Legislative Wins in Illinois!

Greetings Illinois Advocates!

We’re on a roll this week, as multiple bills we’ve been working on have taken big steps in the right direction! First, thanks to all of your help and building off of its passage in committee on Tuesday, House Bill 5480 passed the full House today by a huge margin of 108 – 1! This bill will make it easier for the American Heart Association to qualify to participate in the annual Illinois state employee giving campaign, which could lead to increase financial support of our lifesaving mission. Now it moves on to the Senate, where once again we’ll be calling on your help.

Also moving to the Senate after passing the House with our support is HB 5114, a bill which would bring basic CPR training to all middle-school (grades 6 – 8) students. This bill will help train the next generation of CPR lifesavers, and pave the way for a future effort to make CPR training a high-school graduation requirement for all Illinois students. As this bill progresses we’ll be asking for your help contacting legislators for it as well!

Finally, also with our support House Resolution 872 passed the House Human Services Committee this week, setting the stage for consideration by the full House. HR 872 lays out the value of Illinois’ Emergency Medical Service (EMS), and declares that EMS should be made an essential service in Illinois. This resolution is a welcome first step, and will be followed by more substantive legislative efforts later this spring and this fall during the legislature’s post-election special session.

We will keep all of you updated as we move forward. In the meantime, let’s celebrate these advocacy wins in Illinois!

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, our victories are yours, because You’re the Cure!