SPRINGFIELD – To help working families, State Senator Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) passed legislation in the Illinois Senate to encourage the development of affordable housing units.

“We need a long-term strategy for affordable housing,” said Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights). “Creating incentives in the housing market will produce better options and more stable lives for working families across the state.”

House Bill 2621 combines measures from affordable housing initiatives introduced this year by Senators Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) and Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago). It creates incentives in the housing market for affordable housing units, enforces the mandatory affordable housing plan for cities with at least 1,000 residents and changes how the Cook County Assessor’s office calculates the tax liability for affordable housing complexes.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) supported an initiative Sunday to maintain and expand telehealth services.

“COVID-19 has significantly increased the need for remote health services, but the truth is this need has always been here and will remain here once this pandemic is behind us,” Hunter said. “Whether we are isolating during a pandemic or simply elderly people with mobility or transportation issues, we need to be able to receive the necessary services and treatment, and telehealth gives patients that option.”

Currently, insurance companies may provide coverage for telehealth services, but are not required to do so.

SPRINGFIELD – An effort to create more affordable housing for Illinois residents led by State Senators Mattie Hunter, Ann Gillespie and Sara Feigenholtz passed the Senate Sunday. 

“People are still recovering from the financial struggles brought on by the pandemic, making affordable housing more necessary than ever before,” said Hunter (D-Chicago). “With many people behind on rent and struggling with unemployment, we have to do more to help them.”

House Bill 2621 would create several monetary incentives for residential developers to create affordable housing in Illinois, including the COVID-19 Affordable Housing Grant Program, which would supplement affordable housing developments that qualify for federal tax credits throughout the state.

“We need a long-term strategy for affordable housing,” said Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights). “Creating incentives in the housing market will produce better options and more stable lives for working families across the state.”

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) is celebrating passage of a landmark affordable housing package meant to address one of Illinois’ biggest challenges. The measure, which Feigenholtz help move through the Senate, was sponsored by State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago).

“Illinois has a severe shortage of affordable housing, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the number of people facing housing insecurity,” Feigenholtz said. “As of 2019, Illinois was short nearly 108,000 rental homes individuals earning 60% of their local area median income could afford. In Chicago, this is about $56,000 for a family of four. By offering tax incentives, we will be able to keep families together, in their homes and in their communities.”

House Bill 2621 has several provisions aimed at securing affordable housing statewide. One aspect of the legislation stems from legislation Feigenholtz sponsored earlier in the year that would provide an incentive to landlords by reducing the assessed value of properties where 15% to 35% of units offer rent at or below market value for 10 years.

SPRINGFIELD – Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) moved legislation this week that would expand workers’ compensation for firefighters and EMTs to cover a potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant staph infection that poses a particularly high risk to first responders.

House Bill 3662 would amend the Workers’ Compensation Act. It presumes that these professionals would be exposed to MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in the course of their employment.

“The job of a firefighter or EMT includes administering up-close care to people who may be MRSA carriers or infected with MRSA,” Holmes said. “This puts first responders at increased risk for MRSA contamination—it’s common sense that a MRSA infection should be covered under workers’ compensation policies.”

SPRINGFIELD – As classes resume in-person, State Senator Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) passed legislation to ban the abuse of students with restraints and seclusion rooms in schools.

“This legislation protects all students, particularly the most vulnerable, from these harmful practices,” Gillespie said. “I am grateful to all our partners that put in years-long work to keep students safe.”

Current law allows school staff to isolate a student if they pose a danger to themselves or others. However, a Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois investigation revealed that isolation rooms are often used as a punishment for refusing to do classwork, swearing and other behavior that does not pose a threat to safety.

SPRINGFIELD – To allow individuals who have overcome addiction to put their pasts behind them and move forward, State Senator Adriane Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove) has sponsored a measure to prohibit life insurance companies from denying coverage or increasing rates solely because an individual has undergone treatment for substance abuse.

“It takes strength, perseverance and resolve to seek treatment for an addiction,” Johnson said. “Life insurance companies shouldn’t punish those who have chosen to change their lives for the better.”

Johnson’s plan would prohibit a life insurance company from denying or limiting coverage or charging higher rates based solely on whether an individual has participated in a substance use treatment or recovery support program more than five years prior to application.

SPRINGFIELD – Birth centers across Illinois would have a path to permanent licensure, increasing access to quality, affordable health care for pregnant women, under a measure sponsored by State Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview) that passed the Senate Saturday.

“Pregnant women should not be limited in their choice of birthing style due to an inadequate number of freestanding birth center licenses in Illinois,” Senator Fine said. “Improving accessibility to birth centers will help bridge health care disparities across the state.”