McCombie releases ‘Capitol Crimes’ podcast

SAVANNA — State Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, is spearheading a new podcast series called “Capitol Crimes” to chronicle the stories behind legislation introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Listeners will hear from the sponsors of legislation. “Capitol Crimes” host Dean Abbott will unpack the “why” of the legislation while telling the story of the legislative measures and what happened to those measures after they were filed in the House of Representatives.

The first episode of “Capitol Crimes” was released last week and features McCombie discussing “The Pam Knight Story.” Knight, a child protection specialist for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, was murdered while on duty working to help protect a child in need. McCombie has battled for five years to pass legislation that would better protect DCFS caseworkers from violence on the job, yet those bills have failed to pass and become law.

This year, McCombie has continued the fight to enact legislation that would give DCFS workers the kinds of on-the-job protections provided by law for police officers and other public servants in volatile situations.

“I am pleased to get this podcast out into the world, to make sure people hear the story of Pam Knight, which will help garner support for essential legislation we must pass to make sure tragedies like this never happen again,” said McCombie.

McCombie’s legislation includes HB1460 and HB1461 which will heighten the penalties against anyone who commits aggravated battery toward a person working as a DCFS employee or working under the Adult Protective Services Program with the Department on Aging.

“Supporting our DCFS workers does not just mean attending their funerals,” McCombie said. “It means doing everything within our power to make sure those funerals never happen in the first place.”

Tune in to listen to the Pam Knight Story at https://soundcloud.com/capitol-crimes.