More than 685,000 People Now Have Access to Quality Health Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today announced that since open enrollment began nearly one year ago, more than 685,000 people across Illinois now have access to quality healthcare through the Affordable Care Act. State officials are gearing up to ensure even more residents sign up for healthcare in year two of the Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 15. Today's announcement is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to ensure all people have access to quality healthcare and improve the health and well-being of the people of Illinois.

"Thanks to the leadership of President Obama and the Affordable Care Act, we have made health coverage a reality for hundreds of thousands of people across Illinois," Governor Quinn said. "Today, more than 685,000 people have access to healthcare who didn't have it just one year ago. We have come a long way but we are not going to stop until everyone in Illinois has the quality care they deserve."

According to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, 468,000 people have enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program under the ACA, more than double the state's initial projections. Coupled with the 217,000 who enrolled in private health plans through the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace, approximately 685,000 people have enrolled in health care as a result of the state's aggressive enrollment efforts. The state's Marketplace enrollment during the initial six-month enrollment period exceeded the federally established goal of 143,000 Marketplace enrollees by 52 percent.

Get Covered Illinois is in the process of training and preparing navigators for the second open enrollment period under the ACA, which will begin Nov. 15 and run through Feb. 15.

Governor Quinn made the announcement at Alivio Medical Center in Pilsen, one of the dozens of trusted community organizations across the state that is participating in the state's In-Person Counselor (IPC) program. The federally-funded program establishes a network of "navigators" across the state whose job is to educate consumers about the financial assistance available under the ACA for those who qualify based on their income, and help them navigate through their healthcare options and enroll in a healthcare plan.

The Illinois Department of Public Health recently announced that 37 community organizations around the state, including Alivio, were selected through a rigorous application process to participate in year two of the IPC/navigator program.

"Alivio Medical Center is very proud to have the opportunity to serve our community for a second year by participating in Get Covered Illinois' IPC program," Alivio Medical Center's CEO Esther Corpuz said. "We see families coming through our doors every day who remind us of the critical need for access to healthcare and the role it plays in allowing children and families to achieve their full potential in life."

Governor Quinn has long supported affordable and effective healthcare for all. In addition to the success of the ACA, Governor Quinn has signed multiple pieces of legislation to clarify and expand the scope of practice for certain health care professionals in order to ensure that Illinois residents have access to the health care they need. He also supports efforts to streamline and expedite veteran applications for professional licenses to benefit military families seeking employment and consumers seeking access to qualified health care professionals.

For more information about Get Covered Illinois and the state's implementation of the ACA, go to: www.GetCoveredIllinois.com.

Funding Will Improve Capacity, Safety on Joliet-Dwight Segment

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today announced a $102 million investment from the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program to improve system performance and reliability on a key segment of the Chicago-to-St. Louis high-speed rail line. The investment will allow the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Union Pacific Railroad to move forward with construction of a new bridge over the Kankakee River near Wilmington, as well as other safety and capacity enhancements along the busy corridor between Joliet and Dwight. Today's announcement is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to create jobs and build a 21st century infrastructure that will drive Illinois' economy forward.

"This investment is going to put people to work and take us one step closer to completing the high-speed rail connection between Chicago and St. Louis," Governor Quinn said. "None of this work on the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed line would be possible without the outstanding cooperation of the Union-Pacific Railroad. Investing in our Chicago-St.Louis line today will pay dividends to Illinois residents for years to come."

The $102 million investment will build a second set of tracks between Mazonia and Elwood, including the new Kankakee River bridge to accommodate the increased capacity. The work, which will be performed by the Union Pacific Railroad and overseen by IDOT, will take place in 2016 and 2017. The $102 million investment, part of the $550 million the governor identified in Illinois Jobs Now! to improve passenger rail service across the state, will create or support 918 construction jobs.

Once completed, the improvements will eliminate about five minutes in travel time immediately and put the final upgrades in place between Joliet and Dwight in anticipation of the eventual double-tracking of the remainder of the Chicago-St. Louis corridor. This double-tracking will then allow more daily round-trips at increased 110-mph speeds.

"We value the public-private partnership between IDOT's Bureau of Railroads, the Federal Railroad Administration and Union Pacific Railroad in making the rail corridor between Chicago and St. Louis the premier high-speed passenger corridor in the county,"  Union Pacific Railroad's Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs Wes Lujan said.

Today's announcement pushes the state's total commitment to the Chicago-St. Louis route to $358.8 million, with the remainder of the $1.7 billion project federally funded. Trains currently travel at 110 mph between Dwight and Pontiac. By the end of 2015, the trip between Chicago and St. Louis will be reduced to 5 hours from the current 5½ hours. When all of the improvements are finished in 2017, the trip will have been reduced even further to 4½ hours.

For more information on the high-speed rail project, visit www.idothsr.org.

Governor Signs Landmark Legislation on Women's Equality Day to Guarantee Women the Right to be Both Mothers and Employees

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today announced he has signed a landmark new law that will fight the widespread but often overlooked practice of discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace. The law provides job protections for pregnant women and requires that reasonable accommodations be made in the workplace so expectant mothers can continue working without fear for their health or the health of their child. Today's action is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to ensuring full equality for women in Illinois.

"Women should not have to choose between being a mother and having a job," Governor Quinn said. "This new law will provide important protections and accommodations for working mothers-to-be so that they can continue to provide for their family without risking their health or the health of their child.  These common-sense accommodations will provide peace of mind, safety and opportunity for moms-to-be and also help strengthen our workforce across the state."

"This bill is simply common sense," Director of Equal Opportunity at Women Employed Melissa Josephs said. "A woman should not have to choose between a healthy pregnancy and supporting her family. Many people thought that this was already the law. Now, fortunately, they're right."

House Bill 8, sponsored by State Representative Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) and State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), provides pregnant women with important worker protections such as limits on heavy lifting and assistance in manual labor; access to places to sit; more frequent bathroom breaks; time off to recover from childbirth; and break space for breast-feeding.

Studies have shown that, despite existing protections, pregnant women are too often forced out of their jobs and denied reasonable job modifications that would enable them to continue working. The Governor worked tirelessly with the bill's sponsors to pass the legislation in the Illinois General Assembly. The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2015.

"Every woman deserves to be respected and protected, and no woman should have to hide her pregnancy for fear of losing her job because she is pregnant," Representative Flowers said. "No woman should have to choose between losing her baby and or losing her job because the employer failed to make reasonable accommodations. Many of these women are disproportionately low income and single parents in need of their jobs. House Bill 8 creates a broad responsibility for employers to reasonably accommodate pregnant employees, which is no different than any other accommodations being made for anyone else with a health issue."

"Continuing to work during pregnancy, along with a quick return to work afterward, is very important for working mothers and their families," Senator Hutchinson said. "The reality is that for many Illinois families, women are the primary breadwinners and they should never have to choose between the ability to continue to provide for their families and a healthy pregnancy."

Since the last time pregnancy workforce protections were addressed at the federal level in 1978, the number of women who work during pregnancy has continued to rise at a high rate. According to a report issued in 2013 by the National Women's Law Center, nearly two-thirds of first-time mothers continue to work while pregnant and the majority of those work into their last month of pregnancy. Unfortunately, as the number of pregnant women working has increased so have the number of pregnancy discrimination cases filed. A study by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shows that, from 1992 to 2011, charges of pregnancy discrimination filed increased 71 percent.

"This legislation is especially important for low-income workers, who typically have the most physically demanding jobs and are least likely to have access to maternity leave and sick time," Wendy Pollack, director of the Women's Law and Policy Project at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, said. "Women can't afford to lose their jobs, along with their income, seniority, and their employer-provided health insurance, or put their pregnancies at risk, due to the denial of a reasonable accommodation."

The Governor also today signed House Bill 5563, sponsored by State Representative Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park) and State Senator Iris Martinez (D-Chicago), to amend the Equal Pay Act to centralize all complaints and investigations of women workers who fail to receive equal pay for equal work because of their gender. The new law allows the Illinois Department of Labor to refer complaints of alleged violations of the Equal Pay Act to the Illinois Department of Human Rights to help avoid confusion and centralize discrimination investigations. House Bill 5563 goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

Illinois' Equal Pay Act prohibits employers with four or more employees from paying unequal wages to men and women doing the same or substantially similar work, requiring equal skill, effort, responsibility and under similar working conditions. The law protects both men and women, and any individual who files an equal pay complaint is protected under the Act from harassment or retaliation. If an employer is found guilty of pay discrimination, they will be required to make up the wage difference to the employee and may be subject to pay legal costs and civil fines of up to $2,500 per violation.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois women still earn just 78 cents of every dollar earned by Illinois men based on the median weekly earnings of full-time workers. The law was enacted to help close the wage gap between men and women. Since its implementation the law has successfully recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages for women who were paid less than their male co-workers for doing the same work, which is prohibited under the Act.

Governor Quinn has been committed to protecting and empowering women in Illinois since taking office.  Last month, the Governor signed legislation to include a referendum asking voters if Illinois health insurance plans should be required to cover prescription birth control on the November 4 General Election ballot, following the U.S. Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision.

In his 2014 State of the State address, the Governor launched the innovative Birth to Five Initiative to expand access to prenatal care, early care and learning opportunities for every child. He also proposed a minimum of two days of earned sick leave per year for 2.5 million Illinois workers, 78 percent of whom are women, who have no sick leave.

He fought for and signed a law amending the Equal Pay Act to give victims of underpayment more time to address their claims. In 2013, Governor Quinn launched the first ever Women Owned Business Symposium to support the growth of women-owned businesses across Illinois.

The Governor is also leading the charge to increase the state's minimum wage to at least $10 per hour - six in ten minimum wage workers in Illinois are female.

More Cadets to Protect and Serve Communities Across Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Pat Quinn today announced a new Illinois State Police (ISP) cadet class is set to begin in September 2014. Class 125 marks the second cadet class for 2014, and officials anticipate that graduates will report for duty in February 2015. Today's announcement is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to ensure the safety of all people in every community across Illinois.

"The last few days have powerfully illustrated the strength, dedication and skill of our State Police force," Governor Quinn said. "From defusing a hostage crisis in Harvey, rescuing a motorist from floodwaters in southern Illinois, to helping the Chicago Police Department keep city streets safe, our dedicated troopers are always on call to serve our residents. This new cadet class will be an asset to officers already on patrol and to all of us who count on them."

"With the recent deployment of officers assisting in Chicago and other communities like Harvey, where State Police provided support during a high-risk hostage situation, more resources will provide much needed support to the men and women of this department who are indispensable in protecting Illinois," State Police Director Hiram Grau said.

The cadets will endure a rigorous 26-week regimen of physical and classroom instruction which includes training in Terrorism Awareness, Domestic Violence, Critical Incident Response, Firearms Training, First Responder Certification, Illinois Vehicle Code, Criminal Law, Motor Carrier Safety, Juvenile Law and more.

The ISP Academy is one of the most respected and recognized training facilities in the country. Dozens of law enforcement agencies also use ISP Academy curriculum to meet standards set forth by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.

Anyone interested in joining the ranks of the Illinois State Police is encouraged to visit the State Police Merit Board website at www.illinoistrooper.com for future application availability and testing dates.

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