Legislation that would add EMS workers to the list of people for whom the United States Flag and the State Flag of Illinois will be flown at half-staff is on its way to the governor.

House Bill 1854, sponsored by State Rep. Sandra Pihos (R-Glen Ellyn), passed unanimously in the House in April, and received unanimous Senate approval yesterday.

“EMS workers who are killed in the line of duty deserve this level of respect for the work they do that often puts them in harm’s way,” said Pihos. “I was very pleased to see that the bill received unanimous support in both chambers of the General Assembly.”

In addition to the Governor issuing an official notice to fly the flags at half-staff, the bill requires the Department of Public Health to notify the office of the Governor of the death in the line of duty of a resident EMS crew member. Today, flags are flown at half-staff in the case of death by hostile fire of a member of the U.S. armed forces, in the line of duty as a law enforcement officer and in the line of duty as a firefighter.

Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would allow DuPage County to eliminate some duplicative or inefficient units of government.

SB494 is limited to DuPage County, and it would only affect those units of government that include members who are appointed rather than elected to their positions. The bill excludes fire protection districts that have full time employees and the DuPage County Water Commission. The measure passed in the House in a 108-6 vote.

Representative Sandra Pihos (R-Glen Ellyn), a chief co-sponsor of the bill, said the SB494 was the initiative of DuPage County and the DuPage County Board Chairman. “DuPage County currently has more than 400 different units of government,” Pihos said. “Dozens of those units include non-elected, independent, county-appointed agencies. This bill will allow for the elimination of some of those units, which will increase efficiency, oversight and transparency, while improving the accountability of public funds on the local level.”

State Representative Sandra Pihos (R-Glen Ellyn) has announced that more than $30 million in state and federal funding for road projects is headed to Illinois Legislative District 48.

The comprehensive program, unveiled by Governor Pat Quinn last week, calls for $12.62 billion to be spent from 2014-2019 on transportation improvements throughout Illinois. The statewide plan calls for the improvement of 2,142 miles of highway, the replacement or improvement of 517 bridges, and significant investments into the public transit system.

According to Pihos, state highway improvements that will take place within District 48 include: