SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, is continuing to fight for suicide prevention with her measure to make National Suicide Prevention Lifeline information visible in a wide range of public places and expand comprehensive suicide prevention education.

This legislation just passed the legislature with bipartisan support and will advance to the governor’s desk for signature.

“Ensuring that people in crises are aware of the resources available to them can make a huge difference for countless Illinoisans,” Canty said. “This measure creates achievable, affordable, commonsense requirements for many institutions that will save lives by helping spread awareness of the mental health professionals available with a simple phone call.”

Canty’s Senate Bill 2771, also known as Tammurra’s Act, requires public buildings–including libraries, shelters, nursing homes, hospitals, probation and juvenile detention centers, daycares, and public universities–to visibly post contact information for the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, ensuring residents know immediate help is available. 

Senate Bill 2771 would also expand comprehensive health education for students in grades 6 through 12 by integrating evidence-based suicide prevention curriculum, as well as strengthen reentry support by requiring the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide suicide prevention resources to individuals preparing for release.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, advanced a measure Wednesday to promote fair and thorough education by restricting the use of AI during teacher evaluations.

This measure will go to the governor’s desk for consideration.

“Teachers deserve fair evaluations and by outsourcing that process to AI, we are doing a disservice to both the dedicated men and women working in our education system and the children that are there to learn,” Canty said. “I’m committed to creating the best possible classroom environment for Illinois kids, and forcing our teachers to conform to a generic and even inhuman standard is not the right approach to that goal.”

Senate Bill 2909 would prevent school administrators from using AI to write teacher evaluations, a formal process used to measure an educator’s effectiveness, instructional skills and classroom performance. These tools are only as good as the data they are trained on, which is difficult to vet, and teachers have also expressed concerns about transparency and privacy. The bill further prohibits teachers from using AI to generate evidence of their performance for the purposes of the evaluation.

The measure does recognize that AI might become an integral part of the teacher evaluation process one day, however the technology is not there yet. Senate Bill 2909 would not stop evaluators from using AI for basic administrative tasks. If the evaluator chooses to use AI- assisted tools, they must name and specify the purpose of the tool used in the evaluation and share that information with the teacher being evaluated.

“I’m in favor of exploring AI as a tool for basic organization and streamlining simple aspects of modern work, but this technology is not capable of effectively carrying out judgement-based tasks this complex,” Canty said. “The advent of new technologies like this needs to be met with a careful evaluation of their limitations. When we task them with responsibilities they can’t carry out, we’re inviting unintended consequences.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Working to protect homeowners from medical debt, state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, is sending a bill to Governor JB Pritzker’s desk ensuring patients’ primary residences and property cannot be used in legal action by hospitals seeking to recover unpaid medical debt.

“Medical debt can pose a crushing burden on patients and their families, and the last thing people dealing with that challenge need is to have their homes in legal jeopardy,” Canty said. “The need for a serious medical procedure shouldn’t lead to long-term financial problems, especially not threats to ownership of something as vital as housing.”

Medical debt remains one of the leading causes of bankruptcy nationwide, according to the National Library of Medicine, with nearly half of U.S. adults finding it difficult to afford healthcare. Canty backed House Bill 4461 to take an important step to protect patients’ homes and property by changing the law to disqualify any Illinois hospital from pursuing liens on patients’ primary residences during legal action should a patient have accrued medical debt.

The initiative is driven by local resident reports of aggressive collection actions, including liens being placed on homes for medical debts as low as $2,000.

“Long-term medical debt is a menace to working families right now, and I’m committed to fixing that,” Canty said. “In addition to helping craft a budget that has already relieved over a billion dollars in overdue healthcare payments, I helped pass this legislation because high-quality healthcare is a human right, and Illinois should be a state where it is affordable and accessible to every patient.”

Canty’s measure has now passed out of both chambers and awaits the governor’s consideration.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — With some states increasingly hostile toward bodily autonomy, state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, is fighting to keep personal health information private with the Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act to limit abortion-related medical information from crossing state lines. 

On Thursday, this legislation passed the House and will soon be heard in the Senate.

“With the right to choose increasingly under attack from a radical federal government that is stripping away bodily autonomy protections, Illinois is taking the lead on ensuring abortion access is preserved,” Canty said. “That’s a responsibility we should be proud to carry, and we owe it to thousands of people not just to provide the reproductive healthcare they need, but to keep their information private.”

To help keep abortion records safe, the Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act requires entities that facilitate the electronic exchange of health information, or health information exchanges, to:

• Limit user access to systems containing abortion-related medical information,
• Refrain from sharing this information across state lines,
• Technically segregate information related to abortion services from the rest of a patient’s record, and
• Create the means to automatically disable access to segregated information for out-of-state entities.

The bill also empowers the Attorney General to enforce these requirements with civil penalties, and for private causes of action to be taken by patients who have had their right to privacy violated.

“Rights are preserved by proactive legislating. Prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned, Illinois passed the Reproductive Health Act, which eliminated trigger laws and safeguarded the right to an abortion,” Canty said. “I am fighting to create vital protections before thousands of patients are faced with concerted efforts from hostile state governments and law enforcement agencies to strip away their privacy and punish them for getting the healthcare they need.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, helped advance legislation out of the House chamber last Thursday to create the Abortion Access Fund Grant Program, expanding support and access to abortion care services for uninsured or underinsured patients in Illinois.

“Guaranteeing the right to a safe and affordable abortion is an essential piece of comprehensive healthcare and foundational when protecting bodily autonomy,” Canty said. “While other states are working to curtail this right, Illinois is fighting even harder to maintain it. The Abortion Access Fund Grant Program is going to provide abortion services to thousands of women who otherwise may not have had that choice.”

House Bill 5408 creates the Abortion Access Fund Grant Program, funded through existing mandates under the Affordable Care Act, and requires insurers to collect funds for the purposes of providing legal reproductive care, specifically abortions. These funds typically sit unused. Canty’s bill would redirect unused funds back to Illinois where they could then be used at the discretion of the Illinois Department of Public Health to assist underinsured or uninsured Illinois women and patients with abortion care.

“The situation isn’t complex. If you’re for preserving the right to choose, you’re for health and personal freedom. If you want to take that choice away, you’re fighting to create medical hazards and turn doctors into criminals,” Canty said. “Passing this bill represents progress and we’re far from finished.”

House Bill 5408 passed the House and now awaits Senate consideration.

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.”