EVANSTON – To address ongoing issues concerning public health inequities in disenfranchised communities, State Senator Mike Simmons announced that he has secured $1 million in state funding for the replacement of lead pipes in South Evanston.

“For too long, lead in our drinking water has exposed our neighbors to adverse health effects, further building on the inequities our communities face. We have to get focused on this, we can’t make any excuses when it comes to lead pipes,” said Simmons (D-Chicago).  “This funding provides long overdue resources to address a problem that is systemic in nature, is decades in the making, and often does the most damage to Black and Brown communities like those who call South Evanston home.”

Simmons was joined by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Evanston’s 8th Ward Alderman Devon Reid for the announcement. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health there were almost 680,000 reported community lead service lines in the Illinois water systems in 2019. In Evanston there are almost 11,500 which need to be addressed.

The City of Evanston Lead Service Line Replacement program was created to remove lead contaminated water service lines with prioritization in low-to-moderate income areas. Beginning in 2022, the pilot project replaced the private side of the contaminated service line that already had the public side of the contaminated service line replaced. Currently, priority is focused on the completion of the partial lead service line replacements due to the increased likelihood of lead exposure.

“Public health issues are among my highest priorities -- both in terms of access to health care, but also that the environments that surround our households and communities are safe,” said Simmons. “I am happy we are able to take this step forward with a significant amount of resources, and multiple elected officials prioritizing this for south Evanston.”

Following the sudden passing of State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign), Senator Simmons released the following statement:

"I am stunned and deeply saddened by the passing of our colleague, Senator Scott Bennett. In the short time that I served with him, I appreciated the humanity, class, and collegiality he brought to the Senate and to our state at a time when it is needed. 

 

I’ll never forget shortly after I had my first bill heard in committee, Senator Bennett surprised me by taking a newspaper clip of me presenting the bill in committee from his hometown newspaper and had it laminated for me to have as a keepsake. I have it displayed on the wall in my district office and will never forget his generosity and thoughtfulness the day he walked over to my desk and unceremoniously presented it to me as a freshman just a couple months into my tenure in the Senate. 

Recently, I had sat down with Senator Bennett at a caucus dinner and we chatted about many things including how to balance demands on elected officials so we can spend time with our families and I appreciated his advice from his experience. 

 

And just last week, during the veto session, I sat with him at his desk in the Senate chamber and thanked him for the hard work he put into the SAFE-T Act negotiations. I knew he genuinely cared about our state, and I will truly miss serving with him. 

 

My heart goes out to his family, his community, and to all those whose lives he touched. I will always remember Senator Bennett, his sense of humor, and his thoughtfulness. I will do my best to keep his memory alive in the Senate."

SPRINGFIELD – In an effort to protect the transgender and nonbinary community from criminal prosecution for seeking out gender-affirming health care, State Senator Mike Simmons initiated a new measure protecting families who seek out gender-affirming health care from criminal and civil prosecution.

“We are witnessing almost weekly attacks around the country on the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ communities including roughly 300 repressive, anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation introduced by state legislatures, and more pointed attacks including the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting last week at Club Q,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “It’s time to push back and introduce sweeping protections for LGBTQ+ communities, and especially trans youth who have been subject to mean-spirited and relentless attacks on their rights.”

Senate Bill 4245, also known as the Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act, would prohibit the State of Illinois, Illinois law enforcement, and the governor from pursuing criminal or civil prosecution in regard to the laws of another state that forbids gender-affirming care for children.

Additionally the measure would prohibit the release of medical information based on the laws of another state.

“Access to health care is a basic human right, and access to gender-affirming care ought to be a protected right for communities that need it,” Simmons said.

The measure is similar to a California law which protects health care providers from being forced to release the medical records of a person suspected of receiving gender-affirming health care. California’s law also prevents the enforcement of other states laws against gender-affirming health care.

The measure awaits a committee hearing.

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General Updates from Senator Mike Simmons

Greetings 7th District residents! I wanted to touch base with you to provide a recap of the last couple weeks or so. First, I’d like to cover a couple new initiatives we’ve rolled out or resumed that should be good for our district. On Saturday, Nov. 12th my team and I rolled out our new constituent services program where we will go out into the district and doorknock to introduce ourselves to constituents, educate them on what our office can do for them, and find ways to help constituents with state resources.

So many people don’t have a clear sense of what the state legislature can do, or need help and have no idea where to start, so I am happy we are proactively taking state government to the people. Our inaugural doorknock was done in the Budlong Woods section of our district, which is located in Lincoln Square near where I grew up.

We also continued the 7th District people’s legislative council initiative, a participatory space where we organically convene constituents across the district who reflect particular lived experiences that are amplified and shape legislation I introduce. The child tax credit legislation I introduced last year came out of the legislative councils with single mothers, and on Wednesday, November 9th we convened residents of our district who are survivors of gun violence. We had participants from Uptown, Ravenswood, Roger Park, and Edgewater in the room.

I am so thankful for each participant for sharing their experiences with gun violence, and working with me to help advocate for legislation such as a statewide ban on assault weapons, and other sensible gun laws. We will resume with future legislative councils for people living with disabilities in early 2023. If you’d like to participate, please call my office at 773-769-1717.

The veto session is upon us, and we are expecting to take up a handful of trailer bills to existing legislation. See below under legislative updates for some highlights from the first week of the veto session.

Lastly, we will be holding a Virtual Town Hall on Tuesday, December 6th at 6:30 p.m. I thoroughly enjoy opening up government and policymaking to our constituents, and invite you to join us as I provide general legislative and community updates, and take questions from residents.

As always, my office is available at 773-769-1717 if we can be of assistance. Read on for legislative updates, community recaps, and for a list of helpful resources.

 

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons

State Senator | 7th District

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