Loughran Cappel advances legislation to overcome teacher shortages

SPRINGFIELD – Legislation spearheaded by State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood) to waive application fees for short-term substitute teaching licenses cleared the Senate Wednesday.

“As a parent and former teacher, I believe we have an obligation to ensure our children have access to a high-quality education,” Loughran Cappel said. “A student’s education should not stop when their teacher is sick or unable to be in the classroom, which is why we need to simplify the process for qualified individuals to substitute teach.”

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Gillespie passes municipal social worker debt relief programs

SPRINGFIELD – Two measures to assist social workers with earning and paying off their degrees, introduced by State Senator Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights), passed the Illinois Senate on Wednesday.

“Incentivizing students of social work to start their careers in Illinois will help our local governments recruit the qualified professionals they need, while mitigating the student debt crisis,” Gillespie said.

Senate Bill 3912 expands the Post-Master of Social Work Professional Educator License scholarship to municipal social workers. Recipients would be required to work for an Illinois municipality for at least two of the five years immediately following graduation.

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Crowe measure to empower mothers who endure sexual abuse during childbirth passes Senate

SPRINGFIELD – To offer support to mothers who are survivors of sexual abuse while giving birth, State Senator Rachelle Aud Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) advanced an initiative through the Senate Wednesday to allow parents to remove the physician’s name from a copy of the child’s birth certificate.

“When giving birth, women trust their physician to offer support, guidance and encouragement on one of the happiest, most memorable days of her life,” Crowe said. “Unfortunately, there are multiple cases where mothers endure sexual assault and abuse in the process, and this measure aims to remove the disgraced physician’s name from the child’s birth certificate.”

In Illinois, the short form birth certificate does not include the physician’s name. Under Crowe’s proposal, a parent or 18 year old child can request a long form birth certificate with the physician’s name removed. The redacted certified copy of the birth certificate does not replace the original certificate.

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Hunter’s CROWN Act passes Senate

SPRINGFIELD – A measure led by State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) to end hair discrimination in the workplace passed the Senate Wednesday.

“No one should have to miss out on a job opportunity or miss a school graduation because of the hair that grows naturally out of their head,” Hunter said. “It’s 2022. As a nation, we should be past this petty discrimination.”

Senate Bill 3616 – also known as the Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act – amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to provide that the term “race” includes traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists.

A recent study from Dove uncovered that 80% of African American women felt they needed to switch their hairstyle to align with more conservative workplace standards in order to fit in.

Read more: Hunter’s CROWN Act passes Senate