SPRINGFIELD – Legislation sponsored by State Senator Christopher Belt (D-Centreville) that will allow impoverished school districts to issue more bonds to receive additional revenue was recently signed into law.

To calculate their ability to issue bonds, a school district factors in 85 percent of the Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) plus the district’s Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax. Belt’s proposal would count state aid as part of the baseline on which a district can base that 85 percent EAV calculation.

“With this legislation becoming effective, neglected school districts will now have the ability to improve their student’s future,” Belt said. “Making the accommodation of factoring state aid into the formula will help these school districts flourish and provide a better path to closing their achievement gaps.”

Senate Bill 1746 takes effect on Jan. 1, 2020.

ELGIN – More workers, including those working for small employers, will have protection under a new law sponsored by State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin).

“We have to ensure that every employee in the state has the same protections when it comes to discrimination in the work place,” Castro said. “Expanding the Illinois Human Rights Act is the right thing to do,” Castro said.

House Bill 252 expands the Illinois Human Rights Act to include employers with one or more employees. Current law only applied to workplaces with 15 or more employees. This new law will give these employees a remedy for work-related discrimination and retaliation, including claims for discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, marital status, military status and sexual orientation.

Castro worked closely with many advocacy groups while carrying the bill through the Senate, including Equality Illinois. Michael Ziri, Director of Public Policy at Equality Illinois, pointed out the crucial timing of the bill being signed.

CANTON – Texas-based energy generator Vistra announced today that they are closing several downstate Illinois coal-fired power plants, including the Duck Creek plant in Canton.

Assistant Majority Leader Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) represents Canton and issued the following statement:

“I am incredibly saddened by the announcement that Duck Creek will close. The hardships that the workers at this plant will endure cannot be understated. They are not statistics or lines on a balance sheet. They are human beings, and I stand committed to working with the governor’s administration in Springfield to bring much needed economic support to both their families and the rest of the Fulton County community.

“The fact is the current business market for coal-based energy is simply no longer sustainable. As we transition to an energy economy that focuses on limiting emissions, we must be proactive in helping those communities that this will adversely effect.”

The Duck Creek plant was opened in 1976 and employs around 60 people.

BUNKER HILL ­– State Senator Andy Manar lashed out at utility executives and state bureaucrats for fumbling Illinois’ energy policy in allowing one of the most technologically advanced power plants to be targeted for closure, a move that would also devastate families and communities.

Senator Manar issued the following statement regarding Vistra Energy’s announcement that it plans to shut down the Coffeen Power Plant citing new state pollution rules.

“Closing down the cleanest coal-fired power plant in the world makes zero sense. Today, Vistra, the Illinois EPA and Pollution Control Board together failed the environment.

Shame on the Pollution Control Board for not doing its homework and allowing this to happen. If power plants are to be closed, the worst polluters should close first.

In addition, the economic loss related to this closure cannot be fully realized today. Hard-working, middle-class families have had their lives turned completely upside down. Our singular goal in the coming days and weeks should be to help these families through the economic crisis that Vistra set into motion today.

SPRINGFIELD—A new law sponsored by Senator Elgie R. Sims Jr. (D-Chicago) will hold businesses that erroneously publish criminal history records accountable.

The plan requires companies that make errors on criminal history reports to correct them within five business days.

“Errors on criminal history reports can wreak havoc on a person’s life,” Sims said. “It can cost them a job or make it hard for them to find proper housing. This law will ensure companies that publish this information fix mistakes in a reasonable amount of time or face consequences for their negligence.”

Senate Bill 1599 expands the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act so that a person or entity that publishes a person's criminal record information on a criminal history report that charges a fee for removal or correction of the information must correct any errors within five business days after notification of the error.

SPRINGFIELD – Continuing her fierce dedication toward those who serve in the military, a new law sponsored by State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) will provide in-state tuition rates to all active duty military and all individuals receiving benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“One of the fundamental duties of our society is to provide for the people who risked everything to serve and defend it,” Castro said. “I think this bill does just that. By offering in-state tuition rates to current and former members of the military, we’re giving them the ability to receive a quality education at one of Illinois several outstanding public universities at a reduced cost.”

Senate Bill 1907 provides that if an individual is an active duty member of the United States military or is receiving veterans’ education benefits from the VA, they count as a resident of Illinois for the purpose of determining tuition. The bill was an initiative of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

PLAINFIELD –There will now be higher criminal penalties for felonious scams that target the elderly and disabled, thanks to State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.

Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood) passed Senate Bill 69, which would institute tougher penalties on Class 2 felony offenses against an elderly person or a person with a disability. It was signed into law last week.

“There are scammers preying on our seniors,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “To discourage this awful epidemic, we must put regulations in place to protect the financial well-being of Illinois’ seniors and people with disabilities.”

This new law expands the Class 2 felony offense of theft by deception over $5,000 to include offenses committed against a person with a disability.

It also clarifies that consent cannot be used as a defense in a case of financial exploitation of an elderly person or person with a disability if the accused knew or should have known that the victim lacked the ability to consent.

OAKBROOK TERRACE – Minors across Illinois will soon have easy access to EpiPens, thanks to a new law supported by State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton.

Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs) advocated for House Bill 3435, which requires certain insurers to cover medically necessary epinephrine injectors for minors – the fast-acting treatments for severe allergic reactions.

“It’s our duty to take the necessary steps to ensure this life saving drug is affordable and easily accessible to children in Illinois,” Glowiak Hilton said. “Children with serious allergies should not have to go without a vital epinephrine injector simply because they cannot afford one.”

Epinephrine injectors – commonly known by the specific brand name EpiPen – deliver the life-saving drug epinephrine to individuals experiencing a severe allergic reaction. Epinephrine works by narrowing blood vessels and opening lung airways, reversing the symptoms of a potentially fatal allergic reaction.