OTTAWA, Ill. – State Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, is encouraging businesses to promote health and safety programs for their employees during Safe and Sound Week, August 9-15.

“Safe and Sound week is a nationwide event for businesses to look at their health and safety programs in the workplace and find new information and plans to keep workers safe,” said Yednock. “Countless employees put their health and safety at risk because of their occupation on in their line of work, and working men and women deserve to know that there are proper safeguards in place for their protection.”

Safe and Sound Week takes place every year nationally from August 9-15. Safe and Sound Week is used as a time for businesses to reflect on their own health and safety plans for workers. The Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provides free and confidential on-site safety and health advice to Illinois businesses. To schedule a free consultation, businesses can apply here: Consultation Visit. For more information on OSHA and Safe and Sound week, Illinoisians can visit Illinois OSHA.

“Health and safety should be a core value of every workplace,” continued Yednock. “I encourage all businesses to look at their own practices and see how they can ensure they are providing the safest workplace for their employees as our state continues to recover from the effects of the COVID-10 pandemic.” 

OTTAWA, Ill. –State Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, is ensuring local residents and families have easy access to Secretary of State services by hosting a Mobile DMV Unit on Saturday, June 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Granville Village Offices, located at 316 S. McCoy St in Granville.

“A trip to the DMV can be hard to do for some people who might not live close to one or don’t have time in their work schedule to go during the week,” said Yednock “This mobile unit will make sure that seniors and families have access to crucial services for drivers or to get an ID card in an easy and efficient way.” 

The unit will provide the following services:

• Renewal or correction of a Driver’s License
• New, renewal or correction of a State ID card 
• License plate stickers
• Motor voter registration with renewal of DL/ID
• Organ donor registration with renewal of DL/ID

Please note that Real ID compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards must be processed at a driver service facility, seniors age 75 and up will need to visit the DMV to renew a driver’s license and that proper identification will be needed for the services above. 

“Through this event, we can bring many basic services for drivers, like common renewals and license plate stickers,” said Yednock. “I want to thank the Secretary of State and Granville officials who helped make this event possible, and I encourage any resident in need of these services to stop by.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – To help stimulate job growth in Illinois, state Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, passed a legislative proposal on Wednesday that would require the state to buy products made in Illinois, helping create and support local jobs and keeping taxpayer dollars in state. 

“By prioritizing products that are manufactured here in Illinois, we are supporting local jobs that employ those who live and work in our state,” said Yednock. “When the state makes a purchase using taxpayer dollars, then those dollars should remain in our country and state. This is not only an investment in local companies, but also the local families that own them and work here.”

Yednock is sponsoring House Bill 357, which requires state agencies to purchase Illinois-manufactured products in the process of buying products or goods, if possible. If Illinois products are not available, agencies are then required to purchase American-made products. Yednock’s legislative agenda includes the strong promotion of local jobs and promoting the purchase of Illinois and American-made products by state agencies.

“As we continue to look at new ways to get our state’s economy back on track, one of the first steps is by supporting local businesses and industries, which in turn supports local jobs and employees,” said Yednock. “It’s more than reasonable to ask state agencies, when they are making purchases with taxpayer funds, to give preference to Illinois and American-made products. This will help us to be competitive while also supporting the hard-working men and women of our state.”

House Bill 357 passed the Illinois House of Representatives on Wednesday and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Legislation introduced by state Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, to protect the rights of labor members by maintaining the state’s power to regulate union agreements passed the Illinois House on Wednesday with bipartisan support.

“This legislation preserves the state’s role as a decision maker when it comes to union agreements, providing stability for union members and industries, and stopping the piecemeal prohibitions that many local governments have tried to place on organized labor,” said Yednock. “Men and women of labor have built our communities, and they deserve to have the security and protections that thousands have fought for across our state. This bill is about protecting working men and women as they continue to do their jobs every day, no matter what town they are in. Our police, our firefighters, those that continue to provide critical services and build the communities that we all live in deserve the stability that they have earned and fought for.”

Senate Bill 1474 clarifies that the rights to regulate union agreements and bargaining is held exclusively by the state, which brings Illinois in line with the intentions of the National Labor Relations Act. Local muncipailities have recently tried to regulate union agreements by passing “Right to Work” zones, which have sought to negatively impact the rights and salaries of union employees, along with creating confusion in statewide labor agreements. Instead of asking whether an employee is subject to an agency agreement one day, when their job takes them to nearby Chicago, and not the next day, when the employee happens to be working on-site in a neighboring village or city that has the opposite law, this legislation clarifies and sets the law at the state level.

“We applaud Rep. Yednock and the Illinois House of Representatives for their leadership in protecting Illinois’ working class in passing, with resounding bipartisan results, Senate Bill 1474,” said James M. Sweeney, President-Business Manager of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.