* One more step…

The Illinois Senate on Tuesday passed measures decriminalizing the transmission of HIV and requiring public high schools to teach media literacy.

Both measures have already passed the House and will need only a signature from Gov. JB Pritzker to become law.

* Passed both chambers…

FAMM President Kevin Ring issued the following statement after the Illinois legislature passed a bill that will allow the Prisoner Review Board to release severely ill and dying people from Illinois prisons.

“It is unfortunate that it takes a tragic situation like Joe Coleman’s to create action, but we believe this overdue reform can prevent similar tragedies in the future,” Ring said. “Providing early release to elderly and ill people who pose very little risk to public safety will allow state leaders to target more resources to programs that actually make communities safer.”

The bill is named after Coleman, who died at 81 years old of cancer in an Illinois prison while awaiting clemency. Under current law, the only avenue sick and dying incarcerated people have for release is through the rarely used executive clemency process. Only Iowa, a state with no compassionate release authority whatsoever, is worse when it comes to meaningful opportunities for release.

* All over but the signing…

To provide dignity to all Illinois residents in their final days, State Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) passed the Joe Coleman Medical Release Act in the Illinois Legislature. The bipartisan measure will allow terminally ill and medically disabled inmates to safely move from the Department of Corrections to outside care facilities.

“Joe Coleman was a decorated veteran and father of six,” Guzzardi said. “He was terminally ill and not a threat to anyone in the public or himself. He died alone in prison awaiting a decision on executive clemency while serving a life sentence for stealing $640 from a gas station. That’s a tragic failure of our justice system, and this bill will make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The Joe Coleman Medical Release Act would allow for an expedited review for terminally ill and incapacitated people committed to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) to be released to Medicaid-approved outside care facilities able to meet their needs. Currently, incapacitated and dying individuals in Illinois correctional facilities can only seek early release via clemency by the governor. This new standard would allow the Prisoner Review Board to be able to grant medical releases through a quick and thorough review process.

Guzzardi’s legislation would also save Illinois taxpayers millions of dollars by sharing the cost of treatment with Medicaid, while also saving the unnecessary costs of medical transport from correctional facilities to specialists, guarding costs and infirmary costs within IDOC.

“Every year, too many individuals who have spent a lifetime in prison die alone with no family and very little dignity,” said Guzzardi. “My legislation would help restore some humanity for individuals who are not a risk to the public.”

The measure passed the Illinois Senate on May 26th after clearing the House in April with bipartisan support. It now awaits signature by the Governor.

* And another one…

House Bill 12 (HB 12) passed the Senate. The bill now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk for his signature.

The legislation was drafted by the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and sponsored by Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard). HB 12 expands coverage of the Family and Medical Leave Act to thousands of education support professionals across the state.

“When this bill becomes law, it will be a huge victory for our education support professionals. They’ll know they have access FMLA without the risk of losing their job and health insurance,” IEA President Kathi Griffin said. “This is something our members have fought for years, and that hard work is paying off. This is a huge victory for our working families and our talented support staff.”

* Maybe a lawsuit if this makes it into law…

The leader of one of the state’s largest anti-abortion group told a legislative committee Tuesday that the group intend to file a legal challenge against the state’s new “culturally responsive teaching and leading standards.”

Ralph Rivera, a lobbyist for Illinois Right to Life Action and the Pro-Family Alliance, told a House committee that 30 public school teachers have signed on to a future lawsuit that will challenge the constitutionality of those standards.

“They feel that that would be compelled speech,” Rivera said. “This would threaten their right to free exercise of religion or conscience.”

The standards, which the Illinois State Board of Education endorsed last year, call on schools of education to train prospective new teachers in how to make their instruction more inclusive and relevant to students from different cultural backgrounds as well as students of different sexual orientations and gender identities.