NAPERVILLE – Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) and Senator Laura Ellman (D-Naperville) will be hosting a free Mental Wellness Fair on Monday, July 19 to help local residents access important mental health services.
“This past year was tough on many of us,” Holmes said. “It is essential that residents have the information required to address their mental health needs and find tools to make adjustments in their lives.”
The mental wellness fair will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. at Neuqua Valley High School, located at 2360 95th St. in Naperville. Several groups will be present at the fair to address residents’ specific mental health needs, including:
“Ensuring that people have access to mental health services is incredibly important,” Ellman said. “This event offers a great opportunity to connect with incredible organizations offering helpful and even life-saving resources right here in our community.”
Attendees will be required to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status, and social distancing guidelines will be in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
For more information, residents can reach out to Leader Holmes’ office by visiting her website or calling 630-820-8650. Senator Ellman’s staff is also available through her website or by calling 630-601-9961.
SPRINGFIELD – Federal policy on illegal smuggling and trafficking of exotic animals’ body parts has been strengthened, and Illinois needs to step up as well, according to Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora). Illinois prohibited the trade of ivory and rhino horn in 2018, but other animal species continue to face the threat of extinction due to demand. Holmes’ legislation that would lengthen the list of species banned in Illinois was signed by the governor Friday.
“Species are doomed to extinction if we don’t stop illegal smuggling and trafficking of their body parts,” Holmes said. “The Animal Parts and Products Ban will at least cut off the sales of these species’ parts in Illinois and help the global effort to save these animals from extinction.”
Read more: Holmes’ law forbids trafficking of exotic animals’ body parts
AURORA — Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) is pleased to see the state has invested $9 million to boost revitalization among small businesses through the community navigator outreach program. She believes this investment, along with recent news that the state’s fiscal outlook ratings are improving, bode well for the state’s economic recovery.
“The community navigator program helps small businesses navigate billions in available financial assistance from the state and the Small Business Administration through the American Rescue Plan Act,” Holmes said. “The 42nd District can benefit from economic recovery grants, put employees back to work and continue rebuilding our economy post pandemic.”
Community navigators perform outreach to small, minority and hard-to-reach businesses to make them aware of available relief funds and help them recover from losses suffered during the pandemic.
Holmes said fiscal ratings bumps from Fitch and Moody’s complement this small business investment, and further demonstrate Illinois’ responsible budget decisions to pay back federal borrowing, pay down a backlog of bills, and cut general fund spending by approximately $1 billion since fiscal year 2020.
In the most recent budget, the state increased education funding by $350 million, made its full pension payment, and fully funded local governments.
“If we keep passing responsible, balanced budgets, we’ll earn ratings upgrades and save the taxpayers money,” Holmes said. “The better our rating, the less we have to pay in interest costs when the state borrows money.”
Holmes chairs the Illinois Senate Labor Committee.
SPRINGFIELD – After an unprecedented 14 months for the Illinois Department of Employment Security with thousands of residents out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bipartisan support for major reforms produced House Bill 2643. Sponsored by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Linda Holmes (Aurora), the lead Senate Democrat on the Unemployment Insurance Agreed Bill process, the overhaul package was signed into law by the governor Friday.
“Business and labor groups, IDES, and Democratic and Republican members worked in a bipartisan fashion to craft this omnibus approach,” Holmes said. “It targets the weaknesses revealed in a system that wasn’t designed to address the wave of job losses, thousands of people calling with problems who couldn’t get answers, and fraudulent claims all hitting the state at once.”
House Bill 2643 revises the Unemployment Insurance Act, allowing IDES to communicate with legislators’ offices about specific constituent cases, and requires IDES to give more information to those issued overpayments and their right to appeal (originally in Senate Bill 2466 from Sen. Ram Villivalam).
SPRINGFIELD – House Bill 395 is awaiting action on the governor’s desk, and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) is urging him to sign the legislation to protect animal species facing the threat of extinction. The measure would prohibit the trafficking of exotic animal parts in Illinois.
“While Illinois leads the nation in so many areas of animal welfare, we are behind the federal government when it comes to illegal smuggling and trafficking of animals’ body parts,” Holmes said. “Federal policy has been strengthened, and Illinois needs to take action. This legislation has passed through the General Assembly, and simply awaits the governor’s signature.”
AURORA — Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) was pleased to see that Fitch Ratings – one of the three major credit rating agencies for state governments and other large borrowers – has upgraded Illinois’ outlook from negative to positive.
“Fitch’s decision to change its outlook on Illinois is a sign that we have been making responsible budget decisions,” Holmes said. “Despite the pandemic, we’ve made positive progress on reducing unnecessary spending and cutting down our bill backlog, and the ratings agencies have taken notice.”
In its decision, Fitch cited that the state chose to fully pay back federal borrowing for expenses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, that late payment penalties on the state’s backlog of unpaid bills have dropped by nearly 80% since 2017, and that the state has actually cut general fund spending by approximately $1 billion since fiscal year 2020.
Read more: Holmes sees outlook upgrade as sign state budget is on the right track
SPRINGFIELD – Following unprecedented job losses and economic hardship due to the pandemic, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) sponsored a bipartisan reform package to address challenges faced by the Illinois Department of Employment Security during the unemployment surge, which has now passed the House of Representatives and is one step closer to becoming law.
“IDES, Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and business and labor groups worked together to craft this omnibus approach,” Holmes said. “It targets the weaknesses revealed in a system that wasn’t designed to address the wave of job losses, phone calls and fraudulent claims all hitting the department at once.”
SPRINGFIELD — Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) applauded investments in pensions, local governments and the Illinois workforce in the upcoming fiscal year budget, which passed the Senate Monday.
“This is a balanced budget. I believe the most important part of what we passed tonight is that we will make our full pension payment as planned,” Holmes said. “This is such a cornerstone of our ongoing efforts to address our underfunded pension system.”
Holmes noted this budget funds the Local Government Distributive Fund, which allocates resources to local governments, at 100% with $1.6 billion. With many communities still recovering from the pandemic, this investment could help governments fund everyday core services for their residents without increasing property taxes or other fees.
“One state agency in particularly urgent need of recovery resources is our Department of Employment Security,” said Holmes. “The pandemic revealed flaws in an unemployment security system that wasn’t designed to address the job losses, service problems and fraudulent claims that hit the state all at once last year.”
An increase of $163.9 million in state funds and $10 million in federal funds will go toward upgrading IDES technology to better serve out-of-work Illinoisans for FY2022. IDES will also get an extra round of funding for the current year of $525.8 million
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