SPRINGFIELD – A new law passed by State Senator Scott Bennett will bolster privacy rights for crime victims in Illinois.

“Victims of crime and their families deserve the right to participate and be heard in the criminal justice system through the use of these powerful impact statements,” Bennett said. “They provide an opportunity for the victim to express, in their own words, what they, their family and others close to them have experienced as a result of the crime. At the very least, it helps provide some measure of closure to the ordeal the crime has caused.”

Bennett’s new law ensures that a crime victim has the right to register with the Prisoner Review Board’s victim registry and to submit a victim impact statement to the Board for consideration at hearings or executive clemency hearings. Impact statements are written or oral information from crime victims, in their own words, about how a crime has affected them.

House Bill 3584 also clarifies that victim impact statements submitted to the Prisoner Review Board are confidential and privileged.

As a former prosecutor and Vice Chairman of the Senate Criminal Law Committee, Bennett has directed his efforts to securing rights, protections and services for victims going through the criminal justice system.

The governor signed HB 3584 into law Friday. It takes effect immediately.

SPRINGFIELD – Residents living in state-operated assisted living facilities would be allowed to install cameras in their rooms to monitor and deter possible abuse under a new law sponsored by State Senator Scott Bennett.

Bennett (D-Champaign) partnered with his uncle, State Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City), to make Community Integrated Living Arrangement (CILA) facilities safer for residents and to reassure their loved ones.

“The core of this bill is to protect some of the most vulnerable residents in our state,” Bennett said. “This new law provides residents in care facilities control by allowing them to monitor their personal space and gives family members comfort knowing that they or their loved are safe and protected.” 

Under House Bill 344, a resident living in a CILA facility, a supervised home environment in which eight or fewer people with mental illness or developmental disabilities live together, would be allowed to electronically monitor their own room provided that their consent and notice has been given to the facility on prescribed forms.

“This is a bipartisan bill that gives elderly and vulnerable Illinoisans the consumer protections they deserve and brings Illinois in line with the rest of the nation in licensing our assisted living facilities,” Bennett said. “Caring for our seniors and most vulnerable must be a priority.”

The new law also includes a provision under which a resident must also obtain the consent of any and all roommates and bear all costs of purchase, installation, maintenance, and removal. The facility will be required to post signs at the entrance of the building and at the entrance of the resident’s room stating that the room is electronically monitored.  

The governor signed House Bill 344 into law last week. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2020.

SPRINGFIELD – A new law passed by State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) will help facilitate solar projects statewide.

Senate Bill 211 allows public universities and state agencies to enter into cost effective renewable energy resource contracts for up to 25 years. The previous contract length limitation was shorter, making it economically infeasible for universities to enter into solar power purchase agreements.

“Installing onsite renewable energy with longer contracts will reduce overall electric bills and increase renewable development in the state,” Bennett said. “As a state, we need to continue to grow our clean energy footprint. Senate Bill 211 will make it easier for us to do just that and work toward providing clean, reliable and affordable energy to all of our communities.”

The governor signed Senate Bill 211 into law today. It takes effect immediately.

CHAMPAIGN – A proposal by State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) to provide Illinois communities the protection they need from toxic coal ash pollution was signed into law today.

“This was about preventing coal ash waste from threatening our water and our communities throughout the state,” Bennet said. “I am relieved that we now have the protections, regulations and financial assurances in place that we need to prevent more coal ash crises from happening in Illinois."

The new law addresses the closure of waste pits across the state filled with coal ash, a toxic byproduct of burning coal. There are approximately 25 known coal ash impoundments which are already closed in the state.

Bennett’s measure would establish processes to address the other 50-plus impoundment sites which have yet to close.

It also creates a regulatory framework to ensure polluters, not taxpayers, pay for needed closure and cleanup, guarantees public participation and transparency around cleanups for affected communities and provides Illinois EPA the funds it needs to properly oversee closure and cleanup. 

“All the issues that we try to solve in Springfield are moot if our communities do not have clean water,” Bennett said. “The most basic things that all of us need are food, water, air and shelter, which all come from natural resources. That’s the foundation on which everything is built, so I feel very passionately about protecting our state’s resources for future generations.”

State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Champaign) and State Rep. Mike Marron (R-Danville) carried the bill through the House, and a large coalition of activists from around Illinois championed the legislation, including: Central Illinois Healthy Communities Alliance, Citizens Against Longwall Mining, Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, Clean Power Lake County, Earthjustice, Eco-Justice Collaborative, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Faith in Place Action Fund, Illinois Environmental Council, Illinois People’s Action, Metro-East Green Alliance, Prairie Rivers Network, Protect the Middle Fork, Sierra Club Illinois Chapter, and Springfield Clean. 

Illinois joins Virginia and North Carolina in addressing coal ash through state level legislation. Senate Bill 9 takes effect on Jan. 1, 2020.