In this issue:
- Human trafficking bill signed into law
- Illinois unemployment up again
- 106th District residents come through for local students
- Illinois headlines
Human trafficking bill signed into law
Legislation I co-sponsored to support survivors of human trafficking in Illinois has been signed into law.
House Bill 5465 passed both houses unanimously this spring. It eases the legal process for those who have been trafficked to have their juvenile criminal records expunged or sealed if they were forced to take part in criminal acts while they were being trafficked. Making this change will help survivors through the recovery process as they seek to put their lives back together.
The new law will take steps to ensure that a victim’s past does not continue to follow them around. It will ease some of the pain faced by those who are trafficked and abused.
Members of the public can use the National Human Trafficking Hotline to report any suspected trafficking taking place in their communities. That number is 888-373-7888.
Illinois unemployment up again
The Illinois Department of Employment Security has announced that Illinois’ unemployment rate has gone up again, rising to 5.2% in July, up from a flat 5.0% the month before.
Job losses fell most heavily in the manufacturing, leisure and hospitality sectors of the economy, as well as trade, transportation and utilities. Jobs were added in government, private education and health services.
The 5.2% rate was 0.9% higher than the national average in July and is a gain of 0.8% from where Illinois stood one year ago.
Illinois’ economic woes were compounded last week by the announcement by Morton Salt; an Illinois-headquartered company for over 100 years; that they are relocating their headquarters to Kansas, a state seen as more tax-friendly and business-friendly than their current home in Illinois. Just this week RhinoAg announced its intention to close its Gibson City facility and relocate the operation to Alabama by next March. My office is looking into ways that we can assist these workers going forward.
106th District residents come through for local students
This summer my office conducted our second annual school supply drive to help students in the 106th district find the supplies they need to get the school year off to a great start. Once again, the people of our area came through!
A huge thank you to everyone who donated school supplies to our Back-to-School Supply Drive! We are so thankful that we will be able to give back to our local schools throughout the 106th district!
Our current bill backlog
When a vendor provides the state with goods and services, they submit the bill to the Illinois Comptroller for payment. The Comptroller processes the paperwork and pays the bill when funds are available in the state’s checking account. Currently the total amount of unpaid bills is $1,360,472,768. This figure changes daily. Last year at this time the state had $1.3 billion in bills awaiting payment. This only includes bills submitted to the Comptroller for payment, not unfunded debts like the state’s pension liability, which is well over $100 billion.
Illinois headlines
Corn, soybean yields see record numbers while prices drop to double-digit losses
3 things most people don’t know only exist in Illinois
Union Pacific ‘Big Boy’ coming to Central Illinois
Meet Illinois’ official state mushroom, the ‘giant puffball’