As part of my continuing efforts to promote government reform, House Bill 6200 sets limits on contributions from political party committees to candidate political committees for the general election. Last year, I supported Illinois' historic first campaign finance reform law that imposed a similar limitation during primary elections. This bill is under consideration in the Rules Committee.

House Bill 5054 requires that the Department of Public Aid issue permanent, or semi-permanent health cards to individuals, rather than monthly cards. The department will continue to determine eligibility on a monthly basis to be in compliance with federal law, and will keep these records electronically. The change will save the state money and reduce bureaucratic hassles for over 2 million citizens. The bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously and now awaits consideration by the Senate.

In addition, I have been working with the Governor's Office for over a year to identify and eliminate boards and commissions that are no longer necessary and can save our state money. The list is now complete and I am drafting legislative language for a late-entry bill to achieve these cost savings.

House Bill 6030 creates a green manufacturing revolving loan program which will make loans (to be repaid within 5 years) to manufacturers with 500 or fewer employees to use toward the cost of equipment that will reduce environmental impact and achieve cost savings. This bill will help small businesses save money while protecting the environment. This bill is under consideration in the Executive Committee.

House Bill 5094 will help promote job growth in Illinois' small businesses. Currently, if a business has had no recent unemployment claims it achieves a low rate of unemployment insurance payments. However, if that business has no employees for a year, the unemployment insurance rate increases dramatically when the business hires an employee, which discourages new hiring. In these hard economic times, the bill would promote the hiring of new employees by those small businesses which have already achieved the low unemployment insurance rate by keeping their rate low. The bill is under consideration in the Rules Committee.

House Bill 5018 is an extension of a bill I passed last year to extend the term of health insurance coverage for small business workers who lost their jobs after September 1, 2008. The bill allows access to federal funds so these health benefits can be extended until the end of the period defined in the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bill passed the House unanimously on February 18, 2010, and is now before the Senate.

House Bill 6103 helps Illinois veterans obtain necessary mental health care. In light of the explosion in the number of post traumatic stress disorder cases, particularly in reservists called up for active duty, this is a very important bill, and we are receiving kudos from many veterans' organizations. The bill provides that any veteran who receives services from a state mental health facility that are not covered by his or her insurance plan will not be liable for charges for these services. The bill will allow our veterans to receive the mental health services they may need as the result of their service to our country. The bill passed unanimously out of the Human Services Committee and now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives.

House Bill 5047 provides that older workers who lose their jobs cannot be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits because they also receive social security. Our older citizens who need to work to make ends meet should be entitled to unemployment benefits if they lose their jobs whether or not they receive social security payments. Illinois is one of only three states that discriminate against seniors in this way. Thirty-seven members of the House have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors as the measure awaits approval. The bill is under consideration in the Rules Committee.

House Bill 5337 protects the residents of nursing homes in Illinois by increasing penalties for violations of the Nursing Home Care Act that result in harm to such residents. The bill is currently under consideration in the Human Services Committee.

House Bill 5338 creates the Toxin-Free Kids Act to protect children from products which contain dangerous chemicals. The bill requires the state to publish a list of chemicals of high concern in order to allow consumers to protect children from exposure to these chemicals in consumer products. The bill is under consideration in the Environmental Health Committee.

House Bill 6201 extends the repeal date of the Mercury Switch Removal Act from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2017. This is part of my continuing crusade to remove mercury from our environment because it causes brain damage in children. The bill passed the Environmental Health Committee and now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives.

House Bill 5454 is designed to make our roads safer by prohibiting anyone from using an electronic communication device while they are driving a motor vehicle, unless the device is used in hands-free or voice-activated mode (exceptions include emergency use, sitting in a parked vehicle, etc.). In recent years, Illinois has seen an explosion of vehicle accidents related to drivers who are using communication devices such as cell phones, computers, etc. This bill will limit the use of these devices in order to promote public safety. The bill is under consideration in the Vehicles and Safety Committee.

House Bill 5297 amends the Illinois Pension Code. This is what we call a "vehicle bill". I am negotiating the final language of this bill with representatives of municipalities and public safety personnel. We need to address the serious economic problems facing our municipalities and promote pension reform to ensure the financial viability of our public pension funds. This bill is currently under consideration in the Personnel and Pensions Committee.

As always, please share your comments and opinions with me about these bills or any other legislation that is of interest to you. I look forward to hearing from you.

email: karen@repkarenmay.org

phone: (847) 433-9100

web: http://www.repkarenmay.org