Latest news with #JADEAUBREYCapitol
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Illinois lawmakers pass bill to raise age of senior driving tests
If signed by governor, seniors won't have to take an annual driving test until the age of 87 By JADE AUBREYCapitol News Illinoisjaubrey@ SPRINGFIELD – A bill unanimously passed by the Senate on Thursday and on its way to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk will increase the age that senior drivers in Illinois are required to take an annual driver's test. Currently, if a driver renews their driver's license between the ages of 79 and 80, they are required to take a driving test. Drivers between 81 and 86 are required to take a driving test every two years, and drivers 87 and older have to take the test annually. If Pritzker signs House Bill 1226, sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, only drivers 87 and older will have to take an annual driver's test. Illinois drivers between 79 and 86 won't be required to take a driver's test to renew their license; instead, they'll only have to take a vision test, and if they have a driving violation, a written test. The bill would also allow a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling or child of any Illinois driver to submit medical information about the driver to the secretary of state if they think the person's medical condition interferes with their driving abilities. Currently, only medical officials, police officers and state's attorneys can submit such information. HB 1226, also called the Road Safety and Fairness Act, has garnered bipartisan support. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced his support for the bill in January alongside lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. The bill was conceived by a constituent of Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, last year. The bill has 86 cosponsors in the House and 35 in the Senate. Illinois is the only state that requires seniors to pass a driving test solely due to their age. But state data indicates that older drivers tend to have lower crash rates. In 2023, the crash rate for drivers aged 75 and older was 24.61 per 1,000 drivers, which was lower than any other age group, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The low crash rate has been consistent since at least 2018, according to the Secretary of State's Office's 2023 Study on Age-Related Driving Abilities. The crash rate is more than double for many of the other age groups.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Pritzker signs order to protect personal autism data in response to federal action
HHS wants to create database using data gathered from state agencies By JADE AUBREYCapitol News Illinoisjaubrey@ SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker issued an executive order Wednesday that bars state agencies from collecting and disclosing data about autism to the federal government unless it's medically or legally necessary. The order was in response to a move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier Wednesday to research and create a national autism database. In a statement, Pritzker called the project a 'threat' to the rights of disabled individuals. The order stated that the project raises privacy concerns about the collection and use of data, as well as potential 'discriminatory profiling or surveillance of individuals with disabilities.' 'Every Illinoisan deserves dignity, privacy, and the freedom to live without fear of surveillance or discrimination,' Pritzker said. 'As Donald Trump and DOGE threaten these freedoms, we are taking steps to ensure that our state remains a leader in protecting the rights of individuals with autism and all people with disabilities.' Executive Order 2025-02 also requires state agencies to follow strict privacy and data protection requirements when they do disclose such data, including making personal information anonymous where it's practicable and only disclosing the minimum amount of personal information that's legally necessary. The move was prompted by an HHS announcement of a research project on Wednesday. The project will allow the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to have access to data and medical records of Medicare and Medicaid enrollees diagnosed with autism in an effort to research autism, Newsweek reported. It also directly responded to remarks made last month by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who called autism an 'epidemic' and said that President Trump has tasked him with finding a cause for the 'epidemic.' 'Autism is a neurological difference—not a disease or an epidemic,' Pritzker's order read. 'People with disabilities, including individuals with autism, are too often stigmatized and underestimated, and public policy should never diminish the diverse strengths and potential of this community.' This is not the first time Kennedy has touched on his beliefs about autism. During an interview in 2023, he confirmed that he believes that vaccines cause autism, a theory the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a wide body of research have long since debunked. Read more: How RFK Jr.'s health proposals could affect Illinois Executive orders aren't often enacted by the Illinois governor, as last year he only signed three. This is the second order he has signed this year and is his latest action against the Trump Administration since his trade mission to Mexico this spring. Read more: Pritzker hopes trade mission to Mexico sparks new investment despite tariffs Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
