In This Issue:
- Vaccine Clinics: Fry Family YMCA
- Springfield Highlights: Bills, Bills, Bills!
- Community Happenings: Blood Drive, Vaccine Clinics, and Monthly Coffee
Dear Friends,
In the past month, we’ve seen a flood of activities both in our district and in Springfield. I am deeply thankful for the volunteers that make our local events hum. With your help, we partnered with the Islamic Center of Naperville for last week’s vaccine clinic, and we administered over 900 vaccine first doses! We have another vaccine clinic coming May 3rd—all those 16 years and older are welcome, and we appreciate your help in spreading the word.
I’ve also been in Springfield for much of April, where my colleagues and I have passed over 500 bills out of the House. From there, they will be picked up by Senate sponsors and move through their committees and floor voting process. I’ll highlight below the progress of a few bills that have come from our community.
Again, thank you to all for your continued engagement, including taking the time to read these updates. Please never hesitate to reach out to our office if we can be of service.
Sincerely,
Janet
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Vaccine Clinics: Fry Family YMCA
We are excited to offer another vaccine clinic!
On Monday, May 3rd from 9 am to 4 pm, the Fry Family YMCA will serve as a community vaccination clinic offering FREE first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to all residents 16+. We’re working to reach out in particular to our LGBTQ+ community members, as well as Naperville residents and Will County residents. The second dose will be available May 24th.
Register for both today!
FIRST DOSE REGISTRATION LINK: https://idph-mychart.pchosted.com/.../embeddedschedule...
SECOND DOSE REGISTRATION LINK: https://idph-mychart.pchosted.com/.../embeddedschedule...
Springfield Highlights: Bills, Bills, Bills!
April 13th marked the deadline for representatives to pass bills out of the House so they could go to our Senate counterparts for passage. The House passed over 500 bills, including a number that had very close ties to our district:
Election Day and Learning: HB4 directly addresses a November 2020 resolution (#6 on page 13), passed with my former colleagues on the Naperville 203 school board, which would allow schools to designate Election Day as an e-Learning day.
Media Literacy in the Classroom: One of our Naperville Central High School students had direct input into HB234, which requires public high schools to incorporate media literacy into curriculum, including instruction on analyzing and evaluating the trustworthiness of information sources and media messages.
Student Suicide Prevention: We worked with Beyond Charity, a local student-led group focused on youth mental health, to pass HB1778, which seeks to prevent student suicides by making sure they have close access to help.
Disability Assistive Technology: HB2616, the first bill I passed out of the House, had full bipartisan support. If passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, it will make it easier for government entities to buy and repair the assistive technology devices needed to accommodate their employees and customers who have disabilities. (The picture below shows my holding a voting record of the bill signed by each member of the House--a tradition for legislators’ first passed bills.)
Opioid Overdose Reduction: My office and I have been privileged to work on HB3445, which honors the memory of a young man, Alex Green, who could have been saved had the bill’s protections for those experiencing opioid overdoses been in place. Last week, it was well worth working to midnight with my colleagues on the House floor to make sure it passed.
Community Happenings: Blood Drive, Vaccine Clinics, and Coffee
In April, my office sponsored three main events for constituents, and we are so grateful for the community’s participation and generosity.
With blood donations down by 40%, the donations made by our community at our April 17th blood drive were especially appreciated. We aim to hold another drive this fall and look forward to providing more details later in the year.
We worked with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Islamic Center of Naperville to sponsor a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on April 20th and 21st. The hustle our volunteers showed going directly to local businesses and residents meant we filled every slot, vaccinating over 900 people!
At the end of April, we also hosted our monthly Coffee & Conversation, where we always enjoy sharing updates and hearing about your ideas.
May’s Coffee & Conversation will take place on Saturday, May 29 and will look a little different than our past get-togethers. I’ll be in session in Springfield that weekend, so I’m looking forward to giving everyone a peek at my office and maybe the House floor, too! Register online to join us!