SPRINGFIELD – The Senate today passed legislation out of its chamber that allows counties to recoup the cost they spend on taking care of neglected and abandoned properties.

Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) recently discovered that unlike cities, townships and other municipalities, counties are currently unable to recover the money they put into maintenance and demolition of properties and structures in the interest of public safety. For Lake County, that has meant more than $135,000 in safety maintenance costs over the past few years that the county has been powerless to reclaim.

“Counties should not be left holding the bag because a property owner decides they no longer want to take adequate care of their property,” Bush said.

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SPRINGFIELD - State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) is working to combat one of the biggest threats to the Lake County community – increased heroin use by young adults. 

On Wednesday, she attended the first meeting of the Young Adult Heroin Use Task Force, a bipartisan group of General Assembly members and stakeholders who seek legislative solutions to a dangerous problem facing Illinois teens. 

“Heroin use has been a problem for a very long time.” Senator Bush said. “But sharp increases in heroin use and heroin-related deaths have shaken up lawmakers.  It’s our hope that this task force will shed some light on real solutions.”

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SPRINGFIELD - The Senate passed legislation out of its chamber yesterday that would make it a felony to post sexually explicit videos or photos of another person, without their consent, to an Internet site.

State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) is a co-sponsor of the initiative that aims to deter the recent phenomenon known as ‘revenge porn.’

“For any individual to threaten another person in this way and intentionally cause such harm and distress is horrible,” Senator Bush said.

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