DES PLAINES – State Senator Laura Murphy is co-sponsoring an insurance seminar on Tuesday, June 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Schaumburg Library, located at 130 S. Roselle Road.

The seminar will cover condominium insurance 101, focusing on weather- and climate-related insurance and ways homeowners can protect their condos from weather disasters. It is being hosted in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Insurance.

“When bad weather rolls in, most people worry what sort of damage will be done to their homes,” said Murphy (D-Des Plaines). “This seminar will help answer questions, provide guidance and offer homeowners peace of mind.”

For more information, contact Murphy’s office at 847-718-1110 or online.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Laura Murphy is championing a measure to crack down on unlicensed car dealers deceiving consumers with sales of defective cars.

“In our current financial landscape, consumer protection is more important than ever,” said Murphy (D-Des Plaines). “Unlicensed car sellers pose significant risks to consumers, not just financially but also by putting the lives of unsuspecting customers in danger with cars that are of questionable quality.”

The goal is to make the already illegal practice of “curbstoning” — a scheme where individual sellers draw car shoppers to places like parking lots and side streets to sell used cars without a license — more difficult. The cars are sold for more money than they are worth and typically have significant issues such as water damage, mileage rollbacks, mechanical issues, or salvaged titles — which are only issued if the car has sustained enough damage to be declared a total loss.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Laura Murphy’s bill to make equine therapy more accessible has passed the Senate.

“Equine therapy is an incredible tool that can be used by occupational therapists to meet the unique needs of their patients,” said Murphy (D-Des Plaines). “When insurance covers equine therapy, more individuals can access this transformative care – supporting mental health, emotional growth and recovery without the burden of high out-of-pocket costs.”

Equine therapy is a term that encompasses therapies that involve interacting with horses, including specific therapies used by physical, occupational and speech therapists to engage different sensory responses for patients. It has shown positive effects for people living with PTSD and autism.

SPRINGFIELD – A new measure from State Senator Laura Murphy would close a loophole that leaves schools in the dark about educator misconduct investigations.

“Children must be protected at school, and to do so, the districts must be kept up to date about the teachers they employ,” said Murphy (D-Des Plaines). “A school district has a right to know if an educator they have employed is the subject of a misconduct investigation.”

Current law prohibits the Illinois State Board of Education from providing information on pending misconduct charges or ongoing investigations to an educator’s current employing school district. However, this leaves many parents and guardians feeling concerned when an investigation is concluded and released to the public. This also leaves school districts in the dark about whether they unknowingly hired a teacher engaged in misconduct, potentially putting their students at risk.