SPRINGFIELD—State Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. (D-Chicago) offered his full support of a plan expanding vote by mail for the upcoming general election due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This proposal allows the state to act reasonably to protect its citizens,” Sims said. “We are facing an unprecedented pandemic. This measured approach will ensure that voters can safely cast their ballots from the safety of their homes.”

Individuals who have voted in the past two years — either in the 2018 General Election, 2019 Consolidated Election or 2020 Primary Election — will be mailed an application for a vote-by-mail ballot.

Those who registered to vote after the 2020 Primary Election will also receive an application.

Under the plan, individuals who aren’t automatically sent an application will still be able to apply for a ballot via the State Board of Elections’ website. Applications will open the day the law takes effect.

This legislation does not prevent in-person voting opportunities on and before Election Day.

“Many have fought, bled and died for our right to vote, and we need to ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to exercise that right,” Sims said. “I am confident this plan will help voters throughout Illinois do so without risking their health.”

Senate Bill 1863 now heads to the governor’s desk for approval.

SPRINGFIELD – With essential workers facing more risks on the job, State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) voted to pass a labor package that increases public employee benefits, protects retail workers and expands collective bargaining rights.

“Working people deserve dignity on the job,” Villanueva said. “Expanding paid disability leave, legal protections and the right to negotiate a fair wage will ensure that they have a safety net.”

Senate Bill 471 would expand paid disability leave for first responders by 60 days due to decreased access to rehabilitative services. The legislation would also elevate a charge of battery of a retail employee to aggravated battery if the incident took place during or up to six months after a declared public health emergency. Aggravated battery would also apply to incidents that occur while an employee is performing duties that include relaying directions for health and safety precautions.

“Retail employees are facing harassment and worse for enforcing face mask requirements,” Villanueva said. “We need to proactively expand legal protections to working people who put themselves at risk every day to provide essential services.”

In addition to those provisions, the legislation would also require existing racetracks with 10 or more employees to engage in collective bargaining if the track wishes to expand to include a casino. While the horse racing industry is excluded from federal collective bargaining laws, Illinois has extended similar protections to most businesses.

“As these facilities expand operations, they will also be expanding their workforce with janitorial, food service and other backstretch employees,” Villanueva said. “This measure will create a huge opportunity for those workers to improve their lives and receive the wages they deserve through the opportunity to collectively bargain.”

 Not all backstretch employees would be covered under this bill. Villanueva plans to introduce legislation to expand coverage during veto session.

Senate Bill 471 passed the Illinois Senate 47-3.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) supported legislation expanding coverage to horse racing industry workers while adding more protections for essential employees.

“Previously excluded from coverage, employees at horse racetracks like Fairmount Park Racetrack in Collinsville will have protected collective bargaining rights,” Crowe said. “For the unique circumstances workers are experiencing, it’s crucial for them to have added security for themselves and their families.”

Last year's state gaming expansion created new licenses for horse racetracks to expand operations to include casinos, or “racinos.” With this expansion, increasing staff was necessary to meet the need. This legislation extends collective bargaining rights coverage from the state for employers and employees of the horse racing industry.

The legislation also adds protections for first responders and retail workers deemed essential. For injuries related to the COVID-19 pandemic, this measure gives an additional 60 days of paid disability leave to firefighters, law enforcement and other public sector employees.

“Thanking them for their sacrifices in the fight against the pandemic, offering first responders an extended leave is the least we can do to thank them for their bravery and willingness be in harms way for the sake of everyone’s safety,” Crowe said.

Also recognizing the important work of essential retail workers, acts of physical violence against employees performing duties such as relaying instructions for health care or safety will be enhanced to aggravated battery.

This initiative has the support of AFL-CIO, Local 881 UFCW and AFSCME.

Senate Bill 471 passed the Senate Saturday and now awaits the governor’s signature to become law.

SPRINGFIELD – A measure cosponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham that would expand protections and eligibility for benefits for first responders and other essential employees during the COVID-19 pandemic passed the Illinois Senate.

“These men and women are putting themselves at great risk to provide us with the critical services we need during this pandemic,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “We need to ensure that they have adequate protections should they get sick as a result of their work.”

Though worker’s compensation does not normally cover illness, these are not normal times. Senate Bill 2455 allows employees to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits if the they contract COVID-19. 

However, the legislation also creates a mechanism for employers to rebut their claims.

Employers may rebut this presumption by:

• Demonstrating that for at least 14 days prior to the date the employee claims injury, the workplace was following up-to-date public health guidelines appropriate to their type of business,
• Demonstrating that the employee in question was working from home for a period of at least 14 days prior to the injury claim,
• Or demonstrating that the employee was exposed to the virus by an alternative source outside the workplace.

The legislation also includes a similar rebuttable presumption for benefits provided to the families of Chicago police officers, firefighters and paramedics who die from COVID-19. Under the measure, it is presumed that they contracted the virus in the line of duty, affording their survivors with associated death benefits.

“Due to the nature of their work, our first responders are among those with the greatest risk of contracting COVID-19,” Cunningham said. “In the unfortunate case that a first responder passes from the virus as a result of their work, it’s essential that we make sure their family can access the benefits they are entitled to.”

The measure also makes changes to Illinois’ unemployment insurance system to help maximize the relief Illinois residents can receive from federal relief packages, including:

• Extending benefits until funding is no longer available from the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act.
• Waiving the one-week waiting period for claims related to COVID-19 until available funding under the CARES Act expires or the governor’s final disaster proclamation expires, whichever comes last.
• Not charging employers for unemployment benefits paid to a person whose unemployment is the result of COVID-19.
• Expanding unemployment insurance eligibility for non-instructional education employees, such as teacher’s aides and cafeteria workers.

“These provisions are critical to our residents’ ability to qualify for much needed funding from relief packages from the federal government,” Cunningham said. “I’m glad that the Senate was able to come together in a bipartisan fashion to get this done for our state.”

House Bill 2455 passed the Senate 50-4. 

SPRINGFIELD – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) led a measure through the Senate Saturday to expand disability benefits for some frontline state employees, protect retail workers from assault, and allow horse racetrack casino, or racino, employees to organize.

“The current pandemic has underlined the need for securing basic rights for working class people with disproportionate infection rates among populations with a high number of essential workers,” Lightford said.

SPRINGFIELD – To provide much needed flexibility and relief as businesses and counties begin to reopen, State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) sponsored legislation that would give property owners the means to continue meeting the challenges presented by COVID-19.

"I led the Senate’s economic revitalization working group with one goal in mind. We had to provide people with real, tangible solutions to the enormous challenges brought on by the pandemic,” Koehler said. “Implementing property tax relief measures and extending payment deadlines is where we have to start as we begin to work toward the recovery of our local economies.”

Under this legislation local businesses and residents would see property tax relief in the form of:

• Empowering county governments to approve 2020 homestead exemptions for those with disabilities, veterans with disabilities and senior citizens, as long as the property had been granted this exemption for 2019.
• Allowing counties with less than 3 million residents to waive interest penalties and fees for late property tax payments due in 2020.
• Deferred property tax sales for counties with less than 3 million residents.

This legislation now awaits the governor’s signature.

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly today approved legislation to help rank-and-file teachers and school districts address the unique challenges to Illinois’ education system created by COVID-19.

Senate Bill 1569 makes a number of changes that help schools adjust to remote learning, including the following:

• • Allows for the creation of remote learning days and remote learning plans
  • Allows for a combination of remote learning and in-person instruction
  • Suspends clock hour requirements when a disaster is declared
  • Affirms graduation modifications granted to Spring 2020 graduates
  • Allows mandated exams to be completed remotely

“This package provides school districts more flexibility and creativity to work around the limitations posed by COVID-19,” said State Senator Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill). “This will help them deliver the best possible learning experience for their students as the circumstances evolve over the next year.”

Because teacher evaluations for the 20-21 school year have been paused due to COVID-19, SB 1569 extends teacher license renewals by one year.

The legislation also extends a law allowing retired teachers to return to the classroom as substitutes for up to 120 paid days or 600 paid hours without impairing their retirement status. Originally passed by Senator Manar in 2017, the program has helped address the severe teacher shortage facing downstate school districts.

“Over the past few months, aspiring, current, and retired teachers have stepped up to serve their communities in ways many of them have never imagined they would,” Manar. “They’ve gone above and beyond to be there for their students, despite a host of administrative and financial challenges. I’m pleased that we were able to remove some of those hurdles and sources of uncertainty.”

Finally, the legislation also makes it easier for college students who receive financial assistance through the Aspirational Institutional Match Illinois Grow Higher Education Grant Pilot Program, also known as AIM HIGH, to retain their aid for the duration of their four years of undergraduate studies.

AIM HIGH provides financial assistance to eligible low-income students who attend one of the state’s 12 public universities. Under the measure, the income of a student when entering the program will be the income of the student for the life of the program.