SPRINGFIELD — Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) applauded investments in pensions, local governments and the Illinois workforce in the upcoming fiscal year budget, which passed the Senate Monday.

“This is a balanced budget. I believe the most important part of what we passed tonight is that we will make our full pension payment as planned,” Holmes said. “This is such a cornerstone of our ongoing efforts to address our underfunded pension system.”

SPRINGFIELD – A measure to compel pet stores to get their animals from animal shelters or animal control facilities passed the Senate Monday, co-sponsored by Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora), in an effort to discourage the sale of pets from unscrupulous breeders and puppy mills and instead provide loving homes to animals who need them most.

“I’m proud to join in House Bill 1711 to push legislation on a pet store business model that has been growing across the U.S.,” Holmes said. “Puppy mills are a major source of animals for many pet stores, but their breeding practices result in sick and sometimes terminally ill animals, which can result in heartache for families.”

SPRINGFIELD – Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) moved legislation this week that would expand workers’ compensation for firefighters and EMTs to cover a potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant staph infection that poses a particularly high risk to first responders.

House Bill 3662 would amend the Workers’ Compensation Act. It presumes that these professionals would be exposed to MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in the course of their employment.

SPRINGFIELD – After an unprecedented 14 months for the Illinois Department of Employment Security with thousands of residents out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Senate passed a bipartisan reform package Sunday led by Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) to overhaul the way the department addresses unemployment benefits claims.

“This represents an agreement by business and labor groups along with IDES, to fix the state’s unemployment system,” said Holmes. “It aims to correct the flaws revealed in a system that wasn’t designed to address the job losses, customer service problems, and fraudulent claims that hit the state all at once during the pandemic.”