DANVILLE - In honor of National Women’s Small Business Month, State Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) is encouraging residents to nominate local female business owners to recognize for their leadership and service to residents.

“October is a month to celebrate and applaud the contributions and successes of female entrepreneurs,” Bennett said. “I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the talented, dedicated and driven women that help make our community great.”

SHOREWOOD – On National Move over Awareness Day, State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant is urging drivers to remember to exercise safe driving habits to responsibly share the road with first responders.

Oct. 17, 2020 marks the holiday that emphasizes the need for drivers to decrease their vehicle’s speed and move into another lane in order protect first responders such as ambulance drivers, police officers and roadside assistance professionals.

“Every day, our officers and first responders put their lives on the line to keep us safe,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “We need to continue to educate motorists to guarantee it is second nature for drivers to slow down and move over when any vehicle is stalled on the side of the road.”

Collins calls for more answers from banks as reports, studies highlight inequities

CHICAGO – Testimony from advocates, state government agencies, and banks themselves were all in agreement Thursday: Race remains the biggest predictor of whether somebody is approved for a home loan, and a major factor in how homes are evaluated in an appraisal process. The result, according to reports, studies, and testimony from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, is that Black homeowners in Illinois are simply not receiving loans at anywhere near the rate of homeowners in majority-white neighborhoods.

State Senator Jacqueline Collins, chair of the Illinois Senate Financial Institutions Committee, convened a joint hearing on the topic Thursday, bringing in the Senate Commerce and Economic Development and Senate Executive Committees to discuss the causes of this disparity, with testimony from IDFPR, representatives of the Illinois and Chicago housing authorities, Treasurer Michael Frerichs and representatives of various housing advocacy agencies. Some members of major banks submitted written testimony or attended the virtual hearing, but only JP Morgan Chase’s representative spoke.

“What we want to see is a lending market where race is not the largest predictor of approval for a home loan. We ultimately want to see a lending market where these disparities do not occur,” said Collins (D-Chicago). “We need an end to this cycle of disinvestment, which is at the very root of generational poverty here in Chicago and throughout the state and the country.”

The hearing highlighted findings by a recent report, a joint effort between WBEZ and the journalism nonprofit City Bureau, which highlighted a vast racial disparity in housing in the Chicago area. Among the starkest statistics: For every dollar lent to white neighborhoods in Chicago, just 12 cents make it to Black neighborhoods. The home loans lent just in Chicago’s majority-white Lincoln Park neighborhood total more, in dollars, than the combined amount of every home loan lent to every majority-Black neighborhood in the city combined.

In his testimony, IDFPR’s Acting Director of Banking, Chasse Rehwinkle, said Lincoln Park is not an outlier and that the situation arises from systemic issues that have occurred over decades.

Collins said the challenges of remedying the state of affairs lie partly in state government’s regulatory framework, but stressed also that the behavior of banks must be held to account.

“The solutions to how we achieve a fairer lending market are going to need to come from banking institutions themselves,” Collins said. “I appreciate the representatives of those institutions who have made time to participate today, but I do want to express disappointment that some have declined to do so.”

The hearing was part of an ongoing series organized by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. The question of fairness in economic access is among the four pillars guiding the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ legislative agenda to eliminate systemic racism. The pillars include:

1. Criminal justice reform, violence reduction and police accountability
2. Education and workforce development
3. Economic access, equity and opportunity
4. Health care and human services

CHICAGO – To discuss the operational challenges in supplier diversity, including procurement, the Business Enterprise Program (BEP) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) policies, Senate Executive Committee Chair Mattie Hunter and Special Committee on Supplier Diversity Chair Ram Villivalam will lead a joint Senate committee hearing tomorrow afternoon.

“Women and people of color often face adversity in the realm government contracting,” Hunter said. “Every business deserves procurement policies that will help it succeed, regardless of who owns it. Minority business owners deserve an equal opportunity to flourish.”

“Fair and equitable procurement policies are key to expanding opportunities for women-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses,” said Villivalam. “Prioritizing equity and diversity in our suppliers will strengthen our economy, which is critically important to all Illinois taxpayers.”

AURORA – According to a study by the Illinois Department of Public Health, 26 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Illinois each day.

The prognosis for breast cancer is best if the diagnosis occurs in the condition’s earliest stages, which is why Assistant Senate Majority Leader Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) is reminding women that Oct. 16 is National Mammography Day.

“Getting a routine mammogram or scheduling one if a woman believes there may be a problem improves the odds for treatment if it is necessary,” Holmes said. “Studies show that screening mammography can help reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer among women ages 40 to 74, and especially for those over age 50.”

CHICAGO — The Senate Executive, Financial Institutions, Economic and Commerce Committees held a joint subject matter hearing on racial equity in lending and home ownership Thursday. State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago), who chairs the Executive Committee, called for equity in minority lending and ownership.

“Though discriminative practices, such as redlining, were outlawed by the Fair Housing Act of 1968, it is incredibly disheartening to see African Americans struggling from these same issues today,” Hunter said. “Large home ownership and lending gaps still exist and deprive Black Americans, and that needs to change.”

SPRINGFIELD – In response to reports of widespread racial inequality in how home loans and property appraisals are conducted, State Senators Jacqueline Collins and Mattie Hunter will host a subject matter hearing Thursday, seeking information on possible avenues for reform and continuing efforts by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus to build an agenda ahead of the upcoming fall legislative session.

“Reporting and university studies have shown that the largest predictor of a Chicagoan’s ability to receive a home loan is still race, and the disparity in lending is worse now than it was in 1980,” Collins said. “This has fueled the cycle of generational poverty, and must be reformed.”

“Redlining and other discriminatory practices that were used to disparage Black homeowners decades ago are still in effect today,” Hunter said. “Black home seekers and homeowners need the same opportunities as white homeowners do.”

Economic access is among the four pillars guiding the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ legislative agenda to eliminate systemic racism. The pillars include:

1. Criminal justice reform, violence reduction and police accountability
2. Education and workforce development
3. Economic access, equity and opportunity
4. Health care and human services

Those who wish to submit written testimony to the hearing can do so online at www.ilga.gov.

To watch the virtual committee, visit https://ilga.gov/senateaudvid.asp and click "Watch Live Virtual Committee Video." The link will be available at 10 a.m.

WHO: State Senator Jacqueline Collins, State Senator Mattie Hunter, and other members of the Senate Financial Institutions, Senate Commerce and Economic Development, and Senate Executive Committees

WHAT: Subject matter hearing on racial inequality in home lending and ownership

WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: Conducted remotely via Zoom and broadcast live on https://ilga.gov/senateaudvid.asp  or on Blue Room Stream, a subscription-based service.

CHICAGO – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) joined the Senate Education and Higher Education Committees for a hearing focused on language graduation requirements and mental health resources and recovery in Illinois elementary and high schools.

Wednesday’s hearing was the fifth hearing dedicated to education and workforce development, the second pillar of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ agenda to rid Illinois of systemic racism.

“Students have a better chance of gaining proficiency in a second language when they learn it early on,” Lightford said. “That effort can make a significant impact on our children’s career success the workforce.”