Working for Illinois Caucus

84th District State Representative Stephanie Kifowit says it was a much busier lame duck session held earlier this month than had been expected, as 24 bills were approved. She says a few of those bills were co-sponsored by her, including the Shabbona Lake State Park land transfer bill.

Kifowit says she has worked closely with Senate Bill 867’s other chief sponsors, including Rep. Will Gazzardi and Sen. Mark L. Walker, to return land that previously belonged to members of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

"It was very interesting to hear about their, just their history with regards to this land. So the land transfer is contingent on the state and the tribe executing the land management agreement, under which the park will continue to be operated at the park and open to the public, and certainly that has to be in the agreement. The Potawatomi Indians once occupied much of the Great Lakes region, but they were gradually displaced by the growing settlements of the Europeans."

Another bill Kifowit co-sponsored that was passed was House Bill 4781, also known as the Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act, which she says allows for a kin-first approach when placing children from abusive or neglectful situations in the foster system through the Department of Children and Family Services.

"What that means is if there’s a child in an abusive or neglectful household that needs to be removed from their parents, that the Department of Children and Family Services looks into placing them with an aunt, an uncle, a grandma, a kin immediately related to them. But in addition to that, they get the qualifying payments and assistance that that foster placements would get, the kin would get that as well."

Kifowit also noted other bills that were passed in the lame duck session, including adjustments to Karina’s Bill allowing for abuse victims with orders of protection to obtain a search warrant to seize weapons from alleged abusers, and SB 727, which requires the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to conduct additional statewide testing of community water supplies for dangerous chemicals like 1.3-Dioxane.

The 24 bills passed during lame duck are awaiting a signature from Governor J.B. Pritzker.