Deadline week was a busy one in Springfield, with coalition partners showing up across multiple advocacy efforts.
Left to right: Sheryl Holman, Lauren Wright and Holly Ambuehl testifying in support of the Community Partner Fair Contracting Package GATA bill.
These included Save Our SNAP Advocacy Day, the Illinois Revenue Alliance Tax Day Advocacy Event for progressive revenue, Behavioral Health Advocacy Day, and more. We are grateful to all of our partners who came out in support of these important causes, each of which helps strengthen the systems, services, and supports our communities rely on.
We also saw important movement on the Community Partner Fair Contracting Agenda. All three bills advanced out of committee, and the Prompt Payment and Court of Claims bills passed the House floor. Our focus now is on continuing to update the language for the GATA bill and working to include it in the Budget Implementation Plan, or BIMP, by the end of session. Thank you to Holly Ambuehl and the policy team at Forefront and our partners at ICOY for all the work they have done to keep moving these bills toward the finish line!
Finally, we were proud to have a subject matter hearing on the Human Service Equitable Pay Taskforce. Partners Becky Levin of TASC and Niyah Kelly of Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, along with our Executive Director Lauren Wright, shared why studying pay inequities across the human services sector is essential to building a more fair and sustainable workforce. Thank you to our Chief Sponsor Rep Jimenez and the 150+ coalition partners who slipped in support of this effort! Moving forward, we will be focused on securing continued appropriations for the Human Service Professional Loan Repayment Program, a critical tool to support retention across the sector. Check out the campaign section of this newsletter for details on our upcoming Week of Action and ways to get involved.
Adrian D. and Adela Carlin.
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