Dillon’s Law moves forward thanks to Edly-Allen, preparing our communities to act on allergic reactions

SPRINGFIELD – According to the Food Allergy Research & Education organization (FARE), 33 million Americans have a food allergy, with the most common allergies including milk, tree nuts, shellfish and peanuts. To increase the accessibility of epinephrine to help those having an allergic reaction, State Senator

Mary Edly-Allen worked with House Assistant Majority Leader Maurice West to bring House Bill 2462 to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Preston leads expansion of implicit bias training for health care workers

SPRINGFIELD - State Senator Willie Preston passed a measure through the Senate Licensed Activities Committee to expand implicit bias training for health care workers in Illinois.

“Having implicit bias training in our health care system is essential as Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related cause of deaths than white women,” said Preston (D-Chicago). “We must protect the maternal health of every women in our state.”

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Loughran Cappel measure strengthens emergency response actions in schools

SPRINGFIELD – To ensure all educators, including substitute teachers, know what to do in case of an emergency at school, State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel passed a bill out of committee that requires them to be trained in evacuation and lockdown procedures.

“Parents send their children to school expecting their teacher to know what to do if there’s an emergency,” said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “Ensuring every teacher, substitute or full-time, is trained for emergency response situations is the logical thing to do.”

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Lightford: Financial security is essential to breaking cycles of abuse

Lightford leads measure to prohibit collection agencies from collecting debt incurred through coercion

SPRINGFIELD – Recognizing that financial abuse is a common tactic used by abusers to maintain control over victims, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford is leading a measure to prohibit collection agencies from collecting debt incurred through coercion.

"Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking should not be haunted by debts that were forced upon them during their trauma," said Lightford (D-Maywood). "We must prevent predatory collection practices that can re-traumatize survivors and hinder their path to recovery and independence."

Read more: Lightford: Financial security is essential to breaking cycles of abuse