Illinois House Progressive Caucus Endorses Slate of Legislation Headed
to Senate
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[March 30, 2023]
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois House Progressive Caucus,
representing nearly two-dozen progressive legislators in the Illinois
House, is supporting a wide range of legislation this spring that will
improve the lives of Illinoisans of all ages facing a variety of
challenges.
The Caucus is endorsing more than 20 House Bills that cleared the House
last week and are now headed to the Illinois Senate for further
consideration. If they pass the Senate, they only need Gov. JB
Pritzker’s signature to become law later this year.
The slate of endorsed bills was recommended by individual members of the
Caucus since the beginning of the new legislative session in January.
Caucus members presented each idea at a Caucus meeting and asked the
group for its support.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Mar/30/images/ads/current/sunag_sda_SFARM_2023.png)
One measure calls for full-day kindergarten for all Illinois children.
Others make reforms to cemetery laws, strengthen higher education
opportunities for incarcerated persons, and make commonsense
improvements in health care access and coverage.
“Our endorsed slate of legislation this spring reflects the wide
diversity in representation, perspectives, and talents of our Illinois
House Progressive Caucus,” said House Majority Whip Rep. Will Guzzardi,
co-chair of the Caucus. “We are proud to support our members’ work to
improve education and health care, to further reform our criminal
justice system, and to strengthen traffic safety and rights for
immigrants. We look forward to seeing these measures and others
sponsored by our Caucus members become law this year.”
A full list of Illinois House Progressive Caucus endorsed bills is
included below by topic.
Cemeteries
House Bill 1571 -- Cassidy -- Holds cemeteries accountable to honor the
wishes of the deceased over property rights
Criminal Justice
House Bill 1397 -- Cassidy -- Strengthens Illinois’ criminal laws to
better protect sexual abuse victims
House Bill 3026 -- Cassidy -- Expands what can qualify for discretionary
earned sentence credit in jails and prisons
House Bill 3055 -- Mah -- Reaffirms right to religious freedom while in
jail or prison
House Bill 3648 -- Ammons -- Requires a report to the Illinois General
Assembly on the state of higher education in state prisons
House Bill 3740 -- Ammons -- Removes restrictions on the MAP grant
program for incarcerated college students
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Education
House Bill 1120 -- Guzzardi -- Requires charter schools to engage in
union-neutrality language in renewing their charter
House Bill 2396 -- Canty -- Creates full-day kindergarten across
Illinois over a six-year ramp-up period
Employment
House Bill 3129 -- Canty -- Requires employers with 15 or more
employees in Illinois to include pay scale in job postings
Environment
House Bill 3595 -- Mah -- Creates statewide safety requirements for
implosion of coal-fired power plants
House Bill 2086 -- Stava-Murray -- Allows restaurants in addition to
retailers where consumers can fill their own container with
ready-made food
Health Care
House Bill 1384 -- Cassidy -- Prevents insurers from denying
coverage for medically necessary reconstructive services
House Bill 2350 -- Cassidy -- Removes gender definitions for
insurance coverage of pap tests and prostate cancer screenings
House Bill 2719 -- Avelar -- Gives patients more rights in reducing
medical debt
House Bill 3158 -- Cassidy -- Legalizes and regulates natural
organic reduction for human remains
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Sep/05/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png)
Higher Ed
House Bill 2528 -- Ammons -- Designates Illinois public colleges and
universities as hunger-free campuses through a grant program
Housing
House Bill 1628 -- Stava-Murray -- Prevents landlords from requiring
electronic payment only for rent
Marriage
House Bill 1591 -- Cassidy -- Modernizes Illinois law to protect
marriage equality
Social Services
House Bill 2365 -- LaPointe -- Creates alternative pathway to
licensure for clinical social workers
State Government
House Bill 3768 -- Rashid -- Adds a Middle Eastern/North African
category for data to be collected by state agencies
Transportation
House Bill 2464 -- Cassidy -- Creates pedestrian beacon to warn and
control traffic for street crossings and crosswalks |