The nations growing opioid epidemic was the focus of a local congressman's visit to Bloomington. U.S. Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) toured the McLean County Sheriff's Department and Coroner's Office where he was shown the types of opioids officers are finding now on our streets and the deaths that result from overdoses. The congressman also rode along with a McLean County K-9 Unit to see just what officers are dealing with on a daily basis. Over the past year, McLean County has seen a rise ...
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The profile of a typical heroin user shooting up in a dark alley or backstage at a rock concert no longer holds true, McLean County officials told U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis on Monday during discussion of a drug crisis that has moved from big cities to rural communities. Sheriff Jon Sandage and Coroner Kathy Davis showed the congressman a sampling of drugs confiscated by sheriff's police and explained that heroin users come from all economic levels and share a desperation to acquire the highly addic...
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A voluntary national standard for labeling food products containing genetically modified organisms is needed to avoid chaos that would result from letting states set requirements, an agricultural leader and a congressman said Thursday. A bill to do that has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives but a companion measure has stalled in the Senate. Meanwhile, a law on mandatory GMO labeling is set to take effect in Vermont on July 1. Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert said allowing...
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University of Illinois campus leaders are looking for new ways to keep students safe from sexual assault. Students say it's an issue that faces so many people and it's important to get everyone involved. Organizers of this event at the say it's all about awareness. They want to make sure students know issues are out there and how to get help if they need it. They got together at the Illini Union. People talked about ways they're already trying to deal with the situation and then brought up oppor...
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Many students leave college saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debts. It's a burden Congressman Rodney Davis has been tasked with easing. Thursday, he introduced the "Employer Participation in Student Loan Assistance Act". He spent Friday visiting the colleges and universities in his district promoting it. If passed, the legislation would allow employers to help graduates repay their student loans. Employers then would get a tax break. Congressman Davis called this piece o...
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The House of Representatives Wednesday tightened how its members can spend taxpayer dollars to decorate their offices and travel, but not before members got into a debate about transparency and their safety when they travel in their districts. Shepherded by Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the new regulations passed by the House Administration Committee require members to get approval before spending more than $5,000 on any office furnishing; get approval for any...
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Nearly seven months after the resignation of former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, a House committee is set to take up rule changes involving issues including travel and congressional office decorating. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said he and a Democrat, Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, since the spring have been co-chairing a review of how House members and staff claim expenses. “This is more than just an issue regarding one member of Congress or former member of Congress,” Davis s...
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U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, who returned Thursday from a trip to Cuba with Illinois agricultural officials, said he was disappointed in the lack of a shift toward free enterprise and improvement in living standards in that country compared to what he saw 10 years ago. Davis, R-Taylorville, first visited Cuba as a congressional aide to Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, 10 years ago. His latest trip this week came after President Barack Obama began normalizing relations with a country that the United...
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A week after workers at U.S. Steel's Granite City Works got a reprieve when the company reversed shutdown plans, an anti-steel dumping measure by Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro and other St. Louis-area legislators is getting steel-industry support in Congress. The Trade Enforcement Effectiveness Act, whose co-sponsors include Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, could be folded into a customs bill when it comes to the House of Representatives, although the timing o...
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Area congressman Rodney Davis is taking input from local stakeholders about drones back to Washington. The Taylorville Republican gathered a group of local officials and business and community leaders Thursday at Willard Airport in Savoy to hear their concerns on a variety of aviation issues. But the bulk of the hour-long session was spent discussing unmanned aerial vehicles. Representatives from local hobby companies said it's too difficult to get permission from the Federal Aviation Administra...
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