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Happy Tuesday!
I hope that you took some time to reflect on and appreciate the work that was done by Dr. Martin Luther King. I am old enough to remember the times that he worked and lived in and for those much younger, let me tell you those were turbulent years. The struggle for equality was enormous, the cost in lives far too many, but his work was greatly needed, and he moved America forward. Thank you, Dr. King. If your organization participated in the MLK Day of Service project, share a photo with us and we will give you a “shout out” on IPHA social media.
A big congratulations to former IDPH Director Nirav Shah on his appointment as the Principal Deputy Director for the CDC. This position places him in the number two role for the agency, and given his personality and expertise, he will do very well in this role.
I very much appreciated Dr. Shah when he was here. We routinely spoke on the phone about public health, and I found him to be straightforward in his communication and reliable. Again, our best wishes to Dr. Shah in his new role.
I also want to extend our congratulations to Representative Robyn Gabel, on her new roles as the Majority Leader of the Illinois House. Leader Gabel is a strong advocate for public health, women’s reproductive access and care, and those living with HIV. She has been a strong advocate for maternal and child health and here at IPHA we could not be more supportive of her promotion to Majority Leader. This is good news for public health!
Conny Moody, IPHA Director of Policy and Compliance, has asked that we notify you of some new laws taking effect. In 2019, the minimum wage for workers in Illinois was increased. The law passed increases to the wage by $1 every year through 2025. This year the minimum wage increases to $13 an hour and $7.80 an hour for tipped workers. Workers in the Chicago and Cook County area should be aware that the minimum wage may be higher there due to local ordinances.
Unpaid leave rights are being expanded for employees. The Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA) amends what was the Child Bereavement Leave Act (CBLA) to expand job-protected leave to cover pregnancy loss, failed adoptions, unsuccessful reproductive procedures, and other diagnoses or events negatively impacting pregnancy or fertility. The FBLA also now requires employers to provide leave time after the loss of family members such as parents or siblings. Employees may take up to two weeks, or 10 working days, of unpaid leave time for any of the events covered by the FBLA.
The amended One Day Rest in Seven Act (ODRISA) gives workers the right to a day of rest every workweek and breaks for meals or rest during daily work shifts. Employers covered by ODRISA must post a notice at the workplace informing workers of their rights under the Act. The notice is available on the IDOL website.
An amendment to the Employee Sick Leave Act mandates that employers who provide sick leave benefits must allow employees to take leave in the event of a family member illness on the same conditions which the employee can take leave for their own illness.
Support the elimination of all flavored tobacco products, The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has joined with several partners to develop this short support statement to demonstrate the depth of support at the local, state, and national level for eliminating all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. Click on the link above to sign the following statement of support for eliminating all flavored tobacco products. Signatories will be accepted on a continuous basis. According to the latest data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students – over 2.5 million kids altogether – were current e-cigarette users. All public health supporters should add their support to this effort.
Governor JB Pritzker signed HB4664, a reproductive rights and gender affirming care omnibus bill that protects health care providers and their patients from legal attacks by neighboring states and expands health care access and options across the state. The bill takes historic action to protect Illinois providers and their patients, thousands of whom have travelled to Illinois to access essential reproductive health care now banned in their home states. The bill shields individuals from civil and criminal discovery from other states, and extraditions related to providing reproductive health care. The Act also expands access to reproductive health care by broadening the scope of care certain health care professionals can provide and ensuring insurance coverage for necessary care. Under the Act, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physicians Assistants can provide scope-appropriate abortion care. It also allows birth centers to provide broad-spectrum reproductive health care in addition to their current offerings to pregnant people and new parents. The Act takes major steps to expand access by guaranteeing that abortion medications, PEP/PrEP, and gender-affirming care be covered by insurers at no extra cost to consumers and requires local government employers to offer insurance plans that provide coverage for these treatments, as well as for birth control. Among other provisions, the Act also strengthens protections for families using assisted reproductive treatments like IVF or surrogacy. The Act adds “assisted reproduction” to the definition of reproductive health care protected under this act and under the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) Governor Pritzker signed into law in 2019. The RHA guaranteed private insurance coverage for abortion services and reaffirmed Illinoisans’ right to essential reproductive care.
Governor Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act banning the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches in Illinois, effective immediately. With the passage of the Act, Illinois became the ninth state to institute a ban on assault weapons. House Bill 5471 also caps sales of high-capacity ammunition magazines, bans “switches” that convert legal handguns into assault weapons and extends the ability of courts to prevent dangerous individuals from possessing a gun through firearm restraining orders. The new law also requires existing owners of semi-automatic rifles to register their ownership, ensuring that law enforcement knows the location of these weapons of war and who to hold accountable if they fall into the wrong hands. This law puts in place many of the provisions championed by IPHA’s Family Planning and Maternal and Child Health Section!
Now on a personal note, the fact that some in law enforcement have decided not to enforce a duly enacted law is unfortunate and undermines our governing process. Regardless of your views on gun safety and control, the Illinois General Assembly has the constitutional right to pass legislation, and if you have issues with that legislation the proper route is to then take it to court to resolve.
IPHA staff were notified that the CDC plans to feature IPHA on its website for the I’ll Vaccinate grant’s “Story from the Field” that we submit to the CDC. As soon as the link is available, we will post it. Congratulations to Krissy Roseberry and her staff on this achievement.
Krissy Roseberry, Director of Special Projects, reported that In the month of December, COVID Health Equity sub-grantees hosted 231 events in the targeted counties of concern. This included 201 partners and reached approximately 23,091 Illinois residents. During the month of December alone, 2,443 COVID test kits were also delivered and passed out. This project has been a great example of collaboration between CBOs, FQHCs and LHDs.
For our COVID IVAX grant, sub-grantees have continued their success with COVID education and vaccine and wellness events into the New Year. NAACP O’Fallon, in Region 4, used its monthly branch meeting as an opportunity to educate members on recent COVID rates and provide a presentation by AgeSmart for resources for the elderly, while also tapping into volunteer capacity to assemble COVID Kits (fact sheets, testing supplies, PPE) for distribution to the community. The South Suburban Immigrant Project, in Region 7, partnered with VNA Healthcare, Access DuPage, Catholic Charities, and a local library to host a vaccine clinic, PPE giveaway, and an open enrollment registration event.
World Kidney Day 2023 will not only be celebrated in Chicago this year, but also in Anna, Illinois, further demonstrating the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois’ (NKFI) commitment to the southern part of the state. The event will take place on the campus of Shawnee Community College, 1150 E. Vienna Street in Anna, at noon on Thursday, March 9. Chronic Kidney Disease is the eighth leading cause of death in Illinois, and most do not know they have it until it reaches critical levels; and as with most chronic conditions, it affects minorities and those at or near the poverty level at substantially higher rates. Each year, World Kidney Day celebrates health and disease prevention. In Anna, there will be both flu and COVID vaccines available, information on cancer prevention, healthy eating tips, multiple health screenings, and balloon animals. We thank our many partners who will be taking part in World Kidney Day as well as the NKFI for pulling this together and helping to Paint the Town Orange on March 9. For more information on how you can get involved, please reach out to Lynden Schuyler at lschuyler@ipha.com.
Interested in joining the IPHA Legislative and Policy Committee? Biweekly meetings will be held every two weeks starting on Monday, January 23 through May 29. If you are interested in learning more about the advocacy work we do, email Conny Moody cmoody@ipha.com with your contact information to join the committee.
I want to thank the IPHA staff for their continued work to promote, educate, and sustain public health in Illinois.
Have a great week,
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