Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce holds its 2025 state legislative luncheon
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A luncheon was held designed to bring business leaders and state legislators together to discuss local issues.
The 2025 State Legislative Luncheon was hosted by the Peoria Chamber of Commerce from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Monday at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel.
The panel of elected officials included Senator Li Arellano Jr., Senator David Koehler, Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth, and Representative Travis Weaver
The event gave a chance for an off-the-record discussion, so people in attendance could engage with the elected officials and discuss upcoming policies, economic initiatives, and business regulations.
'This event is a crucial platform for fostering meaningful dialogue between lawmakers and business leaders,' Jessica Linder Gallo, the CEO of the Peoria Chamber of Commerce said. 'By facilitating these conversations, we ensure that the voices of Central Illinois businesses are heard and considered in the policymaking process.'
State, local lawmakers discuss priorities at annual Legislative Breakfast
The lawmakers took turns answering questions on pension funding, the Safe-T Act, infrastructure, debt relief, and the 2025 Illinois state budget.
'The reality is, if we don't get serious about paying down our debt, my kids will be on the hook for that. I don't want that. I want to make smart financially sound decisions today so that in 30 years I can have kids who say, why would I go to Tennessee? I live in Illinois. That's what I want to hear them say. Today, They'd be saying the opposite,' said Representative Weaver.
State Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth said the event was a great way to provide transparency about important issues.
'I'm excited to have a real conversation about the things that are most pressing to not just Illinois but most importantly, Peorians and Central Illinoisans. We were able to cover issues from infrastructure to education to taxes to safety, and really doing it in a bipartisan way at times,' she said.
Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jessica Linder Gallo said the conversation was important to the region's economic stability.
'The biggest takeaway that I'm hearing from business owners as they're leaving is knowing that we have good partners in Springfield and in the statehouse. I think the collaboration across the aisle of our legislators here in central Illinois was showcased and their desire and willingness to help businesses and the entire region thrive.' said Gallo.
The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce collaborated with other local chambers to strengthen the conversation.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Turkey to press allies for access to EU defence funds
By Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will press European allies which plan to sharply ramp up their defence spending to ease restrictions that now require most of that money to be spent in the EU, Defence Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters on Wednesday ahead of a NATO meeting. In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler also said Turkey hopes a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Tayyip Erdogan will finally yield progress in lifting U.S. sanctions that expelled Turkey from the F-35 jet programme. Guler said Turkey, which has the second biggest army in NATO after the United States, has advanced capabilities in areas such as drones, which would be valuable to its allies as they plan major new spending on defence. "Allies need to spend not only more, but also smarter – and there is a need for more cooperation than ever before," Guler said when asked about Trump's call on the alliance to ramp up defence spending to target 5% of output. Many European nations have announced plans for major increases in defence spending. The EU itself, driven by fears of a Russian attack and doubts about U.S. security commitments, has approved creating a 150 billion-euro ($170 billion) EU arms fund to boost the defence industry, labelled the SAFE scheme. But it mandates that 65% of projects are funded by firms in the bloc, the broader European Economic Area, or Ukraine. Guler said such restrictions would exclude non-EU countries like Turkey from Europe's defence and security architecture, which he said was "an issue that cannot be discussed only within the EU". Turkey wants to "build the security of the future together" with the EU, and would continue to work with "open-minded and visionary European allies within or outside SAFE," he said, specifically listing drones, air defences, naval systems, armoured vehicles and land platforms, electronic warfare and radar systems, ammunition and rocket systems. Greece, Turkey's longstanding adversary, has demanded Ankara lift a lift a 30-year old war threat over territorial waters to be permitted to access EU defence funds. Guler said such demands were a mistake, amounting to "involving multilateral platforms in bilateral disputes". Ankara's defence cooperation with its NATO allies has been hampered in recent years by U.S. sanctions imposed over a Turkish decision to buy Russian S-400 air defence systems, which resulted in Turkey's expulsion from the U.S.-led F-35 programme as both a buyer and manufacturer of the advanced jets. Erdogan has expressed confidence that Trump, with whom he has good personal ties, will find a solution that relieves Turkey's defence industry of the sanctions. A potential meeting between Erdogan and Trump, and the close ties between them, can "breathe new life" into bilateral defence ties and help lift the sanctions, Guler said. Although Ankara would not give up the S-400s, lifting the sanctions would let it consider returning to the F-35 project, he said. ($1 = 0.8792 euros) (Writing by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Peter Graff)
Axios
12 hours ago
- Axios
"Mad Men" creator debuts new John Wilkes Booth play in Baltimore
The creator of "Mad Men" is behind a new play running in Baltimore about John Wilkes Booth. Why it matters: Matthew Weiner was partly inspired to write his play " John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only!" after watching the Jan. 6 riot unfold and seeing echoes of the same division, violence and anger that led to President Lincoln's assassination, he told the Washington Post. "Booth isn't just a relic. He's a warning," reads a description of the show. "One we still haven't heeded. In this play, past is … prologue." What they're saying:"We spent too much time paying attention to our heroes and not enough time paying attention to our villains," Weiner — a nine-time Emmy winner who also wrote for "The Sopranos" — told the Post. "We do not want to look at them, but they tell us a lot." "[Because] the fact remains that we live in the consequences of what [Booth] did right now in the fact that the Civil War never ended." State of play: Weiner is known for diving into morally complicated characters, which he does in the darkly comedic show as Booth tells his version of the events of his life and his decision to kill Lincoln.
Business Insider
14 hours ago
- Business Insider
Kepler Capital Sticks to Its Buy Rating for Land Securities Group plc REIT (LAND)
Kepler Capital analyst Julian Livingston-Booth maintained a Buy rating on Land Securities Group plc REIT (LAND – Research Report) on June 2 and set a price target of p670.00. The company's shares closed yesterday at p631.50. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter According to TipRanks, Livingston-Booth is a 4-star analyst with an average return of 3.5% and a 57.71% success rate. Livingston-Booth covers the Real Estate sector, focusing on stocks such as British Land Company plc, Land Securities Group plc REIT, and LondonMetric Property. In addition to Kepler Capital , Land Securities Group plc REIT also received a Buy from Bernstein's Marios Pastou in a report issued on May 19. However, yesterday, Goldman Sachs maintained a Hold rating on Land Securities Group plc REIT (LSE: LAND).
