SPRINGFIELD — Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) released the following statement in response to the Senate’s passage of a balanced Fiscal Year 2026 budget that prioritizes fiscal responsibility, boosts education and local resources and makes the full pension obligation payment:

“The administration in Washington has made threats and taken unconstitutional action to throw international, national and state economies and household budgets into disarray. Here in Illinois, we have produced a balanced, responsible budget that will fully fund our pension obligations, maintain funding for local governments, and increase funds for the evidence-based funding model and the Monetary Award Program (MAP) for need-based financial aid to Illinois students.

In 2023, I passed Senate Bill 2228, legislation intended to bring the state’s hiring practices out of the 1950s and into the present so Illinois’ ability to recruit and hire quality applicants would be improved and streamlined. The future is now, and on May 19, Illinois Central Management Services announced that the State of Illinois has achieved historic outcomes in building up its workforce, increasing the total employee count from 50,544 in 2019 to 55,340 in 2025 – the highest number of state employees since 2008, which was 55,237 employees. This includes a 44% increase at the Department of Children and Family Services and 15% at the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Here's the payoff already happening from making this leap forward: CMS has reduced the hiring timeline nearly 60%, cut the job vacancy rate nearly in half in critical agencies like DHS and DCFS, and tripled the number of job applications received through the new electronic system. The candidate pool grew and job offers increased. This is a win for both the State and its workers. Read more.

AURORA – State Senator Linda Holmes announced Friday that her advocacy on behalf of the 42^nd District has secured a $1.9 million investment in the Forest Preserve District of Will County.

“Several years into the Rebuild Illinois program, we’ve seen projects funded in all forms of transportation, from interstates, roads and bridges to railroads, public transit and waterways,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “Updating the trails in the Forest Preserve District will make these natural areas more enjoyable, away from busier streets and highways nearby.”

This award comes through the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program of the Illinois Department of Transportation to expand local travel options and enhance quality of life in communities statewide. Projects include bike and pedestrian paths and trails, streetscape beautification and other projects designed to encourage safe travel across various modes of local transportation.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Linda Holmes’ measure to keep a closer watch on Illinois’ gray foxes moved a step nearer to becoming law on Thursday.

The gray fox population in Illinois and much of the Midwest has been declining over the last 30 years, primarily due to diseases like canine distemper and competition with coyotes, but current law doesn’t allow the state to act on population changes and adjust the hunting season. House Bill 3760 would give the Illinois Department of Natural Resources the authority to set the hunting and trapping seasons for the gray fox based on current research and population data. Other states including Indiana, Ohio and Iowa, are also looking at potential legislation to address this issue.