A legacy of accomplishment

Feb. 20, 2009

Greenville . . . The longest-serving and one of the most accomplished State Senators in Illinois has retired. Senator Frank Watson officially stepped down Feb. 16, from his position as Illinois State Senator representing the 51st District.

“It has been my honor and privilege to represent the people of central and southern Illinois in the General Assembly. I leave with many wonderful memories and many wonderful friendships,” said Watson.

Watson’s public service career spanned more than three decades. Watson chose not to seek reelection as the Senate Republican Leader late last year.

Since suffering a stroke in October, Senator Watson has had some to time reflect on his public service career that has spanned more than 30 years.

“Throughout my career in public service, I have been active from one corner of the district to the other and I am very proud that I was accessible to my constituents throughout the region,” said Watson. “But it has become apparent that my therapy and recovery will interfere with the time required to do this job right.”

Watson has a long list of legislative accomplishments, but counts his ability to help people through his district offices in Greenville and Decatur and previously in Carlyle among the greatest of his achievements.

“When I first got into this, I never thought I’d be here 30-plus years. I thought maybe after eight or ten years that would be it and I’d be back at the drug store, but that didn’t happen,” said Watson. “The biggest part I enjoy is working with people, what you can do for an individual and help them. There are the letters of thanks and the good feelings you get when helping people. It’s one of the biggest rewards. Public service, I’ve enjoyed that as much as anything and I’m leaving with no regrets at all.”

Senator Watson’s career has been marked by a series of accomplishments that few elected officials ever achieve. One of his top priorities over the years has been raising the quality of public education. He served for many years on the Education Committees in the House of Representatives and Senate, and helped lead the way for more funding for public education, making education Illinois’ top budget priority. He sponsored innovation college tuition savings programs to help make higher education more affordable and was the Senate sponsor of school reforms in the 1990s that are credited with helping turn around Chicago Public Schools’ once worst-in-the-nation status.

“Education, especially the funding, has always been important to me.  In 1997, I sponsored school construction grants that started the School Construction Grant Program that so many communities have taken advantage of,” said Watson.  “Bright Start and College Illinois are college savings programs I sponsored.  I’ve enjoyed the education aspects of my work.”

Senator Watson is a strong believer that if given the chance, individuals formerly dependent on government for a handout would excel and be a success.  Watson led the fight for many years, insisting on welfare reform that incorporated personal responsibility.  Because of his leadership role, in the 1990s, he was able to pass a model welfare reform program that has been an example for other states and has taken people from the public aid rolls to the employment rolls.

“When Jim Edgar was Governor, we did a lot for welfare reform. I was a strong advocate because I believe in personal responsibility. I know some look at what we did as punitive to some people but I looked at it as giving people an opportunity,” Watson said. “We put a lot of money into education and community colleges trying to get people from welfare to work. We increased funding for daycare and transportation to try to help people transcend from this quagmire of poverty in welfare.”

The recipients of Welfare to Work were thankful.

“I’ve had people over the years tell me how if it hadn’t been for that law they might still be taking a check and not helping themselves and they realized they needed to get an education, they needed training,” Watson said. “We were able to help them, but more importantly they were helping themselves and lot of people expressed gratitude for that.”

Another accomplishment was in the area of economic development.  A small-business man, Watson championed economic development issues at the Capitol that helped to bring new businesses to Illinois and helped others expand.  He is the sponsor of the E.D.G.E. (Economic Development for a Growing Economy) Program.  Introduced in 1999, EDGE provides tax credits that allow a company to reduce the costs of doing business in Illinois.  The program levels the playing field between Illinois and surrounding states that were offering various tax breaks to companies in order to lure them, and which put Illinois at a disadvantage.  It was cited by Site Selection Magazine as one of the reasons why Illinois topped the 50 states in the late 1990s and early 2000s for business growth and job creation. 

“I had to introduce the EDGE Program several times before it finally got through the process,” said Watson.  “Back in 1999, then-governor George Ryan came to Greenville and signed that legislation into law at the industrial park, and it has really helped us compete with other states to provide jobs and economic development.”

Another major accomplishment that could have a long-lasting impact on Illinois is Watson’s work to promote Illinois coal. He sponsored and supported legislation to help coal companies keep operating, and for industry incentives to encourage more energy generating capacity, using the rich coal reserves in southern Illinois.  Most recently, the Senator cosponsored the legislation for the $2.5 billion coal-to-energy Tenaska facility near Taylorville, and fought behind the scenes to help clear hurdles so the legislation could be signed into law.  The plant is expected to create about 1,500 construction jobs and 200 permanent plant jobs, and provide opportunities for hundreds of coal mining jobs around the state. It will exclusively use Illinois coal in the process.

“When you talk about economic development, you can’t forget Illinois coal,” said Watson.  “Environmental standards and requirements from the federal government put limitations on the use of Illinois coal so it’s important for us to advance the technology, to try to find a way by which Illinois coal could be used in an environmentally-friendly way.  The technology is here and this Tenaska project in Taylorville is a big part of that.”

As a registered pharmacist and longtime owner of Watson’s Drug Store in Greenville, Senator Watson was at the forefront on the issue of affordable prescription drugs. From providing access to information about existing public and private drug discount programs to expansion of the state’s Circuit Breaker Program, which helps pay for a wide variety of life-saving and life-enhancing prescription drugs, Senator Watson made health care a top priority for state government. 
 

Early this decade, his tenacity, hard work and resolve lead to sweeping changes that stopped the loss of doctors who were leaving Illinois because of skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance rates, triggered by “jackpot” lawsuits.  The effort to change Illinois’ tort laws began in the fall of 2003.  By 2005, the effort begun by Senator Watson culminated in new laws that were a compromise between trial attorneys, the medical community and insurance providers.

“Being a pharmacist gives me a different perspective on the issue of health care.  Access to quality care was a huge issue for me, and one of the most important things to happen during my time was the grassroots support we were able to gather to do something about medical malpractice insurance rates,” said Watson. “It was a huge problem and it still is, but it’s better.  Now we’re waiting on the state Supreme Court to decide if the reform measures we passed are constitutional.  Medical malpractice has a lot to do with keeping doctors here in Illinois.  A few years ago, we were seeing doctors fleeing this state for other states where insurance rates were lower.  Ultimately, I hope the Supreme Court will decide the reform is constitutional and it will be the letter of the law in Illinois.”

Watson’s work on other health-care issue includes HMO reform, the Patient’s Bill of Rights, expansion of prenatal testing and new health-care options to improve access in medically underserved areas.  The Senator also worked to change the funding formula so downstate Illinois got its fair share of state funding for nursing homes.

Another priority for the longtime legislator is transportation. He often said a quality transportation system – roads, bridges, rail and air – are critical for future economic development and job creation.  He used his position on the Senate Transportation Committee to fight for those projects and in recent years, especially when he began serving as the Senator in the 51st District, he was a strong advocate for the U.S. Route 51 expansion and improvements.  Watson served as spokesman on the Senate Transportation Committee for many years and was also a member of the Bi-State Coalition, which worked on transportation concerns shared by business and government leaders in both Illinois and Missouri.

While many of the Senator’s accomplishments involved statewide issues or had statewide impact, he never lost sight of the importance of his work back in his district.  Senator Watson teamed with local officials to lead the fight, not once but several times to thwart closing of the Vandalia Correctional Center. Watson helped organized opposition, lobbied fellow senators, and took on the Governor in a very public way to keep the highly-regarded prison in operation serving the public safety needs of the state.

“We went toe to toe with the Governor on a lot of issues and we paid a political price for that,” said Watson.  “The Vandalia Correctional Center is a perfect example of that.  But we took the Governor on and we won that fight.”

Watson’s career first began when he was elected to the office of Bond County Central Township Supervisor and Trustee.  He moved to the Illinois House in 1979, serving until 1983 when he became the 55th District Senator.  He served that district from 1983 through 2003.  Legislative redistricting gave Senator Watson new district territory, the 51st District.  He served as the Senate Republican Leader from 2003 until late last year.

Senator Watson and his wife Susan are parents of two adult children and has one grandchild.

Senator Frank Watson is retiring.

Watson announced on February 2 that he will retire effective at midnight, February 16. 

His public service career has spanned more than three decades, first as Bond County Central Township Supervisor and Trustee and then eventually to the Illinois House of Representatives and finally the Illinois Senate.

Click on the link below for an interview with Senator Watson about his time in Springfield, his legislative priorities and accomplishments, and what he considers to be the most rewarding aspect of elected office.

The comments were delivered during the public deliberation portion of the trial.