A bipartisan bill by state Sen. Erica Harriss (R-Glen Carbon) to allow human-trafficking victims to expunge their criminal records was signed into law last month by Gov. JB Pritzker.
House Bill 2418, which was co-authored by Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore), was signed into law June 9. It is designed to give trafficking victims, who are often coerced to take part in illegal activities, a path to vacate or expunge their criminal sentences in an effort to help such victims recover from trauma and turn their lives around, according to the authors.
“The signing of this bill now creates a pathway to expunge criminal records for victim survivors of human trafficking as they seek to recover from the trauma they have experienced and seek to pursue a better life,” Harriss said in a prepared statement. “It’s incredibly important we do more in our state to further protect victims, especially those who have experienced the unimaginable.”
The measure passed both houses of the state Legislature unanimously earlier this year.
Harriss has also teamed up with state Rep. Amy Elik (R-Alton) to author several other bills that were signed by Pritzker last month. These bills include HB 1273, which will commemorate Sept. 17 as Constitution Day on school calendars but will not mandate school closures on that day.
““Not all Illinois schools celebrate or recognize Constitution Day,” Elik said in a prepared statement. “This new law will ensure schools are celebrating and honoring the U.S. Constitution by recognizing the holiday under Illinois law.”
Another bill authored by the two lawmakers, HB 1297, aims to ease the state’s teacher shortage by allowing private school teachers and administrators to obtain two years of additional service credit. The credit would encourage former educators to return to public school classrooms and help fill the state’s nearly 3,000 vacant teaching positions, according to the lawmakers.
A third bill by Harriss and Elik, HB 2618, will strengthen background checks for drivers under contract with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). The bill aims to better protect vulnerable foster children while they are being transported by the DCFS.