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"Being prepared for any type of
major disaster is one of my top priorities, and ensuring that we can
get trained emergency response workers where we need them, when we
need them, is a critical part of this," Gov. Blagojevich said.
"Enabling workers who are Red Cross volunteers to assist with
disasters in other states is not just the right thing to do, it's
also beneficial to Illinois because of the hands-on experience they
bring home with them."
Current law allows state and
local government employees who are certified disaster volunteers for
the American Red Cross to take leave for up to 20 days to assist
with response to major disasters within Illinois, with their
department's approval. House Bill 4005, sponsored by Rep. Raymond
Poe, R-Springfield, and Sen. Emil Jones, D-Chicago, expands the law
to allow American Red Cross volunteers to assist with disasters in
other states. This will provide them with valuable experience that
may later be used for response to disasters in Illinois.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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Requests to send these
volunteers would be coordinated with the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency to ensure that the state's emergency response
resources would not be depleted.
The legislation also allows
state and local government employees to take leave from their jobs
to assist the Illinois Emergency Management Agency with the state's
response efforts to a major disaster. Agency directors still will
have the ability to deny a request for leave if it will be
detrimental to the operations of that department.
"Much of our emergency response planning depends on local community
emergency management workers, some of whom are also state or local
government employees," said William C. Burke, director of the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency. "Having them available to help
us is very important to our overall response effort."
[News release from the
governor's office]
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