In this Issue
Legislative Updates
Shred Day Event
Coffee & Conversation
Museum Pass
Spring Break Community Meetings
Book Drive for National Reading Month
Dear Friends,
Spring has arrived! With the good weather, I hope all of you were able to get out and enjoy the first warm days of the year. This week, I'm back in Springfield after two weeks of break from session. I spent much of those couple of weeks meeting with area organizations and businesses, and I’ve included some highlights and photos from those visits.
In Springfield, the bills from our district are now moving through the Senate, and I’m now working on passing Senate bills through House committees. If you’d like details beyond the summaries below, please consider joining us for our April Coffee & Conversation. You’re welcome to bring your questions or just join and listen to what others in the district are interested in discussing.
We have many other events coming up, including our very popular Shred Day this Saturday, April 20. Senator Laura Ellman and I are co-sponsoring this event and timed it with the end of tax season to allow you to securely dispose of any documents with personal or sensitive information. Watch your mailbox for a postcard which includes all of our upcoming events this summer.
As always, please never hesitate to contact me if I or my office can be of service.
Sincerely,
Janet
Legislative Updates
In the March newsletter, I provided details on all of our district’s bills that have passed the House. This is our first week back in Springfield, and those bills are already moving through the Senate. Here’s the progress:
HB1378, GROW Program: on 2nd reading
HB2147, Educator and School Support Staff Pensions: referred to Assignments
HB2550, Telehealth for University Students: referred to Assignments
HB3522, Global Scholars Credit: on 3rd reading
HB3523, School District Treasurers’ Bonds: on 3rd reading
HB3559, School Safety & Rapid Entry: on 3rd reading
HB3924, Fentanyl Education: on 3rd reading
HB3932, Allergen Safety Education: referred to Assignments
These are the bills that have come over from the Senate that I will be moving through the House:
SB1824: IMRF Pension Updates: I’m working with the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund to pass various updates to make sure the plan continues running smoothly and provide flexibility to local municipalities. I passed the bill this morning out of the Personnel & Pensions Committee and will next be bringing it to the House floor for its second reading.
SB2340 School Bus Extended Arm: This bill will allow a bus to be equipped with an extension to the required stop arm in order to keep school bus riders safer from oncoming traffic. I’ll be introducing the bill next week in the Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter Schools Committee.
Shred Event
Join Senator Ellman and me for a free shred event this Saturday! This is a great opportunity to securely destroy documents with personal information, such as tax returns, bank statements, outdated medical records, bills, and receipts. The event will end when the truck is full or at 12 PM, whichever comes first. LIMIT 3 BOXES PER CAR.
What: Shred Event
When: Saturday, April 22, 2023 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Where: Naperville Public Library - 95th Street , 3015 Cedar Glade Rd, Naperville, IL 60564
Coffee & Conversation
For a broader overview of Springfield and 41st District activities, please join us at one of our monthly coffee and conversations. These generally occur on the last Saturday of the month, and we gather with constituents from across Naperville, Warrenville and Bolingbrook for informal catching-up and conversation.
What: Coffee & Conversation with me and your neighbors
When: Saturday, April 29, 2023 from 10:00 to 11:00 am
Where: District 41 Office, 475 River Bend Rd., Suite 500, Naperville, IL 60540
Museum Pass
Many in our community have already been able to use our district’s Museum Pass, and we’re excited to offer it as you make your spring and summer plans. More than a dozen Chicagoland museums and parks offer complimentary visits for you and up to three additional visitors with the pass.
The pass is available on a first-come, first-serve basis and must be picked-up and returned to our district office. Once we have your request, we will contact you to arrange a time to pick up the pass and accompanying authorization of use letter.
Below is the current list of institutions that participate in this program:
Adler Planetarium
The Art Institute of Chicago
Brookfield Zoo/CZS
Chicago Academy of Sciences/ Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Chicago Botanic Garden
Chicago Children’s Museum
Chicago History Museum
DuSable Museum of African American History
The Field Museum
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
Lincoln Park Zoo
Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Science and Industry
National Museum of Mexican Art
National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Spring Break Community Meetings
Along with Senator Laura Ellman and Representative Terra Costa Howard, we hosted a roundtable discussion for parents and providers serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition to the need for funding, we received much feedback on legislation and agency processes that we’ll use to inform our work and negotiations with our General Assembly colleagues.
Other visits in the community included: Monarch Landing, Little Friends, DuPage Children’s Museum, Metropolitan Family Services, Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce business tours, Ray Graham Association, Illinois Soybean Association, and Northern Illinois Food Bank mobile drive at Johnson Elementary School.
Book Drive for National Reading Month
March was National Reading Month, and we are thrilled to share a huge thank you to our constituents for their donations to our drive. We are in the process of delivering these books to Free Little Libraries at schools in our 41st District. Please share with us the location of any other Free Little Libraries so that we can share the joy of reading by filling their library with some of our donations.