Dear Neighbors,
Happy New Year! I hope you finished off 2022 with a wonderful holiday season. Now that 2023 is here, I want to go over a few laws that took effect on January 1:
10 Year Fire Alarms: Smoke detectors in homes will now be required to have sealed 10 year batteries. Smoke detectors save lives, and it's important to make sure your smoke detectors are up-to-date and working. Homes built after 1988 that have hardwired alarms or wireless integrated alarms are exempt.
HIV Preventative Drugs: PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis) is 99% effective in preventing the spread of HIV, and is now able to be prescribed by pharmacists, instead of exclusively by doctors.
One Day Rest in Seven Act: This bill clarifies a worker's right to one day off work per consecutive seven-day period, rather than calendar week, and a 20 minute meal break for every 7.5 hours worked.
Paraprofessionals: The age requirement for paraprofessional educators to work with pre-K-8th grade students is now 18. The goal of this bill is to help alleviate the teacher shortage, while still maintaining all other requirements. This is a bill that I sponsored in the House and that I am glad we are seeing it become law, I will closely be monitoring it for effectiveness.
For a full list of laws that went into effect on January 1st, click here.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SPRINGFIELD IN JANUARY?
Lame duck session will start on January 4th and it will end on the 10th. This will officially wrap up the 102nd General Assembly. On January 11th, we will start the 103rd General Assembly and welcome new members to the Illinois House and Senate. I will be back in district mid-January and I cannot wait to continue our conversations with constituents, organizations and other stakeholders as I introduced bills for the 103rd GA. Stay tuned to next months newsletter for a recap of bills I will be introducing!
My district office has moved! We will now be located in the Romeoville Village Hall (1050 W. Romeo Rd.). Our phone number and email remains the same, so if you need to contact us, please call, text, or email us at 815-372-0085 / info@repdagmara.org.
Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, and successful 2023,
