Affordable housing for community college students becomes law

SPRINGFIELD – Community college boards of trustees and local housing authorities will now have authority to develop affordable housing for community college students, under a new law sponsored by State Senator Doris Turner (D—Springfield).

“This is about bettering the college experience for every student in this state,” said Turner. “Research shows that students who live on campus have higher GPAs. When students live on campus they are more plugged-in to the campus community and have more opportunities to join clubs, attend events and meet new people.”

Read more: Affordable housing for community college students becomes law

Series of new Peters laws focus on safety, justice for communities

Measures signed include ban on lying to kids during interrogations

CHICAGO – During a ceremony at a Northwestern University campus in Chicago, four public safety and criminal justice reform measures sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) were signed by Gov. JB Pritzker and became law.

The ceremony was a culmination of several years of hard work from Peters and advocates to reimagine what safety and justice look like in Illinois.

Senate Bill 2122 makes statements provided by a minor inadmissible in court if they were made after a law enforcement official intentionally lied during the interrogation. Deception is defined as “knowingly providing false information about evidence or leniency.”

“It is an unfortunately common practice for police officers to lie to kids in order to coerce them into saying what they want to hear,” Peters said. “These are stressful and frightening situations for many kids, and a lot of the time the statements aren’t truthful, but were still made because the kids thought it would get them out of the situation.”

Read more: Series of new Peters laws focus on safety, justice for communities

Castro applauds signing of Ashley’s Law expansion

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) celebrated the signing of an expansion to Ashley’s Law allowing designated caregivers at summer camps and other park district programs to administer medical cannabis products.

“Ashley’s Law was so important to making sure students are able to get the medication they need,” said Castro, who sponsored the original law. “This expansion will make sure they get continued care during the summer months, and I am happy to see it signed into law.”

Ashley’s Law passed in 2018 in response to the case of an 11-year-old student being denied use of medical cannabis prescribed to her to alleviate symptoms of leukemia treatment. Although she was a qualified medical cannabis patient, previous state law prohibited her use of medicinal cannabis on school grounds.

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Governor signs historic Asian American curriculum bill into law

SPRINGFIELD -- Governor Pritzker signed the TEAACH Act (Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History) into law on Friday. The bill will make Illinois the first state to require a unit of Asian American history to be taught in public elementary and high schools.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, hate crimes and attacks on Asian Americans rose across the country, prompting advocacy groups and organizers to develop and champion this legislation over the past year.

The historic bill was introduced by State Sen. Ram Villivalam and State Rep. Jennifer Gong Gershowitz, and was championed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and a coalition of more than 35 organizations.

Read more: Governor signs historic Asian American curriculum bill into law