Kane County Reporter

State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) was recognized by the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance (IFSA) for his work in the legislature where he advocated against a bill that would have reclassified fireworks that are almost professional grade as novelty items.

The ISFA presented Keicher with the Life Safety Award on Oct. 7. 

"Honored to be awarded the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance Award today," Keicher wrote in a tweet. "Thank you for all your work!!"

Margaret Vaughn of the IFSA nominated Keicher for the award. 

"We were very fortunate to have Rep. Keicher educating legislators at the Statehouse on how bad the bill was and was prepared to speak against it during the floor debate," Vaughn said in a press release about the award. 

This past Independence Day a man died from injuries he received while lighting fireworks. The accident happened in Boone County which is located in Keicher's district. 

"Rep. Keicher is committed to continuing the ongoing Statehouse battle to prevent such deaths and injuries by not expanding the sale of pyrotechnics and keeping them to the professionals," Vaughn said in the release. 

The bill advanced to the house floor, but never made it for a vote during the final hours of the last session, according to the release.

Meanwhile, Keicher continues to push for ethics reform in Springfield. The Kane County Reporter previously reported that he and other Illinois Republicans have asked their constituents to take a survey as part of their "Reimagine Illinois" campaign. 

Last month the Kane County Reporter reported on Keicher's push for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to pay down the state's unemployment trust fund deficit using money Illinois received from federal COVID-relief packages. Keicher wrote in a Sept. 14 Facebook post that the unemployment issues were directly related to the pandemic and "he's chosen not to do that and we have the money just sitting there."