Martwick measure providing students with mental health days passes Senate

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) passed legislation out of the Illinois Senate Thursday to ensure the mental health needs of school children are met.

House Bill 576 gives students the opportunity to take days off school to focus on their mental health without facing disciplinary action. The proposal comes as suicidal thoughts and mental health struggles among teens continues to rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of suicide in young people increased 56% from 2007 to 2017. 

“Students experiencing mental health struggles need to know that they will not be disciplined for attending to their mental health.” Martwick said. “Giving students the opportunity to make up their work allows them to stay on track and not feel the pressure of falling behind.”

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Cullerton passes measure to connect long-term care facility residents with family

SPRINGFIELD – To combat social isolation for residents of long-term care facilities, State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) passed a measure to require these facilities to help connect residents to loved ones when a disaster is declared.

“The COVID-19 pandemic put an unprecedented amount of stress on people, especially those in long-term care facilities,” Cullerton said. “A simple phone or video call could do a lot for these residents who are isolated from their loved ones.”

According to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, more than one-third of adults aged 45 and older report feeling lonely, and nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated. COVID-19 has only exacerbated these statistics.

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Senator Holmes: Illinois should forbid poaching and trafficking of at-risk animal species

SPRINGFIELD – Federal policy on illegal smuggling and trafficking of exotic animals’ body parts has been strengthened, and Illinois needs to step up as well, according to Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora). Illinois prohibited the trade of ivory and rhino horn in 2018, but other animal species continue to face the threat of extinction due to demand. Holmes’ legislation that would lengthen the list of species banned in Illinois passed in the Senate Thursday.

“Species are doomed to extinction if we don’t stop illegal smuggling and trafficking of their body parts,” Holmes said. “Federal policy has been strengthened, and Illinois needs to match that here.”

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No-contact orders could apply to families of sexual assault survivors under Villa measure

SPRINGFIELD – Civil no-contact order eligibility would be expanded to include family and household members of survivors of sexual assault under legislation sponsored by State Senator Karina Villa (D-West Chicago), which passed the Senate Thursday.

“Family members of sexual assault survivors can have shared trauma and feel the need to seek a no-contact order,” Villa said. “People who are closest with a survivor should not have to live in fear of contact with their loved one’s abuser.” 

Under current law, a petition for a civil no-contact order can be filed by a survivor of non-consensual sexual conduct or by another person on behalf of a survivor who cannot file the petition. Villa’s measure would expand eligibility to offer protections for family or household members of survivors of sexual harassment and assault.

Read more: No-contact orders could apply to families of sexual assault survivors under Villa measure