South Central Reporter

Republican state Sen. Jason Plummer is imploring voters to take the stand against Gov. J.B. Pritzker that he argues Democratic lawmakers are afraid to.

“You need to be calling Gov. J.B. Pritzker. You need to be calling Democrat state senators,” Plummer posted on Facebook. “Not one of them has had the courage to stand up to JB. Some try to talk tough back home, but they simply do what they're told in Springfield.”

One by one, Plummer ticked of all the reasons why he thinks now more than ever a certain type of lawmaker is what’s now needed in Springfield.

"We need elected officials who stand up for their communities, not kneel down to leftist party leaders and campaign donors,” he added. “This reckless administration is allowing violent criminals out of prison left and right. One of the people making tens of thousands of dollars a year serving on the Prison Review Board is a convicted double- murderer, who literally just voted ‘yes’ to let one of his former prison mates, a convicted cop killer, out of prison. These people are supposed to appear before my committee and the Senate - and the Democrat majority has the power to compel them to do so - but JB does not want it to happen and not a single Democrat senator has stood with us Republicans on this common-sense issue.”

Faced with losing a large portion of his 54th District stemming from map redistricting, Plummer said he is heartened by the fact fellow GOP state Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) has announced his candidacy in the new district that includes those areas, according to the South Central Reporter.

"I am comforted in knowing that my good friend, State Senator Steve McClure has announced his intention to run for the potential 'new' district that covers the portions of Effingham County that I would be losing," Plummer added on Facebook. "You learn who your friends are during the toughest times and you learn a person's character when they are under fire or when they have difficult, sometimes unpopular, decisions to make. Steve has been a leader in the Republican caucus and he has been on the front lines of some of the most important issues facing our families and our communities, namely out of control crime in Illinois and taking a stand for our law enforcement community."

Plummer is a member of the Senate's Redistricting Committee but is not impressed with the work the Democrat-controlled panel is doing, he said. In October, he celebrated a decision against the Democrat-created redistricting maps, calling it a "big win" for Illinois residents, according to the South Central Reporter.

Plummer also recently cosponsored a bill criminalizing the selling of guns to convicted felons, the East Central Reporter reported. Senate Bill 2925 amends the Criminal Code of 2012, stating anyone who sells or provides a firearm to an individual convicted of a felony could be found guilty of a Class X felony themselves.

Filed by Sen. Chapin Rose, the measure also “provides that a period of probation, a term of periodic imprisonment, or conditional discharge shall not be imposed for the offense.” Those found in violation could face a prison sentence between ten and 30 years.