Loughran Cappel fights for paraprofessionals with short-term approval licenses to become fully licensed
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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel advanced a measure that would let paraprofessionals with a short-term approval license become fully licensed after their short-term license expires.
“Paraprofessionals do a lot to help teachers,” said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “They provide important assistance for students’ instruction, behavior and personal care under the guidance of teachers and administrators.”
Paraprofessionals’ short-term approval licenses are valid for three years but cannot be renewed. Current regulations allow someone with a short-term approval license to act as a paraprofessional while working toward meeting the full-time license qualifications.
Belt’s measure to ban AI for teacher evaluations passes Senate
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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Christopher Belt advanced a measure that would ban the use of AI tools in teacher evaluations.
“This measure protects teachers by ensuring their evaluations are written by people, not AI,” said Belt (D-Swansea). “This will keep the process fair, transparent and more focused on real classroom performance.”
Senate Bill 2909 would prevent school administrators from using AI to write teacher evaluations. A teacher evaluation is a formal process used to measure an educator's effectiveness, instructional skills and classroom performance. The use of AI while writing these evaluations brings up many transparency and privacy concerns for teachers.
Read more: Belt’s measure to ban AI for teacher evaluations passes Senate
Hastings’ missing persons identification measure passes Senate
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SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Michael E. Hastings is building on his missing persons investigation work ─ passing legislation in the Senate that would accelerate the timeline for critical forensic data being added to state and national databases.
“Law enforcement often starts, and sometimes stops, with criminal databases like CODIS for DNA or criminal fingerprint records,” said Hastings (D-Frankfort). “Those are strong tools, but they fail when the missing person has no criminal history.”
Under current law, missing persons cases are entered into state and federal databases and may eventually receive additional identifying data. Senate Bill 2949 would update the process so that if a person remains missing for 30 days after a police report, their dental record will be added to the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System — rather than waiting longer under previous practice. After 60 days, the bill would require dental records to be entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the federal repository used to match missing persons with unidentified remains.
Read more: Hastings’ missing persons identification measure passes Senate
Cunningham legislation to protect sensitive medical information moves to the House
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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Bill Cunningham’s legislation to prevent genetic marker data from being used by employers and insurers has passed out of the Senate.
“With the field of medicine progressing, we face a new set of privacy challenges,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “We want to encourage people to take part in these new beneficial practices, while keeping important genetic data about them out of the wrong hands.”
Senate Bill 2886 would update Genetic Information Privacy Act to expand existing safeguards to include biomarker testing, in addition to genetic testing. The measure clarifies that information derived from these tests is confidential and privileged, and may only be released to the individual tested or to those specifically authorized in writing.
Read more: Cunningham legislation to protect sensitive medical information moves to the House
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Porfirio resolution honors U.S. Marine Corps
SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Mike Porfirio led a resolution to honor the U.S. Marine Corps through renaming a portion of Interstate Route 80. “Since its creation, the Marine Corps has played a key role in protecting and safeguarding the security and fr... -
Hastings: Freedom is never free
SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Michael E. Hastings supported a resolution to honor the United States Marine Corps through renaming a portion of Interstate Route 80. Hastings, who served as a U.S. Army officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom, rose in supp... -
Jones honors fallen state trooper with memorial highway
SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Emil Jones III successfully led a resolution to rename a portion of I-55 in honor of late State Trooper Clay M. Carns. “Trooper Carns died doing the same thing he had done every day for 11 years – diligently and faithfully... -
Johnson declares Menopause Awareness Week
SPRINGFIELD – To bring awareness to a condition that will be faced by more than half of all Illinoisans, State Senator Adriane Johnson championed the effort to declare Oct. 11-17, 2026 Menopause Awareness Week. “Highlighting menopause is vital to gua... -
Morrison champions resolution declaring September 2026 Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Month
DEERFIELD — Bringing awareness to genetic disorders, State Senator Julie Morrison championed a resolution in the Senate declaring September 2026 as Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Month in Illinois. “Muscular Dystrophy is a group of progressive and dege...
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