Illinois Valley Times

State Rep. David Welter (R-Morris) is concerned over the scope of House Bill HB 705 or the Natural Gas-Verified Leaks that amends the Underground Natural Gas Storage Safety Act.

"I did speak as an opponent of the bill and definitely have some concerns (over) the scope of it, how broad the language is. I want to make sure that with what we talked about here, it will come back with an amendment that brings more specifics with what its intent is," Welter stated.

Welter also asked the sponsors for a commitment to bring the bill back with necessary amendments before pursuing the bill on the floor. In response, state Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Springfield) assured the lawmaker from Morris.

"I do commit to bringing it back to committee," Morgan said. "I do not commit to having a necessarily agreed-upon bill; I do commit to continuing to work with those who are opposed to the bill to find the best path forward and to bring back to this committee whatever amendment"

Aside from Morgan, the other co-sponsors of the bill are Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), Rep. Anne Strava-Murray (D-Downers Grove), Rep. Deb Conroy (D-Villa Park), Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) and Rep. Joyce Mason (D-Gurnee).