Co-President Moha chaired the meeting.
Guests: Mary Birkenstein is David’s guest. Patti brought Christina Coda. Heidi brought two associates from James Martin Associates: Sarah Weber and Mary Kate Solymossy.Robyn Gabel’s Chief of Staff, Diane Goldrin, accompanied her to the meeting.
Announcements:
- EYER (Every Year, Every Rotarian) is the acronym we use to remind Rotarians to donate at least $100 to the Rotary International Foundation.
- Patti thanked Moha and Bob for attending the Connections for the Homeless monthly food packing. See below on how to sign up for the next round in July.
- Moha visited Fred, who is currently recovering at Alden Rehab.Fried will be at Alden until early July. He would welcome a cell phone call or card.
- Barb is doing rehab downtown at Shirley Ryan.
- Terry Dason is happy that the Farmers Market has started and will be open every Saturday morning for 22 weeks until the end of October.
Dates to remember:
June 25 is the installation of new Club officers and board members.
July 17 is the Club fundraiser at Valley Lo.
Today’s Speaker: Robyn Gabel has represented the people of the 18th house district since 2010. In 2023, Rep. Gabel was appointed Majority Leader by Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. Robyn serves as the Chair of the Rules committee, Co-Chair of the Medicaid Working Group and is on the Budget Negotiating Team. Nationally, she is a member of the Great Lakes Legislative Caucus of the Council of State Government and served as the Chair from 2020-2022. Before joining the legislature, Rep. Gabel was the Executive Director of EverThrive from 1988 to 2010, a non-profit that advocates for increased health care resources for women, children, and families. She has a BA from Beloit College, an MSPH from the University of Illinois Chicago – School of Public Health and an MJ in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago.
Robyn shared a list of Federal cutbacks to the State of Illinois. Despite the cutbacks, next year’s state budget will increase 4% from $53 billion to $55 billion. Legislators have still not addressed plans for transportation and energy challenges in the budget.