IL SR0590

Urges support for the Family Roots Genealogy Pilot Program to help African American descendants of enslaved individuals trace their ancestry back to African homelands using genetic testing.

Establishes that saliva samples will be collected and processed at the Illinois Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with Dr. LaKisha David as principal investigator.

Genetic data will be securely stored on Nightingale, a HIPAA-compliant high-performance computer cluster at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, with samples destroyed after processing.

Protects participant privacy by prohibiting DNA samples from being subpoenaed or accessed for purposes other than the program, and preventing researchers from releasing identifying information without consent.

Acknowledges slavery's role in Illinois's early revenue, the erasure of family histories, and the lack of reparations to African Americans compared to compensation provided to other groups, positioning the program as addressing these historical harms.