Bertino-Tarrant’s measure to protect consumer privacy now law

PLAINFIELD – Illinois residents’ genetic testing results will now be protected under a new law championed by State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.

Signed into law on Friday, Bertino-Tarrant’s House Bill 2189 prohibits companies that provide direct-to-consumer commercial genetic testing such as ancestry.com and 23andMe, from sharing any test results with health or life insurance companies without the consumer’s consent.

“As genetic testing becomes more popular, it is essential that personal information remain private,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “Illinois consumers should have peace of mind that their health information will remain private as they make decisions to manage their health care.”

The number of people who have had their DNA analyzed with direct-to-consumer genetic genealogy tests more than doubled during 2017 and exceeded 12 million in 2018.

Read more: Bertino-Tarrant’s measure to protect consumer privacy now law

Manar tours RCC with DCEO Director Guthrie, labor and business leaders

DECATUR – State Senator Andy Manar joined Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development Acting Director Erin Guthrie and representatives from the business and labor communities for a tour of Richland Community College’s workforce development facilities Wednesday.

“There’s incredible opportunity in the Decatur area and Richland is doing an excellent job of making sure there are qualified individuals ready to take advantage of those opportunities,” said Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat. “And after touring their facilities today, I’m certain that the EnRich program will be instrumental to the economic growth of the community going forward.”

For the past two fiscal years, Manar has helped secure $1.5 million grants through DCEO to help the college expand its workforce development programs.

The additional funds have helped Richland grow its EnRich program, which provides both technical and essential skills training to individuals to help grow the area’s workforce.

Read more: Manar tours RCC with DCEO Director Guthrie, labor and business leaders

Hunter’s new law strengthens TANF grant as a lifeline for families

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) passed a measure into law last week to help families in extreme poverty meet their basic needs.

House Bill 3129 eliminates the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) full family sanction. The TANF program provides monthly grants to help families meet their basic needs, including rent, utilities, clothing, personal hygiene products, diapers, transportation and more. Eligible families sometimes may receive a sanction, which suspends a TANF grant, when an adult does not meet certain participation requirements.

The measure, sponsored by Hunter and Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), would designate 75 percent of a family’s TANF benefit as the children portion that cannot be cut for any reason. When sanctioning, the remaining 25 percent is considered the parent’s portion and is subject to sanction. 30 percent of the parent’s portion can be reduced if a parent is not complying with TANF participation requirements.

Read more: Hunter’s new law strengthens TANF grant as a lifeline for families

SNAP benefits made more accessible to elderly, homeless and people living with disabilities

CHICAGO – A bill sponsored by State Senator Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) that would allow specified people to use their SNAP benefits at participating restaurants was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker today.

House Bill 3343 would allow elderly, homeless and people living with a disability to redeem their SNAP benefits at private establishments that contract with the Department of Human Services and on hot food served in grocery stores.

“When we get older, preparing meals at home becomes increasingly difficult,” said Aquino. “I saw firsthand how hard it was when I was a case manager for the Community Care Program. Seeing that made me want to make changes to our food assistance programs so they can effectively serve the people who rely on them.”

House Bill 3343 takes effect immediately.