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It’s just a bill

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Illinois

* A bipartisan bill that looks to have some, um, l’eggs…

State law says if just one egg in a carton is cracked, the grocery store has to pull the whole dozen from the shelves. The store isn’t allowed to toss the bad egg and replace it with a good one.

A proposal in Springfield would let grocery stores consolidate eggs from the same brands, grades and sell-by dates, potentially reducing waste and not letting one bad egg spoil the bunch. […]

The Illinois Farm Bureau has concerns. Spokesman Kevin Semlow said the law exists to help track when something goes wrong in a batch of eggs and not spread problems further. […]

The legislation also would require store to train its workers on the consolidation rules, and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association supports the idea, saying 41 other states have similar laws.

* On a more serious note, here’s a bill that probably isn’t going much of anywhere…

Illinois lawmakers may soon take up the controversial question of which bathrooms should be used by transgender students.

A measure filed by State Representative Tom Morrison, a Republican from Palatine, would require schools to make sure students use bathrooms matching the sex listed on their birth certificates. He says schools could provide other accommodations, such as single-occupant restrooms, if parents request it in writing.

“What my bill does is it provides an accommodation for those individuals who cannot neatly fit into either the male facility or the female facility,” Morrison says. “We want every student to have access to a restroom during the school day. We want every student to have access to a private place to change for PE. That’s what we want, and that’s what this bill provides.”

* And on the other side of the coin…

The Illinois House Human Services Committee is set to hear testimony on Tuesday, April 5th on House Bill 6073, an amendment to the Illinois Vital Records Act. The measure is a careful update of the state’s birth certificate law recognizing the needs of transgender people for accurate identity documents advances in medicine and science. Under the proposal, someone seeking to change the gender marker on their birth certificate will no longer be required to have surgery, instead submitting an affidavit from a medical or mental health care provider that the person has undergone treatment appropriate to make such a change. Twelve other states and the federal government have modernized their laws in this way. Illinois was the first state that allowed someone to change the gender marker on their birth certificate, and this policy would update that law.

State Representative Greg Harris will be joined by advocates and individual Illinois residents who would be able to change their birth certificate when House Bill 6073 becomes law. All the participants will take questions from the media.

* And on another topic…

Medical marijuana in Illinois would be required to carry warning labels about possible side effects under a bill proposed by a Republican lawmaker.

Rep. Dwight Kay said the goal is to treat medical marijuana like other prescription drugs that warn patients about possible adverse effects. His bill, which is up for a House committee vote Monday, doesn’t specify what warnings should be on the products, leaving it to the state health department to decide.

But Kay said he would like to see warnings about how marijuana can cause drowsiness and impaired driving, and that it can affect pregnancies.

* Yet another topic…

Dana Pfeiffer, the executive director of the Springfield-based Grounds of Grace, said it’s a misperception that human trafficking is an international issue.

Grounds of Grace helps around 30 clients per week from central and southern Illinois. Ninety percent of the victims it helps are trafficked by family members or significant others, she said. […]

They’re pushing a bill that would let victims have 20 years to file charges against their abusers instead of one year. The legislation hasn’t gained much traction though due to the budget impasse, she said.

“Are you really going to turn your father in, brother in, or mother in during that span,” Pfeiffer said. “You need more time.”

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 2:21 pm

Comments

So…..that ‘one bad egg’ thingy. Could that concept be applied to State Government as well?

Comment by Cubs in '16 Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 2:29 pm
Isn’t it great that our members of the GA are addressing the real issues that have real and lasting impact our lives on a daily basis!

Now wouldn’t it be great if they could pass a budget that would fund the colleges, social service providers and start to clear up the backlog of monies owed by the state?

Oops, sorry, I forgot who our Governor is.

Comment by illini Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 3:19 pm
=A measure filed by State Representative Tom Morrison, a Republican from Palatine, would require schools to make sure students use bathrooms matching the sex listed on their birth certificates. He says schools could provide other accommodations, such as single-occupant restrooms, if parents request it in writing.=

Waste of time and paper. The Fed rules here and their directives are clear. The OCR intervened in Schaumburg and would love to make an example of any state that passed legislation like this.

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 3:21 pm
Third try. The proposed legislation to change the Egg Law is dangerous. You are going to allow Retailers to do something that could have serious consequences. The jokes in that article about “yolks” and “omlettes” will come to haunt these legislators once the first salomnella case happens because of mixing eggs and containers. Other states may have “similar” laws, but just how similar are similar?

http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm077342.htm

Comment by Anon221 Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 3:28 pm
The marijuana warning label should have something on it that says: “When you are using Medical Marijuana you may find things funny that are really not.”

I watched “Couch Trip” with Dan Akroyd and the great Walter Matthau while indulging and found it hilarious. I later watched it sober and it was not.

Comment by paddyrollingstone Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 3:34 pm
Representative Morrison’s bill deserves to die a swift death on the pyre of wasted political pandering by knee jerk politicians.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 3:55 pm
3:55 was me.

Comment by Huh? Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 4:18 pm
Regarding Rep. Morrison’s bill. Let’s just suppose that the bill passes (and I certainly hope it dies a swift death), as JS Mills said, the feds will make mince meat of it (as they should). And, if the bill did somehow survive, Rep. Morrison would expect school administrators to become the bathroom police? Really, he expects schools to ensure that students use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate? The concept is so absurd, as is the basis for proposing such a law.

Comment by Former Hoosier Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 4:38 pm
It appears to me that the RAUN Man has put all his eggs in one basket…..

Comment by blue dog dem Monday, Apr 4, 16 @ 7:11 pm
Egg Law Change:

Here is the crux of the bill as far as the possibility of cross-contamination goes: (7) original packaging requirements, (replacement cartons shall not be utilized)

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/99/HB/09900HB6287.htm

*****
There is no way to sanitize the egg carton (especially cardboard or Styrofoam), and just plopping a new egg(s) in to replace the cracked/broken ones, is a pathway for diseases such as salmonella.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 9:03 am