SPRINGFIELD – In a victory for mobile home owners across Illinois, two measures proposed by State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) to increase transparency for mobile home buyers and improve conditions in mobile home parks have both passed the Senate.

“Every homeowner deserves to know the terms of their loan agreement and to be able to depend on a basic standard of living—that includes mobile home owners,” Murphy said. “These initiatives set the bar, ensuring residents of mobile home parks have the same protections as any other Illinoisan.”

A loan for a mobile home located in a mobile home park is different from a mortgage: Mobile homes are assessed and taxed as personal property rather than real estate, interest rates are often much higher than those for typical home loans, and refinancing options are limited. To ensure residents are well informed when purchasing a mobile home, Senate Bill 1779 would require lenders to disclose these differences to prospective mobile home buyers.

SPRINGFIELD – Following a series of pedestrian deaths in the community she represents, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) has advanced a plan to prevent further tragedy by requiring the Illinois Department of Transportation to look more closely into traffic accidents on state highways that result in the death of a pedestrian.

“The design of a roadway can play a large part in traffic accidents, with deadly consequences,” Murphy said. “By responding to these accidents with action, we can pinpoint those hazards and make a fix before more lives are lost.”

SPRINGFIELD – To clarify local governments’ authority to determine their own boundaries, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) sponsored legislation to protect and strengthen municipalities’ rights to annex surrounding properties.

“There are statutory requirements in place to ensure local governments can annex property legally and with the best interests of the community in mind,” Murphy said. “Recent court rulings have complicated these requirements—this legislation sets them straight.”

SPRINGFIELD – To increase transparency and cut red tape for doctors trying to restore their medical licenses, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) is leading a proposal that would require the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to publish detailed instructions on its website.

“If a physician has served their punishment and wants to have their license restored, they have the right to know how to go about it,” Murphy said. “This initiative would ensure specific steps and requirements are laid out in one easily accessible location.”

SPRINGFIELD – To provide support to local park districts as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a measure sponsored by State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) that passed the Senate Wednesday would give park districts more time to complete projects funded through the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant program. 

“Every community was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic differently, and as a result, they are all recovering at a different pace,” Murphy said. “This initiative would give park districts the authority to set the timeline for their own community’s projects.”

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which administers the OSLAD grant program, provides an advance payment of 50% of the grant up front. State law requires grantees to complete projects within two years of receiving grant funds, meaning that park districts have just two years after this advance payment to complete projects.

SPRINGFIELD – To give parents the peace of mind that videos of their students at school won’t be shared with unauthorized parties, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) advanced legislation out of the Senate Thursday to remove the video recording requirement from the Illinois edTPA teacher licensing assessment.

“Uploading videos of children to a third-party vendor poses a cybersecurity risk, threatening kids’ privacy, and in some cases, their safety,” Murphy said. “It’s time to explore more secure ways to assess our student teachers’ performance.”

The legislation would establish student teachers cannot be required to videotape themselves or their students in order to earn a license.

Currently, student teachers in Illinois must record themselves and their students on video to pass the edTPA, an assessment required for their teaching license. The video is then uploaded and sent to a third-party vendor for evaluation. The edTPA requires just two short segments of video, but student teachers are encouraged to record hours of footage to choose from.

The legislation would still allow teacher education programs to videotape for in-house teaching purposes, and licensed teachers and administrators could still film students in order to gain National Board Certification or for training, sporting events or promotional purposes.

“Aspiring educators shouldn’t have to put their students at risk to gain a license,” Murphy said. “This legislation takes an important step in protecting children’s privacy.” 

Senate Bill 808 passed the Senate with bipartisan support and now heads to the House.

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SPRINGFIELD – To provide targeted support to college students and staff in Illinois, an initiative sponsored by State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) to create an online resource hub geared toward campus mental health passed the Senate Wednesday.

“The challenges of higher education can take a toll on the entire campus community,” Murphy said. “This initiative would provide students and professors alike an easy-to-access website listing all available resources to help manage stress, anxiety and depression.”

The legislation would require the Department of Human Services to maintain a page on its website with mental health resources specifically tailored to post-secondary education institutions, their staff, students and families.

Currently, DHS provides digital brochures and links on its website of helpful tools for those who may be dealing with a mental health concern. However, the website does not contain provisions directly targeted to post-secondary education and its communities.

SPRINGFIELD – With the vaccine effort underway but COVID-19 cases still alarmingly high, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) advanced a measure out of the Senate Wednesday to give the legislature a voice in the reopening process by reinstating the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission.

“When the state was first grappling with the pandemic, the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission gave lawmakers the chance to offer input and communicate feedback from their constituents,” Murphy said. “Our work isn’t over yet. It’s time to reinstate the commission so we can help guide Illinois to a full recovery.”

Murphy’s proposal would reenact the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission, a bipartisan, bicameral commission created last May to monitor and help shape the state’s economic recovery plans after the COVID-19 crisis.