Illinois Legislative Spring Update

Here is a synopsis of the bills the Association authored, initiated and advanced since January.  As the legislative session winds down, we still are working on several issues, including elder abuse, prescription drugs and monitoring the budget negotiations.

House Bill 20 – This bill now has passed both houses of the General Assembly and will be sent to the Governor for his signature. H.B. 20 amends the Commemorative Dates Act and designates November of each year as Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month in Illinois.  This bill will help increase awareness surrounding Alzheimer’s disease and assist in keeping our issues in front of the General Assembly. 

House Bill 2241 – The Association also was successful in passing H.B. 2241, which creates an information sharing system between law enforcement agencies in an effort to locate wandering adults more efficiently and effectively.

Senate Bill 1707, which creates a tax credit for the purchase of long-term care insurance, passed the Senate, but not the House of Representatives.  We will pursue this initiative again next year.

Do you want to keep track of legislation in the Illinois General Assembly?   Visit the newly renovated Illinois General Assembly Web site - www.ilga.gov – for a wealth of information, including: the text of a bill, the status of a bill, and the way your local legislators voted on a bill.  You also can search by bill number from the home page.

If you have questions or concerns, or would like to become an advocate and receive our alerts/updates, contact Brian Schwarberg, director of public policy, at 217.726.5184 or brian.schwarberg@alz.org.