Senate advances Weaver's life insurance legislation
On Wednesday April 11, the Senate passed SB 2437, legislation sponsored by Senator Weaver that is designed to clear up an issue that has been plaguing divorce cases for years.
Under current law, if divorced people remarry but have forgotten to take their previous spouse off of the life insurance policy, there is often a court battle between the current and previous spouses to decide who gets the money.
Weaver's legislation will reduce legal fees and the length of court battles by creating a new process to determine who the beneficiary of the policy should be in these cases. This will also help ensure that benefits go to the person whom the policy holder intended.
Senator Weaver thanks the Illinois Bar Association for seeing this problem and bringing it forward as an issue for the Illinois General Assembly to address.
Olivia Streeter served as Senator Weaver's page for the day on 4/11/18. Olivia is a Junior at Peoria High School. Her hobbies include photography and reading. Olivia is on the speech team, is the school’s yearbook editor, and is a school ambassador. She also serves on Senator Weaver’s Youth Advisory Council. After high school, Olivia plans to continue to participate in speech, and she would like to study communication, journalism, or English at a college that also has a strong student ministry.
The Richwoods Girls’ Varsity Basketball team joined Weaver on the Senate floor on Wednesday April, 11. The Knights’ were recognized on the floor for their State Championship win, which was the 4th in the school’s history.
On Tuesday, April 10, PERFECT (Peoria Educational Region for Employment and Career Training) visited the Capitol. Pictured in no particular order are Griffin Wells, Jarvis Phipps, Dale Crosman, Alec Tutor, and Carl Hendricksen.
Ag Day
On April 11, lawmakers celebrated Illinois Agriculture Legislative Day (IALD), which brings together farm, agricultural commodity organizations and other diverse agriculture interest groups to the state Capitol. FFA members delivered baskets filled with agricultural products and specialty lunches for the legislators. The purpose of these baskets is to remind lawmakers about the multiple facets agriculture has in the lives of their constituents and the impacts their choices make on the world of agriculture. The FFA group pictured above was made up of members from the Galva, Kewanee, and Cambridge chapters.
Budget process moving forward
With seven weeks remaining on the spring session calendar, Governor Bruce Rauner held a meeting with the four legislative leaders to discuss the parameters and need for a balanced budget that does not include any new taxes. Specifically, he asked that each caucus certify its revenue estimates, support a full-year balanced budget, ensure revenues equal or exceed expenditures (as required by law) and include no tax increases.
Joining the Governor in this call for a balanced budget was Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady, who earlier this week noted that while Gov. Rauner has put forth a balanced budget proposal, “we are open to working on any budget proposal, as long as it’s balanced and does not put any additional tax burden on our already overtaxed residents.”
Opioid Data and Trends Readily Available
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is announcing the launch of its Opioid Data Dashboard, an innovative way to access data on opioid overdoses and deaths. The Opioid Data Dashboard is an interactive website that offers information on how opioids are affecting people in Illinois.
The dashboard consists of three categories:
- Morbidity and Mortality
- Trends
- Prescription Opioids
Morbidity and Mortality data includes the rate of fatal and non-fatal opioid overdoses by county, as well as the number of overdoses by zip code. Trends looks at fatal and non-fatal opioid overdoses by age group, race, sex, and cause (heroin vs. other opioids). Prescription Opioids includes data on the rate, by county, of opioids being prescribed, as well as the daily average of opioids being prescribed. It also includes the annual number of total patients being prescribed an opioid and total number of prescriptions issued.
Earlier this year, IDPH released the State of Illinois Comprehensive Opioid Data Report, which includes data from a variety of sources across multiple state agencies. Both the dashboard and report are meant to inform statewide efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and implement the State of Illinois Opioid Action Plan.