State Senator Julie Morrison co-sponsored several new laws that will help encourage teenagers to make good health choices by making it more difficult to start unhealthy habits. The new laws:

- Prohibit children and teenagers from buying e-cigarettes

- Prohibit children and teenagers from using commercial tanning beds

- Create a task force to confront the problem of teen heroin use

“It’s our job as parents and community members to encourage young people to make good decisions about their future,” Morrison said. “Kids who start smoking or tanning before they are adults are more likely to end up with cancer, but many of them are too young to understand the long-term consequences of these dangerous choices.”

A new state law, co-sponsored by State Senator Julie Morrison, will help prevent distracted driving by keeping cell phones out of people’s hands. The law does not prohibit using a hands-free device to make or answer a call.

“Every year, thousands of people die in car crashes caused by distracted drivers,” Morrison said. “Keeping people’s hands on the wheel will help save lives.”

The new law prohibits using a phone without a hands-free device, which can either be a speakerphone system or a headset. Pressing a single button to activate a voice-operated system or answer the phone is also permitted.

DEERFIELD – A new law sponsored by State Senator Julie Morrison will ensure that the public and the press know when a company, political group or nonprofit is lobbying the government.

“Like it or not, lobbyists have become part of our political system,” the Deerfield Democrat said. “The people deserve to know which companies are trying to influence our laws and who they hire to do it.”

Current law requires lobbyists to disclose who hires them. However, there’s a loophole that many companies use to skirt the law. Companies will hire one person as their lobbyist, and then that person will subcontract out to others to do the actual work – sometimes as many as dozens of other people. Those subcontractors only have to list the person who hired them, not the company they are actually lobbying for.

Deerfield, IL – State Senator Julie Morrison has been appointed to the Illinois Council on Aging – the body charged with overseeing the activities of the state’s Department on Aging.

“As the Baby Boomers age, we’re going to need to focus more and more on the resources available to seniors,” the Deerfield Democrat said. “Seniors have special needs, and we need to do what we can to make sure that all people can live out their lives with comfort and dignity.”

The 31-member council is made up of appointed citizens and legislators. They review the Department on Aging’s long-term plans and annual fiscal reports. They are also charged with evaluating all of the state’s services for seniors and submitting their own independent report to the governor and legislature.