* SEIU Healthcare Illinois…

As Illinois faces an urgent care crisis where seniors can’t get the care they need and workers can’t afford to stay in the industry, a grassroots coalition will hold a press conference on Tuesday, March 18 to launch a new statewide “Care Can’t Wait” campaign to improve care for Illinois seniors and respect, protect and pay the workers who care for them.

Seniors and care workers with SEIU Healthcare Illinois will come together with State Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) [SB120], State Rep. Mary Beth Canty [HB1330] (IL-54), the Alzheimer’s Association, and Addus HomeCare for a press conference at the Illinois Capitol to send a clear message to Illinois lawmakers: Care Can’t Wait.

With Care Can’t Wait, workers, advocates, care recipients and their families will drive forward a bold demand to ensure seniors can access quality, affordable and dignified care in the setting of their choice. The coalition will demand the state legislature increase the wage floor for home care workers serving seniors in the Community Care Program from $18/hr to $20/hr in 2026 via a Department of Aging rate increase in the budget. Home care workers are leaving the industry in droves – at a rate 50% higher than the average occupation – because they can’t afford to stay. Raising wages is critical to making sure experienced home care workers can stay in the industry and provide the quality, dignified care so many seniors and people with disabilities depend on across Illinois.

Following Tuesday’s press conference, the Care Can’t Wait Coalition will rally in the Capitol Rotunda, where care workers, seniors and allies will demand that Illinois lawmakers take action on care.

“Investing in care workers is crucial to making sure people get the care they need. When you shortchange workers, you shortchange care and seniors. We need to invest in care by raising wages for home care workers so we can build the workforce that our state’s seniors desperately need,” said Jenny Smith, a Champaign home care worker.

* WGLT…

Republican state Rep. Dennis Tipsword from Metamora held a news conference with other Illinois lawmakers to announce initiatives to address public safety. […]

As part of this new initiative, Tipsword also pushed a bill to enforce a 20-day window to transfer inmates with mental illness and developmental disorders from county jails to a mental health facility. It would be the responsibility of the Department of Human Services. If the department doesn’t comply with the mandates, they could face fines from the county sheriff’s office.

Tipsword said the average wait time to transfer an inmate is 87 days but said it is possible to be over 100.

“This is far too long,” Tipsword said. “Oftentimes, they are housed in solitary-type confinement because they are not fit to spend time in general population, thus moving them further and further from fitness and even doing long term or permanent damage to their mental health. If we can’t solve the mental health component, we should expect recidivism.”

Tipsword said the bill is bipartisan. Democrat State Rep. Sharon Chung of Bloomington is a co-sponsor.

* Sen. Steve Stadelman…

In an effort to improve the affordability of preventive health care, State Senator Steve Stadelman is sponsoring legislation to eliminate certain fees.

“There’s no reason for hospital-owned health facilities to charge extra fees, especially if it’s a greedy facility fee,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford). “Health care is already expensive enough as is, and we have a responsibility to make it more affordable for Illinoisans.”

Senate Bill 2182 would make it illegal for a health care facility to charge a facility fee for preventive services provided to a patient at any associated clinic. A facility fee is a charge imposed by hospitals and health facilities for the use of their space, equipment and administrative services, separate from the fees charged by doctors or other health care providers.

“Patients don’t deserve unexpected costs when they seek routine health care,” said Stadelman. “We need to put patients over profit, especially when it’s preventive health care.”

Senate Bill 2182 awaits to be assigned to a Senate committee.

* The Illinois Primary Health Care Association…

As state legislators debate prescription drug reform this spring, the Illinois Primary Health Care Association, on behalf of Illinois’ 56 community health centers, is proposing legislation to end unnecessary and unfair restrictions on prescription drug discounts through the 340B program. During IPHCA’s annual lobby day at the Capitol, members from across the state will be discussing this vital program that benefits uninsured and low-income patients at no cost to taxpayers.

The proposed Illinois Patient Access to 340B Pharmacy Protection Act is Senate Bill 2385, sponsored by Sen. Dave Koehler, and House Bill 3350, sponsored by Rep. Anna Moeller.

Since the early 1990s, the federal 340B program has allowed participating community health centers to purchase drugs at steeply discounted rates from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Health centers then pass those savings onto their patients in two forms. First, the roughly 300,000 uninsured Illinoisans who receive their care at health centers can obtain medications at affordable prices. Second, for patients with healthcare coverage, savings are generated from insurer payments for patient drugs, that health centers are then required by federal law to reinvest back into unfunded or underfunded services and supports. Examples include providing free colonoscopies and mammograms, offering free transportation for medical appointments, and bringing mobile clinics closer to meet patients where they are.

Recently, pharmaceutical companies have imposed dangerous restrictions on the 340B program that hurt patients and the centers where they receive care. The Illinois Patient Access to 340B Pharmacy Protection Act legislation is modeled after efforts that have passed in eight other states, including Arkansas, which saw its law upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The legislation has no cost through state or federal funding, but simply prohibits drug companies from prohibiting, restricting, or interfering with local pharmacies’ participation in 340B programs. Supporters say the change is simple and necessary to ensure 340B can continue to provide a lifeline for patients and the health centers that serve them.

“Patients need to know they can get the prescription care they depend on, and our health centers need the support from 340B participation to serve our communities best,” said Ollie Idowu, President and CEO, Illinois Primary Health Care Association. “The Illinois Patient Access to 340B Pharmacy Protection Act is a critical step forward for patient care in underserved communities across our state. We ask the Legislature to stand with patients by supporting this commonsense legislation.”

* WAND…

Alpha-gal syndrome, also known as red meat allergy, has arrived in Illinois, with cases rising at higher rates since 2020. Now, a local lawmaker wants to raise awareness of the disease.

Alpha-gal is caused by the bite of the Lone Star tick. Once infected, a person bitten will have an allergy to red meat. So, when someone infected eats their favorite burger, they’ll suffer an anaphylactic shock instead of the usual bliss a burger brings. There is currently no cure to the disease.

The plan by State Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Woodhull) would increase education around the disease and require medical reporters to report any cases of the disease in Illinois. Swanson’s said his mother has suffered from the red meat allergy for the past several years. […]

The disease under the proposal would receive the same reports that other tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease currently receive. It passed out of the public health committee unanimously where it now heads to the house floor for further debate.

* Prairie Rivers Network, Eco-Justice Collaborative…

State legislation to protect the Mahomet Aquifer from contamination due to carbon sequestration (SB1723 Faraci & HB3614 Ammons) will be considered in committees this week. The legislation would ban carbon sequestration projects over, under, or through sole-source aquifers like the Mahomet Aquifer.

The committees and corresponding bills are:

Tuesday, March 18th at 4pm (HB3614)
House Energy & Environment Committee (link) Room 114 Capitol Building, Springfield, IL

Thursday, March 20th at 10am (SB1723)
Senate Energy & Public Utilities Committee (link) 212 Capitol, Springfield, IL

The bill has garnered bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, with Democratic and Republican chief cosponsors representing areas that depend on the Mahomet Aquifer for drinking water.

There are currently four proposed carbon sequestration projects that would impact the Mahomet Aquifer, and more may be on the horizon. The four projects alone would store CO2 under the aquifer at volumes 50 times greater than ever stored in Illinois. The legislation is responsive to growing concerns over carbon sequestration technology after two leaks at Archer Daniels Midland’s CCS facility located near Decatur, just five miles from the Mahomet Aquifer.

* WLDS…

100th District State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer says that the discussions around bullying need to be age appropriate in Illinois schools.

House Bill 1411 seeks to amend the Illinois School Code to establish a clearer definition of what constitutes a policy on bullying. Specifically, it emphasizes that such policies need to be age and developmentally appropriate, ensuring that they are tailored to the needs of students at different stages of their education.

Davidsmeyer introduced the bill to the Illinois House after a concerned parent in his district came forward about appropriate teaching about bullying: “I think bullying is a major issue certainly all the way through school. I think most of us [in the General Assembly] probably receive a little bit of bullying – political bullying – every now and then. So, it doesn’t end once you are out of school. But I think this is kind of a first small – I’ll call it a baby step to a much larger, much bigger discussion that we need to have.”

Illinois law requires each school district and private school to create, maintain, and implement a policy on bullying, which must be filed with the Illinois State Board of Education. House Bill 1411 has been placed on a second reading for a short debate as of March 5th and awaits a vote from the full Illinois House of Representatives.

* WAND…

A bill filed by a State House Democrat would add regulations on an unregulated minx fur trade in Illinois.

A key worry with unregulated mink farms is the spread of disease. According to advocates, mink’s have a similar lung system to humans. So, if disease spreads among mink’s it could potentially jump to humans.

The plan would test minks weekly on two virus that have gotten a decent amount of coverage, the bird flu H5N1 and COVID-19. It would also require the four mink farms in Illinois to have a license to continue their trade. […]

A spokesperson for the U.S. fur commission travelled from Idaho to speak at the bills committee hearing. However, he was skipped and didn’t get a chance to testify in front of the public health committee. During a different bill hearing, the man stood up and said the mink fur trade was unfairly represented by the supporters of the legislation.

HB2627 passed out of committee on a partisan 5-3 vote.