Veto Session Begins This Week! 📜
Dear Neighbor,
This week I’m headed to Springfield for “veto session,” a short two-week session in the fall where the legislature can act on any bills vetoed by the Governor during the summer, as well as act on any new issues.
I’ll talk briefly about what action we expect in these two weeks — but first, it’s a good opportunity to revisit the bills I passed this year that were signed by the Governor this summer and fall. These are the new laws I led the way on enacting:
✅ HB 1120: Charter operators can't provide anti-union propaganda to their employees who are organizing.
✅ HB 1122: The Freelance Worker Protection Act guarantees timely pay to freelancers and provides them protection from discrimination, intimidation, and harassment from hiring parties. It also requires employers to provide freelance workers with written contracts.
✅ SB 2195: The So Kids Can Move Initiative expands pathways to equitable healthcare by providing children and their families access to certain prosthetic and custom orthotic devices.
✅ HB 1119: In working towards restorative justice, it is now required that two members of the IL Criminal Justice Information Authority Board be individuals who were formerly incarcerated.
✅ HB 1363: If an employer knows its employee is committing sexual or gender-based violence and does nothing to stop them, it can be held liable.
✅ HB 3314: Helps consumers get legal representation against debt collectors by allowing attorney’s fees for defendants.
✅ HB 3400: Revisions to the Prevailing Wage Act include required updates to demographic reporting for public employees in Illinois.
If you have any specific questions about these or any other bills or ideas for future legislation you’d like to share, please let me know.
In the next few weeks, we’ll be working on a variety of important issues in our return to Springfield. Rather than summarize them for you myself, I’ll turn it over to this very thorough rundown from the terrific Statehouse reporter Brenden Moore.
But since many of you have asked me, I want to share my position on one of these issues: the Invest In Kids tax credit scholarship program. This is a program the legislature created six years ago to provide generous tax credits to donors who support scholarships at private K-12 schools.
Fundamentally, I believe government’s job is to provide a quality education for every child. That means creating and supporting great schools that serve every kid, not just the lucky few. Until every school in my district has the kinds of resources they have in places like Oak Park or Wilmette, I can’t support taking public dollars and sending them to schools that pick and choose which students to serve.
And unfortunately, many schools that have received these scholarship dollars operate in ways that I can’t condone. Some schools discriminate against English language learners or students with disabilities. Others expel students who are pregnant, or fire faculty for being LGBTQ+. Still others teach curriculum that denies evolution; require students to work jobs instead of learning during the school day; or charge fines to their low-income students for disciplinary infractions.
While these schools may have the legal right to engage in these practices, we should not be spending public dollars to support them.
So I believe the program should end this year, as it was originally supposed to do last year. (We granted it a one-year extension in 2022.) Those dollars should support quality public education. And of course, that doesn’t mean that any child will lose their scholarship. It simply means that the wealthy donors who support the program won’t get the extraordinary tax break they’ve been getting for their donations — they’ll simply get the regular, very generous charitable deduction instead. Assuming they care about supporting these schools, there’s nothing stopping these donors from continuing to support the scholarship program.
I know we may not all agree about that issue, but I want you to understand my perspective on it. I’ll keep you posted as legislative action unfolds in Springfield, and please be in touch about the issues that matter to you.
All my best,
Will
Fall Family Health Fair
Our Annual Fall Family Health Fair on Saturday, November 4 at Koz Park is coming up, and we need your help to make the event a success! To sign-up as a volunteer, please fill out this form, and we'll be in touch with final details.
LIHEAP Utility Bill Assistance
As colder weather looms, it is vitally important that we ensure all members of our community have access to safe and reliable heating. DCEO is currently accepting applications for their Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps cover utility costs for natural gas, propane, and electricity for income-eligible households. Priority will be given to applications for households with seniors, young children, or individuals with long-term disabilities. Eligibility requirements and applications can be found at HelpIllinoisFamilies.com.
Unity Park Pumpkin Fest
Unity Park Advisory Council’s 24th-annual Pumpkin Fest is on Saturday, October 28. Celebrate Halloween with a pumpkin patch, face painting, a spooky photo booth, free popcorn and candy, a DJ, and more! The fest is from 10am-2pm at Unity Park, 2636 N Kimball Ave.
Centro San Bonifacio Day of the Dead Celebration
Centro San Bonifacio invites the community for a Day of the Dead celebration on Saturday, October 28, from 4pm-7pm at 2959 N Pulaski Rd. There will be activities for the whole family including sugar skull decoration and a La Catrina and altar exhibit.