protecting employee pensions. She understands that a lot of times union members will negotiate against themselves in the present with the guarantee they will be compensated on the back end through their pension. Meg believes that a pension is a promise, and she will always vote to protect that promise.
