Welcome to Senator Willie Preston's Legislative Website

Preston encourages families to fill out energy bill assistance applications

• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
• Families
• Energy Bills
• Applications

CHICAGO — To combat rising energy prices, State Senator Willie Preston urges eligible residents in the 16th District to apply for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

“Every day, more Illinois residents are unable to pay their rising energy bills, having to sacrifice another necessity to keep their lights on,” said Preston (D-Chicago). “This program supports Illinois families in need, helping them afford their utility costs and taking one more worry off their plates.”

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ICYMI - Chicago Tribune Op-Ed: "If Chicago won't act to allow video gaming, the state must step in."

• Chicago Tribune
• Op-Ed
• Video Gaming
• Hospitality Industry

CHICAGO – Sixteenth District State Senator Willie Preston is introducing a package of legislation to compel the City of Chicago to allow the video gaming terminals that were legalized more than nine months ago, but are being stalled by a lack of licensing.

Preston lays out the rationale for the new laws in a recent Chicago Tribune op-ed, writing:

“Our hospitality industry is hanging on by a thread, especially in the neighborhoods. If this administration is too afraid of Bally’s to act to save the taxpayers and the small businesses of this city, we must act, and we will.”

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Preston announces additional funding for food security improvement

• Food insecurity
• Groceries
• Illinois Grocery Initiative
• Grant Program

CHICAGO — State Senator Willie Preston announced that new funding is available through the Illinois Grocery Initiative’s New Stores in Food Deserts, Equipment Upgrades, and Grocery Rescue grant programs – representing a $26 million investment in limiting food deserts and keeping grocery stores open in communities across the state.

“The Illinois Grocery Initiative is a crucial program for helping our communities invest in improving residents’ lives,” said Preston (D-Chicago). “Increasing access to fresh, healthy food saves residents time and money.”

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Preston: Social media safeguards are a first step toward protecting children

• Social Media
• Children
• Safeguards
• Online Safety
• Illinois Attorney General

CHICAGO — State Senator Willie Preston said recent efforts to strengthen safeguards for young people on social media represent a necessary first step in online safety, while stressing that much more must be done to protect children from the risks they face online.

“Any meaningful effort to better protect children online is a step in the right direction, but it is only a starting point,” said Preston (D-Chicago). “Social media companies have spent years building platforms designed to keep young people engaged. They have a responsibility to ensure those same platforms are not putting children’s safety and well-being at risk.”

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