A proposed law to address problems at the Department of Children and Family Services has cleared the Illinois Senate. The law would require DCFS to force child care facilities that provide homes to some of the most troubled children in the state’s care to take immediate action when an employee commits an act of abuse or neglect or fails to report a similar incident involving staff or other children.

Employees that endanger kids or fail to report abuse would face immediate discipline.

“These are children who have lived through abuse, neglect and abandonment. We fail them when they are beaten, raped, allowed to prostitute themselves or allowed to run away at a DCFS facility,” said state Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), the measure’s sponsor. “Any employees of a child care organization who are knowingly not keeping these abused and neglected children safe should be disciplined – up to and including losing their jobs.”

A proposal to help people escape the horrors of human trafficking passed the Illinois Senate today.

The measure requires the state government to post signs warning about the dangers of human trafficking and display the phone number of the national human trafficking hotline in high-traffic areas, such as truck stops, bus stations, train stations, airports and rest stops.

The sponsor of the legislation, state Senator Julie Morrison, explained that the idea for the bill came from 2014 media reports about failures at the Department of Children and Family Services.

“When I learned that DCFS wards at residential treatment centers were essentially selling themselves into prostitution, I was furious,” said the Deerfield Democrat. “Some of the girls who told their stories talked about traveling through truck stops and bus stations, which made me think these transportation hubs are the perfect place to post the human trafficking hotline number.”

A plan that could make it easier to open a business in Illinois passed the Illinois Senate and is moving to the House of Representatives. The legislation would require the state to put all permit and license applications online on one centralized website.

“It should be easy for entrepreneurs to find application forms for every single state license or permit they need online, in one location,” said Senator Julie Morrison, the measure’s sponsor. “This is the 21^st century, and the state is still using paper-only forms. Even worse, business owners have to find the applications they need on each individual agency’s website. This situation is simply unacceptable.”

Right now, if business owners need more than one license or permit, they may have to visit several different state and local government websites and fill out forms both on paper and online. To see if they qualify for any economic development programs, they have to contact even more state agencies. Many other states do better, putting all of these forms and all of this information in one place.

Targets unethical appointment to Illinois Sports Facilities Authority

A plan to prevent future governors from engaging in last-minute patronage has cleared the Illinois Senate.

State Senator Julie Morrison introduced the proposal after former Gov. Pat Quinn appointed a political operative to a $160,000-per-year state job at the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority a month after he lost his election last year.

Her plan would affect any director appointed to a governor-controlled board or commission after the governor loses an election. They would be limited to 60 days in the position, allowing the newly elected governor to find the best person for the position. Morrison’s legislation extends beyond the ISFA to include similar government organizations.

“We should all be upset when a lame-duck governor uses his position to provide campaign staff with golden parachutes,” Morrison said. “I was gravely disappointed when I learned of the abuse at the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, and I introduced this legislation to help restore the people’s trust in their government.”