ELGIN –Gov. Pritzker announced new grants Thursday for state high schools to help recruit new educators. State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) is pleased to announce that Hoffman Estates High School will be receiving some of those funds.

“I’m thrilled to see that Hoffman Estates High School will receiving a grant to help recruit and support a diverse faculty of teachers to help educate our students,” Castro said. “One of the most important things we can do as a society is provide a quality education for our youth. This grant will help Hoffman Estates High Schools and other school districts in the area and in the state recruit the best and brightest educators to help build a better future.”

Programs supported by this grant through the Illinois State Board of Education will emphasize recruiting underrepresented students into education careers to help meet the high demand for teachers of color across Illinois.

Hoffman Estates High School will receive a portion of a nearly $250,000 grant made to North Suburban high schools under the program, administered by the Illinois State Board of Education. For a full list of grant recipients or for more information, visit www.ISBE.net/CTE.

ELGIN – Since small businesses have taken some of the heaviest financial losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) is encouraging small business owners to take advantage of the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

“The Paycheck Protection was established by Congress in order to help small businesses out in situations exactly like this one,” Castro said. “If you’re a struggling business owner, it’s important to realize that there is help available to get you through this crisis, and you should make use of it.”

Paycheck Protection Program loans were established by the Department of Treasury as a way to help businesses that are having difficulty paying their employees. The loans have a 1%interest rate, and can be forgiven in full if used entirely for the purpose of covering payroll costs, rent, utilities or mortgage interest.

“PPP loans have two important purposes: to ensure that small businesses can keep their doors open in times of hardship, and to prevent employees of those businesses from losing their jobs,” Castro said.

A PPP loan can be up to $10 million per businesses and are awarded on a first come, first served basis. Applications are due by Aug. 8 and can be filled out here.

ELGIN – The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority announced new funding to provide grants for organizations providing support and relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) is encouraging organizations to submit applications.

“Communities of color have suffered the worst from the coronavirus, not just in terms of number of cases, but also when it comes to the amount of resources available to help them recover,” Castro said. “There are many great organizations out there doing amazing work, and I would encourage them to apply for an ICJIA grant so they can keep it up.”

The ICJIA grants are part of federal funding for supporting communities that have faced the hardest challenges from the coronavirus, allocated by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding program. Uses for the grants include housing assistance; support services like mental health services and legal aid; rent, utilities or other expenses by local community organizations; and the distribution of food. The funds can also be used for any other need that is related to the pandemic.

“These organizations are vital to community recovery, and I’m glad there is a way for them to get some extra help if they need it,” Castro said.

Additional information and a link to the application – which is due by July 24 – can be found here.

ELGIN – In the height of the coronavirus pandemic and global protests against systemic racism, State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) said a recent news story about the death of Sha-Asia Washington, a 26-year old Black mother who died during an emergency C-section, shows the importance of not being distracted from other crises that vulnerable communities are still facing.

“My heart goes out to Sha-Asia Washington, her now motherless daughter Khloe, their families, and to anyone else who has ever suffered the unimaginable tragedy of losing a mother due to complications from pregnancy,” Castro said. “Their tragedy is the latest in a long history of them. We must act now to fight the systemic inequalities that cause the terrible infant and maternal mortality among women of color in America.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, Black mothers die from pregnancy related causes at a rate two to three times higher than white mothers. In cities like New York, where Sha-Asia Washington died, Black mothers die at a rate 12 times higher.

“This is a reminder that in the 21st Century, with all of our modern medicine, Black and brown mothers are dying during childbirth at a higher rate than white women, just as they are more likely to die in virtually every other situation, from interactions with police to COVID-19 infection,” Castro said. “We need to protect women of color. We need to do better.”

In the spring of 2019, Castro sponsored legislation in the Senate addressing the issue of maternal mortality. The bill contained insurance coverage expansions, post-partum follow up procedures, and added emphasis to high-risk mothers and babies. Though it passed the Senate, it stalled in the House. Castro intends to refile the language of the original bill as an amendment to Senate Bill 3024.

“My original bill addressing these issues passed through the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support, so it’s clear that the desire to fix these problem is there,” Castro said. “It is imperative that when the legislature returns to Springfield, we work to provide the long-overdue answers to this crisis once and for all by passing Senate Bill 3024.”

The amendment has not yet been filed.

ELGIN – After being closed for nearly three months out of health and safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) announced plans to reopen her district office July 6, with a few restrictions.

“The pandemic has put a lot of things on hold, but one thing it hasn’t is the need for people in my district to seek the sort of help that our office is uniquely able to provide,” Castro said. “With all areas of the state having moved into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan, I believe that now is the time we can safely reopen and start providing constituent services face-to-face.”

Castro’s district office is located at 164 Division Street, Suite 102 at The Professional Building in Elgin. The office will be open for its normal business hours, 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Meetings, however, will be allowed by appointment only. Visitors will be required to wear masks at all times, and social distancing must be maintained for the duration of the meetings. Castro’s satellite office in Hanover Park will remain closed.

“Above all else, our top concern remains the health and safety of everyone while we ride out the coronavirus storm together,” Castro said.

To request an appointment, please send a message or call 847-214-8864.

ELGIN – A measure co-sponsored by State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) meant to provide support to casinos became law Tuesday.

“Many businesses have been able to reopen under the Restore Illinois plan, but casinos have not,” Castro said. “A casino can be one of the largest sources of employment in its area, and the surrounding communities are often heavily reliant on the tax revenue it provides. If casinos are forced to close for good as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it would have long lasting and devastating effects on the area.”

Senate Bill 516 was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker Tuesday and makes several changes to previous gaming bills. It is meant to lessen the financial burden of casinos, which have been closed since the first Stay at Home Order was issued in March.

Specifically, the bill:

• Increases the period of time casinos have to pay fees from two years to six years and removes the requirement to pay interest in the fees;
• Moves the implementation date of a new, lower tax rate to July 1, 2020, rather than having the rate kick in only when a new casino opens; and
• Extends the due date for sports licensing and other fees by one year to July 1, 2021.

“By providing these small changes, we’re giving the casinos the same opportunity to bounce back that other institutions have had, which gives them a bit of breathing room, while not completely removing their obligation to pay their fair share,” Castro said.

Castro’s district includes the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin. The measure passed both chambers of the General Assembly with bipartisan support during the May special session.

ELGIN – As part of efforts to address the unique and unprecedented financial effect the COVID-19 outbreak has had on Illinois, State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) has been appointed to the Legislative Budget Oversight Commission.

“The coronavirus pandemic put our state in a position unlike anything we could have imagined,” Castro said. “It’s not feasible to continue the budgeting process in the same methods we have in years previous. Additional oversight and scrutiny is necessary to ensure Illinois can navigate this crisis and continue to prosper when it’s over.”

The commission was established by the General Assembly during the brief May special session and will be tasked with finding ways to overcome the challenges to budget drafting that was presented by the pandemic-induced financial crisis. The purpose of the commission will be to monitor the budget management actions taken by the governor and to oversee the ways in which CARES Act federal relief funds are distributed to state and local governments. Castro was named to the commission by Senate President Don Harmon earlier this week.

“I want to thank President Harmon for giving me the opportunity to help ensure that the stability we established under the budget passed in May can continue for all future budgets for the duration of this crisis and beyond,” Castro said.

The commission will be bipartisan and consist of 22 total members of both chambers of the General Assembly. Members of the commission will serve without compensation.

ELGIN – On Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill expanding the state’s vote-by-mail program. State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) supported the measure to help safeguard the health and safety of voters.

“Even though we are in unprecedented times and a lot of us are taking things one day at a time, there are many aspects of our lives that will not wait for the coronavirus pandemic to end, and voting is one of them,” Castro said. “Election Day is coming, and people are going to want to vote, so we need to make sure that they can do so without risking their health or the health of their loved ones.”

The expansion of vote-by-mail came as part of a larger election package legislators passed during a special session earlier this spring to addressing COVID-19 concerns. The new law will require local election authorities to automatically send vote-by-mail applications to everyone who voted in the 2018 general, 2019 consolidated or 2020 primary elections, or who registered to vote after the 2020 primary.

The package also establishes Election Day as a state holiday in 2020, to allow schools to be used as polling locations and to help recruit more high school students as election judges, since many of those who frequently serve as election judges are senior citizens, and thus at higher risk in light of the COVID-19 pandemic..

“Voting is one of the most essential rights we have as citizens, and we should always be working to make it easier to vote, not harder,” Castro said.

The law is effectively immediately and applies only to the 2020 general election.