Underwood speaks at Sun City

Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois’ 14th Congressional District came to Sun City on October 18 for what was advertised as a “meet and greet” that would include time for resident questions and answers.

Attendees were required to scan their Sun City ID cards to be admitted.

Underwood, who was introduced by Ken Kalscheur of the sponsoring Civics Committee, was met by a less than half-full ballroom. In his introduction Kalscheur announced Underwood’s appointments to the House of Representative’s Veteran Affairs and Appropriations Committees.

Representative Lauren Underwood of the 14th Congressional Distric discusses SALT tax and prescription drug pricing among other key issues in Illinois. She’s seen here in Drendel Ballroom on Oct. 18 with Ken Kalscheur of the Civics Committee. (Photo by David Goode/My Sun Day News)

In her prepared remarks, Underwood listed her accomplishments in terms of bills she sponsored that had passed the House but as of yet have not become law since they have not passed the Senate. She also stated her participation in getting $10 million in funding for McHenry County College and an additional $30 million for McHenry County programs. She made no mention of any funding for projects in Huntley or Kane County. She also announced that $35 million in Child Care Tax Credits were sent to the 14th District.

Underwood also mentioned the dual credits program at Huntley High School, where students could simultaneously earn credit at MCC.

She stated that she had conversations with President Biden about infrastructure and prescription drug prices during his visits in Crystal Lake and Elk Grove Village.

Underwood also claimed to be pushing for changes in the State and Local Tax (SALT) income tax deductions saying that “the ten-thousand-dollar ceiling needs to be increased to at least fifteen-thousand dollars” to help Illinois residents deal with the high SALT taxes.

The Congresswoman’s visit lasted 35 minutes with no time for questions from the audience.

When asked about the absence of audience questions, Kalscheur responded, “Congresswoman Underwood’s meet and greet event Monday had been advertised as including questions from the audience. The Congresswoman’s staff raised the concern about a week and a half ago that her time was more limited than the two hours we had expected.”

“Her staff also raised concerns about her safety considering the current turmoil in our world of politics,” continued Kalscheur. “The concerns about the Congresswoman’s safety, along with the reduction of time available for her appearance, led to her staff’s request this past Sunday to exclude questions from the audience.”

He continued, “My preference, as well as that of the other members of the Civics Committee and the staff that support our efforts, was clearly to allow questions from the audience as promoted in all of our announcements for the event.”

“Our frame of reference for this event,” continued Kalscheur, “was the Public Forum Congresswoman Underwood held on August 22, 2019. In that event, Congresswoman Underwood took many questions, of all types, from the audience over a two hour period. I am saddened to say that openness of dialogue is no longer available to us.”

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