Coming Up: Mobile Secretary of State Event

• Events
• Buffalo Grove

Join State Senator Julie Morrison and the Illinois Secretary of State's Office for a Mobile Secretary of State Event. The free event will offer area residents the chance to interact and obtain important Secretary of State services without having to travel to the nearest DMV location.

The Buffalo Grove Commission for Residents with Disabilities will have wallet cards available for people who have trouble communicating with first responders. There are no forms to fill out to obtain this. In addition, residents are encouraged to provide medical information and communication challenges that can be stored in driver’s licenses or state ID cards. The information is stored in the state’s Emergency Contact Database, accessible by law enforcement in the event of an emergency.

Bill Bogdan, Disability Liaison at the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, will be in attendance and presenting information at 11:00 a.m. on the various services provided by the Secretary of State’s office, including handicap parking rules, use of the Emergency Contact Database and more.

Morrison’s event will offer a range of services, including: Driver’s license renewals, state ID card renewals and replacements, state disability ID cards (doctor certification required), parking placards for persons with disabilities, vehicle sticker sales, collegiate license plates, passenger, B-truck and motorcycle license plates and organ and tissue donor registration.

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Morrison law will study chemicals in wastewater, offer suggestions for remediation

• Environment,
• HB 5741

SPRINGFIELD – A proposal passed by State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) to study chemicals found in wastewater effluent and recommended remediation efforts was signed into law on Friday.

“Clean water is an important environmental and public health issue across the globe,” Morrison said. “In order to ensure we are not producing lasting damage to our fragile ecosystems, it is vitally important to know the level of chemical exposure in our wastewater and what we can do to limit that exposure once it is released into the environment.”

Morrison’s new law, contained in House Bill 5741, requires the Prairie Research Institute to conduct a research study to identify chemicals recognized as contaminants of emerging concern by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in wastewater effluent. The study will also produce recommended actions to address the environmental or public health concerns associated with each chemical.

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Morrison tours suburban facility for migrant children

• Children
• Immigration

State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) toured a suburban facility this week after learning the center was used to house migrant children taken from their families at the border.

While a majority of the residents are unaccompanied minors who crossed the border, the center did take in an unknown number of children separated from their families after the Trump administration ordered the prosecution of every adult who crossed the border illegally.

“Families should never be separated,” Morrison said. “And while the children I witnessed seemed well cared for, it brings no solace that there were children here without their mothers and fathers and extended families because of the actions of the Trump White House and the failure of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.”

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Morrison seeks solutions to failing DCFS system (VIDEO)

• DCFS
• Children
• Video

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) convened the Senate Human Services Committee Tuesday afternoon to seek solutions to the continuing problem of Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) youth being held longer than medically necessary in psychiatric hospitals across the state.

“Abused or neglected children with mental health conditions should receive the care they need and transition to an outpatient or residential setting as soon as possible,” Morrison said. “Languishing in a psychiatric hospital can cause affirmative harm for a child. The state must do a much better job caring for these vulnerable children.”

In June, a ProPublica Illinois report analyzed records from the DCFS and found nearly 30 percent of children in the care of the DCFS who were hospitalized were held longer than medically necessary in a psychiatric hospital. The report found of these children, 15 percent had to wait two months or longer.

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