FRANKFORT – Each year, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources selects schools across the state to receive grants for field trips. This year, Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Frankfort) is congratulating two local schools, Arcadia Elementary School and Rich Township High School STEM Campus, on being selected as winners.

“This Biodiversity Grant Program provides students with a chance to expand their education outside of the classroom,” Hastings said. “I am incredibly grateful that the students at these two schools are being extended this excellent opportunity.”

The program allows schools to take students to state parks, museums, and other natural resource locations to gain hands-on experience with nature and conservation in Illinois.

Students from Arcadia Elementary School’s 4th through 6th grade classes will take a trip to Central Park Wetlands in Park Forest, a local park that contains a restored wetland area.

Students in 11th and 12th grade from Rich Township High School’s STEM Campus will be visiting Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve, an 891-acre protected area with a range of different habitat types.

Both trips will provide students with an opportunity to gain in-person experience with biodiversity issues they are learning about in the classroom and expand their knowledge of Illinois and its natural resources.

More information about the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program is available from the IDNR Division of Education at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 217-524-4126. The 2022 application form will be available on the IDNR website within the months to come.

SPRINGFIELD – A measure spearheaded by State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Frankfort) that would sufficiently honor members of the Illinois National Guard in death passed the Senate Veterans Affairs committee Tuesday.

“The presentation of a flag, whether it’s a state flag or the American flag, to the families of fallen soldiers is a crucial tradition that dates back centuries,” Hastings said. “No soldier’s life should go unrecognized, so I am pleased my colleagues on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee saw fit to extend this privilege to more of our state’s fallen National Guardsmen and women.”

Under current law, members of the Illinois National Guard serving on federal duty or training status are to have a state flag presented to their next of kin upon their death, should they die while serving. Senate Bill 505 adds State Active Duty to this provision, ensuring that all who lose their lives in service of their state and country are properly memorialized.

“Those men and women who serve our state and country honorably and pay the ultimate price for those causes are worthy of the highest form of recognition,” Hastings said. “This change to the current law is a gesture that will make a massive difference to the loved ones of our fallen heroes.”

This legislation will now be considered before the full Senate.

CLINTON – State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Frankfort) and State Senator Doris Turner (D-Springfield) traveled to the Clinton Power Station Thursday to tour the facility and meet with employees.

“As a devastating energy crisis unfolds in Texas due to winter storms, consumers are experiencing skyrocketing natural gas prices. This demonstrates how essential our nuclear fleet is to reliable energy production in Illinois,” said Hastings, who serves as chair of the Senate Public Utilities and Energy Committee. “Rest assured, when the time comes, I will be prepared to do everything it can to protect our existing clean energy infrastructure.”

This is Hastings’ sixth power plant tour in recent months, as his committee begins its work this spring on the future of the state's energy policy. Exelon has indicated it will close more nuclear plants this year unless it receives additional aid, and state lawmakers are expected to discuss the future of clean energy in Illinois thoroughly this session.

Joining Hastings on the tour was State Senator Doris Turner (D-Springfield).

“The situation in Texas serves as a harsh reminder of what can happen when state government neglects existing energy infrastructure while also failing to innovate. Everyday Texans are still enduring unusually frigid temperatures without access to heat and water. This simply cannot be allowed to happen in Illinois,” Turner said. “I look forward to working to ensure that our state’s energy infrastructure remains state-of-the-art, implement training programs for people transitioning to a job in a new energy sector and protect existing, good-paying jobs Downstate.”

The Clinton Power Station has the ability to generate nearly 1,069 net megawatts, enough electricity to power about 1 million average American homes. The 5,000-acre cooling lake is formed by a dam built at the convergence of Salt Creek and the North Fork of Salt Creek. The station serves as an economic driver for numerous Downstate communities, contributing $13 million in property taxes annually. Clinton also supports 2,100 direct and secondary jobs in Illinois.

FRANKFORT – Following Governor JB Pritzker’s annual budget address, State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Frankfort) offered the following statement:

“The proposal outlined by Governor Pritzker today is just the start of what will certainly be a challenging negotiation process. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented our people with generational economic challenges, and there is no question that this is going to be an incredibly difficult year for the state of Illinois. That is why our focus must be providing critical services to the people we represent, improving the unemployment system, assisting small businesses impacted by the pandemic, and putting people back to work through investment in infrastructure projects.

This is going to be a delicate budget making process, but the situation we find ourselves in calls for a reassessment of how we spend money in Illinois. I look forward to working to implement a budget that tightens the state’s belt, restricts reckless spending, and puts us back on track.”