Press Releases

CREST HILL – State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood) released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s decision for the Department of Health and Human Services to oversee special education:

“The Trump Administration continues to make reckless decisions to dismantle the Department of Education, directly affecting students across the country. The Department of Health and Human Services overseeing special education will hurt our students. HHS lacks the educational infrastructure needed to continue supporting families and students with disabilities who rely on these essential services from the federal government. This transition will place too many services under one umbrella, leading to less overall support for both students with disabilities and students in need of IEPs to get the critical resources they need.

“The priorities of this administration are becoming more and more clear: they want to hurt our most vulnerable populations. This is an insult that will have a lasting effect on our students. As a former special education teacher who spent 15 years in the classroom, I’m not only angry, I’m also disgusted. When will the Trump Administration stop hurting our kids? Enough is enough.”

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood) released the following statement regarding the Fiscal Year 2027 budget on Monday:

SPRINGFIELD – Recognizing that Illinois has a shortage of clinicians who are authorized to diagnose autism in children, State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel is leading a measure to ensure children with autism are identified early and connected to proper medical and educational supports.

“Children and families are waiting for as long as two years to receive an autism evaluation because there are not enough medical professionals to diagnose autism,” said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “This measure improves the process by ensuring children can receive the care they need in a manageable amount of time.”

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel is leading a measure to ensure children who have color vision deficiency, more commonly referred to as “color blindness,” are identified early and receive resources to help their literacy.

“Many children do not receive color vision deficiency testing because it’s not required, meaning they often don’t find out until much later in their lives that they cannot distinguish certain colors,” said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “This measure makes sure children receive testing so they know if they have color vision deficiency and can be connected with the appropriate resources to help them succeed in their education.”