State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) hosted three town hall meetings this week to discuss the state budget, school funding reform and other issues facing our state.

Murphy held the town halls across her district in Schaumburg, Elk Grove Village and her hometown of Des Plaines.

“In-person town hall meeting are a fundamental way to get feedback from the constituents I represent,” Murphy said. “Thank you to everyone who attended to discuss the critical issues we are facing.”

Discussions centered largely on the ongoing state budget stalemate and school funding reform proposal that passed in both houses of the General Assembly in late May.

Murphy also offered an in-depth look at the state budget impasse with a presentation about the state’s spending priorities and the long term cost the state budget will have on Illinois families.

While Sen. Murphy’s first series of town hall meetings has concluded, she looks forward to hosting more meetings in the future.

Murphy’s key legislative initiatives this spring included increasing women’s access to health care, protecting First Amendment rights and increasing the transparency and accountability of Medicaid contracts.

When 91-year old Leroy Wolff received a letter in May stating nearly $40,000 in stock he owned had been transferred to Illinois’ unclaimed property division, he didn’t know where to turn.

“The letter stated the account had been determined to be inactive due to correspondence from the company being returned,” Wolff said. “It didn’t make any sense.”

After trying to resolve the issue to no avail, he spoke with State Senator Laura Murphy (D – Des Plaines) at an event held at Friendship Village of Schaumburg, where he resides.

While it is still not known why the company transferred Wolff’s stock to Illinois’ unclaimed property division, known as I-Cash, Senator Murphy’s staff was able to assist Mr. Wolff in filling out the necessary paperwork to return the stock.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Wolff’s situation happens too often to too many people,” Murphy said. “It is imperative we look out for our seniors and do everything to protect their finances from potential scams and misallocations. I am happy we were able to assist and get property that is rightfully Mr. Wolff’s returned to him.”

State Senator Laura Murphy is looking for area constituents to participate in several advisory committees, including committees discussing: 

• Education
• Pensions
• Veterans
• Gun Violence/2nd Amendment Issues

If interested, please call Marty at (847) 656-5414 or contact the Senator through email.

SPRINGFIELD- State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) voted to create automatic voter registration in Illinois last week. The legislation, Senate Bill 250, passed the Senate with a bipartisan majority of 42-16.

Under the proposal, Illinois citizens would be automatically registered to vote when they choose to renew their driver’s license or state ID. They can still choose to opt out of registering to vote if they wish.

“Encouraging more people to get involved in the democratic process can only be beneficial to our state,” Murphy said. “The significant savings to taxpayers and additional measures to prevent election fraud are added benefits.”

In other states that have enacted similar proposals, the cost of processing an application to register to vote has dropped from 83 cents to almost 3 cents.

The legislation also included penalties for submitting false voter registration data, along with increasing the number of cross-checks the State Board of Elections must annually conduct between the statewide voter database and the National Change of Address Database from two to six.  

The proposal will now head to the Illinois House.