PLAINFIELD – The federal government is once again accepting applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, and State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood) is encouraging business owners to apply for PPP and other forgivable loans through the Small Business Administration.

“Many business owners – especially small, local business owners – are facing financial uncertainty they have never experienced before,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “Some are understandably worried about not being able to provide for their families or their employees. Forgivable loans, like the Paycheck Protection Program, will allow them to get back on their feet without losing sleep over how they will pay back the borrowed money.”

To help provide financial support to businesses, the Federal Treasury Department and the U.S. Small Business Administration extended the application period for the Paycheck Protection Program. Businesses can get up to $10 million in relief funding through the first come, first served program. Under the extended deadline, businesses must apply by Aug. 8.

The financial lifeline helps employers keep people on the payroll and pay overhead expenses. If used as intended, the loans don’t have to be repaid.

More than 27,000 Illinois businesses have already taken advantage of the loans – saving an estimated 1.36 million jobs – according to the Small Business Administration.

PPP loans have an interest rate of 1% and can be fully forgiven if they are used for payroll costs, rent, utilities or interest on mortgages.

To find participating lenders, business owners and managers can visit the Small Business Administration’s website, found here. A new Small Business Development Center recently opened at the Joliet Junior College. Businesses that need help applying for the program should visit the center.

CHICAGO – State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) announced that two local adult literacy programs will receive a combined total of $105,000 in state funds. The Secretary of State issued these grants as part of his Adult Literacy Grant program.

“Community organizations and local colleges offer adults the opportunity to expand their reading and English language skills,” Villanueva said. “Funding these programs is essential to the success of our community. I encourage anyone looking to hone these skills to join one of these programs.”

More than 13,500 students will be served by adult literacy programs throughout Illinois. Supported by $5.6 million in state funds, the programs will depend on nearly 6,000 volunteer tutors to provide skills training for students, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Adult literacy projects are focused on improving reading, writing and math and are targeted at Illinois adults who read below the 9th-grade level or speak English at a beginning level.

The PODER Learning Center in the West Lawn neighborhood of Chicago was awarded a grant of $75,000. Morton College in Cicero was awarded a grant of $30,000.

“As an immigrant integration center, PODER facilitates successful societal and workforce integration and there’s no more vital skill than the ability to communicate effectively in English,” Daniel Loftus, President and CEO of PODER Learning Center, said. “Learning a language virtually, due to the pandemic, has its challenges.  By investing in our recruitment and training of volunteers to support our professional instructors, this grant will ensure every PODER student receives all the additional one-one-one English tutoring support they need to be successful.”

To volunteer as a tutor at one of these programs, contact the Illinois Adult Learning Hotline at 800-321-9511.

Census Bureau estimates Asian Americans as fastest growing demographic in the state

CHICAGO – Reacting to news that the Census Bureau has identified Asian Americans from countries like India and China as the fastest growing demographic group in Illinois, State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) vowed to continue to vigorously support Asian Americans, both recent immigrants and those who have been here for generations.

“We need to ensure Asian Americans have access to all of the same state services as other Illinois residents,” said Villivalam, the first Asian American elected to the Illinois Senate and the Co-Chair of the Illinois General Assembly’s Asian American Caucus. “Making sure documents and websites are available in Asian languages is an important first step, and one that I’ve been pushing especially hard during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

CHAMPAIGN – To support the many Illinoisans working and learning from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) is pleased to announce the Housing Authority of Champaign County has been selected to receive a state grant funding broadband advancements across the community.

“This pandemic has served as a reminder to residents just how crucial broadband access is,” Bennett said. “Many rural areas lack high-speed internet service, but this grant will enhance broadband accessibility and ensure those communities can stay connected.”

The Housing Authority of Champaign is one of 12 organizations to receive a grant from the Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity through the Illinois Connected Communities program, created to help build broadband capacity in underserved areas.

In addition to an award of up to $15,000, the 12-month program provides free expert consultation to enable each Illinois Connected Community to complete a plan for expanding broadband that identifies actions to improve internet access in the areas of community and economic development, education, civic engagement, healthcare, agriculture, and more.

The program directs $150,000 in state-funded small grants for community and local government partners to help improve access to high-speed broadband in their communities. The state grants will be matched by $150,000 in philanthropic funds.

These grants will help lay the groundwork for individual communities to play a part in Connect Illinois, a $420 million program to bring basic internet access to all communities by 2024. Connect Illinois contemplates a second round of grants later this year.

PARK FOREST – A new state grant will expand access to high-speed internet for students and families in Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163, State Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Park Forest) announced Monday.

“People living in rural areas deserve reliable internet access,” Joyce said. “Especially during this pandemic, when working and learning from home has become the norm, it’s important that we expand broadband internet service so no community is left behind.”

The Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163 is one of 12 organizations to receive a grant from the Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity through the Illinois Connected Communities program, created to help build broadband capacity in underserved areas.

In addition to an award of up to $15,000, the 12-month program provides free expert consultation to enable each Illinois Connected Community to complete a plan for expanding broadband that identifies actions to improve internet access in the areas of community and economic development, education, civic engagement, healthcare, agriculture, and more.

The program directs $150,000 in state-funded small grants for community and local government partners to help improve access to high-speed broadband in their communities. The state grants will be matched by $150,000 in philanthropic funds.

These grants will help lay the groundwork for individual communities to play a part in Connect Illinois, a $420 million program to bring basic internet access to all communities by 2024. Connect Illinois contemplates a second round of grants later this year.

Calls for more action to end maternal mortality crisis among women of color

CHICAGO – State Senator Jacqueline Collins again called for action to end the culture of prejudice, discrimination and dismissal in the medical community that has contributed to the death of women like New York mother Sha-Asia Washington, a Black woman who died in childbirth last week at age 26.

“The events of this year prove that we are in a fight for the life of every mother like Sha-Asia Washington on every front,” Collins said. “We are fighting for Black women like Patricia Frieson of Chicago, who was the first in Illinois to die of COVID-19. We are saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ in the streets, but we need it to mean something in the hospital and the doctor’s office.”

CHICAGO – July 3, yet another Black woman fell victim to the inequities of the American health system. Sha-Asia Washington was only 26 when she died during an emergency C-section after delivering her baby girl at Bedford-Stuyvesant hospital in New York. Exhausted by repeated tragic headlines regarding maternal mortality, State Senator Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago) is pleading for a deeper change in the health care system.

“Sha-Asia died as she was trying to create a new life,” Van Pelt said. “The doctors failed her. The health care system failed her. How many more Black mothers have to die before we begin to take maternal mortality seriously?”

An independent autopsy confirmed that Sha-Asia died from a heart attack caused by the epidural she was given, despite her objections to it. Her unjust death inflamed a protest in Bed-Stuy.

“Sha-Asia had a whole life ahead of her – her baby’s life, a proposal she’ll never get to hear, a marriage she’ll never experience,” Van Pelt said. “The doctors in this country have to do better. Listen to Black women. Believe us when we tell you we’re in pain, or when we say enough is enough.”

Black women are two to three times more likely to die than white women who suffer from maternal complications.

Illinois recently established a task force and created laws to address some of the issues relating to maternal mortality and how it disproportionately affects Black women. Van Pelt and her colleagues will continue to push for legislation that prevents more Black women from suffering the same fate as Sha-Asia.

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.