PRESS RELEASE
Diesel and This Deadline Matter
Illinois farmers have spent an estimated $163 million more on diesel during this year’s planting season than they did last year.
That’s a huge hit for farmers who have to watch every dollar.
And diesel prices are still high.
Farmers depend on diesel to plant, harvest, and get their crops to market. When fuel costs go up, it affects farm operations and puts more pressure on family budgets.
But there’s another place those diesel costs hit hard in rural communities like ours:
Our schools. Our kids.
87% of school buses in this country run on diesel.
For a lot of kids in IL-15, the school bus isn’t a convenience.
It’s the only way they get to class.
Bus operators across the country are warning that routes may need to be shortened, combined, or cut just to keep the lights on.
That’s not an abstraction out here.
It’s rural roads. Long distances. Kids who don’t have a backup way to get to school.
When a route gets cut, a kid doesn’t get a shorter drive. They get left behind.
I’m running because rural communities like ours get treated as an afterthought in Washington.
Fuel costs. School funding. The basics.
They hit us harder and get talked about less.
If elected, I’ll fight to lower the cost of diesel by pushing for temporary federal fuel-tax relief, stronger oversight of the oil and fuel markets, and responsible use of our nation’s emergency oil reserves when supply disruptions drive prices higher.
I will also work with area farmers to develop more capacity to produce biodiesel here.
Soybean sales abroad have taken a severe downturn. Let’s use those crops to produce biodiesel locally and help our farmers with a local product. Farmers could sell their crops, we could create jobs, and we could produce a product that can be less expensive at the pump and better for the environment.
And I’ll fight for rural communities that feel those costs first, including our farmers, school districts, and working families.
Donate before September 30 Midnight!
That’s why this final quarterly deadline on September 30, before the election, matters so much.
Your contribution before midnight on the 30th will help us talk to more voters and make sure they know they have a choice to elect someone who is one of them and will represent all of them.
Thank you for standing with our kids and our community.
Jennifer
PS We'd also love to see you at one of our end-of-quarter events!