SPRINGFIELD — Assistant Majority Leader Iris Y. Martinez (D-Chicago) is continuing her work to ensure all qualified applicants are eligible for professional licenses, regardless of their citizenship status.

“If anyone in our state wants to contribute by working hard and paying taxes, they should not be denied because of where they were born,” Martinez said. “I am glad to continue the work we started last year by expanding the ability for immigrants to apply for professional licenses.”

Martinez passed a law last year ensuring that citizenship is not required for licenses issued by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional or State Board of Education. It also requires the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to allow an applicant to use a taxpayer identification number as an alternative to a Social Security number.

SPRINGFIELD – To expand her support of education to service members, State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) co-sponsored a new law to provide in-state tuition rates to all active duty military and all individuals receiving benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“By giving the brave men and women who serve in our military an opportunity to receive a higher education, we are committing to a better quality of life for those making sacrifices for our country,” Crowe said. “I am humbled to have a hand in giving more people a chance to attend and achieve their goals.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – A harmful chemical found in most common receipt papers is now prohibited from being used in Illinois thanks to a new law sponsored by State Senator Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights).

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical used in thermal receipt papers to develop color that has been found to have negative reproductive and developmental side effects in animals.

“Retail employees and consumers are exposed to BPA every time they handle a receipt,” said Gillespie. “We must protect our workers, and ensure a safe work environment free from potential harm.”

Relief is on the way for independent, rural pharmacies

SPRINGFIELD – A measure sponsored by State Senator Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) that would provide relief for independent, rural pharmacies was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker Friday.

Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, which negotiate drug prices on behalf of insurers, are currently using their position to drive up prices and eliminate competition, putting local pharmacies at a disadvantage.

House Bill 465 includes several provisions that will impose Illinois’ first ever oversight on PBMs, including:

• Eliminating the gag clause that prevents pharmacists from suggesting lower cost prescriptions to patients;
• Preventing consumers entering the emergency room from being denied coverage; and
• Improving pricing transparency and saving state money by requiring the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to approve contracts that impact the state’s Medicaid program.

CHICAGO – Tipped workers would be guaranteed to keep the tips they earn under a bill sponsored by State Senator Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) that was signed into law.

House Bill 3405 provides that an employer may not retain gratuities from workers who earn them, and expressly allows tip-sharing between tipped and non-tipped employees.

“This is a victory for working-class people,” said Aquino. “The jobs that servers, cooks, bartenders, cab drivers and other tipped workers do is hard and honest labor. I am glad to see Illinois will protect their wages so that they are compensated for their time and labor.”

This measure aligns state laws with federal laws that were changed in March 2018.

House Bill 3405 takes effect immediately.

OAKBROOK TERRACE – Illinois now has a new law in place to help some of the people who have the most power to fight one of the fastest-growing criminal activities in the world: Hospitality workers.

Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs) championed House Bill 3101, which would require hotels and motels to train employees to recognize the signs of human trafficking and know what to do when reporting it to authorities. It was signed into law on Friday.

“This new law will arm hospitality workers with the tools to spot and report human trafficking,” Glowiak Hilton said. “Just like we have discovered that teachers or hairdressers can be the ones who most readily spot the telltale signs of domestic violence, we’re learning that hotel employees might be the ones who spot human trafficking. This new training will give hospitality workers the knowledge and build the confidence to be able to identify signs of human trafficking and act quickly to do the right thing.”

ELGIN – Illinois consumers will receive their rebates in a fair way, thanks to Senator Cristina Castro’s bill that was signed into law Friday.

House Bill 2156 makes it unlawful for retailers to offer consumers a rebate made on a store-value card – where the amount is on the card and not connected to a financial system – that charges inactivity fees or other post-issuance fees.

“If a consumer is owed money from a rebate, they shouldn’t be hindered by dormancy fees,” said Castro (D-Elgin). “It is unlawful and unfair. Consumers shouldn’t be at risk of being charged for getting a rebate. That is their money.”

SPRINGFIELD – School districts will be required to operate with more transparency about their teacher employment data under a measure sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) that became law Friday.

“Public school class sizes have been growing larger and larger over the last several years, which makes it harder for educators to provide the quality education,” Peters said. “Communities of color are hit particularly hard by this. These students are already at a systemic disadvantage, and they deserve to have the opportunity to learn the skills they need to succeed.”