SPRINGFIELD – Insurance companies would be required to provide heart and lung monitors to children under legislation being carried by State Senator Rachelle Crowe.

This legislation expands health coverage on cardiopulmonary monitors for minors who have had complications in the past and remain at a higher risk for other problems.

“Putting a price tag on a child’s health is disgraceful,” Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) said. “Children living with heart or lung conditions deserve the tools necessary to keep them alive.”

The measure was brought to Crowe by Mary Cope, a resident of Wood River who lost her infant granddaughter, Marlie, after the child was denied a heart monitor. The legislation is named Marlie’s Law in her memory.

“This bill is about saving lives and ensuring that another family does not have to suffer the same heartache that we have,” Cope said.

House Bill 3471 passed the Senate Insurance Committee today and will go for further consideration before the full Senate.

SPRINGFIELD – To protect senior citizens from the many scams that target them, State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) seeks to create a new state task force.

“This cultivated group of people will have the best interest of our senior population in mind, to ensure our state’s laws are effectively protecting them,” Crowe said.

The measure, with bipartisan support, creates an Elder Abuse Task Force, consisting of 20 members to investigate the effectiveness of current elder protective services and laws while increasing public awareness of elder abuse and encouraging people to report it.

Senate Joint Resolution 13 was adopted by the Senate and will go to the House for further consideration.

SPRINGFIELD – To address the ongoing opioid epidemic, State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) championed a resolution to urge the Department of Public Health to consider new guidelines for opioid drug prescriptions.

“The crisis affects everyone, from all parts of our country,” Crowe said. “We must create stricter rules for prescribing these medications to fight addictions before they begin.”

This measure would require medical providers to inform patients of risks associated with opioid prescription drug addictions and asks clinicians to first prescribe non-opioid medication for small amounts of pain, and then, if needed, prescribe opioids in small quantities.

Senate Resolution 88 was adopted by the Senate.

SPRINGFIELD – To address the teacher shortage in Illinois, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are pushing to raise the mandated minimum salary for full-time educators to $40,000 per academic year.

This legislation, co-sponsored by State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon), could raise the minimum for the first time since 1980. Current law has allowed teachers to be paid a minimum of $10,000 for the last 38 years.

“To encourage the highest quantity of young, qualified teachers to stay and educate in Illinois, we must provide them with a respectable starting wage,” Crowe said. “By raising the minimum salary, we’ll be attracting educators to begin their professional careers within our state.”

The House of Representatives passed similar legislation, House Bill 2078, earlier this week.

The bill would gradually increase the minimum full-time teacher salary over a period of four years beginning with the 2020-2021 school year. The rates would be:

• •$32,076 for the 2020-2021 school year;
• •$34,576 for the 2021-2022 school year;
• •$37,076 for the 2022-2023 school year; and
• •$40,000 for the 2023-2024 school year.

Senate Bill 10 passed the Senate 45-11 and is scheduled for consideration in the House.