SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, is expanding access to healthcare for people coping with economic uncertainty by passing legislation creating special
enrollment opportunities in Illinois' healthcare marketplace.

“Now more than ever, as families face rising costs and a volatile economic future, we need to do everything we can to make sure no one is denied care,” Jones said. “My legislation will make
sure that we are opening up more opportunities for uninsured Illinoisans to get covered, because communities are not their healthiest if preventable conditions for the most vulnerable are not
addressed. This expanded enrollment opportunity will also help make sure their dependents get to the checkups, screenings and other services they've had to delay due to that lack of coverage.”

Jones’ House Bill 3756 creates a special enrollment period for Illinois' state-based health insurance marketplace for purchasing private, commercial health insurance. The enrollment period would be open to interested and uninsured taxpayers requesting health insurance benefit information about estimated eligibility for insurance affordability programs including Medicaid, health insurance premium credits, and other cost-sharing reductions. Jones’ legislation allows notified taxpayers to choose a health plan within 60 days, with chosen coverage applying the first of the month following the selection of a health plan.

Jones’ House Bill 3756 passed unanimously out of the House and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, is expanding access to healthcare for people coping with economic uncertainty by passing legislation creating special
enrollment opportunities in Illinois’ healthcare marketplace.

“Now more than ever, as families face rising costs and a volatile economic future, we need to do everything we can to make sure no one is denied care,” Jones said. “My legislation will make sure that we are opening up more opportunities for uninsured Illinoisans to get covered, because communities are not their healthiest if preventable conditions for the most vulnerable are not addressed. This expanded enrollment opportunity will also help make sure their dependents get to the checkups, screenings and other services they’ve had to delay due to that lack of coverage.”

Jones’ House Bill 3756 creates a special enrollment period for Illinois’ state-based health insurance marketplace for purchasing private, commercial health insurance. The enrollment period would be open to interested and uninsured taxpayers requesting health insurance benefit information about estimated eligibility for insurance affordability programs including Medicaid, health insurance premium credits, and other cost-sharing reductions. Jones’ legislation allows notified taxpayers to choose a health plan within 60 days, with chosen coverage applying the first of the month following the selection of a health plan.

Jones’ House Bill 3756 passed unanimously out of the House and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – During the normal legislative session, which concluded on Thurs., May 31, state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, pushed legislation to promote government transparency and protect hard working Illinois families from paying unnecessarily to state and local governments. Jones also supported the bipartisan, balanced budget that creates a surplus to pay down the backlog of bills that accrued during Gov. Rauner’s two-year budget crisis, while funding essential services that the state’s most vulnerable citizens rely upon.

“Working families do not have any extra money to pay to a library that does not exist,” Jones said. “The tax payers in Ford Heights deserve access to the benefits of a library, and they deserve to know where every tax dollar goes.”

The Ford Heights Library closed over 20 years ago, and the building is long gone. However, the Ford Heights Library District still exists and collects property tax revenue. Jones is working to determine how those dollars are being spent since there are not any services being provided to the residents. That is why he sponsored House Resolution 843, which calls on the Auditor General to conduct an audit of the Ford Heights Public Library District. The audit will look into how hard-earned tax dollars are being spent and to find ways to improve the value to tax payers. Jones, a native of Ford Heights, wants to ensure that residents are receiving the services that they are paying for.

Also during this legislative session, Jones fought to keep water rates low for working families. Jones was the primary House sponsor of House Bill 5605, which prevents municipalities from price gouging residents for the basic need of water. Jones proposed this legislation in response to excessively high water rates that are being imposed upon residents in his district. Municipalities have a monopoly on resident’s water service, leaving them no choice other than to pay the higher rates or go without water. After speaking with many residents about the issue, Jones introduced the legislation to save residents, especially community seniors, from paying high water rates that are forcing some residents out of their homes.

“Water is one of the most basic necessity of life, and municipalities should not be profiting off of basic human needs,” Jones said. “I am committed to making sure residents are getting what they are paying for and are not being cheated out of their hard-earned money.”

Jones supported the bipartisan, balanced budget that will help restore the services that were lost during Gov. Rauner’s two-year budget crisis. The budget not only cuts wasteful bureaucratic spending, but also provides additional funding for schools, the Community Care Program, domestic violence shelters and affordable child care, all without creating additional taxes.

“I am glad both sides were able to work together to pass a budget that will help fix the damage that Governor Rauner caused by his unwillingness to drop his agenda to bust our unions and cut wages for working families,” said Jones. “His budget crisis tripled our state debt, but, because of the bipartisanship that the General Assembly has demonstrated, we can finally start paying down our old bills while still providing vital services to taxpayers. Our budget also restores LGDF funding and provides $350 million in new school funding, which will help bring down high, local property taxes.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, is cosponsoring legislation that prohibits the City of Chicago from requiring a police officer to issue a specific number of citations within a certain period of time.

“Police should not be issuing citations just to fill a ridiculous quota at the end of the month,” Jones said. “This unfair practice, which has already been banned in all of the rest of Illinois, is pulling officers away from their jobs of protecting the public safety, just to generate funds for the city.”

Currently, municipalities across the state, except Chicago, are prohibited from requiring police officers to fill a ticket quota. The Jones backed Senate Bill 3509 removes Chicago’s exemption from state law on this issue. Police departments will use ticket quotas as a way to evaluate officers and determine promotions. However, several law enforcement advocacy groups say that this is an ineffective and sometimes misleading way to determine a police officer’s service. Senate Bill 3509 has passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support, and it now awaits to be signed into law by the governor.

“Requiring a certain amount of tickets be written is only burdensome to the officers and ineffective way at evaluating an officer’s performance,” Jones said. “We should be judging them by their ability to protect and serve their community, not by how many tickets an officer can write in a certain amount of time.”

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – To help protect the healthcare of Illinois residents, state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, co-sponsored legislation that will prevent health insurance providers from changing a patient’s coverage part way through the year.

“We’ve heard many stories about health insurance companies changing coverage on an insured person once they are already in a contract,” Jones said. “This is a dishonest practice dealing with some of the important insurance that a person can have, and it needs to be stopped.”

Health insurance companies will often change their benefits midway through the year, and consumers end up paying more for services than they expected when they signed the contract, including soaring costs for vital medication. They must then wait months without coverage until the next enrollment period to choose a new plan. The Jones backed House Bill 4146 prohibits mid-year insurance plan changes on stable prescription drugs. This will prevent insurance companies from making co-pay increases, re-tiering, and formulary removals when people are locked into a plan. HB 4146 recently was passed in the House and is now in the Senate.

“People cannot afford drastic increases on their medication, and they cannot afford to be without that medication either,” Jones said. “This bill protects consumers and holds insurance companies to the coverage they agreed to.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, passed legislation to guarantee that African American History is taught in public schools, community colleges, and public universities.

“You cannot have American History without African American History, and too often it is pushed aside or ignored in schools and colleges,” Jones said. “Students are going throughout their education without learning about the brave black men and women who fought injustice in our country and their history.”

House Bill 4346 requires students to learn about African American History at least once before they complete 8^th grade and again before completing high school. The legislation also requires public universities and community colleges to offer a course on African American History. HB 4346 also allows this requirement to be met by schools and colleges with an online course. Jones’ legislation recently passed out of the State House of Representatives with overwhelming support.

“I want to make sure students know our rich history, and the struggle it took get where we are today,” Jones said. “Hopefully learning about leaders like Frederick Douglas, Dorothy Height, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will inspire our students to continue fighting social injustice in our country.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, co-sponsored legislation that will help increase voting rights for those that have been previously been denied due to the arrest status.

“Despite the fact that they awaiting trial and innocent until proven guilty, many citizens are denied their right to vote,” Jones said. “They are still Illinoisans and Americans with the right to vote and we need to make sure they can exercise that fundamental right.”

The Jones backed HB4469 requires temporary branch polling in a jail or help with mail-in voting for those who are eligible to vote. Under Illinois law, anyone awaiting trial and not convicted of a crime is still eligible to vote, but many jails do not have a way for them to vote. Cook County and six other counties already have a system in place for eligible prisoners to vote. HB 4469 also requires prisons to provide inmates about their voting rights and assist in voter registration. HB 4469 recently passed out of the House Election and Campaign Finance Committee with bipartisan support, and is set to be debated on the House floor.

“Our county jail in Cook County already opens a polling branch for those citizens eligible, and we need to expand this right across Illinois,” Jones explained. “It is past time that the other counties get onboard with facilitating one of the most central rights in our democracy.”

CALUMET CITY, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, released the following statement in response to the governor’s annual budget address:

“I am frankly fed up with the same excuses and acts of political theater coming from the governor. The governor himself admits that he’s not in charge. Under his failed leadership his manufactured budget impasse caused irreparable damage to our schools, universities, hospitals, domestic violence shelters and senior service providers. People in my community suffered because of the governor’s inability to compromise.

“I knew today would be no different with the broken record governor. He proposed further cutting state funding to our schools which would drive up local property taxes on working families. This is unacceptable. His unbalanced budget does nothing to help the middle-class families and the people who need help the most – our seniors, veterans and children.

“The day the governor decides to take charge and work with us in the legislature to serve the citizens of our state, I will more than gladly listen and work with him to do what needs to be done. If he’s not willing to be part of the solution, I’m prepared to work with my colleagues to craft a responsible budget without him.”

SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. – In response to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s support of the congressional Republican tax bill being rushed through Congress, state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, is expressing disappointment in the governor’s refusal to stand up for the middle-class.

“Our governor’s abandonment of the hardworking people of our state displays a lack of leadership and concern for those he serves,” Jones said. “Rather than fighting for tax relief for the middle-class, he has expressed support of a bill that will help the ultra-wealthy and large corporations at the expense of our families.”

A component of the Republican plan includes a repeal of the State and Local Tax Deduction, also known as SALT. This important deduction provides working families with critical tax relief by allowing them to deduct the state and local taxes they paid throughout the year from their federal income tax. In response, Jones supported House Resolution 672, which urges the governor and Illinois congressional Republicans to oppose the elimination of the deduction.

“I call on Gov. Rauner to rethink his support of this dangerous proposal,” Jones said. “In a time when Trump and his Republican allies are waging a war on the middle-class, we need strong leaders who will stand up for hardworking Americans.”

CALUMET CITY, Ill. – State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, is highlighting a new legal assistance hotline which can help Illinois veterans, active-duty service members, reservists, and their dependents with matters including consumer, housing, and family law.

“Legal services are often costly and it’s important we do what we can to help the men and women who have protected our freedoms,” Jones said. “Minority veterans especially often need civil legal services in order for them to access affordable housing and protect their rights as consumers.”

The Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network (IL-AFLAN) was created by legislation supported by Jones in 2015. Under House Bill 3933, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded by the Illinois State Bar Association and Chicago Bar Association, is tasked with administering a pilot program, launched this month, that provides free civil legal aid to veterans and active duty military personnel.

IL-AFLAN operates a statewide hotline that is staffed by attorneys from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, to assist veterans with discharge upgrades, benefits appeals and civil legal problems such as family, housing and consumer issues. Veterans can call the hotline at 855-452-3526 or 855-IL-AFLAN. Former and active duty military members with an income below 80 percent of the Chicago area median income are eligible for services. For a family of four, this translates into $63,200 annually.

“I encourage veterans across Illinois to utilize this new free legal hotline if they have civil legal issues,” Jones said. “I am proud we can now give our veterans and service members the ability to affordably defend the rights they fought so hard to protect.”