SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WSIL) -- Day one of the Illinois fall veto sessions is in the books.
On Tuesday, The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) heard from members of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (IDCEO) who are planning a second round of Back To Business (B2B) grants.
The $250 million program was created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to help small businesses most impacted by the pandemic.
Khama Sharp, deputy general council for the IDCEO, says the state has given out more than $50 million dollars in grants. Sharp says an additional $50 million is set aside to create the second round of grants.
Lawmakers on the JCAR panel noted that the grants were unavailable to businesses that began on or after January 1, 2020. Sharp said the second round of grants would specifically focus on those new start-up businesses.
"The amount of funds should be small to reach as many businesses as possible or the funds should be big enough to at least assist businesses to stay open," Sharp said.
Sharp added that awards for single applicants with multiple businesses are capped at $300,000.
PARENTAL NOTICE OF ABORTION ACT OF 1995
A group of female Senate Republicans want to keep Democrats from removing a law aimed at informing mothers of their daughters' abortion.
Senate Republican Deputy Leader Sue Rezin (R-Morris) was joined by Sens. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), Sally Taylor (R-Beason) and Jill Tracy (R-Quincy) at a Capitol press conference to defend the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 (PNA).
The law, passed in 1995 but enacted in 2013 after years of court proceedings, gives parents of minors under 17 years old a 48-hour notice before doctors or physicians can perform an abortion.
The group argues that removing PNA will hurt minors and put them in danger and that Democrats are unfairly comparing the law to recently passed abortion laws in Texas.
But the group argues protecting the law is not about defending abortion rights but protecting a parent's right to not be in the dark.
"I will not sit silently by as Democrat lawmakers seek to tie the hands of parents, allowing children to undergo such an important decision without the parent's knowledge," Bryant said.
Bryant added that the law is in place to help adolescents who are unprepared to handle the consequences of an abortion.
So far no bill has been introduced to remove PNA.
There were no discussions about the proposed congressional maps signed into law last month. The House Redistricting Committee is expected to meet Wednesday morning.