TINLEY PARK- State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Tinley Park) is excited to announce Illinois’ bipartisan automatic voter registration legislation is now law.

Under this bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 1933, Illinois residents seeking a new or renewed driver's license or state ID would be automatically registered to vote unless they opt out.

“Our election systems are one of the most sacred components of our nation’s democratic system,” Hastings said. “This is a testament to our American values. Everyone should be engaged in our election process regardless of political party or belief. Our veterans and service men and women have and continue put their lives on the line to protect this fundamental right. Out of respect and honor it is our duty to exercise it.”

Before the passage of Senate Bill 1933, motorists seeking services at secretary of state facilities are asked if they want to register to vote or update their registration, requiring them to choose to take that extra step.

“Government should be a direct representation of the people,” Hastings said. “This new law will make it easier for Illinois residents to voice their opinions at the ballot box.”

The bipartisan law includes provisions suggested by opponents such as requiring an applicant to confirm they are eligible to vote, and giving people the option to opt out of registering at the time they are getting their license renewed or updated.

Senate Bill 1933 passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support. The new law will go into effect immediately to allow automatic voter registration to be implemented by July 1, 2018.

TINLEY PARK- Illinois state agencies will now be required to report all cybersecurity attacks within five days.

Senate Bill 707, sponsored by State Senator Michael E. Hastings (Tinley Park) was signed into law today.

The new law requires state agencies to release detailed reports within five days of determining there was a security breach concerning any of their networks and databases especially those that compromise Illinois residents’ information.

“The people of Illinois deserve to know if a security breach has taken place at a taxpayer funded agencies,” Hastings said. “Illinois residents deserve to not only be informed of all cybersecurity breaches but be reassured the proper steps were taken to make sure similar attacks will not happen again.”

Hastings started looking into this issue after the July 2016 attack on the Illinois State Board of Elections.

In July 2016, an employee of the Illinois Board of Elections flagged irregular activity, which found that hackers had gained access to the state’s voter databases, which contained personal information such as names, dates of birth, genders, driver’s licenses and partial Social Security numbers of about 15 million people. Ultimately, as many as 90,000 records were compromised.  

“We live in a digital world. It’s important that Illinois’ laws evolve and update with the way government works,” Hastings said.

Senate Bill 707 requires all security breaches that affect more than 250 Illinois residents, and then the breach should be reported to the Office of the Chief Information Security Officer of DoIT no later than 72 hours after the alleged breach. The Chief Information Security Officer will assess the report; if releasing the report would jeopardize the security of Illinois resident or the ongoing investigation that determination will be made.

“Illinois needs to work to strengthen their cyber security systems,” Hastings said. “It’s important to use previous attacks as a learning experience to better strengthen our system and fend off attackers.”

Senate Bill 707 passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support and goes into effect today.

TINLEY PARK— State Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-Tinley Park) championed legislation to establish best practices and consistent regulations to protect dogs and cats throughout Illinois.

Hastings’ initiative, Senate Bill 1882, was signed into law today.  This new law also known as “Safe Pets” will establish standards to protect the health and well-being of animals sold in Illinois.

“Welcoming dogs and cats into your family is physically and mentally rewarding,” Hastings said. “These furry friends do not take long to become part of your family. It is our duty to put protections in place to protect our family pets’ well-being as well as make sure there are precautions in place to reunite dogs and cats with our families sooner.”

The primary components of this regulatory standard for pet stores:

•    Prohibits pet stores from purchasing animals from large commercial breeders that are USDA-licensed and does not have direct non-compliance citations over a two-year period.
•    Pet stores are required to microchip dogs or cats prior to sale.
•    Requires pet stores to obtain copies of USDA inspection reports either from the USDA website (if posted online) or directly from the breeder prior to purchasing the cat or dog and must be available to consumers prior to sale.

Hastings worked with the Illinois Pet Lovers Association and the Illinois Humane Society

These protections enhance public confidence in the health of the animal prior to purchase.

“The enactment of this bill is an important step in the right direction and brings us one day closer to the day when cruel puppy mills have nowhere left to sell,” said Marc Ayers, Illinois Director of the Humane Society of the United States. “Illinois is the eighth state to enact a pet store sourcing law, preventing the worst puppy mills from selling to in-state pet stores."

Hastings worked with organizations and stakeholders throughout Illinois to develop a compromise to protect Illinois’ dogs and cats.

“This legislation is the result of countless hours of negotiation to institute responsible and thoughtful pet industry regulations in Illinois to protect Illinois’ dogs and cats,” Hastings said.

Senate Bill 1882 passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support. This new law goes into effect immediately.

TINLEY PARK- Internet websites or online services that mostly serve children for educational purposes will soon no longer be able to objectify children by selling their person information.

State Senator Michael E. Hastings’ (D-Tinley Park) Senate Bill 1796, Student Online Personal Protection Act, was signed into law today.

“The way our children learn has changed,” Hastings said. “We use new technology like educational websites and online programs to make sure our children are trained to work in digital world. Parents should not have to be worried about how companies use marketing tactics to target their children.”

Senate Bill 1796 works to ensure that student data will be protected when it is collected by educational technology companies and that the data may be used for beneficial purposes such as providing personalized learning and innovative educational technologies but cannot be used to be sold to third-parties for advertising purposes.

This new law is modeled off of a student data privacy law enacted in California in 2015.

Senate Bill 1796 prohibits operators of educational websites that target children in preschool through 12th grade from knowingly doing any of the following:

•    Actively participating in targeted advertising on the site if the targeting is based on any information that the operator has acquired because of the use of its site for a K-12 school purpose
•    Using information gathered by the operator's site to accumulate a profile about a student, unless it is to be used to improve their website in maintenance of K-12 school purposes;
•    Selling or renting a student's information.

“Technology is evolving,” Hastings said. “It is important that Illinois continues to adapt to the new world. Our children learn through online methods, it is important that children are protected and supported as they progress through the educational system, not targeted.”

Senate Bill 1796 passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support. The new law goes into effect immediately.