SPRINGFIELD – Responding to Gov. JB Pritzkers budget address today, State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes (D-Chicago) released the following statement:

“I am pleased to hear Gov. Pritzker’s proposed budget includes funding, opportunities and services going to our communities in their time of need.

“Focusing on child care for our working families not only helps provide for the children missing this vital service, but also provides meaningful relief for our residents looking to get back to work and provide for their families.

“I am excited that Illinois is investing $130 million in additional dollars to begin funding for child care workforce compensation contracts that will stabilize the operations of service providers.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Javier Cervantes is happy to announce that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has awarded grants to 48 communities in need of lead service line replacements, including a $40,000 grant for the Village of Lyons and $40,000 for the Village of Stickney.

“We need to prioritize clean drinking water being available to all communities,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “These funds will be utilized to identify and create a plan to repair lead service lines within our area.”

The Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act requires owners and operators of community water supplies in Illinois to submit a complete water service line material inventory for the Illinois EPA’s approval no later than April 15, 2024. The complete inventory must report the composition of all service lines within the CWS’s distribution system.

CHICAGO – State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes was sworn in as the newly-elected State Senator for the 1^st District Wednesday.

“It is my honor to serve the people of the 1^st District. I look forward to assisting and representing our community in Springfield,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “Through the many challenges we have faced in years past, I am devoted to serving the local communities and ensuring their legislative voices are heard as we tackle and face the challenges ahead.”

Cervantes comes with a passion for community organizing and the arts. He has deep roots in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, where he developed his intrinsic characteristics of hard work and sacrifice due to his challenging childhood. Cervantes’s passion and dedication, specifically to helping his community, was a natural progression to his career path at Service Employees International (SEIU Health Care Illinois and Indiana), dedicating 12 years as a Union Representative.

SPRINGFIELD – With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes is proud to support new legislation protecting those who seek reproductive health care in Illinois, making these procedures and medicine more accessible.

“Illinois should not be in the way of people’s choice to access reproductive health care,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “It is our job to make sure individuals who seek out health care in this way are supported throughout the entire process, and this law ensures that Illinois will continue to protect those decisions.”

House Bill 4664 protects legal and practical access to abortion care in Illinois following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. The measure will allow people seeking reproductive health care in Illinois to be safe from out-of-state subpoenas related to the issue and gives them the ability to counterclaim the state forbidding access.

Similarly, the bill would protect licensed professionals who are practicing within Illinois, and would expedite the process for receiving temporary licenses for out-of-state professionals who wish to provide care in Illinois along with telehealth.