SPRINGFIELD – To help guide local governments through the COVID-19 recovery process, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) has sponsored a package of legislation to give municipalities the means to address pandemic-related challenges.

“Especially now, local governments are keeping our communities afloat by managing our regional health departments and providing financial, housing and meal assistance to struggling Illinoisans,” said Murphy. “I hope this legislation can help them continue to provide much-needed services as we look to recover from this pandemic.”

SPRINGFIELD – To help families shop more safely during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, SNAP recipients in Illinois will be able to use their benefits to purchase groceries online beginning June 2, State Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview) announced Thursday.

“Being able to order groceries online is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this new function will allow SNAP recipients to shop safely and conveniently for years to come,” said Fine. “I’m glad to see our benefits programs responding not only to current events, but to the changing times.”

CHAMPAIGN – State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) is encouraged to learn the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has updated its guidance on allowing dental providers to resume routine oral and dental care beginning this week.

“IDPH’s decision to allow dentists to resume routine oral and dental care gives me great optimism and shows the progress we’ve made,” Bennett said. “Dental offices are good at infection control and always have been. I’m confident they will be able to comply with IDPH’s guidelines to ensure patients and staff are safe.”

SPRINGFIELD – Giving more opportunity for business owners to operate safely while also opening places for residents to be active outside, State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) is pleased with the expansion of openings under phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan.

“While I wish the Southern Region of Illinois could’ve moved to phase 3 of the state’s reopen plan sooner, I am happy residents have been granted a few aspects we’ve asked of the governor’s administration,” Crowe said. “Following the advice of health experts is key to reopening safely, and it’s encouraging to know Illinois is on the right track.”

The governor announced the following updates to phase 3, while retaining the local government’s right to establish other restrictions:

DEERFIELD — As members of the General Assembly have arrived back to Springfield, State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) is urging her colleagues to take up her bill, a package that would expand the state’s vote-by-mail program for the November election among other changes related to elections.

“People should not have to worry about their health and safety when exercising their right to vote,” Morrison said. “If people don’t feel safe going to restaurants, they won’t feel safe standing in line to cast their vote.”

Illinoisans would have more options to forego traditional polling places and cast their ballots from the safety of their homes during the November 2020 election under a measure sponsored by Morrison. She would like to see everyone who has voted in the last two years receive a ballot, which would then be returned to the county elections office and counted on Election Day.

CHAMPAIGN – State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) is pleased with Gov. JB Pritzker’s decision to withdraw his emergency rule Wednesday, which would have penalized businesses for reopening early.

The rule, which the governor introduced Friday, would allow fines up to $2,500 for businesses caught violating the executive order. Bennett raised his concerns with the emergency rule in a formal letter to the chairs of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) Tuesday.

“Business owners are eager to get back to work under our economic circumstances,” Bennett said. “If the rule had been ennacted, the consequences would have been severe. Even proposing this rule created unnecessary fear for business owners just trying to get by.”

Bennett also emphasized in his letter the need to consult with local officials and the General Assembly before filing these rules. 

JCAR announced in its Wednesday meeting that it would not take action since the emergency rule is already being repealed by the governor.

“With the General Assembly back in session this week, it’s appropriate to continue dealing with this issue through the regular legislative process where my colleagues and I can provide input,” Bennett said.

SPRINGFIELD – After echoing constituent’s concerns about the Illinois Department of Public Health’s rule to charge small business owners who defy the governor’s executive order with a misdemeanor, State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) is applauding the decision to rescind its enforcement.

“State leaders should be helping struggling business owners in every way imaginable, not proposing stricter consequences on them,” Crowe said. “Expecting state’s attorneys, law enforcement and local governments to enforce rules they weren’t invited to discuss is disrespectful to their responsibilities as community leaders.”

Feeling frustrated by the disregard for business owners and lack of opportunity for local governments to give input, Crowe sent a formal letter to the co-chairs of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules asking them to object and suspend the rule. Subsequently, the governor's administration withdrew the rule. 

The rule imposed enforcement from state’s attorneys to charge business owners who defy the governor’s executive order with a Class A misdemeanor with a fine ranging from $75 to $2,500.

DEERFIELD — As State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) and her colleagues returned to Springfield Wednesday, she has vowed to fight for human services funding in the Fiscal Year ’21 budget, especially for the Department of Children and Family Services.

“Many agencies that are tasked with helping and protecting our state’s most vulnerable populations already struggle with too few resources,” Morrison said. “Illinois should be a leader in showing all people are valuable and deserve to be treated with human dignity.”

Morrison is chair of the Illinois Senate Human Services Committee, where she fights for the beneficiaries of a number of human services agencies, most notably DCFS.