Murphy highlights investments in working families, community safety in budget

• Budget
• law enforcement
• working families

SPRINGFIELD – After months of negotiations with lawmakers, state agencies, and other stakeholders, State Senator Laura Murphy (D—Des Plaines) is declaring the budget and tax relief plan a win for working families, who will receive nearly $2 billion in financial assistance.

“Not only did we pass a balanced budget and an ample tax relief plan, it’s a package that provides an unprecedented investment to help low and middle-class families,” Murphy said. “I’m proud to have helped create a plan that prioritizes working families in our community, and will give them a path to bounce back after the challenges of the past two years.”

In addition to providing relief for working families, the budget invests an additional $200 million than what was initially proposed for public safety. The budget allocates funds to strengthen violence prevention programs, the tools law enforcement need to prevent and solve crimes, and more.

Further, the tax relief plan includes a suspension on the 1% state grocery tax for a year, as well as a suspension of the state’s portion of the gas tax increase—saving consumers approximately $470 million in total.

Additional support for working families and teachers is back-to-school tax relief through a sales tax holiday in August, a teacher classroom supplies reimbursement and an increase in MAP grants permitting more college students access to tuition assistance.

"This package makes essential investments in our communities. It’s the right path for families and small businesses to reap success,” Murphy said. "We are also making providing additional funding to law enforcement—permitting additional tools to make our communities safer.”

If signed by the governor, the Fiscal Year 23 budget will take effect July 1, 2022.

Murphy advocates for law enforcement in new legislation

• Criminal Law
• Public safety
• law enforcement
• police
• criminal justice

SPRINGFIELD –State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) is strongly supporting the Illinois State Democrats’ package of initiatives focused on supporting law enforcement officers and improving the state’s criminal justice system.

“Law enforcement officers bravely risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe,” Murphy said. “I am proud to support legislation aiming to keep them safe in the line of duty, and make sure they have the tools they need to address rising crime rates.”

Among the measures Murphy supports are: House Bill 4608, which allows grants for body cameras to cover storage of video data, and House Bill 3893 allows investigators to continue recording conversations for qualified sex and drug offenders.

The package also includes legislation to address mental health concerns many law enforcement personnel experience from witnessing difficult situations in the line of duty. House Bill 1321 would create a fund to provide behavioral health services to first responders, making mental health care more accessible for the law enforcement community.

Further, to encourage people to consider a career in law enforcement and support those who continue to serve their community in this field, House Bill 4228 would require a county sheriff’s salary to equal at least 80% of the county states attorney’s salary; this promotes fair compensation across the state. The measure ensures sheriffs are adequately compensated for their current duties and prior work experience as officers. House Bill 3863 creates the Law Enforcement Recruitment and Retention Fund to support departments through the hiring and training processes and improve retention strategies.

“Our law enforcement officers are willing to protect us at great cost to their own safety,” Murphy said. “I’m happy to stand up and advocate for their concerns and needs.”

With the support of The Illinois Sheriff’s Association, the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, Senator Murphy plans to continue to work with her colleagues to advance these bills before the scheduled April 8 adjournment.

Senator Murphy encourages Maine Township residents to attend Property Tax Workshop

Confused about your property taxes? Senator Murphy wants to help. The Senator is co-sponsoring workshops on how to appeal your property taxes led by Commissioner Cabonargi, and will include a presentation and time for questions with analysts.

The virtual workshop will take place at 6 PM, April 13th on Zoom. You may pre-register by clicking here. The in-person workshop will be held on April 21st at Des Plaines Public Library, Meeting Room C, at 6 PM. Masks are required for constituents to attend the property tax seminar. We hope to see you there!

Senate approves Murphy’s plan to authorize more health care professionals to administer COVID-19 vaccine

• COVID-19
• healthcare

SPRINGFIELD –To address the rising demand for COVID-19 vaccinations, State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) advanced an initiative to allow more health care workers to administer the vaccines.

“With more people wanting to protect themselves against COVID-19, at times there were not enough administrators for the number of individuals trying to get vaccinated,” Murphy said. “To offer more flexibility, vaccination clinics should be able to hire qualified health care professionals to administer COVID shots.”

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is vital to stopping the spread of the virus and lowering mortality rates. However, if there are not enough people able to administer vaccines, people may experience delays in making appointments to get their shot or booster. Currently, physicians, pharmacists, PAs, and APRNs are authorized to administer COVID-19 vaccines, but with the public demand for these shots, some health care centers are struggling to find enough administrators with these qualifications.

To ensure more people can get vaccinated at a timely rate, Murphy’s initiative would authorize optometrists—doctors specializing in eye care—to administer COVID-19 vaccines to patients 17 years or older. Optometrists who wish to distribute these vaccines would be required to complete 4 hours of approved education and be certified in basic life support.

“People should not have to wait to get their vaccines,” Murphy said. “Optometrists can be certified to give vaccines. With additional training, those who choose to should be able to work as COVID-19 vaccine administrators to meet the growing demand for these shots and to do their part to get us all back to normalcy.”

HB 4929 passed the Senate on Thursday. It now goes to the governor’s desk.