SPRINGFIELD, Ill.—  State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, has been hard at work in Springfield passing a budget making life easier and more affordable for Illinois families while passing her own initiatives.

“When writing our budget, we have so much to consider—we must balance the needs of everyone in our community with a real, tangible way to provide them with resources,” said Mussman. “This balanced budget works to maintain and expand the services so many rely on without a single additional tax to working class families.”

Across the board, federal funding cuts have decreased social service support and increased costs for many Illinoisans. Mussman is fighting to restore the support that people in her community rely on, and giving everyone a general boost in support.

This year’s budget fully funds:

• Homelessness prevention programs,
• Safety net hospitals, providing care regardless of health insurance status,
• the Local Government Distributive Fund, creating more tools for property tax relief.

Highlights of the budget include investments in:

• The Fresh Act, giving Illinoisans who lost SNAP benefits a one time SNAP credit,
• State social services by reducing government operational costs to makeup federal funding losses,
• Restoring property tax relief grants for school districts, and
• Working class people by temporarily freezing the gas tax, beginning in July.

Additionally, Mussman is sending 12 bills to the governor to be signed into law.

Some of the legislation Mussman led included:

1.  Expanding language acquisition education for children under five-years in the Deaf community.
2.  Establishing the Blue Envelope Program, creating a new tool to help neurodivergent drivers feel safer and more comfortable interacting with first responders. 
3. Creating a new avenue for schools to support unhoused students, and more.

“In this session, my legislation has been focused on accessibility and opportunity, making sure everyone in our community and across the state have the chance to thrive,” said Mussman. “I’m proud of the steps we’ve taken, creating new programs and strengthening existing ones. I truly look forward to continuing to work with devoted advocates on these important issues to keep making an impact.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Fighting to restore affordability for Illinois households, state Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, is supporting a series of bills cutting costs on everyday purchases and utilities, banning gimmicks that raise prices and requiring businesses to fairly compensate consumers.

“Right now, prices are increasing on everything from groceries to rent to fuel. Most of these costs are regulated at the federal level, but there’s still steps we can take at the state level,” said Mussman. “In Illinois, we’re looking for creative and impactful ways to lighten the financial burden families across our state are battling.”

Mussman backed the following cost-cutting measures:

• House Bill 45: Expands access to savings by requiring retailers to honor all advertised sales or coupons, even if customers cannot access an app or operate digital coupons.
• House Bill 228: Cracks down on junk fees and hidden costs by requiring businesses to disclose all mandatory fees and charges added on top of an advertised purchase price.
• House Bill 4044: Strengthening consumer rights by banning no-return policies that limit customers to store credit for unused, unopened items for most purchases. 
• House Bill 4514: Allowing residents to voice opposition to general rate increases by requiring public utility companies fully inform residents of their rights prior to a rate proposal. 
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All four measures successfully advanced through House and Senate chambers. They await governor consideration before being signed into law.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, sponsored a bill creating early childhood assessment programs to improve language acquisition for children from birth to age 5 who are deaf, hard of hearing or DeafBlind.

“The first 3 years of life are a crucial time for brain development and language acquisition, but most deaf children enter kindergarten without proficient language skills, which has a lifelong impact on reading, academics, and social interactions.” said Mussman. “By supporting deaf, hard of hearing or DeafBlind children while they begin to learn language, we’re preparing these kids to learn and communicate at the same pace as their peers so they can start elementary school not just on-time, but ready to learn.”

House Bill 1783 creates an advisory committee to work with language and communication professionals on strengthening language assessment programs for deaf, hard of hearing, or DeafBlind children. The program establishes developmental milestones to help parents, healthcare providers, and educators track language development and take corrective action if the child demonstrates they are falling behind. Data will be collected to monitor the progress of individual children and the progress of children state-wide.

One of the most prominent proponents of this legislation is LEAD-K Illinois, part of a nationwide deaf-led movement advocating for better language access and accountability for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deafblind children. Members of the LEAD-K team include Libby Oxenham, Anita Cervantes-Bowen, Kimberly Mokris, Carol Nemecek-Kowalski, Kate Citti, and Daniel Roche

“After more than eight years of advocacy, we are thrilled to see the bill pass both chambers with bipartisan support,” said LEAD-K. “If signed by Governor JB Pritzker, Illinois will become the 24th state to adopt this legislation supporting better language outcomes for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deafblind children.”

House Bill 1783 passed the legislature and now moves to the governor to be signed into law.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, is sending legislation to the governor’s desk for consideration allowing school districts to provide extended hotel stays for student families who have lost their housing.

“We’re seeing more and more families facing and experiencing homelessness, and we don’t have enough support systems in place to respond to this,” said Mussman. “Schools must often think outside the box to meet the needs of distressed families. Thanks to this bill, we’re helping school districts reduce costs and lessen the disruption students and families experience when they are housing insecure.”

House Bill 4137 expands the Education for Homeless Children Act, allowing districts to provide motel stays for students, as needed. The bill does not require schools to provide motels, but creates the option to do so with existing budgeted funds. School districts will be able to use their transportation funds for this purpose in addition to all previous uses.

In accordance with federal McKinney-Vento laws, school districts are responsible for transporting displaced students to their base schools, in hopes to disrupt their education as little as possible. With too few emergency and temporary shelters throughout the state, families must often stay far from their children’s schools, increasing the school’s transportation costs.

If it has been determined that it may be less expensive for the district to help a family stay in a nearby hotel, than transport a student from wherever else the family may land, the district may choose to use their transportation funds in this manner.

“We’re ensuring that students are supported in the ways they need to receive an effective education that is cost-effective for everyone involved,” said Mussman. “Keeping our students in school must remain our top priority. Continued normalcy for students is best for their education and well-being.”

House Bill 4137 passed both chambers and moves to the governor’s desk for consideration and to be signed into law.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, is making interactions between law enforcement and individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder safer and easier. The Blue Envelope Program intends to support safe and effective communication for all involved parties.

“This program is a win-win, benefiting both neurodivergent drivers and first responders they engage with,” said Mussman. “Starting off an interaction in a potentially high stress situation with clarity, through communication and other information noted in the blue envelope, keeps everyone safer.”

Mussman’s House Bill 4472 creates the Blue Envelope Program, in partnership with the Secretary of State’s office and the Autism Hero Project non-profit. Neurodivergent drivers can use the envelopes to hold documents required to operate a motor vehicle. Envelopes will be disbursed at Secretary of State offices, including DMVs, throughout the state.

With all necessary information in one location, neurodivergent individuals can locate documents easily and choose to self-disclose they are on the spectrum.This voluntary program will ensure that interactions are orderly and effective for both first responders and neurodivergent drivers, helping to reduce anxiety and miscommunication for both parties, during a potentially stressful situation.

“The Blue Envelope Program is being used at a small scale around the state already, with some precincts already offering the envelopes,” said Mussman. “Bringing this program statewide would allow all neurodivergent drivers in Illinois to feel more comfortable and safe when interacting with law enforcement, and will encourage more law enforcement awareness of neurodivergent drivers.”

House Bill 4472 passed unanimously out of both chambers and heads to the governor for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Representative Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, is honoring those fighting ALS disease by passing a resolution recognizing the month of May as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Awareness month.

“ALS is a disease that takes away so much, wearing down the body with relentless progression,” said Mussman. “You might remember the online ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ from years ago. That was to raise awareness for ALS and encourage more research to be done, and there’s still so much more work to do.”

ALS is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease, affecting approximately 30,000 people in the United States. With thousands of new cases reported every year, it is estimated that someone is diagnosed with ALS and someone passes away from ALS every 90 minutes. 

There is currently no cure for ALS, nor are its causes known. Every May, people across the United States recognize May as ALS Awareness Month to offer support to those suffering from the disease. The month also serves to inform others of research being done, developments in clinical trials and therapies, and to raise funds for continued progress in understanding and combating the disease.

“The fight against ALS is often debilitating to experience, and can feel debilitating to witness, and all parties involved can feel helpless,” said Mussman. “We can turn that helplessness into hope by fighting for more funding, research, and more support for everyone battling ALS.”

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – Upon the conclusion of the legislative session, state Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, will hold three town halls in her district to update community members on new legislation and accomplishments in Springfield.

“While I value my time in Springfield doing the hard work to get legislation passed, I’m excited to be able to dedicate more time to being out and about in our community,” said Mussman. “I hope to see you at one of my town halls in June, my community office hours or any of the other events I’ll be going to this summer!”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, supported legislation allowing qualified speech-language pathologists to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD) if the child is under age three and has no co-occurring medical conditions. With more evaluators, more evaluations can be conducted and more diagnoses given.

“Studies link early autism disorder diagnoses to earlier intervention and positive outcomes,” said Mussman. “Devleoping this new avenue of screening will allow for even earlier evaluations for ASD, allowing families more time to understand, accept, and ultimately learn to support their child on the autism spectrum.”

House Bill 5225 would allow a qualified speech-language pathologist to diagnose autism spectrum disorders, so long as the child is under age three and has no pre-existing medical conditions, such as seizures, gastrointestinal problems or sleep disorders. The licensed speech-language pathologist would need to have an active autism evaluation credential issued by the Illinois Early Intervention Program, and the diagnosis must occur as part of the program.

Following diagnosis by a qualified speech pathologist, children must be referred to appropriate medical personnel for further evaluation or management for services outside the scope of practice of a speech-language pathologist.

“It’s important that this bill develops the first step of screening, followed by more in depth evaluation,” said Mussman. “This means early diagnoses will be supported by multiple professionals with the goal of increasing timely access to resources.”

House Bill 5225 passed the House with bipartisan support and heads to the Senate for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, aided in passing a bill to better protect children on social media by allowing parents to develop personalized settings for monitoring algorithms, limiting notifications, requiring parent approval for purchases and more.

“Research shows how deeply the use of social media is impacting our children, from attention deficiencies to issues with body image,” said Mussman. “Putting in new parental controls over the things that keep children scrolling on social media will hopefully encourage kids to put their phones and tablets down.”

House Bill 5511 would place new restrictions on children’s social media accounts and allow parents to have greater control over their children’s online actions. Parents would be able to tailor these restrictions to meet their child’s needs and better monitor their online activity. 

The bill would have parents input their child’s age while setting up a new device. When new software is installed or a new website is visited, a number of settings will trigger by default, unless a parent authorizes otherwise. These settings include:

• Prohibitions against social media companies using addictive algorithms and limiting social media notifications to daytime hours.
• Requiring apps to obtain parental consent for in-app purchases or any transaction between children and unknown users.
• Requiring companies to apply default privacy settings based on a user’s age to protect the user’s location data and profile information.

“The restrictions this bill creates would be totally left for parents and families to decide,” said Mussman. “We’re simply providing a tool for parents and families to use however they see fit, and in the way that best supports their children.”

House Bill 5511 now goes to the Senate for consideration.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, co-sponsored a bipartisan bill requiring the Illinois Department of Transportation to post human trafficking resources in rest area bathrooms. 

“Human trafficking isn’t a left or right issue, it’s a right or wrong issue,” said Mussman. “I’m proud to stand with my colleagues across the aisle to ensure we take every measure possible to prevent human trafficking, and supply resources to victims in any way we can.”

House Bill 4654 expands existing legislation requiring human trafficking resources to be posted. In many cases of human trafficking, victims are often closely watched and may only find themselves alone in a bathroom in or around a roadside stop for a few short minutes. This legislation hopes to ensure these victims of human trafficking can access help and resources without risking jeopardizing their safety. 

Currently in Illinois, human trafficking notices in rest stops are posted with all other required notices, often on a public bulletin board. House Bill 4654 seeks to make these notices more private and accessible to possible victims by requiring human trafficking resources to explicitly be posted in bathrooms.

“Human trafficking is often under-reported because victims don’t have the opportunity to report their abuse, or are too afraid of their captor to make a police report,” said Mussman. “We’re trying to change that narrative in Illinois by providing contact information and support for anyone being trafficked to ask for help from crisis hotlines and law enforcement.”

House Bill 4654 passed unanimously in the House and heads to the Senate.