Illinois Urban Leagues Urge a Yes Vote on Senate Bill 6 before Midnight June 30

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            

June 30, 2017                                                            

Chelsea L. Whittington
(773) 451-3524
cwhittington@thechicagourbanleague.org

Illinois Urban Leagues Urge a Yes Vote on Senate Bill 6 before Midnight June 30

(June 30, 2017) – Illinois Urban League affiliates are appealing to the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor to vote yes on the budget bill, Senate Bill 6. Illinois has been without a budget for over 700 days and is in fiscal crisis. The Illinois General Assembly and Governor have just hours to resolve their differences and act in the best interest of the people of the state of Illinois when Senate Bill 6 goes up for a scheduled vote today.

“Here in Aurora, our schools are anticipating cuts that could have a devastating impact on our students and families, said Theodia Gillespie, CEO of the Quad County Urban League. “Our school district leaders have been calling for an end to the budget impasse and payment for the millions they are owed for educational expenses.”

Illinois-based Urban League CEOs Nina Harris (Springfield Urban League), Theodia Gillespie (Quad County Urban League) and Shari Runner (Chicago Urban League) have come out strongly in favor of the budget plan. “Families in Springfield and the surrounding areas are relying on us to fight for a fair and balanced budget, and for needed funding for the local school districts. We are relying on our elected representatives to vote yes on Senate Bill 6 today so that all Illinois students have the resources they need to succeed,” said Harris.

The affiliate leaders have come together to issue the following joint statement on the Illinois budget crisis and Senate Bill 6:

“Since the start of the budget impasse three years ago, we have seen countless children, families and communities harmed by the loss of critical educational, health and social services. We have seen schools losing needed resources and student achievement in many areas of the state stagnate or decline in recent years. We witnessed a momentous victory in the passage of Senate Bill 1, the equitable school funding bill, only to watch that moment be overshadowed by the reality that there was again no responsible budget and revenue package to fund these needed and long overdue reforms.

We continue to be disappointed by the stonewalling and party politics which are routinely prioritized to the detriment of our students, our educators and our residents. This is not an upstate/downstate issue. This is a State of Illinois issue.

As leaders of community-based organizations, we represent the most vulnerable populations in places like Cook, DuPage, Kane, Madison, McLean, Peoria, Sangamon, Tazwell, Will and Woodford counties. We urge ALL legislators to vote for to Vote for Senate Bill 6—a comprehensive budget for Illinois that will fund the key educational services and supports outlined in Senate Bill 1.”

We especially call on the following local legislators serving all of our Illinois Urban League communities to vote yes on Senate Bill 6:

·         All 35 members of the Chicago Caucus

·         Representative Mike Unes

·         Representative Ryan Spain

·         Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth

·         Representative Keith Sommer

·         Representative Tom Bennett

·         Representative Tim Butler

·         Representative Sue Scherer

·         Representative Sara Jimenez

·         Representative Keith Wheeler

·         Representative Linda Chapa La Via

·         Representative Stephanie Kifowit

·         Representative Mike Fortner

·         Representative Grant Wherli

·         Representative Mark Batnick

·         Representative Daniel Beiser

We strongly urge the Governor and legislators to put people in front of politics and pass a budget in Illinois. By every measure of the term, we cannot afford to go another year without a budget.

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