Paint Stewardship Act passes Senate

SPRINGFIELD – Many homeowners have something lurking in their basement or garage that could be disposed of, but there hasn’t been a means to get rid of it safely: unused household paint. Legislation sponsored by State Senator Linda Holmes that would establish a program to dispose of household paint passed the Senate on Friday.

The Paint Stewardship Act in Senate Bill 836 creates a means for consumers to dispose of household paint in Illinois. No state resources are in place today to deal with this waste. Under this law, manufacturers of architectural paint will create and submit a plan to the Illinois EPA to establish the program.

SPRINGFIELD – After a new law to prohibit pet stores from using installment contract loans took effect last year, most of the stores affected ended the practice. However, a small group of pet stores have chosen to continue predatory loan practices — and selling puppy mill animals — in spite of these laws.

State Senator Linda Holmes passed House Bill 3236 out of the Senate, which prohibits any sales finance agency from purchasing or making a loan secured by retail pet stores for the sale of a canine or feline. It amends current law to prohibit these transactions and agreements and provides that changes made to each of the amended sections shall apply going forward and not to prior contracts.

SPRINGFIELD – Right now, families with specific dog breeds sometimes face home or renter insurance discrimination solely because their breed is perceived to be dangerous, resulting in cancelation or stiff premiums for their policies. Longtime animal welfare defender State Senator Linda Holmes wants to prohibit that insurance practice, and her House Bill 1049 to amend insurance code to this effect has passed in the Senate.

"Families should not be punished for owning a specific dog breed, and insurance discrimination only perpetuates harmful stereotypes,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “This measure will help ensure that all dog owners are treated fairly in the insurance market.”

SPRINGFIELD – Right now, 65.1 million U.S. households own a dog. From companionship to emotional support, pets are a vital part of their owners’ lives. In fact, 85% of dog owners consider their pets to be a member of the family. Unfortunately, families with specific dog breeds sometimes face insurance discrimination solely because their breed is perceived to be dangerous, resulting in cancelation or stiff premiums for their policies.

Longtime animal welfare defender State Senator Linda Holmes wants to prohibit that insurance practice, with exceptions only for specific dogs involved in documented incidents of dangerous or vicious behavior. Her House Bill 1049 amending insurance code to this effect was heard and passed in Tuesday’s Senate Insurance Committee.

AURORA – State Senator Linda Holmes is pleased to announce that the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Five-Year Plan includes $400,000 in funding to improve five railroad crossings in the 42^nd District.

The plan includes funding from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund and the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan to address at-grade crossings where a public highway crosses the railroad. These funds are intended to address longstanding safety concerns.

“Railroads are vital to our local and state economies and play a big role in public transit, so improved crossings will ensure these daily moves occur safely and smoothly,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “This is yet another stage of the Rebuild Illinois program in which we’ve invested millions in repairing, replacing and building new roads, bridges and transit to keep Illinois prepared for the future.”

Four crossings in Kendall County are planned for improvements in Fiscal Year 2023 in Bristol, Montgomery and two in Yorkville, while one in Plainfield is set for Fiscal Year 2024.

More information on the plan can be found on ICC’s website: https://www.icc.illinois.gov/.

SPRINGFIELD – As a longstanding advocate for women’s reproductive rights, State Senator Linda Holmes was proud to be a cosponsor of Senator Celina Villanueva’s legislation to prohibit crisis pregnancy centers from providing misleading information to women seeking to learn about safe and legal options when they believe they are pregnant. That measure – Senate Bill 1909 – passed the Senate Friday.

“For years, we’ve seen facilities that call themselves ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ (CPCs) and present themselves to the public as health care clinics; in fact, they give vulnerable women information that is misleading and false,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “Instead of getting accurate, fact-based information with which they can consider all of their options, they are given unsafe advice, are literally misdirected away from clinics that provide inclusive reproductive health care and directed to a CPC with limited services, all of which exclude abortion procedures.”

Senate Bill 1909 prohibits CPCs from hindering a woman from gaining access to a provider of abortion or emergency contraceptives and persuading them instead into their clinics with limited services and counseling that discourages their access to abortion and misstates risks. This would also cover their advertising and promotional materials.

“The majority of Americans support women’s bodily autonomy in choosing what happens with their health,” Holmes said. “Abortion is legal and protected in Illinois; I will continue to stand up for reproductive care without interference by deceptive facilities.”

Senate Bill 1909 passed the Senate Friday. It now moves to the House for their consideration.

Senator Holmes seeks to bring paint recycling to Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – Many homeowners have something lurking in their basement or garage that could be disposed of, but there hasn’t been a means to get rid of it safely: unused household paint. A new initiative sponsored by State Senator Linda Holmes would establish a program to dispose of household paint, and the legislation passed Thursday in the Senate.

The Paint Stewardship Act in Senate Bill 836 creates a means for consumers to dispose of household paint in Illinois. No state resources are in place today to deal with this waste. Under this law, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will use PaintCare, a nonprofit organization that operates the post-consumer program with paint manufacturers to run the process and provide convenient, free dropoff sites statewide.

“It is exciting to offer this prospective service to Illinoisans with old paint taking up space in their homes,” Holmes (D-Aurora) said. “To get rid of it in an environmentally safe manner will give us an opportunity to make our state’s soil and water cleaner for our children and to safely produce our crops to feed the state and nation.”

Under this program, paint manufacturers are required to submit a plan and pay a fee to the Illinois EPA to stand up a paint collection site, service or event, which will allow residents to drop off unused paint to specified locations free of charge. Those collection sites or events will be within a 15 mile radius for 90% of Illinois residents.

“Consumers will now have the opportunity to declutter their homes of old paint and feel confident that their waste is being recycled and disposed of in an environmentally sustainable way,” Holmes said.

PaintCare operates similar programs in several other states with paint stewardship laws, including California, Minnesota, Colorado and New York. They have collected 62.6 million gallons of paint.

Having been approved by the full Senate, Senate Bill 836 will now go to the House for their consideration.

SPRINGFIELD – Longtime animal welfare backer State Senator Linda Holmes passed a law in 2017 to prohibit the use of an elephant in a traveling animal act. On Friday, she moved legislation to further address public safety concerns with “roadside zoos” by creating a Class B misdemeanor for allowing a member of the public to come into contact with a bear or nonhuman primate.

“The public handling and show of these animals continues a cycle of endless breeding where they are born into captivity to be used as props and business commodities,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “They also may result in harm to the person or animal in such a situation — a risk that could create a terrible tragedy.”