Sangamon Digest

Illinois’ U.S. senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski want to halt any closing or deactivation of Air Force repair facilities, including the 183rd Wing’s Centralized Repair Facility in Springfield, and are seeking to push back the closure planned for spring 2027 by more than a year, the State Journal-Register reports.

Illinois Times reports the Air Force plans to eliminate the facility at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport by April 1, 2027, affecting 192 positions — 75 full-time jobs and 117 part-time traditional Guard positions. In a Sept. 30 letter, the three Democrats asked defense-bill negotiators to bar closing such a facility until Sept. 30, 2028, unless the Air Force assigns a deployable replacement mission, and they back a push for a second Air Operations Group in Springfield. Duckworth told Illinois Times she is prepared to use Senate holds to force negotiations.