Legislators And Lawmakers To Address Retirement Issues At Urbana Forum

Lawmakers and candidates from all four of the Illinois House districts that reach into Champaign County will be in Urbana Thursday evening (July 26) to talk about long-term senior care and retirement issues.

Scheduled to appear at the Senior Forum are 101st Illinois House District candidates Jennifer McMillan (D-Decatur) and Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur); 104th District candidates Mike Marron (R-Fithian) and Cynthia Cunningham (D-St. Joseph), and unopposed, incumbent State Representatives Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) of the 103rd District and Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) of the 102nd District.

The Senior Forum is scheduled to run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Urbana Civic Center, 108 East Water Street, in downtown Urbana.

Louis Goseland with the union-affiliated Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans says the Senior Forum is a chance to discuss how state government should address issues that it will face as the nation’s Baby Boomer generation moves into retirement.

“Not only do we want to make sure that our members and the public know where these candidates stand, but we are also creating an opportunity for seniors themselves to raise these issues around True Retirement Security,” said Goseland.

Goseland says the concept of “True Retirement Security” involves ensuring economic stability for seniors and access to adequate healthcare.

“Some of the issues we’ll be talking about include pension security and making sure that these earned benefits are upheld,” said Goseland, “as well as expanding access to publically funded home care and long term services and support in general.”

The Alliance for Retired Americans is co-sponsoring the forum in cooperation with Caring Across Generations and the local group, Champaign County Health Care Consumers.