SPRINGFIELD – To provide targeted support to college students and staff in Illinois, an initiative sponsored by State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) to create an online resource hub geared toward campus mental health passed the Senate Wednesday.

“The challenges of higher education can take a toll on the entire campus community,” Murphy said. “This initiative would provide students and professors alike an easy-to-access website listing all available resources to help manage stress, anxiety and depression.”

The legislation would require the Department of Human Services to maintain a page on its website with mental health resources specifically tailored to post-secondary education institutions, their staff, students and families.

Currently, DHS provides digital brochures and links on its website of helpful tools for those who may be dealing with a mental health concern. However, the website does not contain provisions directly targeted to post-secondary education and its communities.

SPRINGFIELD – With the vaccine effort underway but COVID-19 cases still alarmingly high, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) advanced a measure out of the Senate Wednesday to give the legislature a voice in the reopening process by reinstating the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission.

“When the state was first grappling with the pandemic, the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission gave lawmakers the chance to offer input and communicate feedback from their constituents,” Murphy said. “Our work isn’t over yet. It’s time to reinstate the commission so we can help guide Illinois to a full recovery.”

Murphy’s proposal would reenact the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission, a bipartisan, bicameral commission created last May to monitor and help shape the state’s economic recovery plans after the COVID-19 crisis.

SPRINGFIELD – In order to clarify how taxes are collected from online sellers based in Illinois, State Senator Cristina Castro (D- Elgin) introduced a measure that corrects the double-taxation of Illinois sellers who sell their products through larger marketplace facilitators.

“This legislation provides a simple fix to something that has cost businesses in the state unnecessary taxes,” Castro said. “Big websites that act as a marketplace for smaller sellers provide an important service, but the way the Illinois Use Tax was interpreted by Department of Revenue in 2020 hurt some of these Illinois sellers.”

Legislation that went into effect in January of 2020 required marketplace facilitators, like Amazon and Etsy, to collect and turn over a sales tax of 6.25%, known as the Illinois Use Tax, to the Department of Revenue. However, the Department of Revenue also required that Illinois-based retailers selling through these marketplaces turn over their local sales tax to the state, which includes the same 6.25%.

SPRINGFIELD – A steadfast supporter of keeping tobacco out of the hands of children, State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) passed the Preventing Youth Vaping Act through the Senate Thursday.

“Vaping- and e-cigarette-related deaths and illnesses have become a nationwide outbreak that no user is immune to — no matter how young they are,” Morrison said. “We were doing so well on changing the culture of smoking, and now we have gone backward — especially the younger generation.”

The measure would place a number of restrictions on electronic cigarettes, including prohibiting marketing tactics that use images of cartoons or video games that appeal to children. Additionally, it prohibits shops from offering discounts on electronic cigarettes and requires sellers shipping the products to ensure the purchaser is at least 21 years old.

SPRINGFIELD – A measure sponsored by State Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) that would help cities and counties address blighted properties passed committee on Wednesday.

“Blighted properties don’t just affect one or two neighbors. They can have a ripple effect on an entire block,” Stadelman said. “Giving our cities and counties the tools they need to fight this problem is the first step to revitalizing our neighborhoods.”

• The measure would reduce abandoned and neglected homes by helping municipalities intervene earlier through the court system to save these properties.
• It allows municipalities and counties to partner with land banks to maintain and manage vacant buildings so they can be saved.
• The measure would help people stay in their homes by reducing the cap on interest rates on unpaid property taxes.

“Sen. Stadelman recognizes the impact that blighted properties have in Rockford, and I appreciate all of his work in Springfield to help mitigate this issue,” said Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara. “Blighted properties decrease home values, drive away investment, and are havens for criminal activity. This bill makes it easier for municipalities to intercept dilapidated properties before they are beyond repair so that they can be rehabilitated and placed back on the tax rolls. My administration has taken aggressive action to strengthen our neighborhoods, and this bill we be a tremendous tool that can help the city in this work.”

“When you have abandoned and deteriorating homes, it’s often local governments that pay to maintain or demolish these properties,” Stadelman said. “This measure finds solutions to help our state better address neighborhood rehabilitation.”

Senate Bill 1721 passed the Senate Revenue Committee with a vote of 6-4 and now heads to the Senate floor for further consideration. 

SPRINGFIELD – The Senate approved a measure sponsored by State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) Wednesday to add probation officers to the list of individuals that qualify for death benefits if killed in the line of duty.

“When an officer is killed in the line of duty, it’s a reminder to all of us that any career in law enforcement can be dangerous and sometimes deadly,” Bennett said. “With the Illinois courts considering an expansion of home and field visits, more probation officers may soon be at increased risk of getting involved in a potentially violent situation. This legislation provides increased protections for them and their families.”

Bennett’s plan would include probation officers in the Line of Duty Compensation Act, which provides death benefits to individuals such as law enforcement officers, firefighters and members of the armed forces who are killed in the line of duty.

SPRINGFIELD – A measure introduced by State Senator Christopher Belt (D-Centreville) that would simplify the certification process for certified nursing assistants working at the Illinois Department of Corrections passed the State Senate on Wednesday.

“Being a nurse is admirable,” Belt said. “They have fearlessly served the residents of Illinois during this pandemic, and now it’s time we serve them.”

The measure would make it easier for CNAs working for IDOC to keep their certification while working for the department. By categorizing IDOC as a health care employer, it would allow CNAs to maintain their certification while working there.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, if a CNA has a gap of at least two years without employment by a health care employer, they will lose their registration status and no longer be listed on the Health Care Worker Registry. Currently, IDOC is not considered to be a health care employer, meaning that CNAs working for the department as a CNA for more than two years will lose their registration.

Right now, a CNA working for IDOC has to work a second job for another health care employer in order to maintain their certification. By modifying the act’s definition to include IDOC as a health care employer, CNAs employed by the department would no longer face this barrier.

“Right now, the Department of Corrections is not considered to be a health care employer,” Belt said. “This simple change will remove an unnecessary barrier for nurses serving their state.”

Senate Bill 1771 passed the Illinois Senate without opposition and now heads to the Illinois House of Representatives for further consideration.

SPRINGFIELD – To encourage government consolidation and promote cost-saving initiatives at the local level, State Senator Tom Cullerton (D- Villa Park) passed a measure through the Senate that prohibits the creation of any new local unit of government through the dividing of existing local governments.

“The amount of taxes that go to administrative costs in this state is excessive,” Cullerton said. “This measure aims to do something about the enormous number of units of local government in this state to help cut back on some of those costs.”

Currently, Illinois has approximately 7,000 local units of government, the most of any state. Senate Bill 1800 would extend the moratorium, originally enacted from 2015 through Jan. 1, 2020, on the division of local units of governments into two or more units. The moratorium would be extended through Jan. 1, 2023. However, this measure would allow for new units to be created if two or more local governments are consolidating.