ELECTION UPDATE:
Illinois’ General Election is will be held November 8. One US Senate seat, all six constitutional offices, all 188 legislative seats, 2 Illinois Supreme Court seats and a constitutional amendment are all on the ballot.
Illinois State Representative Lamont Robinson announced he is running for 4th Ward Alderman on the Chicago City Council. Robinson, who currently represents the 5th House District, is supported by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the 4th Ward Democratic Organization. Robinson is currently seeking reelection to the Illinois House.
Supporters of Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia are circulating petitions for a Garcia bid for Chicago Mayor. Congressman Garcia is currently seeking reelection to the 4th Congressional District in the November General Election. Garcia is reported to be aware of and approved the petition circulations. He has not formally announced a bid for Mayor.
GOVERNOR’S HIGHLIGHTS:
Watershed Grants: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is offering $4.5 million in funding through two Section 319(h) Grant Program Notice of Funding Opportunities to address nonpoint source pollution. The grants will fund watershed-based planning projects and watershed-based plan implementation projects to prevent, eliminate, or reduce water quality impairments to Illinois’ surface and groundwater resources. Both NOFOs have been posted to the Illinois EPA website. Read more here.
Data Breach: The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Illinois Department of Human Services announced this week that on August 22, 20022 the State discovered an issue embedded within the Application for Benefits Eligibility System’s Provider Portal. As a result of the breach, benefit applications that were submitted through the Provider Portal prior to August 23, 2022, potentially could have been accessed by users who went to the Provider Portal and went through the provider application process. As soon as the issue was discovered, the Departments shut down the ABE system Provider Portal on August 23, 2022, to fix the issue.
A press release said that the state was not aware of any instance in which personal information was misused and it believes the risk is low for anyone with applications on the site. Both HFS and IDHS will provide a year’s worth of credit monitoring for those affected and have opened up a phone hotline to assist people seeking more information. The system was reopened on September 29, 2022. Read more here.
Lead Prevention: As part of Lead Prevention week, the Illinois Department of Public Health highlighted $12 million in grant opportunities to local municipalities and community groups to help residential property owners with lead abatement and mitigation projects. IDPH is currently accepting applications through November 18. More information is here.
Drug Takeback Program: Today, the Illinois EPA hosted an information session to provide insight into how the new manufacturer-funded Medication Take Back Program will be implemented in Illinois. The new program was enacted under HB 1780 passed earlier this year.
The meeting will include a broad discussion of the new law’s implementation. Illinois EPA representatives will speak on implementation expectations and how this law compares to other extended producer responsibility laws, such as the electronics recycling law. MED-Project will provide information on its work to conduct manufacturer-funded medication collections in other jurisdictions. Additionally, two existing collectors, the Cook County Sheriff’s Department and the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, will share their perspectives on the new program.