SPRINGFIELD- State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) voted to create automatic voter registration in Illinois last week. The legislation, Senate Bill 250, passed the Senate with a bipartisan majority of 42-16.

Under the proposal, Illinois citizens would be automatically registered to vote when they choose to renew their driver’s license or state ID. They can still choose to opt out of registering to vote if they wish.

“Encouraging more people to get involved in the democratic process can only be beneficial to our state,” Murphy said. “The significant savings to taxpayers and additional measures to prevent election fraud are added benefits.”

In other states that have enacted similar proposals, the cost of processing an application to register to vote has dropped from 83 cents to almost 3 cents.

The legislation also included penalties for submitting false voter registration data, along with increasing the number of cross-checks the State Board of Elections must annually conduct between the statewide voter database and the National Change of Address Database from two to six.  

The proposal will now head to the Illinois House.

Springfield – State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) co-sponsored legislation today to bring taxpayer money, withheld due to the state budget impasse, back to local communities.

“As a former city official, I know firsthand the difficult decisions many of these municipalities were forced to make due to the lack of leadership in Springfield. It is past time that these tax dollars were sent back to the local communities they came from, to help avoid layoffs and property tax hikes,” said Murphy.

While state officials have not provided exact totals on the amount communities are owed, in 2014, Des Plaines, for example, received over $1.4 million. Last year’s totals for other communities in the area included:
•    Schaumburg $1.8 million
•    Hoffman Estates: $1.2 million
•    Hanover Park: over $940,000
•    Park Ridge: over $920,000
•    Elk Grove Village: over $820,000

The proposal also included funding to pay lottery winners, fund breast cancer research and road salt for state highways.

“This is a significant first step but it is only that – a first step. While I am encouraged that we were able to come together in a bipartisan fashion for these essential services, there is still work to be done to ensure that working and middle-class families in Illinois are not getting squeezed and that services are funded for the vulnerable members of our state, such as individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, rape victims and college students in need of MAP grants,” Murphy said.

Senate Bill 2039 will now head to the governor’s desk.