Last week the 102nd General Assembly resumed session. Our normal in-person session for next week has been canceled again due to COVID. Speaker Welch has announced that the schedule will continue to be evaluated week by week until it’s safer for us to gather in person, but I feel confident that we will be able to move our agenda forward and be prepared to complete our work when we can reconvene. If you’re interested in following the committee schedule, meetings, and bill assignments are posted here.

HB4430: This bill would allow pharmacists to prescribe, dispense, and administer HIV prevention drugs — including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to people at risk and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for people who may have been recently exposed to HIV — without a prescription from a provider.

HB4165: This bill is in response to the tragic Lake Michigan drownings we have seen throughout the years within this district and our community’s long frustrating efforts to convince the Park District to install floatation devices along the lakefront. This bill would require the owner of a pier or drop-off on Lake Michigan to install public rescue equipment, including, at a minimum, ring life buoys, on each of the owner's piers and drop-offs along the Lake Michigan coast. You may recall seeing coverage of the residents of Rogers Park who took matters into their own hands last summer, installing Coast Guard approved devices on the pier at Pratt, only to have them removed by the Park District. While the city relented and has begun the process of making the installations, this remains a needed change to cover the entire lakefront and to ensure that they remain and are maintained.

HB4552: This bill would allow the option for humans to take an alternative path that would not include burial and cremation. People who have passed away would be allowed to be transformed into the earth's soil. Human composting speeds up the natural body decomposition process and turns a body into usable soil. Modeled on similar laws passed in Colorado and Oregon, we’re excited to be working with The Illinois Environmental Council on this initiative.

Upcoming newsletters will continue to update on the session schedule and process and feature both the bills we’re introducing as well as interesting bills being presented by colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

Our office will be closed (remotely) in recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was killed on April 4th, 1968 but left a lasting legacy on this nation. At a time when our nation has been so divided, we should look and take lessons from Dr. King's work. Sadly much of his work has been under attack by those who do not wish for equality nor for our democracy. Instead of just a symbolic gesture this year we are all called to support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. This federal bill is critical in protecting many of our vulnerable populations’ right to vote as well as further ensuring obstacles are not put in place to limit that right. This act restores and strengthens parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act by clicking here.

I have vowed to continue to make voting rights more expansive here in Illinois. I am currently a co-sponsor for SB 828. This bill seeks to restore the right to vote for people serving in IL state prisons. 

Please click here and let us know the ways you think Illinois should further protect or expand voting rights.

How do you plan on celebrating or serving Dr. King's mission? Please share with us a photo and a description next week by emailing repcassidy@gmail.com. Our team will do the same and share some of the responses in next week’s newsletter. For example, several of us are participating in a citywide effort to make and deliver homemade lasagnas to folks in need on Monday, including to a Thresholds facility here in the district.

Please join us in purchasing clean underwear, bras, and socks for the residents of Logan Correctional Center by clicking here. The easiest way is to use this wish list, which will be shipped directly to the warden for distribution. If you’d prefer to donate items directly, you’re welcome to purchase items for drop-off at our office, but it’s important that the items comply with regulations (no thongs and no brand names or patterns). Please only provide:

When your shopping is complete, please join us in supporting House Bill 4218 sponsored by my colleague Barbara Hernandez. This bill will require prisons and jails to supply menstrual products free of charge to all in both prisons and county jails, and will additionally define underwear as a menstrual product to ensure that people are able to maintain good hygiene.

The coat drive this year was a huge success and we couldn't have done it without all of the wonderful donations received from all over the 14th District! We had a total of 300 coats to donate along with winter accessories. We'd also like to thank R Public House for their continued support in making all of our drives a success, the whole team including Renee, Sandra and Jenni deserve a big round of applause for all of their help! We'd also like to thank Rick Pilcher (RP Hair), Ed Mullen & Anne Kretzmann Igoe for their generous donation of gift cards to Target which bought warm gloves! The continued outpouring of support is why I continue to love the 14th District! 

Governor Pritzker has announced that the state will be deploying more than 2,000 healthcare workers to hospitals around Illinois. Many of our facilities are still facing staffing shortages. As shown in the chart above the state of Illinois saw a major spike in cases since late November. The United States has the highest COVID-related deaths in the world with a little over 845,000 deaths recorded since the outbreak in early 2020.

Please continue to report to the Illinois Attorney General's Division of Consumer Protection here for complaints about false advertising or other protection issues: https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/index.html

To find a vaccine clinic within the City of Chicago click here.

For questions or info regarding COVID-19 testing click here.

Statewide Totals: 2,589,640 confirmed cases, 29,099 deaths and 47,949,094 tests performed

Hotline: 800-889-3931

Email: dph.sick@illinois.gov

Hotline: 312-746-4835

Email: coronavirus@chicago.gov

announced $45 million in Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program funding to support community organizations that serve neighborhoods most impacted by economic disinvestment, violence, and the war on drugs. Organizations interested in applying for funding can review the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) by clicking here.

This initiative remains available for all qualifying households with low income, regardless of how they may be affected COVID-19.  The last day to apply online with the Request for Services form is April 15. After that date you can still apply through your local administering agency through May 31, 2022.

To learn more and to fill out a new application, visit helpillinoisfamilies.com.

Applications will be accepted through August 31, 2023 or until funds run out. You can apply online here or call the hotline at 1-(833)-711-0374.

Starting December 27, 2021, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) will stop sending payments via KeyBank debit cards to unemployment insurance claimants. Claimants who don’t select direct deposit as their payment method will receive their benefits by paper check. All claimants are encouraged to select direct deposit as their payment method. Direct deposit is free, easy, fast, and can be updated at any time. For more information, visit ides.illinois.gov/payment. 

Paper checks take longer to arrive, can sometimes be lost or stolen, and typically require a fee to be cashed. Would you like to receive your unemployment insurance payment more quickly, securely and for free? Consider opening a Bank On certified account in order to receive direct deposit. Bank On certified accounts are safe, affordable & convenient. They allow you to receive your money faster, have NO overdraft fees, and low minimum balance requirements. There are over 30 certified, no overdraft Bank On account options in Illinois. To view the list of all the Bank On partners and each bank product’s specific details, visit the Bank On Illinois site at https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/about/bank-on/. If you live in Chicago, you can visit Bank On Chicago’s site at https://bankonchicago.com/accounts/. Please make sure to review the account name and ask for the specific product by name when opening your account. Some account products can even be opened online.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced that all offices will be closed through January 24, 2022. Expiration dates for Drivers Licenses and ID cards have been extended until March 31, 2022. CDL's are extended until January 31, 2022. Read the full press release here.

The town hall will be on January 31st at 6 pm. Attendees can register at: https://bit.ly/sb828 

My office, along with Commissioner Michael Cabonargi, Alderperson Harry Osterman, and Senator Mike Simmons are hosting a property tax appeals assessment webinar on Tuesday, January 18th at 6pm. Tune in to learn how to appeal your home’s value and taxes to the Board of Review.

Register here: https://forms.gle/cjxwC7eyFoUYKMKt9