SPRINGFIELD -- Governor Pritzker signed the TEAACH Act (Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History) into law on Friday. The bill will make Illinois the first state to require a unit of Asian American history to be taught in public elementary and high schools.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, hate crimes and attacks on Asian Americans rose across the country, prompting advocacy groups and organizers to develop and champion this legislation over the past year.

The historic bill was introduced by State Sen. Ram Villivalam and State Rep. Jennifer Gong Gershowitz, and was championed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and a coalition of more than 35 organizations.

CHICAGO – State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) released the following statement in response to the passage of a comprehensive gun safety and modernization package in the Illinois House today:

“This critical legislation will keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, empower partners in law enforcement to act before the next tragedy can occur, and dedicate life-saving mental health funding to communities most impacted by gun violence.

“We chose to move forward with this bill to not let perfect be the enemy of good, as this package contains most of the provisions offered in our initial legislation. It will expand the number of fingerprints on file for police to conduct universal background checks and crack down on illegal gun purchases.

“I strongly urge Gov. Pritzker to sign this vital legislation.”

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SPRINGFIELD – To ensure that all residents have access to good-paying work, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) passed legislation in the Illinois Senate that would prohibit employers from discriminating against an applicant based on their current federal work authorization status.

“Those authorized to work in the United States should not face employment discrimination,” Villivalam said. “All residents of Illinois deserve access to good work that pays living wages.”

The legislation would make it a violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) for employers, employment agencies and labor organizations to discriminate against individuals based on their federal work authorization status, without regard to how or why they obtained their work authorization. This is an initiative of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in response to recent employment discrimination lawsuits filed against employers for refusing to hire Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and is supported by several immigrant rights and business groups.

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SPRINGFIELD – To protect the wellbeing of public school employees, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) passed legislation in the Illinois Senate that would offer the same terms and conditions as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

“Illinois should expand access to family and medical leave for working families,” Villivalam said. “Our educators and school staff work on the frontlines every day to provide a quality education for our youth and deserve their leave with no strings attached.”

SPRINGFIELD – To uphold the rights of working people, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) introduced a Constitutional amendment that would ban “Right to Work” legislation in Illinois.

“Workers in all industries should have the right to organize and bargain for better wages and conditions,” Villivalam said. “Illinois is one of the last bastions of the labor movement, and we must act to preserve and protect it.”

The amendment would provide that no law passed may prohibit the ability of workers to collectively bargain over wages, hours, terms and conditions of work. The measure would effectively ban “Right to Work” laws in Illinois, which prohibit union security agreements in which an employer and a labor union agree on the extent to which employees are compelled to pay for the administering of collective bargaining.

CHICAGO – To better serve undocumented and immigrant communities, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) passed legislation in the Illinois Senate on Thursday that would allow municipal ID cards to be used to access state services and facilities.

“All residents of Illinois, regardless of immigration status, should be able to receive essential state services,” Villivalam said. “Allowing municipal IDs to be used for this will allow the most vulnerable among us to get the assisstance they need.”

SPRINGFIELD – To protect the wellbeing of public school employees, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) passed legislation in the Senate Labor Committee that would offer the same terms and conditions as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

“Illinois should expand access to family and medical leave for working families,” Villivalam said. “Our educators and school staff work on the frontlines every day to provide a quality education for our youth and deserve their leave with no strings attached.”

Government agencies and elementary and secondary schools are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows for up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave for specified reasons. Employees must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours. The legislation would lower the current work hour requirement from 1,250 hours to 1,000 hours, which is the federal standard.

SPRINGFIELD – To allow students of all faiths to practice freely, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) passed legislation out of the Senate Education Committee that would provide them with up to five days of excused absences for religious holidays.

“Illinois is a diverse state with several religious communities,” Villivalam said. “Our school calendar should reflect the diversity of our state and allow students of all faiths the flexibility to practice according to their religious calendar.”

The legislation would allow for excused absence from public schools to observe a religious holiday or participate in religious instruction. No more than five days per school year would be given to students. The legislation is an initiative of the Northern Illinois American Muslim Alliance (NIAMA).

“This would provide school children the ability to celebrate important religious holidays and strengthen the bond between their families,” said Vaseem Iftekhar, Chairman and Founder of NIAMA. “This change would be greatly welcomed by Muslim and other religious communities.”

“As the Muslim population grows in Chicagoland, it is important for school systems to recognize our holidays and customs,” said Kamran Hussain, President of the Muslim Community Center. “This would allow Muslim youth to have a sense of pride that their school recognizes and respects their values.”

“This measure ensures every student, family and community is respected, and it supports the diverse faith identities across our state,” said Dr. Dilara Sayeed of the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition. “We are proud to support this bill moving forward."

House Bill 169 passed the Senate Education Committee and awaits consideration before the full Senate.