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A legislator, a lobbyist, and a reporter get in a car headed north from Springfield. You’d expect the ride to be full of discussions of the events of the week, but you’d be wrong. We’re heading back to Chicago in relative silence, a reflection of the fast pace of this week as we rush to finish bill negotiations and get amendments filed in advance of next week’s Third Reading deadline to pass bills out of the House.
Probably the highlight of my week was getting to spend time with Rogers Park’s own Girl Scout Troop 25781, from Kilmer Elementary and Disney Magnet School. The scouts were visiting Springfield working on their Democracy Badge. While they were in the gallery of the House chamber so I could introduce them in what’s called a point of personal privilege, they had the opportunity to hear the Consul General of Japan give remarks to the chamber about his role and the relationship between Illinois and Japan, so they got a little bonus content as they complete their badge requirements. I shared with them my love of scouting, exchanged cookie sale strategies, and discussed their frustration with the recent cookie price increase to $6/box. We talked about the various ways that have impacted their sales, from folks buying fewer boxes to the challenges of making change. I got to see them again at the end of their day before they hit the road for home and their enthusiasm for the Capitol and the things they’d gotten to see and do energized me for the week ahead.
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Girl Scout Troup 25781 visiting Rep. Cassidy | |
Coming in a close second was getting to show members of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (pictured below) around the House floor and even let a couple of commissioners test drive my chair on the floor. Members were in town in support of their legislative agenda and met with leadership to discuss the district’s needs. Rounding out a very visitor-heavy week, imagine my surprise when I arrived in the chamber on Wednesday to find former 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore there with the Consul General of Japan! | |
Former 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore who now works for the Japanese Consulate | |
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With the committee deadline behind us, we focused more on floor work this week, with just a few committee hearings to move amendments to the floor. We’re back in session on Monday and will probably have some long days as we work towards Friday’s deadline. Here’s a rundown of our bills and their status:
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HB4409 is an initiative of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and makes changes to the composition of the Adult Redeploy Board. This body makes grants to jurisdictions that adopt policies designed to reduce the number of defendants committed to IDOC by adopting alternative sanctions for offenses. I advanced the bill to 3rd reading this week and anticipate calling it early next week.
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HB4959 is an initiative of the Illinois Arts Alliance that will establish a Creative Economy Task Force within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to explore ways the state can better support working artists and grow our arts sector. There’s an amendment pending that makes corrections to drafting errors that will need to go through the committee before I can advance the bill, but it’s well positioned to pass next week as well.
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HB5238 is modeled on legislation passed recently in Indiana that will require newly constructed manufactured homes to be equipped with weather radios. Torrence saw news of the law’s passage in Indiana and recalled the frustration folks in Rogers Park felt over not hearing the sirens before the 2020 tornado and thought of how much more dangerous that would be for someone in a manufactured home. This simple and affordable change could be the difference between someone having time to find shelter and disaster.
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HB5239 is a follow-up to our Shield Law that protects patients and providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care from overreach from states that criminalize care that reflects the ongoing work to ensure we keep up with those other states’ efforts to undermine our protections. The bill also contains provisions ensuring minors on Medicaid have access to coverage for contraception.
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HB5373 is the result of a few years of work with a constituent whose experience as a chronic pain patient facing repeated challenges to access her medication led to her activism. The state’s systems of monitoring and regulating physicians who treat chronic pain patients have led to harassment of doctors and patients, loss of access to medication, and tragically too many patients turning to the illicit market where the risk of a fentanyl overdose is great. While we clearly have a state interest in regulating opioid medications, we have overcorrected and done real harm to patients who need these medications to be able to live and function. We anticipate one more amendment early next week, and while we still face some opposition, I remain hopeful that we will get the bill through next week.
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HB5377 is a trailer bill addressing deadline changes related to implementation issues in the Community Emergency Services and Support Act (CESSA) that Sen. Robert Peters and I passed with Access Living.
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HB5417 is the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s HIV/AIDs Treatment And Linkage to Care bill that advances our state’s goal of achieving zero new infections of HIV by addressing barriers to care and testing by ensuring insurance coverage for home tests, creating a pilot program to cut the current weeks-long wait time for access to HIV medication to just 7 DAYS. There is an amendment pending reflecting discussions with the Sheriff's Association concerning implementation questions related to testing and education requirements in the bill.
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HB5431 is an initiative of the Women’s Justice Institute and will put an end to any use of shackles for pregnant people in custody of jails or prisons due to the incredible health and safety risks associated with the practice. In addition, it will also mandate that a pregnant person on electronic monitoring does not have to wear the ankle bracelet during labor and delivery. We anticipate one more amendment related to implementation issues.
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HB5541 is an initiative of the Illinois State Police that seeks to address concerns related to the management of people on sex offender registries who are unhoused. There is an amendment pending that removes reference to the creation of an online portal intended to ease the weekly registration requirements. This is a complex area of the law, fraught with potential unintended consequences. I’m glad that ISP has heard the concerns of unhoused registrants and wants to come up with solutions to the burdensome weekly in-person registration that results in lost wages, sometimes lost jobs, and leaves registrants at constant risk of rearrest if they’re unable to make the weekly in-person check-ins.
The Senate’s Third Reading Deadline is Friday the 12th, so we’ll start to see their bills coming over for the second half of the session. Some bills will automatically be under my sponsorship as we have a process called pre-filing that allows members to call dibs on bills in the opposite chamber prior to them passing the introduced chamber, so those will be visible in my bills here, but when nobody has pre-filed for a bill, it appears as a message from the Senate on our daily calendar where sponsors can review bills in need of a sponsor and sign on as lead sponsor.
As some of you know, Candace and I are big fans of birds. We’ve been excited about the coming migration and have our feeders clean and ready with special feeders for hummingbirds and orioles (did you know they love oranges?), seed feeders, clean water, and nesting material. We were excited to see a robin nesting in one of our shrubs and hope for even more nesting neighbors. But we’re also very worried about the potential for another disastrous spring migration like last year where record numbers of birds were killed flying into windows across the area. The Illinois Environmental Council shared this action alert urging the city to take appropriate steps to prevent bird deaths. And if you want to take steps to make your home more bird-friendly, click here for some tips. I’m personally a fan of their advice to leave your windows dirty until after the migration since I’ve already been procrastinating on that task. Now I’m doing it for the birds!
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ICJIA R3 Program Fact Sheet | |
Two New Murals are Coming to Rogers Park! | |
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Kickstarted by the Participatory Budgeting Process in the 49th ward, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and Alderwoman Maria Hadden's Office have announced that two new murals have received funding in Rogers Park! One mural is located in the alley between Jarvis and Greenview while the other is located at 7442 N Ashland Ave.
The 49th ward and City of Chicago are now taking applicants for mural design and installation. To learn how to apply, click on the following link which will take you to the 49th ward's special newsletter on the murals.
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City of Chicago Clean&Green Program | |
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The city of Chicago is offering its annual Clean&Green Program on Saturday April, 20th. This program brings together groups of students, community members, community organizations, etc to help clean their neighborhoods. Simply, call 311 to register your group and the Department of Streets and Sanitation will lend brooms, rakes, shovels, and bags for the clean-up projects. The deadline to register is Monday, April 15.
For more information, visit the following LINK or call 311.
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Chicago Park District Earth Day Cleanup | |
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The Chicago Park District, citywide, is hosting an earth day park cleanup on Saturday, April 20 from 9AM-12 PM.
Earth Day Cleanup sites in the 14th District include:
- Rogers Beach Park (7705 N Eastlake Terrace)
- Touhy Park (7348 N Paulina Street)
- Leone Beach Park (1222 West Touhy Ave)
- Loyola Park (1234 W. Greenleaf Ave.)
- Park 559 (6151 N Sheridan Rd)
To register for a cleanup or to be a site cleanup captain, visit the following LINK.
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Free Credit Building Workshops | |
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When: Tues, Apr 16 6pm
Where: GROW/PROGRESANDO Training Center, 7056 N. Clark St.
Working Credit is offering an exclusive NO-COST workshop on all things credit. Learn how to build/rebuild and maintain a strong credit score that can serve as a pathway to financial freedom!
Working Credit is a national nonprofit and is proud to present this workshop In partnership with Rogers Park Business Alliance and Cook County Small Business Source.
To register for this event, click here.
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The Edgewater Chamber of Commerce is looking for community members to get involved with their Monday Market. Specifically, they are looking for volunteers, market sponsors, and chef's table participants.
To learn more about volunteering and to sign up, visit the following LINK.
To learn more about becoming a market sponsor, visit the following LINK.
To learn more about being a chef's table participant and to sign up, visit the following LINK.
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AARP Community Group Event with Carol Marin | |
Join the Chicago Northside AARP Community Group on May 7th for a FREE discussion with Carol Marin! The event takes place at 716 W Addison at 12:30 PM. The event can also be viewed over zoom. To request a zoom invite, email northsideaarpcommunitygroup@gmail.com. | |
The 20th police district is hosting its monthly meeting on Monday, April 8 from 6:00-7:30 PM at 5630 N. Lincoln Ave. To RSVP for this event, visit the following LINK. | |
Chinese Mutual Aid Association Seeking Tutors | |
The Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) is looking for volunteer tutors for Adult English and Citizenship learners! If you have a passion for helping new arrivals and want to make a meaningful difference in your community, get involved with CMAA. Interested? Email tutoring@chinesemutualaid.org | |
Our office (1507 W. Morse) will serve as a drop off location for The Diaper and Menstrual Care Drive that will support Care for Real. We are accepting drop offs Monday - Friday from 9am-5pm. Please call 773-784-2002 to make sure we will be in the office. | |
One Summer Chicago Now Accepting Applications | |
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Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) have launched the One Summer Chicago (OSC) application portal. OSC aims to connect an additional 4,000 young people to jobs this summer.
Access the portal at OneSummerChicago.org
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Sincerely,
Kelly Cassidy
State Representative, 14th District
Office of State Representative Kelly Cassidy
1507 W. Morse Ave
Chicago IL 60626
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773-784-2002 (phone)
Info@repcassidy.com
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