SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A measure carried by state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, to streamline services and improve hiring practices in the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) passed the House last Wednesday.

“Hiring requirements that are currently on the books create unnecessary hindrances to getting adequate personnel at IDVA, and that’s getting in the way of providing care, attention and resources to veterans who have sacrificed so much to keep us safe,” Canty said. “Eliminating some unnecessary barriers that do little to improve quality of service is a commonsense step forward I’m happy to deliver for Illinois veterans.”

Canty’s House Bill 4891 streamlines the hiring process for IDVA service officers by removing requirements for active service in the armed services during a time of hostilities with a foreign country. The legislation also enables service officers and supervisors to be currently serving reservists or national guardsmen in good standing, in addition to honorably discharged veterans from active or reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces.

This measure has the support the VFW-Illinois, Illinois Association of County Veterans Assistance Commissions and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. It passed the House with strong bipartisan support and will soon be heard in the Senate.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, is supporting legislation to provide extra support to seniors and other eligible adults who may be vulnerable to fraud or other financial misuses. Financial institutions and their employees will be able to pause suspicious transactions, preventing any fraudulent transactions from being completed.

“New protections to prevent fraud perpetrated against vulnerable communities is an essential piece of a comprehensive approach to public safety,” Canty said. “Predatory financial offenders are targeting people who are often on fixed incomes, which creates enormous harm and instability. This crime is as reprehensible as it is preventable, and this legislation addresses it.”

House Bill 4767 names investment advisers and other financial institution employees as mandated reporters of potential fraud or exploitation. This will allow a financial institution and its employees to hold transactions that seem suspicious, and conduct an internal review of the transaction according to each institution’s review policies.

House Bill 4767 has the support of Age Options, Age Smart Community Resources and the Illinois AARP.

“By creating a new level of safeguards within financial institutions, we can stop fraud before any harm is done while making it easier for law enforcement to identify and trace would-be perpetrators,” Canty said. “Cracking down on these crimes requires a two-pronged approach, with both reactive measures, such as jailtime, and proactive measures, such as a safety net preventing transactions before they go through.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the Trump administration’s unlawful tariff policies related to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act:

“I’ve said before my goal is to make life more affordable for all Illinoisans, and the Supreme Court striking down the unlawful and financially disastrous tariffs is a step in the right direction. While many small businesses saw demand for their products dry up, taxpayers bore the brunt of tariffs in the form of higher prices on essentials, from diapers to groceries, and the federal government raked in billions.

“People deserve their money back. I’m calling on the Treasury to immediately issue reimbursement checks to the tens of millions of low- and middle-income American households that were hurt because of the Trump administration’s obsessive need to sew chaos and seek conflict, which manifested last year as a series of highly damaging tariff policies.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, issued the following statement in response to Gov. Pritzker’s budget proposal:

“The foundation of this year’s state budget has to be responsible spending on essential programs to support working families and make life more affordable across our state. With Trump’s destructive trade war driving up the cost of everyday consumer goods, we must find ways to ease that burden and provide the critical services all Illinoisans depend on.

“As a leader in our state’s fight for affordable childcare, the federal government’s childcare funding freeze is especially concerning, and I will fight to ensure that thousands of families aren’t suddenly stripped of these essential services. Every Illinois kid deserves high-quality childcare, no matter their zip code or family income.

“Continuing to build on years of smart budgeting that have created 10 credit rating increases, I’ll be working for a budget that keeps us on-track—despite chaos and attacks from the White House.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — In advance of Gov. JB Pritzker’s 2026 Budget Address, the Illinois House Democratic Women’s Caucus released this statement outlining their budget priorities for promoting equity and opportunity despite attacks from the federal government:

“Major priorities for our caucus during the budget crafting process will include defending the rights of women, children and vulnerable communities, and promoting a future where privacy for women seeking an abortion is not at-risk, where women living under threat of domestic abuse have an economic safety net to support them if they leave, where single moms don’t have to work non-stop to afford childcare and where every woman can live a life of equity and opportunity,” said Caucus Chair, state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights. “Our caucus will not stand by while the Trump Administration targets millions of women with a misogynistic agenda designed to strip essential rights from women and claw back decades of progress for women and families.”

“At a moment when Washington is advancing cruel and reckless cuts, Illinois must lead with compassion and responsibility,” said Caucus Treasurer, state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia. “The IHDWC budget priorities are clear: protect access to healthcare so families can see a doctor, safeguard SNAP so no child goes hungry and preserve childcare subsidies so working parents can stay in the workforce. We refuse to balance the budget on the backs of our most vulnerable neighbors. Illinois Democrats will continue to invest in people, stabilize communities and mitigate the real harm caused by extreme federal policies.”

“As we begin the budget process, we are committed to working relentlessly to ensure that the programs and legislation that support women and children receive the critical funding they need to succeed,” said Caucus Secretary, state Rep. Laura Faver Dias, D-Grayslake. “Illinois has a long and proud history of strengthening and protecting women’s rights, and we intend to build on that legacy. Despite the noise and chaos at the federal level, the women of the Illinois House Democratic Caucus remain laser focused on advancing policies that uplift the women, children and families of our state.”

“The Women’s Caucus remains committed to protecting the rights we’ve worked tirelessly to secure, especially in an anything-but-ordinary year where the current administration continually seeks to undermine them. It is also vitally important that we continue to provide services to our most vulnerable citizens—children, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and low-income seniors,” said Caucus Vice-Chair, state Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-Carpentersville. “With the uncertainty surrounding federal dollars, it’s vital that the state utilize our resources to the best of our ability without undermining or losing ground on all the important work we’ve done the past several years.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, has joined more than 600 state legislators from over 48 states across the country to release a joint national statement regarding the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/ Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) occupation of Minneapolis, and the killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good and others at the hands of DHS and ICE.

The shared statement reads:

“We, the undersigned state legislators from across this country, contend we are at a decisive moment in our nation’s history. For a nation founded 250 years ago on the basic and fundamental principles of freedom, liberty, and inalienable rights, having armed masked federal agents on our streets engaging in a campaign of wanton destruction threatens to destroy these foundational values that underpin our democracy.

“We are stepping into extraordinarily dangerous territory in this country and have reached an unimaginable point where ICE and Border Patrol agents have now, twice within one month, killed US citizens on camera while the federal government tells us not to believe our own eyes.

“Further, the vast majority of ICE arrests in our cities and suburbs are of those with no criminal record, while due process and search and seizure rights guaranteed by our Constitution are not just being violated daily: chillingly, per a leaked memo, these violations are sanctioned by the Department of Homeland Security.

“We stand with the people of Minnesota and demand that ICE and Border Patrol leave Minnesota immediately.

“We demand a full and independent investigation into the shootings and deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as others, over the last year.

“Finally, we demand the restoration of our American values and principles to our federal government, an end to the abductions and killings, an end to the occupation of our towns an cities, and an end to Congressional funding for ICE.”

Canty is one of 629 elected officials nationwide to sign on to the statement. Other supporting legislators represent states including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Washington, D.C.

“The deadly violence and reckless constitutional abuses ICE agents have been inflicting on Minnesotans are disgusting,” Canty said. “Following Alex Pretti’s murder, I attended a vigil where Illinoisans showed that, despite witnessing such awful escalations, our spirt of resistance wouldn’t be quelled. Our community has faced similar terrorizing in recent months, but we won’t back down from the specter of renewed danger. However, we shouldn’t have to resist. No one in this country should be forced to show strength against attacks like this. I join with my colleagues from across the country to call on the federal government to immediately end these unconstitutional and violent occupations of American cities by ICE agents so that people in Illinois, Minnesota and every other state can return to living in peace.”

In Illinois, Canty recently passed House Bill 1312, to better protect people from ICE violence at locations including hospitals, courthouses and daycares; as well as House Resolution 622, echoing many of the statement’s points in condemning federal violence and lawlessness, and specifically calling for DHS Secretary Noem’s immediate resignation, or impeachment.

The full joint statement can be found here.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — Pervasive online price targeting of consumers using big data, or “surveillance pricing,” is steadily increasing the cost of living, and state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, has put her support behind a new measure to crack down on the practice and make life more affordable for her community.

“Shady tactics that big businesses use to squeeze every dollar they can from unsuspecting customers are driving up the cost of living,” Canty said. “From raising the price of baby clothes for consumers they know are new parents, to increasing the expenses of school supplies for college students, big companies are taking advantage of massive data sets and “surveillance pricing” to raise the cost of living at a time when people are already struggling. Cracking down on this deceptive practice is a commonsense step toward greater affordability for everyone.”

In a post-COVID world, people are spending more time and money online, which means they are sharing more personal information with private businesses. Canty is putting her support behind House Bill 4248, or the Algorithmic Pricing Transparency Act, which requires online businesses and retailers to disclose their algorithm-based pricing practices for goods and services. Consumers will then have the option to opt out of the practice and pay a baseline price. Additionally, the bill prohibits the use of sensitive personal information, like race, religion and immigration status, to determine pricing.

“My goal is to build a more affordable life for as many people as I can,” Canty said. “I’m ready to fight for this vital change and protect every consumer from predatory pricing and online exploitation in the modern marketplace.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, is standing up to Washington’s affordability crisis by voting to formally condemn the illegal Trump tariffs that have raised the price of everything from groceries to winter clothing, demanding reinstatement of Affordable Care Act subsidies that make healthcare more affordable, and rejecting unconstitutional efforts to freeze funding for affordable child care.

“With partisan funding cuts and out-of-control tariffs driving up a cost of living that is already too high, Donald Trump has quickly proved that his presidency will again be a disaster for working people across the country,” Canty said. “Without an immediate return to normal trade policies, the price of consumer goods will continue to spiral out-of-control. Without restoration of Affordable Care Act subsidies, healthcare premiums will rise out of reach of working families. Without the unfreezing of child care funds, thousands of Illinois families will face daunting new costs they may not be able to pay. The Trump Administration and Congress need to reverse course now to prevent more hardship.”

Illinoisans are facing skyrocketing expenses of medical care due to Trump and Republican leaders allowing Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire on Jan. 1 of this year, and tariff-motivated price increases on a broad swath of consumer goods—from groceries to warm winter clothing. Additionally, the Trump Administration recently froze $10 billion in funding for affordable child care, making one of the greatest expenses facing working families even more daunting and jeopardizing care for 100,000 Illinois children.

Canty is fighting back by advancing House resolutions formally condemning the causes of the Trump affordability crisis, and demanding solutions:

• House Resolution 620 calls on Congress and the Trump Administration to immediately reinstate the 2022 healthcare subsidies. Because these subsidies were allowed to lapse in January, families are now facing nearly $1,000 in annual premium increases–with rural and downstate communities facing average increases as high as $2,000.
• House Resolution 621 condemns Donald Trump’s effort to freeze funds for affordable child care and calls for the immediate release of all congressionally approved child care funds.
• House Resolution 623 calls on Donald Trump to stop his unconstitutional tariff scheme that cost families upwards of $1,200, and robs people of opportunities to save for the future. The resolution demands the United States Treasury issue $2,000 payments to every middle-class and modest-income household as a way of refunding families’ lost wages and savings, apologizing for Trump’s illegal tax increases.

“I’ve taken a lead role advancing the cause of child care in our state, and we’ve seen major improvements in recent years. However, freezing a billion dollars in funding is going to claw back the progress we’ve worked so hard for,” Canty said. “Illinois parents deserve affordable care for their kids that they can count on.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Completing years of work from reformers, law enforcement and business leaders, the transformational “clean slate” criminal justice reforms that state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, helped pass last fall were signed into law today.

“So many people are denied opportunities for careers, education and full lives because of small, non-violent mistakes years in their past. If a person can’t get a job, they can’t contribute to their local economy. If a person can’t get more education, they can’t gain the skills they need to be a productive member of the workforce,” Canty said. “The Clean Slate Act will ease some of these burdens for people with non-violent, minor criminal records and help them earn greater stability.”

Last fall Canty, in a continuing commitment to build a stronger economic future for her community, worked to pass the Clean Slate Act (House Bill 1836), which was signed into law today. It will automatically seal many minor criminal records, ensuring these records are accessible only to law enforcement, prosecutors and sensitive employers-such as daycares and schools. Arrests resulting in an acquittal or dismissal will be sealed immediately, while misdemeanor convictions will be sealed after two years. The most serious felonies, domestic abuse convictions and other violent crimes will not be eligible for sealing.

The measure is the product of years of negotiation with business groups, law enforcement, housing advocates and criminal justice reformers.

“I’m grateful to the many dedicated advocates who worked for years to make this step forward,” Canty said. “There is more work to do, but every ‘clean slate’ measure brings us less recidivism that undermines the work of the criminal justice system and unlocks greater economic potential.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — Comprehensive legislation to bring down home energy bills, hold large utility corporations accountable and create jobs that state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, passed last fall was signed into law today, marking a victory in her efforts to cut the cost of living.

“Illinoisans deserve better than bloated utility bills that further raise the cost-of-living, especially at a time when we have Donald Trump in the White House making life harder on everyone in this country,” Canty said. “Investing in a stable clean energy future while continuing to slash utility bills and create up to 100,000 jobs; these are the things that the people of Illinois sent us to Springfield to do.”

Many Illinois residents have seen home energy costs skyrocket. Increased power demands from new high-tech businesses and Washington’s massive tax bill threaten to raise costs even further—resulting in $9.5 billion in increased state energy expenses. The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (Senate Bill 25) puts Illinois on better footing to counteract rising energy prices.

• • Capturing clean energy: By capturing and redistributing energy already being produced, including from home solar panels, ComEd customers can see substantial relief on monthly costs.
  • Increasing battery storage: By building out our grid to increase the state’s battery storage, power systems will become more reliable and affordable to power millions of Illinois homes.
  • Investing in energy efficiency programs: By directly expanding energy efficiency programs for residents, Senate Bill 25 lowers electricity prices by reducing overall demand and improves equity in programs by allocating a minimum amount of funds to support low-income customers.

The measure will additionally create up to 100,000 jobs, counteracting job insecurity and layoffs caused by the federal budget bill— including over 50,000 lost manufacturing jobs in Illinois. As utility demands increase during the winter months, Senate Bill 25 will play a significant role in meeting the state’s energy needs, strengthening reliability and helping manage untenable costs for customers for both short- and long-term relief. 

“Broadly speaking, the role of a lawmaker is to create policies that make all our constituents’ lives easier—now and in the future,” Canty said. “When people get lower utility bills in the mail every month, their lives get easier. When they don’t have to prepare for the possibility of blackouts, like many in other states do, their lives get easier. When new good-paying job opportunities spring up, their lives get easier. This bill is a step toward those goals, and I’m going to continue to fight for more like it.”