SPRINGFIELD — State Sen. Linda Holmes issued the following statement following a Wednesday vote in the Senate to restore funding and original entry requirements to the Child Care Assistance Program.

“Governor Rauner’s decision to roll back accessibility to the Child Care Assistance Program is harmful to families who are doing all they can to work and ensure their children are cared for,” Holmes said. “Delays in funding have already caused the closure of a day care center in my district earlier this year. We can’t tell our working families that it’s better to just stay home. That’s why I support this measure and call on the House to pass it.”

The legislation is Senate Bill 570. It proceeds to the House for consideration.

I was excited to join Excel Displays & Packaging to unveil a new printer that will put them on the cutting edge of custom packaging design. The only one of its kind in North America, the new printer will help them ramp up production and continue to be a cutting edge company right here in Aurora.

Linda Holmes

State Senator, 42nd Senate District

I was pleased to join state Senator Jim Oberweis at Marmion Academy this week to help host a Senior Fair. We saw a good turnout of senior citizens, who spoke with representatives from organizations like the AARP, the Northeastern Illinois Agency on Aging, the Aurora Public Library, Secretary of State and Treasurer's Offices, and many more. They provided information on a wide variety of services available to our senior citizens. If you believe senior citizens in your community would be interested in a similar event, please contact my office.

Linda Holmes

State Senator, 42nd Illinois Senate District

New regulations ensure safe disposal of syringes and other sharp waste

SPRINGFIELD — The governor signed today a law to improve waste disposal worker safety and prevent the potential spread of disease, enacting a plan put forth by State Senator Linda Holmes.

“‘Sharps,’ like syringes, are a fact of life for one out of 12 Illinoisans, and that means one out of 12 Illinoisans is disposing of them somehow,” Holmes said. “I applaud the governor’s decision to affirm a law that ensures our sanitation workers are not being exposed to potential biohazards as they do their jobs.”

For proper disposal, syringes and other “sharps” should be collected in an appropriate sharps disposal container and can be disposed of in your regular trash. Even when placed in the appropriate plastic container, sharps should never be disposed of with recyclables.

Under the new law, disposing of sharp waste like syringes in recycling would be prohibited. It would also permit local governments to establish sharps collection points at medical centers and police or fire stations and to create a U.S. Postal Service-approved sharp waste mail-back program.

The legislation was Senate Bill 793. It becomes effective Jan. 1, 2016.