State Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) is highlighting the open enrollment period for residents to shop the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace. The open enrollment period is now open through Dec. 15 to shop for healthcare coverage.
“The open enrollment period happens each fall and gives individuals an opportunity to either update their current health insurance or to enroll for the first time,” said Stuart. “Many residents have lost jobs and consequently healthcare coverage due to the pandemic. This open enrollment allows for individuals to be sure that they have healthcare coverage for the coming year.”
To help residents get their questions answered and to provide information regarding signing up for healthcare, Stuart is partnering with Get Covered Illinois to host a virtual town hall on Nov. 15th from 6 to 7 p.m. Those interested in participating should email repkatiestuart@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link for the town hall.
“I encourage residents to go to Get Covered Illinois to get the up-to-date information regarding different healthcare plans,” continued Stuart. “I hope to see residents who have questions and concerns attend the town hall to get their questions answered and more information regarding healthcare enrollment.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker discusses a new electric vehicle energy storage training program at Heartland Community College on Thursday. | Blue Room Stream
The Electric Vehicle Energy Storage training program dovetails with the state’s goal of getting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, which was included in energy legislation that passed the General Assembly last month.
As part of his plan to boost the number of electric vehicles on the road, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday announced a training program for the manufacture and repair of those cars to “attract people to some of the best paying jobs in our economy.”
The Electric Vehicle Energy Storage training program in downstate Bloomington is designed to lure jobs to Illinois and teach students the technical skills needed for the electric cars.
To further that goal, Pritzker is also hoping to provide incentives to lure manufacturers of electric vehicle charging stations and other related businesses in the industry.
“Illinois is at the center of the action for investment and growth during this economic recovery, and nowhere is that more true than when it comes to electric vehicle manufacturing,” Pritzker said.
“We’re working to double down on our investments in electric vehicle manufacturing and suppliers. With the legislative package that we’re putting forward Illinois will stake out our ground in this booming industry and bring thousands of new jobs to our state.”
Pritzker was joined by college officials at Heartland Community College and electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian for the announcement at the school’s campus in Bloomington.
The program is intended to dovetail with the state’s goal of getting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, which was included in energy legislation that passed the General Assembly last month.
Heartland President Keith Cornille said the “first-of-its-kind” program will provide “cutting edge training.” In the next five years the community college will train more than 360 people in energy storage techniques, Cornille said.
The first set of students in the energy storage program began their training during the fall semester. Once they complete the program, students will be able to go through apprenticeship programs or straight into jobs in the electric vehicle industry.
Careers include advanced manufacturing, final assembly and service careers focused on inspection, diagnosis of problems and repair for electric vehicles or maintenance and support of battery systems in residential, commercial, and utility scale applications, according to Heartland’s site on the program.
After months of negotiations, Pritzker signed legislation overhauling the state’s energy sector last month, calling the measure a “giant leap forward” for Illinois.
The energy legislation included incentives for those looking to buy electric vehicles.
But the governor has also talked about an incentive package for electric vehicle manufacturers as part of boosting the state’s green energy sector.
State Rep. Dave Vella, D-Rockford, said the language of that bill could be released as soon as Friday.
“In the last energy bill, we passed a fairly substantial electric vehicle tax credit for consumers, now what we’re doing is we’re trying to bring electric vehicle manufacturers to the area,” Vella said. “This is a fairly wide-reaching economic package that is intended to bring in a lot of business, jobs and investment into the state of Illinois.”
Vella has worked with the governor’s office for the past three to four months on the legislation, which would provide tax credits to manufacturers of electric vehicle charging stations, batteries and small parts in an effort to draw more businesses to the state and grow the electric automaker sector. The specifics are still being ironed out.
During Thursday’s news conference on the training program, Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch expressed support for ensuring “Illinois continues to be a leader in the nation when it comes to green energy.
“We fought hard, and we’re going to continue to fight hard to continue to put Illinois at the forefront,” Welch said.
A spokeswoman for the speaker declined to comment on the additional legislation Vella is working on because Welch’s team has not yet seen the official language of the proposed incentive package.
A spokesman for Senate President Don Harmon said in a statement the upper legislative chamber is “open to and interested in Governor Pritzker’s ideas” to build out the state’s green energy economy.
“The caucus is eager to see if it can come together during the abbreviated fall session,” the statement continued.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will help develop up to seven offshore wind farms on the East and West coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico as it moves to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 — generating enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said at a wind power conference in Boston that her department hopes to hold lease sales by 2025 for projects off the coasts of Maine, New York and the mid-Atlantic, as well as the Carolinas, California, Oregon and the Gulf of Mexico.
Nabeela Syed, Palatine resident and community organizer, announced over the weekend she will run as a Democrat for the 51st District seat in the Illinois House.
“At a time where state legislatures across the country are moving backwards on critical issues, including health care and reproductive rights, we need strong leadership in our state to keep Illinois on a path of progress,” Syed said in her announcement. “My top priorities are ensuring that we have excellent public education and affordable health care while also reducing our reliance on high property taxes that disproportionately impact working families.”
Under the electoral maps signed off on by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last month, the new 51st District will encompass parts of northwest Cook County and southern Lake County, including all or parts of Palatine, Inverness, Hoffman Estates, Lake Zurich, Deer Park, Kildeer, Long Grove and Hawthorn Woods.
The 51st District seat currently is held by Lake Zurich Republican Chris Bos.
Syed’s prior political involvement included serving as campaign manager for Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board member Tim McGowan and organizing Asian American voters in the U.S. Senate election in Georgia, according to her announcement.
Syed said she graduated from of the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in political science and business administration, and now works for a nonprofit organization in digital strategy.
In the community, she has served as a high school debate coach and is active in her religious community at the Islamic Society of Northwest Suburbs, she said.
Syed noted that if elected, she would be the first Muslim and South Asian woman in the Illinois legislature.
“I know how important diverse representation is to making policy that works for everyone,” she said. “I’m hoping to use my lived experience as a young woman of color to elevate the voices and concerns of underrepresented communities.”
DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – Illinois teachers could have their tuition paid for under a bill introduced by State Rep. Sue Scherer (D-Decatur).
Scherer’s plan is to require the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to establish a teach reimbursement grant program with the hope of addressing Illinois’ teacher shortage crisis. It would be used for tuition and mandatory fees that would be paid to a public institution of higher learning in Illinois.
Eligible Illinois teachers would potentially get grants for reimbursing up to eight semesters of tuition for up to 10 years in the program.
Scherer said she believes this program will encourage more people to pursue an education career and also give educators "benefits and resources they deserve for the service they provide to our state and their communities."
“Teachers are one of the most critical occupations to our society, yet they are critically undervalued for the work and skill set they provide for our education system,” said Scherer. “Many teachers have to go the extra mile financially for their students and lesson plans to have an effective and successful year of instruction, the reimbursement program will relieve some of our teachers of the financial burden of paying such high student loan debt when they give their services to Illinois schools.”
A press release from Scherer’s office cited the Illinois State Board of Education, which in 2017 reported Illinois had 1,000 unfilled teaching positions. That number grew to nearly 1,700 in 2021, with 77 percent of Illinois school districts reporting teacher shortages or difficulty hiring substitute teachers.
SPRINGFIELD — State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, was recently appointed as a member of the Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding.
“This measure will help us to build the research and work of the House Higher Education Working Group,” said Stuart. “From the working group we will bring recommendations for the adequate and equitable funding model for higher education. It will allow universities to have stable funding to provide their students with academic and financial support.”
The Commission on Equitable Public Funding was created by Senate Bill 815, which passed the General Assembly this spring and sets guidelines for the commission’s goals. As a member of the commission, Stuart will help provide the General Assembly with recommendations and criteria to adequately fund public universities.
“As an educator who taught on the collegiate level, it has been my goal in Springfield to address the lack of funding and resources for our schools and universities,” continued Stuart. “Lacking fair funding for our universities impacts their ability to best serve their students. I look forward to being a part of the commission and helping to find solutions to provide fair funding for all our public universities to give them the best tools to help our students succeed.”
ROCKFORD (WREX) — A Rockford-area lawmaker has filed a bill that provides tax incentives for auto producers that make electric vehicles.
Rep. Dave Vella (D) filed House Bill 4155 earlier this week.
The legislation provides tax credits to auto producers who add or retain at least 1,000 jobs in an electric vehicle-producing plant. The tax credits can be used for various costs that support the plant, such as job training and construction costs.
“With electric vehicles becoming more and more popular, we have an opportunity to bring thousands of jobs to the Rockford area and Illinois as a whole by making our state more attractive to auto manufacturers,” said Vella. “This legislation rewards manufacturers that invest in their Illinois-based plants and employees. With an auto plant in our community, this bill would create a major investment in our local economy.”
Currently, the auto industry is being impacted by a global shortage of microchips.
In January, CNN reported carmakers across the world are facing a shortage of semiconductors, which are used in a growing number of applications, including driver assistance systems and navigation control. The average car has between 50 to 150 chips.
The shortage has impacted car manufacturers across the world, including in the Stateline at the Stellantis assembly plant in Belvidere.
The plant has been temporarily shut down on several occasions since late March and has moved from three shifts down to two.
On Tuesday, Sept. 28th at 5 p.m., longtime Rock Island County Board member Jeff Deppe will gather outside his union hall, Laborers Local 309 (2835 7th Ave., Rock Island), with family, friends and supporters to announce his run for Illinois State House Representative in the 72nd District.
Deppe has spent the past 27 years as a laborer with Local 309, building local infrastructure like the Moline Public Library, the TaxSlayer Center, UnityPoint Health hospital, and the John Deere Road corridor. Deppe has also been a member of the Rock Island County Board for the past seven years. During that time, he led the committee to downsize the County Board, enacted ethics reforms to promote good governance, and led the effort to make it easier for seniors to freeze their property taxes so that their housing could remain affordable, according to his annoucement.
Deppe has lived in East Moline for most of his life, graduating from United Township High School in 1998. Deppe joined the Laborer’s Union before graduating high school and eventually became secretary, treasurer, and a field representative. As a state representative, Deppe would like to focus on making it easier for young men and women to enter skilled trades, which are in great demand now as older workers retire, his release said.
Deppe brought the Black Hawk College Highway Construction Careers Training Program to the Rock Island County Forest Preserve, which he oversaw as a County Board member. Students from that program built a handicapped accessible boat ramp and ADA-compliant bathrooms. These students have gone on to enter our local trades, where they have been able to obtain secure, well-paying jobs while contributing to the community, he said.
Deppe is currently the vice chair of the Rock Island County Democrats, the Illinois vice president for the Quad Cities Federation of Labor, and a member of the Bi-State Regional Commission. Deppe has also served on the board of Project Now and Arrowhead and is a member of the Rock Island County NAACP and LULAC Council 10. Deppe has enjoyed giving back to our community by building wheelchair ramps for veterans and pouring concrete for Habitats for Humanity.
"Deppe looks forward to helping our community realize its great potential by retaining and attracting new residents to our district. Deppe says that we can do that by fixing our roads, improving our public schools, and supporting businesses that provide great jobs for our workers," his release says. "Deppe looks forward to accomplishing these goals in Springfield as the 72nd District’s next state representative."
Current 72nd District Rep. Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island) is running to become state senator, to succeed state Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia).
Working for Illinois Caucus 