CHICAGO – State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, eliminating millions of women across the nation the right to choose:

“For decades, the United States has had the privilege of accessing reproductive health care and abortion care afforded by Roe v. Wade. Today, with one swift stroke of the Damocles sword, that privilege has ended for millions of women across the country. The GOP-backed Supreme Court sent reproductive health care and the right to abortion spiraling back 50 years. 

“An extremist minority of anti-choice officials have pushed anti-abortion rhetoric with the end goal of overturning Roe v. Wade. This has been their strategy for 50 years; this has always been their endgame. 

CHICAGO – A measure sponsored by State Senator Sara Feigenholtz will allow Chicago firefighters to add MRSA to the list of occupational disease disability benefits if they contract the infection on duty.

“In recent years, firefighters have seen increased staph infections, including MRSA,” said Feigenholtz (D-Chicago). “Including MRSA on the list of covered protections for firefighters will aid in stopping the spread of the infection.”

The new law aligns Chicago firefighters with downstate firefighters by extending an occupational disease disability benefit to any active Chicago firefighter who has completed seven or more years of service and can’t perform their duties because of a contagious staph infection including MRSA.

CHICAGO – Restaurants, bars and retailers will be protected from unscrupulous delivery services thanks to an initiative spearheaded by State Senator Sara Feigenholtz that was signed into law Friday.

“Businesses have been victims of deceptive delivery services without their knowledge or consent,” said Feigenholtz (D-Chicago). “There are reasons some restaurants and bars may decide not to utilize delivery services. Protecting the brand and reputation that small businesses have worked to establish was a top priority and focus of this new law.”

$1.4M in equipment directed to Chicago police districts 18 and 19

CHICAGO – Law enforcement officials will have more technology and tools to solve crimes, including expressway cameras, thanks to a measure sponsored by State Senator Sara Feigenholtz that was signed into law Friday.

“Law enforcement officials need every tool to keep our communities safe,” said Feigenholtz (D-Chicago). “This technology, such as expressway cameras, will reduce unsolved crimes committed on the streets of Chicago and now clarifies the inclusion of Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive.”

Feigenholtz worked closely with local law enforcement in her district to bring $1.4 million in funding for equipment for lakefront police. 

CHICAGO – Transparency for Chicago residents who live in high rises will increase thanks to a measure sponsored by State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) that was signed into law Friday.

“After the condominium collapse in Seaside, Florida, constituents became weary of the high rises in Chicago,” Feigenholtz said. “Condominium associations need to be reliable and transparent to tenants about renovations, repairs and updates to their buildings.”

A reserve study helps identify the stability of the condominium association’s finances and assists in planning ahead for costs associated with common area maintenance expenditures. This study helps homeowners and condominium associations determine how much in reserve funds should be maintained.

CHICAGO – Former foster children may get in contact with their former foster parents and former foster siblings thanks to a measure sponsored by State Senator Sara Feigenholtz that was signed into law Friday.

Senator Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), an adoptee herself, was reunited with her biological sister through a similar service provided by the state of Illinois. Feigenholtz saw the positive outcome these services have, and wanted to expand state services for youth in foster care.

“Children in the foster system often become very close with their foster parents and siblings before they are adopted into a new family,” Feigenholtz said. “Children deserve easy accessibility to contact them as they transition into a new life with unfamiliar faces.”

CHICAGO – Vehicle emission testing sites are on track to return to Chicago thanks to a measure fought for by State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) that was signed into law Friday.

“The former administration made a shortsighted, unilateral decision to close all four vehicle emissions testing sites that were located within the city limits of Chicago,” Feigenholtz said. “With a population of 2.8 million people, the City of Chicago should have more accessible testing stations within the city.” 

The new law requires the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to submit a plan by Oct. 1, 2022 to open vehicle emission testing sites in Chicago. Four vehicle emissions testing sites in Chicago were closed in 2016, leaving drivers in the lurch and forcing them to travel to the suburbs. The plan will consist of either a pilot program or permanent replacement program and a timeline of actions to implement the plan.

CHICAGO – State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) released the following statement after attending a concert at Temple Sholom commemorating Yom HaShoah, a day that honors the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust:

“The history of the Hebrew song, Ani ma’Amin, which means ‘I believe,’ is deeply spiritual. I learned the song when I was a child and until last night, I did not know its origin.

“In 1942, Azriel David Fastag wrote the melody to Ani Ma'amin while being transported on a train to the Treblinka concentration camp. Every day, Fastag sang this song in the camps.