Illinois lawmakers are set to give a second reading to a bill that would create the Task Force on Infant and Maternal Mortality Among African Americans Act.
Sponsored by Rep. Mary E. Flowers (D-Chicago), House Bill 0001 would establish the task force’s chairperson and membership and would place it under the Department of Public Health’s oversight. The Illinois Department of Public Health already tracks infant mortality.
According to the synopsis on the Illinois General Assembly website, the law stipulates that the task force members would not be paid for their service. It also provides that, effective Dec. 1, 2020, the task force would submit annual reports of its findings and recommendations to the state legislature.
The bill was filed Nov. 30, 2018 and, after its first reading, headed to the Rules Committee and then the Health Care Availability and Accessibility Committee. Along the way, it has attracted several co-sponsors: Reps. LaToya Greenwood, Delia C. Ramirez, Anne Stava-Murray, Celina Villanueva, Justin Slaughter and Rita Mayfield.
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