Caucus News

CHICAGO – State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes is leading a transformative piece of housing legislation that will rein in excessive parking requirements imposed by municipalities and remove a key barrier to building more homes for working families.

“Every unnecessary parking space we mandate is a home we aren’t able to build,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “This measure is about putting families first and making sure communities have the tools they need to grow, welcome new residents and build housing that people can actually afford.”

CHICAGO – State Senator Mattie Hunter is leading sweeping legislation that would reform exclusionary zoning laws and open new pathways for affordable, diverse housing across the state.

“Underserved communities across Illinois have been bearing the weight of the housing crisis for years," said Hunter (D-Chicago). “Senate Bill 4060 gives us the tools to build more housing in more places – and to do it in a way that is fair, transparent and enforceable.”

As part of Governor JB Pritzker’s Building Up Illinois Developments – or BUILD – proposal, Hunter is leading Senate Bill 4060.

CHICAGO – Members of the Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus celebrated the launch of a first-of-its-kind incentive program to promote environmentally conscious television and filmmaking, positioning Illinois as a nationwide leader in sustainable film production.

“I am proud to support an initiative that brings together innovation, job creation, and environmental responsibility,” said State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin). “Illinois is setting the standard for how states can grow their industries while building a more sustainable future.”

Villivalam advances measure that would regulate the use of micromobility devices in an effort to make safety meet innovation

SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Ram Villivalam spearheaded a measure through the Senate that would establish regulations for the use of toy vehicles, motor-driven bicycles and other small, low-speed electric mobility devices in Illinois.

“E-bikes and other increasingly popular micromobility devices are being utilized by our neighbors. While these devices provide more accessibility for our residents, they have also led to tragic accidents,” said Villivalam (D-Chicago). “It is imperative that we implement safeguards to ensure that everyone who uses a micromobility device is able to do so in a safe way.”

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Senate approves Feigenholtz bill to expand law enforcement training on hate crimes

SPRINGFIELD — Chicago’s North Side communities have experienced a steady rise in hate-related incidents in recent years, particularly those directed toward the Jewish community. A critical step in bringing justice to victims and swift punishment to perpetrators is the recorded documentation of hate-related incidents, leading State Senator Sara Feigenholtz to champion a plan that would ensure law enforcement officers are better trained to identify hate crimes in Illinois.

“Hate crimes are rising to unprecedented levels right in our own backyards — underscoring how important it is for law enforcement to be equipped to properly handle each situation,” said Feigenholtz (D-Chicago). “Expanding training for officers will allow them to fully understand and tackle the scope of the problem, strengthening community safety and fostering an environment where all neighbors feel respected.”

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Preston measure expands speech therapy coverage for stuttering

SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Willie Preston is spearheading a measure that would require health insurance companies to provide coverage for rehabilitative speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering.

“Stuttering is something that a lot of people deal with, especially children,” said Preston (D-Chicago). “I want to make sure those people do not have to go through their speech troubles on their own and can get the help they need.”

Read more.

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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.

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. 

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.

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.