JoAnn D. Osmond
Email JoAnn
Illinois State Representative
Assistant Minority Leader

Overview

Welcome to my website. Here you will find information about the Illinois 61st District. Please visit often to find the most current information concerning your district.

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General Assembly Scholarship Recipients for the 61st District 2010-11

Kelsey Green - Antioch - University of Illinois
Samantha Wojnicki - Lindenhurst - University of Illinois
Amanda Woods - Winthrop Harbor - Southern Illinois University
Randi-Lynn Bullock - Wadsworth - Illinois State University
Kali Miller - Lindenhurst - University of Illinois
George E. McKenzie - Ingleside - University of Illinois
Christin Okamoto - Lindenhurst - Northern Illinois University
Jenna Salak - Antioch - Illinois State University

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Legislative Questionnaire

As your voice in Springfield, I am always looking for input regarding legislation and ideas to better our community and the state. Your opinion is very important to me. Please take a few minutes to complete the following questionnaire and mail it in an envelope or return it to my district office. Questionnaire (pdf)

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Help Osmond Support Restoring Illinois Economy and Jobs Climate

Too many Illinoisans are out of work. Illinois’ unemployment rate has hit 12% – the highest rate since 1983. Since the recession began, Illinois has lost 407,000 jobs. Certainly, the national recession has played a large role in this jobs crisis.

However, Illinois’ fiscal and tax policies also play a significant role in our near-record unemployment. Illinois ranks a pathetic 48th in job creation. We have fewer jobs today than we did a decade ago. 735,000 people have left the state in the past ten years.

Representative JoAnn Osmond and the Illinois House Republicans have a plan to rebuild our economy and get people back to work. They have proposed several proposals over the last year aimed at growing jobs. A few of these proposals are as follows.

- HB 5802 (3rd Reading, House) Conducts a comprehensive examination of regulations on business and repeal harmful restrictions.
- HB 5191 (3rd Reading, House) Requires each agency to perform review of its rules in order to evaluate their effect on small business.
- Enact non-medical tort reform to ensure a fair civil justice system.
- SB 1578 (Sent to Governor) Provides a $2,500 tax credit per employee to small business who hire a full time employee between July 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011.
- HB 5808 Provides an income tax credit of 25% of labor expenditures made by a manufacturing company.
- HB 5807 Offers a 30% state tax credit to attract wind turbine manufacturers to Illinois.
- HB 5806 Expands the EDGE Tax Credit to companies who create jobs with benefits.
- HB 5811 Provides tax incentives to companies who locate in rural areas with high unemployment (Job Renewal Zones). - HB 6086 Expands number of enterprise zones in Illinois from 95 to 145. Enterprise zones offer companies a mix of state and local incentives for locating or expanding within the zone.
- HB 5803 Creates a new class of Rural Enterprise Zones.
- HB 5810 Offers property tax incentives for new or expanded renewable energy businesses.
- HB 5812 Re-enacts and expand the training expense credit as incentive to employers to train and retrain employees.
- HB 5805 Creates a subsidized job-training program to offset the cost to companies who provide on the job training to unemployed workers.
- HB 4943 Creates a grant fund to attract small employers to Illinois.
- HB 4659 Provides subsidy to help struggling employers keep employees working.
- Limit workers’ compensation to instances where the underlying injury was the direct result of work preformed on the job.
- Deny workers’ compensation to an employee found to be under the influence of drugs or narcotic drugs when injured.
You can help Representative Osmond advance this jobs plan by signing the attached petition. Please take a moment to fill out the petition and add your name to the effort to get Illinois’ economy back on track.

Click here to sign Rep. Osmond’s jobs petition

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House Launches 102 Ideas Website

Tom Cross asks public to contribute and get engaged. Visit www.102illinoisideas.com

The Illinois House of Representatives is your house "The People's House".  118 members are elected every two years to serve the citizens of Illinois.  It is the pledge of the 52 members of the House Republican Caucus that we will listen to your ideas and take many of them to floor of the Illinois House of Representatives for debate and discussion.

Voting Information

Who Can Register to Vote?

You may register to vote if you are:

• A United States citizen and,
• 18 years of age by the date of the next election and,
• A resident of your Lake County precinct address for 30 days immediately prior to an election.

Two forms of identification are required to register through a deputy registrar:

• at least one of the two forms must show your name and current address,
• only one form of identification may be a piece of mail for a contractual service addressed and delivered to you.

Registering to Vote

Voter registration allows qualified voters to participate in the electoral process and exercise one of their most basic rights. 

As a result of growth in Lake County and implementation of the National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter), the number of registered voters in Lake County has increased to an all time high of over 405,000 voters!.

• Am I Registered to Vote?
• Where and When Can I Register to Vote?
• Grace Period Registration
• How Do I Know Where to Vote?
• Does My Voter Registration Expire?
• Sample Voter Identification Card