SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Bill Cunningham and State Representative Fran Hurley have passed a new law – recently signed by the governor – that will help promote mental health treatment for police officers and firefighters by providing better focus for the First Responder Suicide Prevention Task Force.

“Our first responders risk their lives to protect us every day working stressful, traumatic jobs,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “It’s incumbent upon us to make sure they have access to the mental health resources they need.”

According to studies cited by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, firefighters consider and attempt suicide at a higher rate than the general population, and nationally, between 125 and 300 police officers commit suicide every year.

SPRINGFIELD – Part of a nationwide effort, a new law sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham will help reduce sexual assault and harassment at Illinois’ colleges and universities by requiring an annual sexual misconduct survey.

An initiative of the Every VOICE Coalition, the results of the survey would then be posted on the university’s website and sent to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

“Our colleges and universities need to know what’s happening on their campuses in order to seriously address sexual misconduct,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “Even though we’ve seen clear progress, we know this issue has not gone away, and we also know that survivors can be reluctant to make reports through official channels.”

The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network reports that one in 10 college students experience sexual violence. However, in 2018, Clery Act data showed that more than three quarters of Illinois colleges and universities reported no cases of sexual violence on their campuses.

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois community college students with a B-average or better will automatically qualify to transfer to the University of Illinois under a new law State Senator Bill Cunningham shepherded through the General Assembly.

“This law accomplishes two important goals: helping students attain a quality education and helping keep talented young people in Illinois,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs.

Under the law, the U of I will create a four-year uniform admission system pilot program, guaranteeing qualified students admission to one of the U of I system universities. In order to qualify, a student must have:

• Graduated from an Illinois high school.
• Earned at least 36 transferable credits at an Illinois community college.
• Maintained a 3.0 or better grade point average for all transferable coursework.
• Satisfied the university system’s English language proficiency requirement.

SPRINGFIELD – Under a new law sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham and State Representative Fran Hurley, special education students will get to graduate with their classmates starting with the 2021-2022 school year.

“We are righting a long-standing wrong by allowing special education students to finish out their final year of school,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “Starting this year, they will get to graduate with their classmates and say proper goodbyes to their friends and teachers.”

Previous Illinois law allowed special education students to remain in school past the typical graduation age of 18, but required them to stop attending classes as soon as they turned 22. The new law, originally House Bill 40, establishes that they can finish out the year they age out of the system.