SPRINGFIELD –State Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) released the following statement regarding the governor’s budget proposal on Wednesday:

“I am pleased with the governor’s proposed investments in education for students in Illinois. Adequate funding for education provides students with necessary resources and provides the added benefit of giving people a break on their property taxes.

ROCKFORD – State Senator Steve Stadelman announced Harlem School District 122 has received over $1.6 million through the Illinois State Board of Education, to allow the district to reduce property taxes and replace it with state funds.

“Ensuring all students – regardless of ZIP code – have access to high quality education is vital,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford). “The grant awarded to Harlem School District 122 will help lower property taxes for area residents, while increasing funding adequacy for school districts.”

A total of 155 districts applied for this grant, and 32 districts received grants. Harlem School District 122, located in Machesney Park, received over $1.6 million.

ROCKFORD – State Senator Steve Stadelman advanced legislation through the Senate Judiciary Committee that keeps victims and survivors safe from their abusers by expanding the definition of stalking to include electronic tracking systems.

"As tracking devices become more popular, people are caught using them for the wrong reasons,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford).

With advances in technology, people are using electronic devices to keep track of their luggage, wallets and other personal belongings. However, people are also using them to stalk others.

Through Senate Bill 2683, Stadelman is working to change the Stalking No Contact Order Act to be consistent with the criminal definition of stalking. The new legislation would change the definition of “course of conduct” of stalking to include the use of an electronic tracking system to determine a person’s location, movement or travel patterns. The legislation would also allow judges to prohibit respondents from using electronic tracking systems and acquiring tracking information in a court order.

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois and the nation are in the midst of a local journalism crisis, with news outlets closing or shrinking at an alarming rate. State Senator Steve Stadelman and the members of the Local Journalism Task Force spent the last year studying the decline of local journalism, and outlined its findings and policy recommendations at a news conference Wednesday.

“As local journalism declines so does the checks and balances on democracy. It’s an issue facing newsrooms across both the state and nation – due in large part to dwindling revenue that leads to a dwindling number of reporters,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford). “A disruption in finances is a disruption in talent. It was long past time for us to have serious conversations about the future of journalism and how that affects the future of our communities.”

Stadelman – a former TV news anchor – chaired the Local Journalism Task Force. Representatives from media, academia and government met nearly a dozen times throughout the previous calendar year to study the decline of local media, its impact on democracy, and potential policy changes that could increase revenue to newsrooms across the state.

Hearing from a number of experts from across both the state and nation, the task force saw a common theme: independent local news reporting is vital and the lack of it is dangerous to the health of our democracy.

According to the Medill research, the Chicago area is among the 20 U.S. metro areas with the highest loss of news sources per capita. Yet the decline in rural parts of the state is even worse.