SPRINGFIELD – After the Illinois Senate approved the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, State Senator Bill Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs, released the following statement in response:

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Bill Cunningham moved two initiatives to expand family counseling services and disability benefits for first responders through the Illinois Senate.

“We have to recognize that first responders deal with an enormous amount of stress on the job,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “Sometimes that stress carries over to the family, so this important initiative will strengthen their access to family counseling services.”

SPRINGFIELD – A new measure sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham will protect vehicle owners by updating towing regulations often abused by rogue towing companies.

“The more I have learned about the towing industry in Illinois, the more I see that we need to make changes,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “This measure will stop towing companies from holding medical devices, like hearing aids, hostage if a vehicle is stolen and later towed.”

The legislation was brought to Cunningham from a constituent of the 18^th District. The constituent’s vehicle was stolen from outside their residence in Chicago and was eventually located by law enforcement and towed in Alsip. The constituent did not find out where their vehicle was located until a week after it was recovered, receiving a letter in the mail from a suburban towing company that was holding the vehicle. When the constituent went to recover the vehicle, they were told they would have to pay a fee of $1,500 and were not allowed to recover a hearing aid from the vehicle until the fee was paid.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Bill Cunningham advanced a measure that updates the liability guidelines in the Biometric Information Privacy Act.

“This reform to BIPA will protect small businesses from undue financial burden while still providing strong protections for consumers and workers,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “As technology continues to advance, it’s importance that our laws keep up with the times.”

Cunningham’s measure would limit the number of claims accrued should an employee bring a lawsuit against a company for a violation of BIPA. If a certain biometric identifier is collected by the same employer in the same manner, only one violation would accrue. This is a change from the current interpretation of BIPA, where claims are accrued on a per-collection basis, which resulted in hundreds of claims on a repeated violation.