HARVEY – Twelve local school districts will receive more than $17,000 in grants through the Illinois secretary of state’s School Library Grant program, State Senator Napoleon Harris, III announced Wednesday.

The grants, which are issued by the Illinois State Library, are meant to help public schools offer more library books and materials to students.

“I am thrilled to announce that schools in the south suburbs will receive additional funding for their libraries,” Harris (D-Harvey) said. “This grant will provide assistance with helping schools gather more materials to enhance students reading abilities and hopefully increase the number of students who want to pick up a book.”

Schools receiving school library grants include:

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Napoleon Harris, III recently announced that the office of the State Fire Marshal is now accepting applications for the competitive Small Equipment Grant program.

“Firefighters are some of the most brave and fearless public servants,” Harris said. “This grant will provide additional assistance to ensure firefighters stay equipped with the necessary tools to save lives and protect homes.”

The program allows fire departments, fire protection districts and township fire departments, as well as not-for-profit emergency medical service providers to access up to $26,000 in grant funds. Applications must be postmarked no later than Feb. 29, 2020.

A total of $3.5 million is available for this application cycle. For more information and access to the application visit https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/sfm/Iam/FireDepartment/Grants-and-Loans/Pages/default.aspx.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Napoleon Harris, III urged seniors to inform themselves about the Illinois Department of Aging’s new and more inclusive income limits for the Secretary of State License Plate Discount, Seniors Ride Free Transit Benefit, and Persons with Disabilities Free Transit Ride.

“Raising the income limits for these programs will aid some of the most deprived individuals and seniors throughout the state,” Harris said. “Providing seniors access to transportation is not only critical to their connections to family and friends. For many, it’s what allows them to pursue their day-to-day activities.”

SPRINGFIELD – Minority owned business will be required to be included in statewide construction projects under a proposal sponsored by Senator Napoleon Harris, III. (D-Harvey) was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker Tuesday.

“In order to build a healthy and comprehensive economy, we must supply minority businesses with full and fair access to local and state contraction opportunities.” Harris said. “I applaud Gov. Pritzker for seeing the significance of this measure, and hope to see local governments taking advantage of the state’s model business enterprise program to decrease the inequality gap for minority, veterans and female-owned businesses.”

The Department of Management Services (CMS) would be required to automatically certify companies as BEP companies if they are registered with the city of Chicago, Cook County or any other jurisdictions with equal or greater requirements for certification when compared to the BEP requirements.

The Department would also need to create a model disparity study to be used by units of local government to examine their total number of minority owned companies and find ways to increase those numbers.

Senate Bill 177 also makes changes to the Illinois Apprenticeship Initiative by requiring contractors to utilize apprentices from the Illinois Pre-Apprenticeship Program on public works capital projects.

Under the measure, participants of the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program would receive a stipend or compensation while in the program.