Manar tours RCC with DCEO Director Guthrie, labor and business leaders

DECATUR – State Senator Andy Manar joined Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development Acting Director Erin Guthrie and representatives from the business and labor communities for a tour of Richland Community College’s workforce development facilities Wednesday.

“There’s incredible opportunity in the Decatur area and Richland is doing an excellent job of making sure there are qualified individuals ready to take advantage of those opportunities,” said Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat. “And after touring their facilities today, I’m certain that the EnRich program will be instrumental to the economic growth of the community going forward.”

For the past two fiscal years, Manar has helped secure $1.5 million grants through DCEO to help the college expand its workforce development programs.

The additional funds have helped Richland grow its EnRich program, which provides both technical and essential skills training to individuals to help grow the area’s workforce.

Read more: Manar tours RCC with DCEO Director Guthrie, labor and business leaders

Hunter’s new law strengthens TANF grant as a lifeline for families

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) passed a measure into law last week to help families in extreme poverty meet their basic needs.

House Bill 3129 eliminates the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) full family sanction. The TANF program provides monthly grants to help families meet their basic needs, including rent, utilities, clothing, personal hygiene products, diapers, transportation and more. Eligible families sometimes may receive a sanction, which suspends a TANF grant, when an adult does not meet certain participation requirements.

The measure, sponsored by Hunter and Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), would designate 75 percent of a family’s TANF benefit as the children portion that cannot be cut for any reason. When sanctioning, the remaining 25 percent is considered the parent’s portion and is subject to sanction. 30 percent of the parent’s portion can be reduced if a parent is not complying with TANF participation requirements.

Read more: Hunter’s new law strengthens TANF grant as a lifeline for families

SNAP benefits made more accessible to elderly, homeless and people living with disabilities

CHICAGO – A bill sponsored by State Senator Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) that would allow specified people to use their SNAP benefits at participating restaurants was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker today.

House Bill 3343 would allow elderly, homeless and people living with a disability to redeem their SNAP benefits at private establishments that contract with the Department of Human Services and on hot food served in grocery stores.

“When we get older, preparing meals at home becomes increasingly difficult,” said Aquino. “I saw firsthand how hard it was when I was a case manager for the Community Care Program. Seeing that made me want to make changes to our food assistance programs so they can effectively serve the people who rely on them.”

House Bill 3343 takes effect immediately.

Part of Collins’ and Flowers’ plan to fight maternal, infant mortality becomes law

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Jacqueline Collins and State Rep. Mary Flowers issued the following statements today as Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law part of the legislative package aimed at reducing rising infant and maternal mortality rates:

“We brought this plan forward to fight against an environment where women’s concerns over their bodies and their children’s well-being are diminished or ignored, often in ways that can be deadly for women of color in particular,” Collins said. “When we see studies that show a college-educated black woman in a high-paying career is more likely to die as a consequence of childbirth than a white woman without a high school diploma, we have to act.”

“I want to thank the governor for signing House Bill 1 and Senator Collins for shepherding the bill through the Senate,” Flowers said. “For some reason, African American women in Illinois are dying at a rate six times greater than white women for doing something that should come naturally: giving birth. My committee on Health Care Access and Availability convened hearings in September and October of 2018 where testimony from care providers showed that they see disparities due to racism, chauvinism and misogyny, and that health care professionals often do not listen to or respect African American women when they talk about their health problems. Why are there more African American women dying from giving birth? House Bill 1’s purpose is to have a task force to investigate this racial disparity in death from childbirth.”

Read more: Part of Collins’ and Flowers’ plan to fight maternal, infant mortality becomes law