Andrade Expands Protections for Consumers, Heath Care Workers, and Minority Job Applicants

SPRINGFIELD, Ill – State Rep. Jaime Andrade, Jr., D-Chicago, finished this spring session supporting measures that increase protections for consumers, corrects an unfair drawback to healthcare workers, and requests a report on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in hiring practices. 

“The change from regular television to streaming devices has been slowly but surely becoming an everyday part of people’s lives,” said Andrade. “That why we require to be ever more vigilant when it comes to protecting consumers against inefficient service. Making sure that companies offer an easy and direct way to cancel a subscription is necessary to create a relationship of confidence between consumers and service providers.”

Andrade made a significant push to House Bill 3955, which recently passed the Senate. The legislation requires a business or similar entity that offers a renewable subscription service such as entertainment streaming applications to provide a form of digital contact that would allow customers to cancel their service quickly and easily.

Additionally, Andrade fought to ensure that certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who work in correctional facilities can maintain an active status as healthcare workers. Current law does not allow the hours worked by a CNA within the Department of Corrections to count for the required hours set by the Health Care Worker Registry for a CNA to be certified to work. This forces the nursing assistants to find a second place of employment, which can severely constrain their lives. This is a major oversight that Andrade is making sure is fixed.

“Assistance for health professionals is key for a recovering post-pandemic world,” said Andrade. “The fact that long hours worked to care for patients in prison is not seen as a qualifying factor to keep a certification is disheartening. Making essential healthcare workers jump through unnecessary barriers makes life difficult for hard-working people, especially when there are others who are unwilling to care for their patients due to social stigmas.”

Andrade also spearheaded House Bill 53, which would require employers who utilize AI technology to sort out candidates for hiring to provide information based on the AI’s analysis of ethnicity and race of individuals who are hired.

“Identifying racial and systematic biases is crucial in stemming the discrimination that occurs as a result of algorithms placed on digitalized hiring practices,” said Andrade. “We cannot allow minority applicants to be placed at a disadvantage by vague personality tests.”