Rockford Sun

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recognized the legislative record of an Illinois State House representative out of DeKalb County earlier this month.

Illinois state Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) said in a social media post that he was "humbled" to accept the award. The award was a DOD Certificate of Appreciation for "his leadership on public policy changes positively impacting the quality of life of Service members and their families residing in Illinois, during the 2021 Legislative Session."

Patricia Montes Barron, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy | defense.gov/

The award was presented to Keicher by Patricia Montes Barron, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy.

"I cannot say enough about the sacrifice military families make for each and every one of us on a daily basis and how much we owe them," Keicher said in a Facebook post. "I will continue dedicating my efforts in Springfield toward improving the quality of life for military families, their children, and veterans throughout the State of Illinois."

Keicher's Facebook post linked to his news release issued the same day that referred to the sacrifices of military families.

"I cannot say enough about the sacrifice military families make for each and every one of us on a daily basis and how much we owe them," Keicher said in his news release. "In accepting this award, I pledge to continue dedicating my efforts in Springfield toward improving the quality of life for military families, their children and veterans throughout the State of Illinois."

The news release also briefly detailed Keicher's legislative record last year on behalf of the military community and veterans.  This included passage of House Bill 557, which Keicher sponsored, to allow dependents of active duty military personnel to enroll in school sooner than usual when their family relocates per military orders.

"Specifically, the new law requires school districts to permit a dependent of U.S. military personnel to enroll free of tuition if, at the time of enrollment, the child is in temporary housing outside of the school district but will be living within the district within 6 months," the news release said. "As often as some high school juniors and seniors have to move to a new high school, they were not always able to get access to classes they need to graduate on time if those are full and stay on track for college."

Keicher also filed House Joint Resolution 10 to establish and manage Purple Star Schools in Illinois and House Bill 1963 to provide property tax exemptions for veterans with a service connected, permanent disability of at least 60%. Keicher's House Resolution 168 commemorates the 100th anniversary of DeKalb American Legion Post 66 in 2021 and recognizing the post's years of service to the community.