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* Crain’s…
Two consumer groups and a prominent environmental organization are joining forces to clamp down on utility practices that resulted in favorable legislation raising delivery rates for consumers and padding profits of Commonwealth Edison and downstate power company Ameren Illinois.
AARP Illinois, Illinois PIRG and the Environmental Law & Policy Center have formed a “Take Our Power Back” coalition. It’s advocating that ComEd reimburse consumers for the profits it gained through a nearly decade-long bribery scheme aimed at winning support from then-House Speaker Michael Madigan, the most powerful politician in the state at them time. ComEd admitted to the scheme in a deferred-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in July.
Some Democratic lawmakers want to repeal an abortion law that requires girls under the age of 18 who are seeking an abortion to notify their parents at least 48 hours before the procedure, with some exceptions.
Under the current law, the notice requirement doesn’t apply if a minor is accompanied by an adult family member, such as a parent, grandparent, stepparent or legal guardian, or if an adult family member waives the notice in writing.
Additionally, there are exceptions for minors who are victims of physical or sexual abuse or neglect by an adult family member. Exceptions to the 48-hour notice requirement also apply in cases where the minor is married, divorced or widowed, if the minor has been legally emancipated, or if the health care provider determines that there is a medical emergency.
State Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, reintroduced a bill on Wednesday that would offer emergency support to tenants, landlords and homeowners struggling to make payments in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
House Bill 2877, known as the Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Act, would create a process for allocating funding for rental support that was made available in federal stimulus packages since December. It would also expand the sealing of eviction records in the state through July of 2022.
Ramirez, who previously introduced the legislation during the lame duck session in January, said the new bill offers “a comprehensive approach” to addressing what she referred to as “a crisis of housing instability” as a result of COVID-19.
* WAND TV…
State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) is reintroducing a measure that would require pharmacies to post a notice informing consumers that a consumer may request current pharmacy retail prices at the point of sale.
“Retail prices at pharmacies generally bear no relationship to the actual market prices of the medications,” Bennett said. “Patients deserve to know the ‘real’ price of the medication they intend to purchase so they can make an informed decision about where they buy their prescriptions.”
Under Senate Bill 1682, pharmacies would be required to post a notice informing consumers that they may request current pharmacy retail prices at the point of sale and must also provide customers directly with the retail price of a prescription drug, both in writing and electronically prior to purchase.
* Press release…
Today, leading advocates in Illinois launched Health is Health, a coalition campaign backed by more than 75 groups advocating for commonsense mental health and addiction care that everyone can agree on. The campaign comes on the heels of the Illinois General Assembly’s subject matter hearing on mental health in the state tied to proposed legislation SB697/HB2595, which would advance access and equity in mental health care. During the hearing, it became clear that this legislation is commonsense and would save lives.
“When I talk to pediatricians, they’re telling me they’re not seeing kids for physical health issues because they’re not getting sick, there’s no flu, there’s no cold because they’re wearing masks, but they’re seeing children every single day for mental health issues,” said Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park.
“With proper care, we have positive outcomes. We need to find a place in our society where we have no stigma when it comes to mental health and people can get the services they need when they need it so we can have those positive outcomes.” said Sen. Laura Fine
“The need for mental health care has never been more essential than it is right now.”Currently, large inequities exist in how health plans cover mental health care. Many insurers use flawed and discriminatory guidelines to avoid paying for the mental health care and treatment services granted under existing federal law.
“Mental health care is health care, period,” said Bill Smith, Founder of Inseparable, a Health is Health coalition member. “The cost of mental health care should not be your life savings. Yet, large inequities still exist in how health plans cover mental health care. We need to pass SB 697 and HB 2595”
“Fifty-three percent of adults report that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacts their mental health, yet nothing about the current reimbursement process is based on Generally Accepted Standards of Care and clinical best practices that are rooted in evidence and science. That is why we need to take action,” said David Applegate, Director of State Policy at The Kennedy Forum Illinois.
* And…
Forward Illinois urges the Illinois House Ethics & Elections Committee to pass HB 1872-Voting in Prison. Thank you @ChicagoVotes & Rep. Ford for your leadership! Read our letter to the committee. pic.twitter.com/fp4hcSIuGy
— Forward Illinois (@ForwardIllinois) March 18, 2021
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Mar 18, 21 @ 12:15 pm
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I am not strong on this either way. Certainly after sentence is up, voting rights should automatically be restored and i am glad this is true in this state. I understand reasons why this is not done in the south, racism, but always was surprised that some northern states, like Iowa do not restore rights.
But, you do lose rights after a conviction and in prison so I am unsure. Would be interesting if they voted in local community, don’t some prison towns want them counted in the census as living there?
Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Mar 18, 21 @ 3:13 pm
I always thought that prisoners in prison were not allowed to vote for fear of the control that the wardens and guards etc have over them being misused.
Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Mar 18, 21 @ 3:18 pm
I’m squishy on parental notice. The idea is that the parent/guardian will be notified if the girl wants an abortion 48 hours before. Note, it is not permission, she does not have to get permission. But let’s face it, if she is locked in her room or has her money she has saved for the procedure taken away from her, then that is in effect acting as permission.
On the other hand, I think parents should know in case she has a complication from the procedure so they know what to say to the health care attendants who are going to try to treat their daughter.
And then there are questions like about foster-children. Many foster parents are OK but others are not so why should these be notified?
I would be more onboard with a parent to be notified before abortion is performed but when it is too late for them to effectively forbid it.
Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Mar 18, 21 @ 3:34 pm
I’ve changed quite a bit regarding voting rights for prisoners. I used to have a “you lose your rights when you go to prison” mentality.
Incarceration rates have skyrocketed since the 80s, they’ve always affected Black people disproportionately, and it’s the last legal bastion of slavery (the 13th Amendment makes an exception for criminals).
With all of the dastardly GQP tactics to suppress voting, incarceration just seems like another tool that has been used and I’m now coming down more on the side of opening up voting rights for prisoners in most cases.
Comment by Proud Papa Bear Thursday, Mar 18, 21 @ 4:58 pm
= Many foster parents are OK but others are not so why should these be notified? =
Notification is to parents or “legal guardians”. Foster parents may be, but are not always, the child’s legal guardian. Often, it is DCFS.
Comment by JoanP Thursday, Mar 18, 21 @ 7:26 pm