VILLA PARK — The families of armed service members killed in action or on duty will have greater power to terminate their fallen loved ones’ lease obligations thanks to a law championed by State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park).

House Bill 4317, which allows dependents of fallen service members to terminate a lease, was signed into law on Friday.

“Gold Star families have sacrificed more than most of us can imagine,” Cullerton said. “Nothing can ease their suffering but it is our duty to give them the necessary protections to take the difficult steps forward after saying goodbye to their loved ones.”

Previous law allowed service members to terminate a lease if they receive changes to deployment orders, but there was no law in place to allow dependents of fallen service members to terminate leases.

“This is a commonsense law that will make a difficult task a little easier,” Cullerton said. “This should have been law already.”

The measure was modeled after North Carolina law which allows an immediate family member or lawful representative of a service member killed in duty to terminate the service member's lease.

House Bill 4317 passed with bipartisan support and goes into effect immediately.

BLOOMINGDALE – All local residents are invited to a property tax appeal seminar hosted by State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) and Bloomingdale Township Assessor John T. Dabrowski from 6 -7 p.m. Monday, July 30 at the Bloomingdale Township “Michael A. Miliotti” Senior Center (6N050 Rosedale Ave., Bloomingdale).

Property tax experts will be present to help homeowners lower their tax bills.

“This free seminar is an informative event that can help you find extra savings in your property tax bills,” Cullerton said.

Residents of Bloomingdale Township should bring:

•    Appraisal (if done in the last 1.5 years)
•    Closing statement (if the home was purchased in the last year)
•    Property tax bill
•    Valid state ID or driver’s license

This seminar is part of a series of property tax seminars hosted by Cullerton this summer.

Date: Monday, July 30
Time: 6-7 p.m.         
Location: Bloomingdale Township “Michael A. Miliotti” Senior Center (6N050 Rosedale Ave., Bloomingdale).

For more information,  please call (630) 903-6662.

VILLA PARK – Gov. Rauner took steps today to endanger Illinois voter’s personal information.

Rauner vetoed Senate Bill 2273 which would prohibit the Illinois State Board of Elections from sharing any voter information with the controversial Crosscheck system or any other interstate voter registration program other than the mandated Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) is outraged that the governor supports storing sensitive voter registration information unnecessarily on insecure servers.

“Elections empower residents to take an active role in the democratic process. Illinois’ citizens should be able to register to vote without fear that their personal information may be susceptible to hackers,” Cullerton said.

Illinois currently participates in two multistate voter registration sharing programs: Crosscheck and ERIC.

State elections officials say the ERIC system provides more reliable information and greater security for personal information than Crosscheck.

Crosscheck is managed by Kansas’ Secretary of State Kris Kobach, and according to researchers at Harvard and Stanford, the program compares data that is insufficient to produce dependable results.

Astoundingly, researchers found Crosscheck was 99 percent more likely to purge legitimate voter from the rolls as opposed to illegitimate ones. The system is also a glaring security risk, as it uses minimal IT security and its operators have demonstrated a disregard for basic cybersecurity protocol, leading to the personal information of Illinois of voters vulnerable to hacking, tampering and manipulation.

The data is stored on a standard server in Arkansas, which the state admits is insecure.
Illinois’ election board’s 2016 election hacking was referenced in the indictment of 12 Russian hackers which resulted in the theft of the information of approximately 500,000 voters.

State Board of Elections officials testified during legislative hearings that hackers took voters' names, addresses, birth dates and, in some cases, their driver's license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

“Gov. Rauner needs to learn from the lessons of the past. It’s his duty to ensure Illinois’ residents have faith in our state’s electoral process,” Cullerton said. “Once again, Gov. Rauner is not willing to consider commonsense solutions to protect Illinois’ citizens.”

SPRINGFIELD – After months of waiting, Gov. Bruce Rauner finally signed two new state laws sponsored by State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) to protect veterans at state homes from deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks.

“Gov. Bruce Rauner’s mismanagement and failed leadership killed 13 veterans, now he is trying to take credit for measures the General Assembly had to pass to address his mismanagement,” Cullerton said. “Gov. Rauner does not deserve a pat on the back for attempting to govern in the eleventh hour.”

The first measure, House Bill 5683, will expand the list of facilities operated and maintained by the veterans home to include the Sycamore facility in Quincy, allowing for temporary housing of veterans.

“This measure places the health of our veterans ahead of bureaucracy,” Cullerton said. “The high summer temperatures put our heroes in harm’s way. Moving residents to the Sycamore home will serve as a safer alternative while the state makes progress in eliminating any sign of Legionnaires ’ disease at the Quincy home.”

Due to high temperatures expected during the upcoming summer months, the veterans will be at a greater risk than ever, and Cullerton said he is furious that it took so long for the governor to sign this safeguard measure into law.

“The governor continues to sit on his hands while both sides of the legislature work together to remedy the Legionnaires’ crisis,” Cullerton said. “The Quincy veterans’ facility is a home for servicemen and women and their loved ones, not a photo op for the governor.”

The second Cullerton measure Gov. Rauner signed, Senate Bill 3128, will save veteran lives by speeding up construction at the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy.

The measure will immediately authorize the Capital Development Board and the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs to address the ongoing public health crisis that has already claimed 13 lives at the Quincy Veterans Home.

Read more: Rauner finally signs two Cullerton bills aimed at saving veterans