Rep. Bob Flider Leaves Office After 8 Years in General Assembly

Wednesday is State Representative Bob Flider's final day as a member of the Illinois General Assembly.

The Mt. Zion Democrat narrowly lost his re-election bid in November against Decatur Republican Adam Brown. Flider, who has served in the Illinois House since 2003, described his time in office as a period marked with frustration from an ousted governor to a sluggish economy.

"The thing that's most frustrating about this place is it's about power, it's about politics, and it's about posturing," Flider said. "To so many it's easy to sit in a minority and point fingers and blame the majority for all the problems."

Flider noted that it bothers him when lawmakers are criticized for appearing not to do enough work.

"You know coming together on important issues like raising revenues and expenditures is a real challenge," he said. "The people who work here who represent their constituents who come here everyday don't deserve to be viewed as if they are slouches not getting the job done."

Reflecting on his career in the legislature, Flider praised his efforts working with community leaders by focusing on infrastructure needs. He also cited his work to pass utility reforms aimed at saving consumers money. He said as the state progresses financially, there needs to be more of a concentration on matching the state's ability to generate electricity with the growing economy.

"If Congress decides to enact new rules and laws that makes it difficult to use the Illinois coal we have from the power plants that we have," he said. "We're going to have to come to terms with getting new generation online that is not being built right now."

As one of his final legislative acts Tuesday night, Flider reluctantly voted in favor of an income tax hike, even though he has traditionally come out against supporting one. He said it was the most difficult vote he has cast during his eight years in office.

(Photo by Sean Powers/WILL)