SPRINGFIELD – To expand those eligible to serve as personal care providers to include guardians, kin or siblings, State Senator Javier Cervantes advances legislation through the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday.

“Many Illinois residents who are disabled currently rely on a family member for personal care and assistance,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “This legislation will support those who act as personal care providers for family members and will ensure any wages received will not decrease their loved ones’ benefits.”

Currently, a recipient’s spouse is the only eligible family member who can contract with the Department of Rehabilitation Services to serve as a personal assistant to a person with a disability, and that individual may not have more than $10,000 in assets in order to be eligible for the services. People who need home-based services can hire their own personal assistants to provide care in their home, based on their service plan developed in partnership with their DRS rehabilitation counselor.

Senate Bill 505 would allow guardians, kin and siblings to serve as personal assistants for their family member with disabilities. They would be able to provide services such as personal assistance, home-delivered meals, adult day care, respite care, home health services and supported employment services. Under this legislation, any wages earned by the employee would not count against the $10,000 asset limit required for disabled individuals to be eligible for the program.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Javier Cervantes is sponsoring legislation that would prohibit all drivers from using an electronic communications device while operating a motor vehicle in Illinois, including any video conferencing or social media applications.

“Ensuring our roadways are safe is a basic necessity we should provide Illinois drivers,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “No one should be taking conference and video calls while driving. This is commonsense legislation that will make Illinois roadways safer for all.”

House Bill 2431 would make it illegal to use any electronic communications devices while operating a motor vehicle, including the use of cell phones and tablets for streaming videos and participating in video conferences on platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and WebEx. Additionally, the bill prohibits any social media applications like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter from being used while operating a motor vehicle on a public roadway.

SPRINGFIELD – To allow residents working in Illinois to know for certain that their employment is safe, State Senator Javier Cervantes is working to pass legislation that will protect immigrant employees who are working legally within the United States.

“Currently, employers can use the E-Verify system to target and discriminate against immigrant employees, creating undue stress on their employment,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “When someone goes to work, they shouldn’t have to worry about their employer reporting them unknowingly and should be given some reasonable transparency to this process.”

Currently, federal immigration law requires employers to verify that their employees are lawfully authorized to work in the United States. Immigrants who are employed have the possibility of receiving a “no match” letter from the Social Security Administration for a variety of reasons such as name changes, work authorizations, employment visas and other bureaucratic errors. Usually, employers terminate employees who receive a “no match” letter even though these employees could be legally working in the United States.

To rectify this issue, Senate Bill 1515 allows employees who receive a “no match” letter from any federal or state agency to take 30 days of unpaid leave in order to fix and correct any discrepancies with the agency’s records. The new measure will also prohibit employers from terminating employees simply because they received a letter; however, if the errors are not corrected, the employer may terminate the employee.

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday that local park and recreation projects across Illinois are receiving funding, and State Senator Javier Cervantes is excited to share that the Village of Brookfield will receive $600,000 in Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grants.

“Equipping our parks departments with the funds needed to revitalize ensures quality outdoor green spaces for residents,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “I look forward to seeing how these funds will assist the Village of Brookfield in improving our parks.”

The announcement includes the largest round of Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grants in the 36-year history of the program. In addition, for the first time in the history of the program, funding will cover 100% of eligible projects located in economically distressed communities, resulting in 22 underserved locations receiving OSLAD grants.