NEWLY APPOINTED STATE REPRESENTATIVE TALKS ABOUT HER NEW ROLE

5th District Illinois State Representative Kimberly Du Buclet has served in the role since May 13, when she was sworn into office. PHOTO PROVIDED BY KIMBERLY DU BUCLET.
5th District Illinois State Representative Kimberly Du Buclet has served in the role since May 13, when she was sworn into office. PHOTO PROVIDED BY KIMBERLY DU BUCLET.

NEWLY APPOINTED STATE REPRESENTATIVE
TALKS ABOUT HER NEW ROLE

BY TIA CAROL JONES
Kimberly Du Buclet was recently appointed 5th District Illinois State Representative on May 13th. Previously, she was on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners.

Du Buclet is replacing Lamont Robinson who was elected 4th Ward Alderman in April’s run-off election.

Du Buclet was an Illinois State Representative for the
26th District from 2011 to 2013.She said she wanted to return to the State Legislature because she still has a strong desire and is motivated to protect the environment and waterways, drinking water and food. She felt being an Illinois State Representative would provide a wider
platform and opportunity for her to do that work. Du Buclet also is interested in early childhood education and pension reform.

Du Buclet has been serving for more than two weeks. She
voted to approve the State of Illinois’ FY24 Budget. Illinois
Governor JB Pritzker has been visiting places across the state to tout the investments in the budget and the fact that it is the fifth balanced budget.

Prior to her vote, Du Buclet has been learning the issues in her district and trying to get to know the different organizations and institutions.

“Once the budget was released I went through the budget, to understand all that was in it, how it would affect me and my constituents, the state, people of color and social service agencies. All of that took the eight days I was in Springfield,” Du Buclet said.

Du Buclet also voted on increasing early education
funding, increasing the higher education funding by 7%, and allocated $100 million in MAP grants for low-income students to attend college. She also brought back funding for Ada S. McKinley and St. Bernard Hospital.

When it comes to the most pressing issues of the
5th District, Du Buclet said they are representative of the issues all across the city. For her, the issues are public safety, economic development, jobs, the environment and
early childhood education.

While Du Buclet hasn’t polled the constituents about the resources they want brought back to the District, it is something she is looking forward to doing.

“I want to make sure that the things that I work on and the way I represent my constituents are the things they want and need, because I am working for them. I want to make sure their needs are fulfilled, not what I want, but what
they want. And, that’s how I tried to work it the last time around,” she said.

The goal is to have coffee hours and town halls to engage
the community during the summer months. Du Buclet wants to have an open door policy to ensure constituents feel comfortable expressing their concerns with her. It
is important to her that her constituents now who she is and how what she does in Springfield impacts everyone’s life on a daily basis.

As the 5th District Illinois State Representative, Du
Buclet wants to get out and talk about the role of a State
Representative and how people can advocate. She is
hoping people will be encouraged to take a trip to
Springfield and see the State Legislature in action.

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