Simmons passes package of bills from the Senate to increase gender inclusivity

SPRINGFIELD – To prioritize gender inclusivity across the state of Illinois and within state agencies, State Senator Mike Simmons advanced two House Bills out of the Senate on Thursday.

“Everyone deserves to be addressed and represented with the pronouns they use and prefer, especially by their state agencies and laws,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “These bills will ensure the language we use in state statutes and codes is inclusive of all identities, and will quantify non-binary and gender non-conforming people accurately within the state workforce.”

House Bill 1596 changes various public acts concerning children to contain more inclusive language, such as changing certain pronouns to general nouns or the nouns to which the pronouns refer, and replacing "biological" family or parent with "birth" family or parent.

House Bill 2297 adds state employees who identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming to the list of women, minorities and persons with physical disabilities in regards to agencies tracking this information to help guide efforts to achieve a more diversified state workforce.

“It is someone’s basic human right to be referred to by their preferred pronouns in everyday life, and these laws will reflect that right in our state systems,” Simmons said.

House Bill 1596 and House Bill 2297 passed the Senate on Thursday.

Simmons advocates for Child Tax Credit, SNAP benefits in subject matter hearings

SPRINGFIELD – To discuss a state-wide child tax credit and SNAP reimbursements to victims of fraud, State Senator Mike Simmons participated in subject matter hearings in the Senate Revenue and Appropriations – Health and Human Services Committees.

“Subject matter hearings are an important part of the legislative process,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “Working families need economic relief now, and a permanent child tax credit answers that need. This step would benefit nearly half of Illinois households or 1.5 million children. Victims of SNAP fraud need those funds reimbursed to make up for missed benefits and to help with their ongoing struggles as food insecurity is only increasing right now. I was proud to represent these important issues in these hearings.” 

Simmons presented two pieces of legislation: Senate Bill 1444 and Senate Bill 1811. Subject matter hearings on appropriations and revenue matters help inform deliberations as the final Fiscal Year 24 budget is crafted in the coming weeks. 

Senate Bill 1444 would create an Illinois Child Tax Credit for eligible low- and middle-income families. Families would receive a $700 tax credit for each child under the age of 17. The policy proposed would benefit joint filers earning less than $75,000 and single filers earning less than $50,000.

Senate Bill 1811 requires the Illinois Department of Human Services to replace SNAP benefits for those whose benefits were stolen via card skimming, card cloning or other similar methods. The replacement must come within 14 days.

For more information on the bills Simmons is sponsoring and where they are in the legislative process, visit here. 

Senator Simmons Passes Bill to Outlaw Book Banning in Illinois, Passes 9 House Bills out of Committee, Meets with Mayor-Elect Johnson

General Updates from Senator Mike Simmons

Dear Neighbor,

We just wrapped up a pivotal week in the State Senate! I am elated to announce that yesterday I passed out of the Senate the first bill in the country that outlaws local book banning in schools and libraries, putting our state on the right side of history and rejecting the hateful wave of punitive legislation and book bans we’re seeing in other states like Florida. My bill, SB689 (originally filed as SB1812), preempts local school boards, school districts, or library systems from banning books and includes specific protections for groups that have been targeted for erasure. As the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in the Illinois Senate, and as our district’s first Black senator, and as a person who cannot imagine living without books, this is especially important to me and to our communities here in the 7th district. After months of work on this bill, I am grateful for my colleague’s support of this legislation. You can see my live WGN-TV interview about the book banning bill here! Read more about SB689 and the 9 House bills I’m carrying in the Senate that passed out of committees below under legislative updates.

It’s also been a busy stretch in the district! Our office kicked off a series of new small business support initiatives beginning with a corridor walk visiting Asia on Argyle businesses last Friday, and we recently kicked off our monthly townhall series. Read on for more under community updates and news mentions below.

Sincerely,
Mike Simmons

State Senator | 7th District

Read more …

Simmons advances initiative to outlaw book banning in school classrooms and all libraries with key protections for targeted groups

SPRINGFIELD – Following restrictive book bannings in Florida and around the nation, State Senator Mike Simmons advanced legislation out of the Senate to prevent books from being banned in Illinois on Thursday.

“Six other states have already led efforts to ban books, and in the 2021-2022 school year more than 2500 books were banned across the country. We are seeing whole communities being erased from school curricula and libraries, and so by passing SB689 we are getting ahead of this hateful wave and putting Illinois on the right side of history,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). 

Senate Bill 689 (originally filed as SB1812) prohibits library systems, school districts, school boards, and trustees of a library or village library from limiting access to or prohibiting the purchase of books or materials related to autobiographies, biographies, memoirs, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sexual and reproductive health, gender identity, religion, human rights activism, or any other subject.

“My goal with this legislation is to ensure that every person in our state, especially young people – that next generation of LGBTQ+ youth, that next generation of youth struggling to find their place in our society – has the right to free and robust access to all books, just as I did growing up," Simmons said.

“Books uniquely broaden perspectives, exercise minds, challenge biases, all while offering a unique opportunity to process and absorb information independently,” said Simmons. “As the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to serve in the Illinois Senate, the first Black person elected to the Senate to represent the far north side of Chicago, and as the bi-ethnic son of a Black-American mother and an Ethiopian-American refugee father, books validated many of my unique intersectional experiences and opened many doors.” 

The bill would not impose limitations on access to books or materials in a library for safety reasons or based on the age and development level of persons who will have access to those books or materials.

Senate Bill 689 passed the Senate on Thursday and now heads to the House for further consideration.