Suburban House members look back as terms come to end

SPRINGFIELD - As the 95th Illinois General Assembly comes to a close, six area Republican House members will not be returning for new terms on Wednesday.

Some were defeated. Others chose not to seek re-election. In recent days the Daily Herald reached out to them to inquire about their future plans, accomplishments, regrets and advice for new members.

• Carolyn Krause, a Mount Prospect Republican, has been in the House since 1993.

She is now heading to Florida and Cape Cod to relax with her husband. Democrat Mark Walker will be replacing her as suburban Cook County 66th district representative.

For accomplishments, Krause recalled her success developing Kid Care under then-Gov. Jim Edgar. She is also proud of her legislation requiring insurance companies to provide emergency room access to clients without pre-approval.

Krause says she as no regrets. Her advice for incoming lawmakers was simple:

"Argue for the people who sent you to Springfield. And those people are the residents of your district."

• James "Jim" Meyer, a Naperville Republican, was first elected to the House in 1993. Meyer is retiring to spend time with his family. In 16 years as a state lawmaker, his biggest accomplishment was his work on legislation to regulate sexual predators, he said. Some of the legislation made it illegal for sexual predators to contact children on the Internet.

"Before this, all the legislation dealt with proximity," he said. "This brought us from the 20th to the 21st century in dealing with sexual predators."

As for regrets, "one always regrets not accomplishing more," Meyer said.

Meyer recommends that incoming legislators treat the committee hearing process very seriously.

• Ruth Munson, an Elgin Republican, has been in the House since 2002. After losing a close race to Democrat Keith Farnham, she plans to spend time with her family. She said she's proudest of her work to resolve problems experienced by local residents of a manufactured home community. The property rent went too high, but residents couldn't sell their mobile homes and had to turn them over to the land owner.

Munson's regret is she has several initiatives - such as an identity protection act - she's worked on over the years that she'll not get to see through to the finish.

• Patricia Reid Lindner, an Aurora Republican, has been a House member since 1993. Republican Kay Hatcher will be the next representative for the 50th District. Lindner said she is going to travel to warm places and allow life to happen for a while. Lindner is very proud of her work toward school construction spending and grandparent visitation rights.

Lindner advises the incoming members to be good listeners.

"Your word is your bond down here in Springfield, and it isn't the case for some down here," Lindner said.

• Brent Hassert, a Romeoville Republican, was elected in 1993 to represent the 85th district.

Hassert was defeated in a heated campaign by Democrat Emily Klunk-McAsey of Lockport. Hassert says he has no regrets and remembers fondly his work securing state approval of the southern I-355 extension.

"I am going to miss it. I can't ask for a better time run over 20 years. I have absolutely no regrets," said Hassert.

His proudest accomplishment was promoting property tax relief for seniors.

Hassert now plans to become a government consultant or lobbyist, with no particular industry in mind.

"I am well versed on issues across the board," he said.

His advice to new lawmakers is to work to build relationships

• Joe Dunn, a Naperville Republican, was elected in 2003 to serve the 96th district. Dunn is taking a temporary seat on the Naperville City Council. He will be replacing Darlene Senger, who was elected in November to fill Dunn's 96th House District seat.