State Senator Don DeWitte

10/23/2026

It was my honor to attend Elgin Community College’s Visiting Chefs Dinner this week, featuring three graduates of the acclaimed ECC Culinary Arts program, Chef Wes Childs, Sous Chef Jake Hasenstein, and Pastry Chef Stephanie Kessel.

These industry professionals, working nearby at Geneva's Niche Restaurant, collaborate with culinary arts students to prepare multi-course meals at the Spartan Terrace Restaurant at Elgin Community College, giving the students real-world experience.

10/23/2026

My Senate Republican colleagues and I are championing a series of legislative proposals aimed at strengthening public safety, addressing serious criminal offenses, and improving accountability within the state's criminal justice system. The proposals come as concerns continue over repeat offenders, dangerous drug trafficking, and whether existing laws provide enough safeguards for Illinois communities.

Recent incidents have also renewed awareness of Illinois' electronic monitoring system, including the fatal stabbing of Chicago Transit Authority employee Julian Mobley earlier this month. The man charged with his murder was reportedly assigned to electronic monitoring at the time of the attack, despite previous violations of his monitoring conditions.

The tragedy has prompted renewed calls for reforms, including from Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke, who has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the current electronic monitoring system.

Illinois families deserve laws that protect their communities, hold serious criminal offenders accountable, and give law enforcement and the courts the tools necessary to respond to public safety threats.

Senate Republicans have introduced several legislative proposals addressing a broad range of public safety concerns, including:

• Senate Bill 4195: Requires revocation of pretrial release when a court finds probable cause that a defendant committed a new felony while on electronic monitoring as a condition of pretrial release.
• Senate Bill 3191: Increases penalties for unlawful fentanyl distribution and establishes additional penalties for using electronic communications to facilitate fentanyl trafficking.
• Senate Bill 3304: Expands eligibility for pretrial detention for certain serious drug offenses, including fentanyl crimes, and individuals charged with a third or subsequent aggravated DUI when specific public safety conditions are met.
• Senate Bill 3193: Increases penalties for human trafficking and related offenses to strengthen consequences for individuals who exploit others.
• Senate Bill 3125: Makes threatening violence against a childcare institution, day care center, or related event a Class 4 felony.
• Senate Bill 3861: Increases penalties for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, including stronger consequences for repeat offenders.

Together, these proposals seek to address gaps in existing law, strengthen criminal accountability, and improve the legal response to serious offenses that threaten Illinois residents. Protecting the public requires a comprehensive approach that addresses repeat criminal behavior, dangerous drug trafficking, threats of violence, and other serious offenses before more Illinois families are harmed.

10/22/2026

It’s my pleasure to celebrate the good work that takes place in District 33. No better example than the
Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Image Awards. Congratulations to this year’s outstanding individuals, businesses, and organizations recognized for their efforts in 2026.

10/21/2026

Lower utility bills. More reliable power. Greater transparency. That's what Illinois families need from their energy policy. I'm supporting a series of proposals aimed at protecting existing power generation, expanding energy supply, restoring local control, and providing financial relief to households struggling with utility costs. Families shouldn't have to worry about whether they can afford to keep the lights on.
Visit https://senatordewitte.com/2026/10/19/senator-don-dewittes-legislative-news-51/ to learn about bills I'm co-sponsoring.

10/20/2026

Unused and expired medications can pose serious risks when they are left sitting in our homes. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is this Saturday, Oct. 24, and it gives Illinois families a safe, convenient, and responsible way to dispose of unwanted medications and help prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Needles cannot be dropped off at these events.

Keeping our families and communities safe starts with simple steps we can all take. I encourage everyone to clean out their medicine cabinets, safely dispose of medications they no longer need, and help make Illinois a safer place for our families. To find a participating collection site near you, visit the DEA’s National Take Back Day collection-site locator. (https://www.dea.gov/takebackday).

10/19/2026

https://senatordewitte.com/2026/10/19/senator-don-dewittes-legislative-news-51/ Senate Republicans are working hard to address energy affordability, and we have filed a package of bills that address the issue. You can read about them in my latest e-newsletter.

10/19/2026

I cannot thank the people of the 33rd Senate District enough for their overwhelming generosity toward my 5th annual coat drive for those in need in our communities. We more than doubled the number of new and gently used coats we collected this year, with a total of 360 coats! On Friday, my staff and I delivered them to four wonderful organizations that help those who need warm outerwear during cold weather. Thank you to all who donated!

Thanks to the generosity of residents throughout the 33rd Senate District in Kane and McHenry Counties, State Senator Don DeWitte’s (R-St. Charles) fifth annual coat drive collected 360 coats, along with additional winter clothing and accessories, to help local individuals and families prepare for...

10/18/2026

Let’s look at the data on Data Centers. Arbitrary restrictions banning their development in Illinois is short-sided, self-serving, and ignores their economic benefits to communities across the state.
(Courtesy of the Illinois Economic and Policy Insitute, and the University of Illinois;)

THE DATA ON DATA CENTERS
by Frank Manzo IV

People everywhere are talking about data centers, the high-tech facilities that house our nations growing digital infrastructure.

Illinois is a Top 10 state for data centers, with a history dating all the way back to the 1970s, initially as a central repository to meet the technology needs of state agencies.

More recently, however, data centers have become the foundation of a global technology race in the private sector, housing large computer servers, storage, and networking equipment necessary to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). In Illinois, they comprise 7% of total electricity demand (and climbing). Many rely on water for cooling. And new data centers often come seemingly out-of-nowhere, as major technology companies use of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with elected officials instead of committing to public transparency.

All of which has contributed to a public backlash against construction of these facilities that is playing out in statehouses and electoral campaigns around the country. Developments have been canceled or postponed, and Gov. JB Pritzker paused Illinois tax exemption for data centers.

But data centers now are a fixture of the modern economy. Understanding their costs and benefits and identifying the guardrails needed to mitigate risk to our communities is of paramount importance.

It is with these factors in mind that the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently undertook the most robust analysis of Illinois data centers to date. Specifically, we looked at 75 completed and ongoing projects and related reports culled from state, county, and industry data, and integrated industry-standard economic modeling to forecast potential impacts of $57 billion in planned data center projects across our state over the next decade.

Here’s what we found.

First, data centers mean jobs. More than 120,000 of them over the next 10 years, to be exact. About a third of these will be in skilled construction occupations or IT, engineering, and operations jobs that pay well into the six figures, and the other two-thirds in the supply chain or as a result of related increases in consumer spending across the economy. This investment will grow the Illinois economy by $5 billion a year during the construction phase, and about $2 billion per year thereafter. The facilities would also mean $300 million in new property tax revenue going to local communities each year nearly two-thirds of which will support public schools.

When it comes to protecting communities from potential costs, the picture is more complex. By 2035, new data centers could use the same electricity as 4.5 million Illinois homes. Without any sort of requirements that data centers produce or otherwise offset their power demands, this would increase average Illinois household electric bills by $12 per month. Water resources can also be strained, unless new data centers use the air-cooling or closed-loop systems which recycle water instead of constantly drawing on new resources that are becoming commonplace.

In both cases, there are tools available to policymakers to mitigate the risk and ensure responsible development of data centers. First, they can be required to pay for 100% of their energy, transmission, and interconnection costs and to use closed-loop or air-cooling systems to reduce water usage. The currently suspended sales tax exemption could be reformed to promote stronger energy and environmental standards, rewarding only those facilities that install Illinois-based clean energy. New data centers can be required to have battery storage. And policymakers can improve public disclosure around energy usage, water usage, and contact with elected officials.

Even though the data on data centers shows they can be a net positive for our economy and our communities, there is a trust deficit. With commonsense guardrails, Illinois can modernize our energy system, protect workers and ratepayers, and improve transparency around an industry that too many people believe has been operating in the dark.

Frank Manzo IV, MPP is an economist at the nonpartisan Illinois Economic Policy

10/17/2026

The community response to my 5th annual coat drive was amazing! Yesterday we delivered over 360 coats to four wonderful community organizations that help those in need, right in time for this colder weather. The volume of donations says a lot about the character of the people who live in this area. Thank you to everyone who helped make this year‘s coat drive a tremendous success!

10/15/2026

We had a phenomenal turnout for my final event of the year, which was also my final event as the Senator for the 33rd District. Hosting these events is truly one of my favorite parts of this work. Putting people in touch with resources that help them is so important and it’s a privilege to help make those connections.