SPRINGFIELD – Senator Terry Link offered his support for Judge Carol Pope to be the next Illinois Legislative Inspector General, the top ethics watchdog for the General Assembly and its employees.

“Judge Carol Pope has a long career in public service and the experience, qualifications and character that are necessary for the important role of Legislative Inspector General,” said Senator Terry Link, a Vernon Hills Democrat. “The people of Illinois can trust Judge Pope to investigate and take proper action regarding any cases that come through the office.”

Link is a member of the Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission that is recommending Pope be hired.

Judge Pope currently serves as a member of the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee, which provides ethics advice to judges throughout Illinois. Pope previously served seven years as a State’s Attorney in Menard County, 17 years as a Circuit Court Judge and nine years as Appellate Justice in the Fourth Appellate District.

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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) advanced a measure today that would cut wasteful spending by eliminating small road districts and allowing for government consolidation.

“Everyone loves to talk about how Illinois has too many units of government,” Link said. “This bill would help fix that. Everyone loves to complain about high property taxes. This bill would help provide property tax relief.”

House Bill 4637 requires that road districts in Lake and McHenry counties must be abolished if they contain less than 15 miles of roads.

“We don’t need a governing body for less than 15 miles of roads,” Link said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Government consolidation is long overdue, and eliminating wasteful road districts is the perfect place to start.”

The measure also authorizes a petition-initiated township dissolution procedure for each township within McHenry County.

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SPRINGFIELD – A longtime champion of stricter tobacco legislation, State Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) moved today to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a proposal to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 years old.

“For the first time in years, tobacco use among teenagers is on the rise,” Link said. “Raising the age to purchase tobacco to 21 will cut down on access for teenagers and curb the next generation of adult smokers.”

It has been more than 10 years since Link’s Smoke Free Illinois legislation banning smoking in most public places went in to effect. Since Smoke Free Illinois, there has been a 20 percent decrease in hospitalization of various smoking-related diseases. But with the advent of e-cigarettes, tobacco use among teenagers is on the rise for the first time in years.

“Smoke Free Illinois was a major step forward in improving the health of our residents and making Illinois a better place to live,” Link said. “Tobacco 21 builds on those efforts and moves us one step closer to a healthier, smoke-free Illinois.”

Limiting access to cigarettes has proven effective in reducing the rate of tobacco use among teens. In October 2014, Evanston became the first Illinois community to adopt Tobacco 21. Since then, tobacco use among high schoolers has dropped by 37.5 percent.

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