This legislative session has kicked off and already is unlike any other session we have had. Under Speaker Welch, House rules have been adopted to allow for remote committee hearings on legislation during public health crises. Further down in the newsletter, I describe the process for remote participation whether to simply observe the hearings or to provide testimony.
Here is a brief list of the bills I have introduced for the 102nd General Assembly. Since the 2020 session was so truncated, you may recognize a few retreads of bills that didn’t advance in previous years. To view a full list visit my Illinois General Assembly bill page here.
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HB 251 LSC Fingerprint bill: Allows CPS to revise the LSC background check policy to match that of other staff supervised persons who volunteer less than 10 hours a week. More importantly, it aligns the requirements more closely to what we expect of elected school board members. Since Chicago still doesn’t have an elected school board, this doubly impacts our community. The current policy disproportionately deters many Latino and black parents from joining an LSC.
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HB 2771 Debt Protection: This bill aims to enhance protections for families going through a debt collection process. This bill increases the monetary thresholds on assets creditors can seize. Now more than ever, families are in need of debt protections to stop them from being stripped away from assets that help them stay housed, get to work and meet their basic needs.
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HB 3661 FOID Card revocation: The bill would penalize gun owners who don't do a good job of keeping track of their weapons when that results in the guns being used in the commission of crimes. If someone reports a gun lost or stolen 3 times in a two year span or fails to report a weapon lost or stolen which then is found in connection with a crime, the gun owner's Firearm Owner's Identification Card would be revoked for one year. We've included opportunities for appeal of the revocation in the instance of someone with unbelievable bad luck rather than ill intent, but in all honesty I feel strongly that while gun ownership is a right, it is also a responsibility. Losing or having stolen that many weapons seems the very definition of irresponsible.
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HB 2542 Felony Name Change: Illinois is one of only 13 states with an outright prohibition on anyone with a felony being able to legally change their name. This has a particularly high impact on victims of human trafficking and people in the trans community. This bill very simply lifts that ban and allows judges to grant the name change request if the petitioner can justify the change. This is more in line with the majority of states and gives judges the appropriate discretion to grant the petition if the petitioner is not a risk to the community.
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HB 3443 Resentencing: Illinois has made great strides in criminal justice reform, reducing charges and sentences for crimes that in previous years have carried high sentences and lifelong consequences. This bill contemplates our ongoing work to rightsize our criminal justice system and acknowledges that there will be people currently incarcerated for things that will soon have either lower penalties or in some cases won't be crimes at all. Simply put, this will allow someone serving a sentence for a crime that has since either been reduced or decriminalized to petition the court for a new sentencing hearing.
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HB 3545 Ethics Investigations: Allows the Legislative Inspector General to investigate any allegation or complaint under his or her jurisdiction without having to first seek approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission.
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HB 2784 Mental Health Emergency Services: Provides that first responders coordinate and transport an individual who is in need of mental or behavioral health services and is not an immediate threat, to a community service provider. This bill is a huge step in the right direction to address over policing for our most vulnerable populations.
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HB 2390 Small Donor Democracy Matching Fund: Provides that the State match small campaign contributions (between $25 and $150) with public dollars for participating candidates to state offices. This bill gets us one step closer to public financing of campaigns.
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HB 3828 General Assembly Vacancies: Changes the process by which state Senators and Representatives are selected following a vacancy in office by (1) Prohibiting the retiring Senator or Representative from participating in the process; and (2) establishing a uniform application process with set deadlines and an opportunity for all candidates to publicly state their cases (3) On the day selected by the committee for appointment, all candidates seeking appointment shall be granted an opportunity to present their credentials publicly.
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HB 3548 Vote by Mail List: Creates a permanent vote by mail list for qualified voters. Allows voter to apply to be placed on a permanent vote by mail list to receive vote by mail ballots for subsequent elections.
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HB 3541 Elected Nonprofit Organizations: Provides that an organization that qualifies for tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code may, in order to comply with the specific reporting provisions that are required of political committees, establish a separate political committee in which the exclusive function is to receive or make contributions, make expenditures, or any combination thereof, to support or oppose candidates or questions of public policy.
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HB 3540 Disability Ballots: Provides that the State Board of Elections shall work with election authorities and the disability community to develop and implement procedures and technologies to provide vote by mail ballots, upon request, in alternative formats that allow all voters to cast a secret, independent, and verifiable vote by mail ballot without the assistance of another person.
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Remote Committee Hearings
Starting tomorrow, House committees will begin to host committees remotely via zoom. With the appointment of Speaker Welch to the house this process is now possible. Below are some details for community members and activists to participate in the legislative hearing process remotely.
Hearings of a committee shall be conducted through Zoom video conferencing technology. Committee hearings will be broadcast on the General Assembly's website in one of the Live Virtual Rooms here: https://ilga.gov/houseaudvid.asp .
The committee chair will call the meeting to order, determine the agenda for the hearing and maintain decorum. The committee chair will call upon members and witnesses individually to testify. Members and those testifying should remain muted until called upon. All roll calls shall be conducted orally with the video feed of the member viewable to the committee and public. However, traditional voting procedures such as voting with leave of the committee or partisan roll calls may continue to be used with the consent of the committee.
Member of the public who wish to provide testimony may submit electronic written testimony and/or electronic witness slips in advance of the hearing. To submit a witness slip, please visit the General Assembly Dashboard: https://my.ilga.gov
Written testimony must be submitted electronically at least one hour before the hearing to the committee's email address (see below for the committees' email addresses). Any written testimony must be sent as a valid PDF file. The PDF name should include the legislation type and number, position and name: example: HB 1 proponent Jane Doe.pdf
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Vaccine Updates
While the federal government ramps up production of vaccines we know that there are individuals in phase 1A and 1B who are still in the process of getting their first round of vaccines. IDPH is continuing to follow the best CDC guidance and their statewide vaccination plan while rolling out vaccines. We have compiled a list of online appointment options below:
State, County, and City
For the State of Illinois Vaccine Locator, click HERE.
For the Cook County Vaccine Scheduler, click HERE.
For the Chicago Department of Public Health Scheduler, click HERE.
For updated vaccine information from the Illinois Department of Public Health, click HERE.
Local Community Healthcare Organizations
For the Howard Brown Health Scheduler, click HERE.
For the Swedish Covenant Hospital Scheduler, click HERE.
For the Heartland Health Center’s Vaccine Interest Form, click HERE.
Pharmacies
For the Mariano’s Vaccine Scheduler, click HERE.
For the Jewel Osco Vaccine Scheduler, click HERE.
For the Walgreens Vaccine Scheduler, click HERE.
For the Walmart Vaccine Scheduler, click HERE.
To view the Chicago Department of Public Health's latest COVID vaccine updates, click here.
To visit the Cook County vaccine updates, click here.
To view the Illinois Department of Public Health's vaccine distribution data click here.
To sign up for vaccine appointments for Suburban Cook County click here.
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COVID-19 Count as of Monday, March 1st:
If you have questions related to COVID-19 you can contact the Illinois Department of Public Health:
Hotline: 800-889-3931
Email: dph.sick@illinois.gov
City of Chicago's Department of Public Health:
Hotline: 312-746-4835
Email: coronavirus@chicago.gov
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Heartland Alliance Donation Drive:
Hygiene Products Needed
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In our community the Vital Bridges Food Program provides year round weekly grocery centers with nutritious produce, group nutrition counseling and personal hygiene products at no cost. We’ve recently learning that the need for feminine hygiene products has been hard to meet and as well as a few other products that have been added to their list. Please find the details below. |
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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's Vaccine Informational Webinar |
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This past Thursday Attorney General Kwame Raoul partnered with Pfizer and the National Association of Black Journalists as well as Dr. Izike of the Illinois Department of Health to provide a comprehensive overview on vaccine efficacy, safety, and security. The panelists discussed the strong security steps Pfizer is taking to partner with the U.S federal government and law enforcement to protect efficacy and delivery of vaccine products.
For a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Sheet, click here (and for version in Spanish, click here).
For a Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Sheet, click here .
Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s reminders to Ilinoisans in regards to potential scammers who fraudulently offer access to COVID-19 vaccines or cures:
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Do not buy any kind of COVID-19 vaccine or treatment on the internet or from an online pharmacy.
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All COVID-19 vaccines are free. You should not have to pay any amount of money out of pocket in order to receive the vaccine. Insurance covers all costs and for those without health insurance, the federal government covers the cost.
- Ignore online, phone, and text offers for the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Hang up on any calls, including robocalls, which direct you to take immediate action or provide personally-identifiable information, such as your Social Security number or bank account number. Health workers conducting contract tracing will ask you to confirm your name and address, but will not request your Social Security number of financial information. Contact your local health department if you receive a contact tracing call and are unsure it is legitimate.
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Delete emails and texts that promise or offer access to COVID-19 treatments, and do not click on any links contained in such emails as they may place malware on your devices.
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Report solicitations from telemarketers, text messages and social media platforms, as well as door-to-door visits. You can file a consumer complaint with the Illinois Attorney General’s office by clicking here.
- To continue to safeguard against the spread of COVID-19, continue to wear a mask and social distance.
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Submitting Postal Complaints |
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Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky's office now has a new streamlined process for handling postal complaints. Please submit your postal complaints using the online Privacy Act Release form here: https://schakowsky.house.gov/par
After you put your address in to determine if you live in the district, you will be asked to choose an agency and should choose US Postal Service. Then you can state your complaint, fill out the rest of the fields (email, phone etc.), sign electronically and submit. Their office will then get their complaint to USPS
Constituents can of course continue to call and email Congresswoman Schakowsky's office directly, but the form is a useful tool that helps their office gather the complaints and submit them to USPS easily.
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Chicago Volunteer Legal Services offers
COVID-19 Mortgage Relief
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Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) provides free legal advice and representation to low-income families who is currently working to spread the word about COVID-19 mortgage forbearance options.
Reverse mortgage borrowers, and borrowers who are already behind on their mortgage (or are even in foreclosure) are eligible. President Biden has extended those deadlines to the end of June.
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For the CVLS self-help tool on our website: COVID-19 Mortgage Relief - Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (cvls.org). Here, homeowners can check if their loan is federally-backed and fill out form letters to send to their lender. FAQs and referrals to other resources are also posted. Additionally, their dedicated hotline and email for homeowners who have trouble navigating the internet are as follows: 312-332-8785; COVID@cvls.org.
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Residents of Cook County can also use a new, dedicated hotline: Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt (CCLAHD): Cook County LEGAL AID for Housing and Debt. CCLAHD helps homeowners, renters, and debtors who are struggling to make ends meet due to COVID.
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Special Enrollment Period in Response to COVID
Biden to reopen the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace February 15, 2021 through May 15, 2021
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The Biden Administration has announced the reopening of the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace, beginning February 15, 2021 through May 15, 2021. The Special Enrollment Period (SEP) in Response to COVID- 19 allows individuals and families to apply and enroll in 2021 health insurance coverage. Unlike other SEPs, the SEP in Response to COVID-19 does not require proof of a qualifying life event, such as losing a job.
It will be available to all eligible Illinoisans who don’t currently have health insurance coverage or want to change to a new health plan. The SEP is 90 days, and we hope you’ll help us connect with your constituents about this opportunity. Some may even qualify for subsidies (tax credits) to help reduce monthly premiums and other costs.
To read Special Enrollment Period FAQs, click here.
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Help Serve Chicagoland Communities and Mobilize Them Out of Poverty |
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The Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA) conducts a Community Needs Assessment to take an in-depth look at the causes and consequences of poverty in the Chicagoland area every 3 years.The results guide the strategic direction and the next steps at CEDA to achieve our goal - poverty eradication.
This survey is entirely anonymous and confidential:
If you prefer paper surveys, please email jhopkins@cedaorg.net to request. The deadline for the survey is April 9, 2021.
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A Guide to Property Tax Savings
from the Cook County Assessor's Office
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In effort to assist more property owners and serve multicultural communities, Cook County Assessor's Office has translated pertinent communication material in the top five languages spoken (other than English) in Cook County. If you wish to find additional brochures in Polish, Chinese, Tagalog, and Arabic, click here.
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Ribbon-Cutting and Vet Wellness Center Launch |
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Sincerely,
Kelly Cassidy
State Representative, 14th District
Office of State Representative Kelly Cassidy
5533 N Broadway
Chicago IL 60640
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773-784-2002(phone)
773-784-2060(fax)
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