The Illinois House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation to protect the health and well-being of pregnant workers, recognizing that current state and federal laws fail to guarantee reasonable workplace accommodations for being pregnant. Sponsored by Rep. Mary Flowers and supported by the ACLU of Illinois, the bill would assure pregnant employees are granted simple, but health-protecting, accommodations that do not pose undue burdens on employers: more frequent bathroom and water breaks, the ability to have a place to sit, manual labor assistance, light duty assignments and schedule adjustments, post-partum time off, and access to a private breast-feeding area upon returning to work. None of these types of accommodations are legally available to pregnant workers under existing laws creating the need for legislative action.

It is established that pregnancy is not considered a disability under the ADA. As such, employers have no affirmative duty to provide “reasonable accommodations” (bathroom breaks, light duty, sitting areas, etc.) to their pregnant employees.

Furthermore, under the PDA, employers are mandated to provide pregnant workers with the same benefits as all other employees. While the PDA prohibits employers from discriminating against pregnant workers, there’s no affirmative duty for employers to accommodate pregnant employees.

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According to columnist Michael Sneed, Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office predicts that it will soon issue the 1000th marriage license to same-sex couples. In February, Federal Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled for immediate marriage equality in Lee v. Orr, a suit brought by the ACLU of Illinois and Lambda Legal, and ordered the Cook County Clerk’s office to promptly begin issuing marriage license to same sex applicants. Since then the office reports processing over 950 license applications and that a third of the applicant couples traveled from other Illinois counties to Orr’s office to obtain a marriage license. The Clerk’s office anticipates reaching the 1000 milestone as soon as Friday. Courtney Greve a spokeswoman for Orr’s office stated:

“We also expect the numbers to go up because of planned summer weddings and the 60-day period it takes to get a license.”

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Illinois may follow the path of sixteen other states and revise its out-of-date, discriminatory laws against marijuana, Examiner.com writes. State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) introduced legislation, now under consideration in the Illinois House, to address the incredibly high expenditures required to enforce current anti-marijuana laws in Illinois. These laws also are enforced disproportionately on people of color, especially young men of color. Though pot-use percentages are similar across all social and racial demographics, studies show that in Chicago, since August 2012 when the city lowered possession penalties, 78 percent of those arrested for possessing small amounts, were black. This cost the Chicago Police Department in 2013 over $23 million, and 46,000 police man-power hours. Cassidy’s bill, which is supported by the ACLU of Illinois, approaches the problem with a solid understanding of all sides of the drug-use issue, from law enforcement safety needs as well as the long term impact of possession records. The bill focuses on less criminality, not on decriminalization, and it would expunge possession records. Ed Yohnka, ACLU of Illinois Director of Communications and Public Policy, maintains that Cassidy’s bill would avoid the:

“collateral damage in housing, financial aid and public housing,” and that (afflict) people who are found to be in possession of such small amounts, (that) “we feel should not be criminalized.”

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