SPRINGFIELD – To bring greater awareness and education for kidney health, State Senator Doris Turner (D-Springfield) commemorated March 2022 as Kidney Disease Awareness Month and March 10, 2022 as Kidney Day through the passage of a Senate resolution.
“Across the state, people are silently suffering with the pain and hardship that comes with kidney disease,” Turner said. “We are showing those with kidney disease we see them and we understand the struggles they continue to face.”
Read more: Turner commemorates March as Kidney Disease Awareness Month
SPRINGFIELD – People who are prescribed opioid drugs would be educated on the addictive – and sometimes deadly – consequences of the medication by a pharmacist under a measure spearheaded by State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake).
“Opioid overdoses have been occurring at alarming rates in Illinois,” Bush said. “Opioid education will save lives.”
The measure would require pharmacists to inform the patient that opioids are addictive and offer to give the patient naloxone – a common opioid reversal medication. Further, under the legislation, if a patient is discharged from the hospital after overdose of a controlled substance, they would be provided with naloxone.
SPRINGFIELD – A joint resolution was adopted in the Senate Thursday creating the first Soil Health Day and Week celebration in Illinois, thanks to State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign).
“Soil Health Day and Week is a wonderful opportunity to educate people who might not understand how healthy soil can benefit our food and drinking water,” said Bennett, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “I’m glad to bring awareness to the importance of soil health protection through this joint resolution.”
Throughout the Soil Health Week celebration, the Illinois Stewardship Alliance and participating partners will bring together farmers and eaters, organizations, state leaders, legislators and other partners to virtually celebrate with a variety of educational opportunities and resources.
Read more: Illinois to celebrate first Soil Health Day and Week thanks to Bennett’s joint resolution
SPRINGFIELD – In a Wednesday press conference, State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago) joined members of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to introduce a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to recognize the illegal selling of the Shab-eh-nay reservation in 1849.
“As U.S. inhabitants, it’s important to recognize the indigenous communities who called this land home before us and continue to call it home,” Pacione-Zayas said. “The land of Chief Shab-eh-nay and his band was illegally sold, and recognition of this act of injustice by the federal government will begin to repair the harm and ensure that the land is recognized as reserved for the Potawatomi people in northern Illinois.”
Read more: Pacione-Zayas introduces resolution to affirm the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe
SPRINGFIELD – After a recent organizational shakeup at the Illinois Tollway Authority, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) passed legislation in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday to clarify the roles of the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board at the agency.
“We are simply putting in statute what has been in practice as it relates to the roles and responsibilities of the Executive Director,” Villivalam said. “My plan clarifies the roles of upper management at the agency and puts the powers of the board chair in line with other agencies, like the Capitol Development Board.”
Senate Bill 3796 removes language from the Toll Highway Act that gives the board chair the authority to exercise general supervision of the agency and makes the agency’s Executive Director an appointment by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Read more: Senate takes action on Tollway Authority power dispute
SPRINGFIELD – In response to a deepening mental health crisis across the state, Senate Democrats hosted a press conference in Springfield on Thursday highlighting legislative efforts that would prioritize mental health support for individuals in Illinois.
“Staying mentally well should be given the same priority as keeping physically fit,” State Senator Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood) said. “To achieve this, we need to enact policies to maintain good mental health on top of treating mental illness.”
Loughran Cappel spearheaded legislation – Senate Bill 3889 – in the Senate to add a council within the Children’s Mental Health Partnership in Illinois.
Read more: Lawmakers unveil legislative efforts to overcome mental health challenges in Illinois
CHICAGO – Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago has named State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago) as its recipient of the 2022 Gale Cincotta Community Visionary Award for her many years of work improving urban neighborhoods.
NHS selected Collins for the award due to her recent success in reining in predatory lenders in lower-income communities, as well as her efforts to combat racial biases in mortgage lending.
“The unfortunate truth is that housing insecurity is most common in lower-income majority Black and Brown neighborhoods that were disadvantaged by decades of disinvestment and racist housing policies,” Collins said. “I’m proud that I’ve been able to help pass laws and put pressure on city and state leaders to turn these neighborhoods back into true communities that people are proud to call home.”
Read more: Collins recognized for years of work improving urban neighborhoods
Chicago - To inform residents on various violence prevention initiatives, State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) hosted a panel discussion with anti-violence advocates on the SAFE-T Act and the importance of community-centered solutions for violence prevention in Illinois Tuesday.
“We need public safety for all and not just the few. Instead of reversing the progress that we’ve made before parts of this legislation has even had a chance to take effect, we need to think about those who are still left behind by the failing status quo,” said Peters. “I want to uplift the voices of advocates and empower them to help create real solutions to violence in our communities and not surrender to the political theater of the past.”
Before the implementation of the SAFE-T Act, the traditional criminal legal infrastructure put special need areas such as domestic violence, mental health and homelessness in the hands of traditional law enforcement, which has often lacked the training and approach to deal with these issues, particularly in a way that is responsive to the needs of the community.
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