Senate President supports governor’s ethics push, renewed optimism

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Senate President Don Harmon echoed Gov. JB Pritzker’s call for ethics reform in the wake of ongoing federal investigations.

In his State of the State address Wednesday, Pritzker said he wanted Illinois to adopt a revolving door prohibition to prevent elected officials from retiring one day and then immediately lobbying their former colleagues.

Harmon offered his support for the idea.

“I’ve long been troubled by the appearance of someone serving as a member of the General Assembly on Friday and becoming a lobbyist on Monday. That’s a problem and one we should tackle,” Harmon said. “You shouldn’t be a lawmaker one day and a lobbyist the next.”

Harmon also applauded Pritzker’s optimistic, positive tone to the speech, which was a marked contrast to the previous governor.

Read more: Senate President supports governor’s ethics push, renewed optimism

Coalition to Phase Out Corporate Tax Giveaways Lead National, Bipartisan Effort to End State Subsidy Battles

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Today, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and State Representative Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) join legislators from around the country in unveiling a national bipartisan campaign to phase out corporate giveaways by establishing an interstate compact. This bold proposal seeks to liberate states from participating in tax-payer funded subsidy battles by having states join together and refuse to provide companies with tax breaks or other incentives, as in the case of the Amazon HQ2 bidding war.

As of January 28, the legislation is filed in New York, Hawaii, Maryland, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, West Virginia and New Hampshire.

The legislation would bring each state into a formal agreement with other states to phase out corporate giveaways through two main provisions. First, member states agree to end the practice of offering tax breaks to a facility located in another member state as an inducement for the company to move. Second, member states participate in a national board of appointees to discuss and propose enhancements to the existing agreement for future consideration by each state.

Read more: Coalition to Phase Out Corporate Tax Giveaways Lead National, Bipartisan Effort to End State...

New Sims law makes voting accessible to Illinois students

CHICAGO — A plan to give students time off to vote was signed into law on Wednesday.

State Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. (D-Chicago) led efforts to pass legislation, which allows students to vote during school hours. This comes after push back from school administrators during a “March to the Polls.” Students from those schools rallied to pass the new law out of committee last year, and some were there to see it signed into law.

“I was proud to stand with the same students who fought for this bill’s passage as it is signed into law today,” Sims said. “It is crucial that voting is accessible to everyone, including our students. Their voices are just as important as state workers’, who already have time off to vote. And of course, I encourage private employers to extend this allowance to their employees wherever possible.”

Senate Bill 1970 amends the Election Code to allow students who are 18 or older to leave school for up to two hours to vote in a primary, general or any other election in the state that requires a popular vote.

Read more: New Sims law makes voting accessible to Illinois students

Link lauds temporary closure of Medline facility

WAUKEGAN – State Senator Terry Link (D-Indian Creek) applauded Medline Industries’ decision to temporarily close its Waukegan sterilization plant while working to decrease ethylene oxide emissions.

“It’s clear just how dangerous exposure to ethylene oxide can be,” Link said. “I’m glad to see that Medline is taking the health consequences of people who live near the plant seriously.”

The company announced Tuesday that it will temporarily halt sterilization operations at the Waukegan facility to install nearly $10 million worth of upgrades to comply with new state laws regulating ethylene oxide.

Read more: Link lauds temporary closure of Medline facility