Lake County News-Sun - February 22, 2019 | original article

Joining a chorus of voices demanding air quality testing in Lake County areas near local two plants generating ethylene oxide emissions, state Sen. Melinda Bush on Friday sent a letter Friday to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and introduced a joint resolution in the General Assembly calling for the testing.

The Grayslake Democrat said in a letter to EPA officials that the major gulf between ethylene oxide (EtO) emission self-reporting results from Sterigenics in Willowbrook and subsequent ambient air monitoring by the federal EPA in the area around the company led to it being shut down by order of the Illinois EPA.

“Public health and safety must be the state and federal government’s overriding concern,” Bush said in the letter. “These reports prove it is unwise, and unsafe, to trust emitters of carcinogens to accurately self-report their emissions.

“The USEPA simply must conduct its own air monitoring to protect the public interest,” Bush added.

Bush also said a joint Senate resolution, calling for federal EPA ambient air testing for EtO in Lake County near the Vantage and Medline plants in Gurnee and Waukegan respectively, was filed Friday and expected to be heard by the Senate March 5.

Bush added she believes the resolution will pass both the Senate and House quickly and be forwarded to federal officials in the near future.

While Bush is carrying the resolution in the Senate, state Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, will carry it in the House.

Although some resident groups are demanding “independent testing” near the Vantage plant in Gurnee and the Medline plant in Waukegan, Bush and other local officials stressed the need for federal EPA involvement.

Read more ...

Capitol News Illinois - February 25, 2019 | original article

SPRINGFIELD – With more in the works for the new session, 12 bills became law last year as a result of a yearlong investigation by the Senate Task Force on Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Awareness and Prevention.

“Task forces many times meet, and many times there isn’t a lot of actual legislation that comes out and is signed into law,” said Sen. Melinda Bush, a Grayslake Democrat who co-chaired the task force. “So we’re really proud of the work that has been done here.”

Surrounded by several other members of the task force, Bush and fellow co-chair Sen. Jil Tracy, a Quincy Republican, held a news conference Tuesday to discuss the task force’s newly-released report, and to detail some of the legislation that resulted from its investigation last year.

The outcomes included, among other things, legislation that requires lobbyists, legislators and state employees to receive harassment training; extends the statute of limitations for sexual conduct offenses; gives assault victims more rights at medical facilities; and requires taxing bodies to notify the public if an employee is fired for sexual harassment or discrimination.

Read more ...

The State Journal Register - February 20, 2019 | original article

SPRINGFIELD — Two senators who co-chaired the Senate's sexual discrimination and harassment awareness task force said Tuesday they want an omnibus bill passed this year to combat harassment in the workplace.

Sens. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, and Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, said Senate Bill 1829 will address a wide range of issues to combat sexual harassment, including:

• Limits on employers requiring non-disclosure agreements, forced arbitration clauses and non-disparagement agreements of employees when it comes to sexual harassment
• Require employers to have sexual harassment prevention training
• Require large employers to report on numbers of sexual harassment settlements against them
• Prohibit court orders that cover up acts of harassment
• Provides unpaid leave from work for victims of sexual harassment or sexual violence.

A dozen bills were passed by Illinois lawmakers last year after the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace -- including in the Illinois Capitol -- got national attention.

"We know there's a lot more work to be done in this arena and we plan on continuing," Bush said.

In addition to the omnibus bill, bush and Tracy said they want to see enactment of legislation requiring hotels and casinos make panic buttons available to certain employees. The buttons can be used to summon help if the employee feels threatened.

"I do want to say they have already been very proactive and are working to move pieces like that forward in the industry," Bush said.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) issued the following statement in response to Gov. Pritzker’s first budget address:

“After years of unrealistic gimmicks and major cuts to education and human services from the previous administration, it’s refreshing to see a transparent plan from the new governor that is realistic but also recognizes the issues we face as a state,” Bush said. “Social service providers, public schools and universities had their funding gutted for years. I’m pleased that Gov. Pritzker is choosing to invest in our communities and institutions, rather than make them fight to survive.”

###