Expanding the tax credits for senior home care, controlling prescription drug costs and senior housing affordability were among the topics addressed during AARP’s 2026 Peoria Legislative Breakfast, held Friday, Aug. 21 at Bradley University.

Sponsored and attended by approximately 100 members of BU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the breakfast included a question-and-answer session with state lawmakers State Sen.  David Koehler, D-46^th, and State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-73^rd, both of Peoria. Questions submitted by audience members were read by moderator Brad McMillan, program director for the nonprofit leadership program at BU.

An AARP-submitted question polled the lawmakers as to whether they’d support a state Family Caregivers Tax Credit to provide meaningful financial relief to Illinois’ 2.2 million family caregivers, who AARP said often provide unpaid care while often spending over $7,000 per year on out-of-pocket expenses.

“It’s a great idea; this is part of an affordability agenda that everyone is talking about, and it reaches across the aisle,” said Spain. “Anything we can do to invest in allowing people to stay in their homes and age in place is, first of all, a savings to the state of Illinois. We need to continue to invest in the (Illinois Department on Aging) Community Caregiver Program so that there are some adequate (wage) rates for people to do this kind of work. It is hard work and it is critical work.”

Koehler also agreed to the idea of a Family Caregivers Tax Credit, which is included in a 2025 bill proposed by State Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-66^th, from East Dundee. Ness’ Caring for Caregivers Act provides that a taxpayer who is a family caregiver and incurs eligible expenditures during the taxable year for the care and support of an eligible family member may apply to the Department of Revenue for an income tax credit equal to 50 percent of the eligible expenditures.

Senior housing affordability and availability was a topic of importance to the breakfast audience, which was dominated by those 50-plus years of age, or AARP-eligible. Rising rents, property taxes and home maintenance costs were among the concerns cited.

“Housing is a huge problem across all sectors and demographics. There was a lot of attention on this topic as there should be through the spring session and some really important initiatives introduced by Gov. (J.B.) Pritzker focused on fixing some of the housing shortage problems in the state of Illinois,” said Spain. “We are in last place in Illinois for new housing starts in Illinois and there is a reason for that. We need to be focused on what some of those reasons are.”

Pritzker’s initiatives for housing focus on accessory dwelling units — small structures or “granny flats” that can be placed on existing properties — and other ideas for higher-density housing developments, along with construction permitting reform, according to Spain. However, some municipalities are pushing back against the governor’s ideas over what they say would be a loss of control over home-rule decision-making on housing.

Koehler agreed with Spain’s additional assessment that some Democratic-led policies may be unnecessarily driving up costs associated with new residence construction in Illinois. Koehler predicted a “more unified” or bipartisan discussion around housing construction stumbling blocks during next spring’s legislative session. He noted that there are currently five bills in the Illinois Senate related to the governor’s housing proposals that he has signed onto.

“I represent Bloomington-Normal and there is a severe housing crisis there,” Koehler said. “Rivian now has 8,000 employees driving in from a 90-mile radius to get to work. The Illinois Municipal League has come forward with a set of proposals that aim to compromise (with the governor’s proposals).”

Both Koehler and Spain were in support of a housing project on Peoria’s south side, the $29 million Phoenix Manor development backed by federal, state and local funding. The 48-unit apartment complex will provide permanent supportive housing for residents adjacent to healthcare facilities. State-backed grants and loans supported by both men are also helping Peoria’s once-dilapidated Warehouse District to be repurposed into a modern retail and housing destination.

Keeping prescription drugs affordable and price-transparent to fixed-income seniors was perhaps the hot-button topic of the Q&A session, which the lawmakers endured for two hours. Spain answered that through the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Act (Public Act 104-0027, formerly HB 1697), which he co-sponsors, community pharmacies will be stabilized, and consumers will have the tools necessary to receive direct benefits through prescription drug  manufacturer rebates and discounts. The bill, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, holds powerful PBMs — pharmacy benefits managers — accountable by monitoring predatory practices to deliver lower prescription costs.

“Illinois led the nation in this reform bill, which was signed by the governor right here in Peoria,” Spain said. “We took action against a group of really strong and powerful organizations, these PBMs, who in addition to capturing price rebates were steering patients to certain pharmacies that were under control. We now require that rebates are passed back through to the patient or the health plans, and PBMs are unable to price-control or steer patients to pharmacies of their choosing.”

Participating pharmacies received around $58,000 in the first round of funding for the program, according to a circular distributed by Spain’s office.

“We passed this bill out of the Senate with unanimous support. We really work together well on these kinds of issues,” said Koehler, who in 2009 helped secure $9.8 million from the Illinois General Assembly for renovations and extensions to Westlake Hall, where the breakfast was held.

Additional questions submitted by AARP and OLLI members to Spain and Koehler related to data centers (both lawmakers support local moratorium rights and strict regulation), downstate separation from Chicago (both agree it is unreasonable, primarily due to downstate tax revenue losses), political map gerrymandering (not surprisingly, both were divided by party lines), high-speed rail from Peoria to Chicago (a must, at least via a Bloomington-Normal hub connection), cryptocurrency scam protections and more.