*** UPDATE 1 *** Greg Hinz…

In other action on the last full scheduled day before a new General Assembly is sworn in, another bill that would grant private-sector workers statewide a minimum of five days a year of paid leave for illness or other personal reasons picked up considerable momentum. Chicago previously adopted a similar law for those who work in the city.

“We have a deal,” said state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria. The latest version is to be amended onto a pending bill, but it’s not immediately clear whether there is enough time to deal with it before tomorrow’s deadline.

They’ll have the time if they want to make the time. This is a House amendment on a Senate bill, so the two chambers can both vote on it today. Also, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford has picked up the chief sponsorship in her chamber.

The governor has supported the legislation since last year. This could have a huge impact on peoples’ lives.

…Adding… The bill will be heard at 3 o’clock today in House Exec.

…Adding… IRMA, IMA, Chicago Chamber are officially neutral on the bill. But I’m told they worked to get this accomplished.

…Adding… The bill was approved by the House Executive Committee 10-4-1. GOP Rep. Ryan Spain voted “Yes.”

*** UPDATE 3 *** The bill passed the House 78-30 and now goes to the Senate.

*** UPDATE 4 *** The bill passed the Senate 38-16 and will head to the governor.

…Adding… Sponsoring Rep. JG-B…

Today, Illinois State Representative and Deputy Majority Leader, Jehan Gordon-Booth, released the following statement on the Senate’s passage of Senate Bill 208, which will create paid leave laws across Illinois, and now heads to Governor Pritzker for signature:

“Today is a proud moment for our state as we celebrate creating paid leave laws across Illinois. Because of this legislation, more than 11 million hardworking Illinoisans will have access to paid leave at their place of employment that they once did not have. Our employees are not only the backbone of our economy, but the backbone of their families and our communities, and they all deserve paid time off.

I’m grateful to leaders in the business and labor communities who came together to make this historic legislation a reality, including the Illinois State AFL-CIO, SEIU, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Manufacturers Association, AFSCME, UFCW, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Thank you to the advocates and organizations who have made their voices heard in this fight for years, especially those with the Shriver Center for Poverty Law and Women Employed.

This legislation will help make our state a more livable, desirable place for workers of all trades and industries, and sends a strong message that Illinois is a place that not only values the contributions of our employees at their place of work, but as they build a life for themselves and their families.”

SB208 creates paid leave laws across Illinois by requiring all employers to provide a minimum of 40 hours (or five days) of paid leave per year to be used for any reason. It also allows for unused paid leave to carry over annually, up to 40 hours.

[ *** End Of Updates *** ]

* Another day, another quote the local sheriff and nobody else news story…

The Illinois Senate passed legislation that could leave mentally ill inmates in county jails for longer periods.

Right now, the Illinois Department of Human Services is supposed to transfer inmates who are unfit to stand trial to a suitable psychiatric facility within 20 days. However, that hasn’t always been happening.

Instead of a 20-day deadline, DHS would have 60 days to transfer inmates.

According to Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, DHS continually misses that 20-day deadline, leaving inmates in the county jail.

“Every day they’re in our custody, these inmates require a lot of mental health treatment. About a third of our jail, which is about 100 inmates, have serious mental health conditions. So, we have other inmates that need that mental health treatment, that now we’re taking away from them because these other ones require a lot of mental health treatment,” Campbell said.

From Jordan Abudayyeh…

The provisions in the legislation relating to DHS will help to move individuals faster from county jails into DHS secure treatment facilities – it does that in multiple ways and will ensure access to urgently needed mental health services, promote the safety of defendants, and the staff who serve them in county jails and State psychiatric hospitals. To claim that this legislation “harms” jail operations and individuals in jail custody completely ignores the language in this bill.

There are five parts of this comprehensive proposal and the Sheriff has singled out one part to spread misinformation while ignoring every one of its other provisions that help overcome the challenges he claims to care about fixing. This legislation does not extend an existing deadline. The 20-day period in the current statute is for DHS to provide notice of where an individual will be placed, not to transfer the individual.

For the first time, the legislation would insert a deadline into the law. That deadline would be 60 days. And if DHS cannot meet that deadline, it must provide evidence to explain its efforts to the Court every month. That is significantly more than required in the current law – and it will help every part of the criminal system to have transparency on DHS operations.

DHS has taken and is taking extraordinary steps to increase its ability to care for more individuals found unfit to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity. Here are just a few: IDHS is filling more positions to establish more capacity – at McFarland (25 new patient beds), at Elgin (44 new patient beds), with even more underway at Alton and Chicago-Reed Mental Health Centers. Unprecedented efforts to recruit Mental Health Techs and other key positions in the State Psychiatric Hospitals have worked - but there is more to do.

The number of referrals to DHS have significantly increased - by over 40% in 2022. In 2022, an unprecedented number of people were ordered by the criminal courts into DHS custody – 957. (This compares to 792 in 2021.) In the month of October alone, over 90 people were ordered into DHS custody: an all-time one-month high.

The problems experienced by Sangamon County can’t be separated from the larger mental health crisis across the State. Unless the court system as a whole – working with DHS and every other entity in the mental health community – addresses this crisis, DHS and Sangamon County and every other county will continue to have to deal with a crisis. This bill is a step that will help to address the crisis, but we need to work together to do more.

* Misleading bill story from Center Square…

House Bill 2542 would amend several state statutes preventing Illinoisans from changing their names due to their inclusion on watchlists.

The bill would allow exceptions to the Sex Offender Registration Act, the Arsonist Registration Act and the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act for people who want to change their name.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, touted the measure as a victory for transgender rights when it passed the House last spring.

State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, said this legislation is bad and is being quickly forced through during lame-duck session.

The bill passed the House in April [of 2021]. It’s not a last-minute thing. From the synopsis…

Amends the Arsonist Registration Act, the Sex Offender Registration Act, and the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act. Provides that a person required to register under the Act may change her or his name if the change is due to marriage, religious beliefs, status as a victim of trafficking or gender-related identity as defined by the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Text message from Rep. Cassidy…

It actually closes a loophole in all of them that requires when someone on a registry changes their name, they have to register in the new name. I got Republican votes specifically because of that.

The bill received 85 House votes. In April [of 2021].

*** UPDATE 1 *** The bill also passed the Senate and heads to the governor. From Sen. Peters…

State Senator Robert Peters supported a measure to allow justice-impacted individuals to legally change their names, which passed out of the Senate Tuesday.

“There are a million reasons why someone could have been impacted by the justice system, and sometimes you find their only crime was trying to survive,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “Sometimes, people need a new identity for their safety, and for their ability to truly lead a good life. This legislation would be an aid in those scenarios.”

House Bill 2542 allows individuals on various criminal registries to file for a name change if the change is sought for the reasons of marriage, transgender identity, religious beliefs, or status as a victim of trafficking.

In particular, many transgender people and victims of human trafficking have crimes of survival in their backgrounds, and need to be able to change their names in order to move on with their lives.

“This legislation is important because it could save someone’s life, or help them move on from a past that wasn’t kind to them,” Peters said. “Further, this could help affirm someone’s chosen gender. It’s necessary that we allow people with justice-impacted backgrounds to change their name.”

House Bill 2542 now awaits consideration from the governor.

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* Press release…

January is a time of renewal and recommitment for many. A group of legislators and advocates say it’s the right time to focus on cervical health.

State Rep. Anna Moeller and several female colleagues in the Legislature joined together Tuesday at a Statehouse news conference to discuss new legislation declaring January 2023 as Cervical Health Awareness Month in Illinois.

When the new 103rd General Assembly is sworn in Wednesday, they will officially file a House resolution calling for the special designation in January across the state.

The need for more attention to the issue is great. Cervical cancer affects 13,000 American women year, often in the prime of their lives, and 4,000 of them die. But with increased Pap testing and newer testing for human papillomavirus (HPV), the number of cases and deaths from cervical cancer has decreased significantly over the past 40 years.

HPV – one of the most common sexually transmitted viruses – now affects about 80 percent of men and women by age 45. It is a primary cause of cervical cancer, and early detection of cervical cancer is key to helping those affected survive and recover.

The disease hits minority and disadvantaged communities the hardest. The American Cancer Society reports Hispanic-Latina and Black women have the highest rates of cervical cancer cases.

There is hope, with proactive efforts. Legislators and advocates note proper HPV vaccination, screening, and treatment are formidable and effective tools in preventing the disease. COVID-19 pandemic changes dropped cervical cancer screenings by 11 percent, which raises concerns.

“We know cervical cancer can be devastating and deadly, but it doesn’t have to be,” said State Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin. “We hope to use this legislation to call on all Illinoisans with a cervix and for all of their loved ones to understand the serious risks, take the steps needed for prevention and treat every January as the right time to put your cervical health first.”

Advocates note with proper awareness and proactive health care, cervical cancer has little chance. The five-year survival rate is 92 percent when detected early.

* Press release…

Liquor delivery services would be expanded under a measure supported by State Senator Doris Turner that passed the Senate Monday.

“Our bars and restaurants are the backbone of our communities and bring a uniqueness to our neighborhoods,” said Turner (D-Springfield). “We are continuously working to strengthen our local economies, and expanding liquor delivery services is a great way to do that.”

Senate Bill 1001 would eliminate state and local fees for liquor delivery throughout Illinois. Additionally, it brings parity for liquor delivery between home-rule and non-home rule municipalities to regulate liquor delivery.

The Turner-backed measure would also lower the licensing fees for wineries to $750 if renewed online and $900 for initial or non-online certification. Under a law passed in 2021, the fees were raised to $1,200 if renewed online and $1,500 for initial licenses and non-online.

“This expansion will benefit our bars, restaurants and wineries that bring tourists to our area and spur economic development across Central Illinois,” Turner said. “We are giving people the opportunity to support local from the comfort and safety of their own homes and stimulate our local economies – that’s a win-win for all.”

* Taft Law…

Illinois State Representative La Shawn K. Ford (D) appears to have prefiled the Illinois Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act (“Illinois CURE Act”) on December 5, 2022. The CURE Act currently stands to be introduced as House Bill 00001. The publically available “Bill Summary” for the IL CURE Act can be found here.

If passed, the Illinois CURE Act legalizes and regulates the provision of psilocybin and psilocybin services in Illinois. Further, the Bill Summary specifically provides that the Illinois Department of Public Health (“IDPH”) “shall begin receiving applications for the licensing of persons to manufacture or test psilocybin products, operate service centers, or facilitate psilocybin services.”

According to the Bill Summary, the Illinois CURE Act also does the following:

Establishes the Illinois Psilocybin Advisory Board to advise and make recommendations to the IDPH regarding the provision of psilocybin and psilocybin services;

-Expunges specified records concerning the possession of psilocybin and psilocin;
-Removes psilocybin and psilocin from the list of Schedule I controlled substances;
-Provides provisions concerning rulemaking, taxes, fees, zoning, labeling, and penalties;
-Preempts home rule powers;
-Creates the Psilocybin Control and Regulation Fund and the Illinois Psilocybin Fund and makes conforming changes in the State Finance Act;
-Requires the Department of Agriculture, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, and the Department of Revenue to perform specified duties; and
-Amends aspects of Illinois tax related to the legislation.

The Illinois General Assembly convenes its regular session on January 11, 2023. Further updates will be provided regarding the full text of the legislation when available.

* One of House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s last legislative proposals is HR1035…

Urges the Illinois High School Association to take steps towards officially recognizing the game of cricket in Illinois.