SPRINGFIELD—State officials would be able to shorten the time it takes to reunite people with unclaimed property and money under legislation that Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) passed out of the Senate today.

Senate Bill 2783 would require government entities to report unclaimed property as abandoned after five years instead of seven, giving the Illinois treasurer the ability to alert people about unclaimed property nearly two years earlier than before.

“This could be a potential paycheck that is doing nothing but collecting dust in a vault somewhere,” Link said. “We need to be proactive in getting this property in the hands of those who can benefit from it and do some good with it.”

The legislation passed the Illinois Senate. It now moves to the House for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD—People struggling with multiple sclerosis may no longer have to worry about restrictions on getting the care they need.

Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) proposed Senate Bill 2596, which would allow patients with multiple sclerosis to receive the necessary treatment without restrictions.

Currently, insurance companies by law are required to cover medically necessary preventative physical therapy for patients with multiple sclerosis, but that can be limited by a health insurance plan’s waiting periods, cost sharing limits, treatment limits and annual caps.

“Medically necessary treatment is being effectively denied through many of these restrictions insurance companies are allowed to put on those with multiple sclerosis,” said Link. “It is unfathomable that those with insurance are not being allowed to get the care they need when they need it.”

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, more than 20,000 individuals in Illinois are currently living with MS.

The legislation would eliminate the ability of insurance companies to institute treatment limits or calendar year maximums for patients with MS who are seeking preventative physical or rehabilitative therapy.

The legislation passed the Senate Insurance committee recently and now heads to the full Senate.

VERNON HILLS—Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) responded to news of layoffs at multiple community colleges and universities in Lake County and across the state.

“Our higher education infrastructure is crumbling. Community colleges and universities are forced to make drastic decisions because Governor Rauner won’t negotiate seriously with the General Assembly,” Link said.

The College of Lake County announced recently the cutting of 20 positions. College President Jerry Weber stated that might not be enough to close the gap and that more layoffs could be on the way after the school year.

“The governor has had multiple opportunities to prioritize higher education, and he vetoed every one,” Link said. “The College of Lake County and the state need a budget, not more gimmicky rhetoric.”

The Senate recently passed legislation, Senate Bill 2059, which among other things would send funding to institutions of higher education. It goes to the House for consideration when the General Assembly reconvenes next week.

SPRINGFIELD—People who may not have realized they have property sitting at government entities will find out much earlier that their unclaimed property is with the state treasurer waiting to be claimed.

Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) has proposed legislation (SB 2783) that would require government entities to report unclaimed property as abandoned after five years instead of seven. This would allow the treasurer to receive the unclaimed property and attempt to alert someone to this nearly two years earlier.

“For some people it could be a paycheck that got returned to the entity. That would do more good in the hands of the person it belonged to instead of sitting in a vault somewhere,” said Link.

The legislation would bring government entities in line with private companies in needing to report any unclaimed property as abandoned after five years. After being reported as abandoned it is sent to the state treasurer’s office who maintains all unclaimed property.

If anyone believes they may have unclaimed property, they should go to icash.illinois.gov.