GURNEE—Starting Jan. 1, 2019, Illinois law will require children under the age of two to be properly secured in a rear-facing child restraint seat.

The measure supported by State Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) was signed into law Friday.

“It’s our duty to ensure the safety of our children,” Link said. “This new law prioritizes the safety of our children should disaster strike. Every life we save is priceless.”

House Bill 4377 requires anyone transporting a child under two years old to secure the child in a rear-facing seat unless the child weighs 40 or more pounds or is more than 40 inches tall.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, rear-facing child safety seats give better support to the head, neck and spine of infants by distributing the force of the collision over the entire body.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that a child remain in rear-facing car seat as long as possible and never travel forward-facing until they are two years old or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer of their child safety seat.

This will reduce the risk of severe neck injury and lifelong disability.

“Experts agree that rear-facing car seats can reduce severe and life-changing injuries,” Link said. “It’s our duty to exercise responsible practices and policies to help save lives and keep our children safe.”

House Bill 4377 passed the House and Senate with unanimous support.

CHICAGO— America has the highest rate of gun violence of any developed nation and State Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) is working to make Illinois a leader in changing that statistic.

Link championed a measure that will empower families and law enforcement to take steps to protect their loved ones and the general public. The bipartisan measure, House Bill 2354, was signed into law on Monday and will take effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

“We need to put a stop to gun violence in our nation,” Link said. “This new law will empower families and law enforcement to prevent senseless tragedies.”

The Lethal Violence Order of Protection Act will allow a family member or a law enforcement officer to alert the courts that an individual with access to a firearm poses a significant danger of personal injury to themselves or others.

If the court finds evidence to show the individual is indeed dangerous, a judge can require that person to temporarily turn over any firearms in their possession.

“Instituting commonsense gun laws will help save lives,” Link said. “Illinois citizens will now have  a fair and responsible method to take action if they see alarming behavior.”

Illinois’ law is modeled after a similar law in California that allows a court to intervene if it is found likely that a person may, in the near future, cause personal injury by owning a firearm.

House Bill 2354 passed the Senate and House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) released the following response to the Senate’s passage of a balanced budget:

“Tonight, the Senate passed a bipartisan balanced budget that protects funding for critical human services like after-school and youth employment programs, invests an additional $400 million into Illinois K-12 schools and early childhood education and increases funding for higher education by 2 percent.

“We were able to do this without enacting Gov. Rauner’s destructive proposals to shift costs to local governments, gut support services for those in need and take away health care for retirees.

“Instead of balancing the budget on the backs of our state’s most vulnerable residents, this budget was balanced responsibly through $600 million in cuts to state administrative costs and reasonable savings to the state pension systems.”

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SPRINGFIELD – A measure from Senator Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) that would allow school districts to use recruiting firms to help find substitute teachers advanced out of the Senate and is headed to the governor’s desk.

Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 is one of many districts that has struggled to find substitute teachers.

“Schools across the state, and right here in Waukegan, are struggling to find enough substitute teachers,” Link said. “By giving school districts the ability to contract with a recruiting firm to help find substitute teachers, we will ease the burden on administrators and give schools one more option to address the shortage.”

House Bill 4742 passed both chambers with strong bipartisan support and now goes to the governor’s desk for approval.

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