Lobby Day in Springfield
5/2/23
On May 1, dozens of our members traveled to Springfield from all across the state to talk with their legislators and advocate in support of bills that promote economic and educational equity and protection of the environment.
Instituting a state Child Tax Credit, ensuring the state meets its commitment to fully fund Evidence Based Funding for K-12 schools, and securing protections for our state’s wetlands were among the League’s 2024 legislative objectives.
“Having regular in-person meetings with our legislators is an important part of our legislative advocacy work. Our state senators and state representatives need to hear from us, and we need to share information about the bills and issues that are important to us,” said Becky Simon, president of the League of Women Voters of Illinois.
Here are the primary bills we advocated for:
Funding for a state Child Tax Credit (CTC). The tax credit is an immediate, meaningful way to directly support to families of half of Illinois’ kids (HB4917 / SB3329)
$550M increase in Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) for education in the budget, as well as EBF spending transparency (HB3446)
Protecting critically important wetlands (SB0771 / HB5386)
Requiring that every Illinois public high school includes a unit of instruction addressing climate change (HB4895)
Changing the misleading titles of Unlawful Use of a Weapon (to Unlawful Possession) and Armed Habitual Criminal (to Persistent Unlawful Possession) because the current language unfairly misstates the severity of the crime and impacts people’s ability to secure housing and employment (HB4500 / SB2864)
Prohibiting so-called “crime-free housing and nuisance property” ordinances (CFNOs), which can unfairly lead to the eviction of survivors of domestic violence and people with disabilities (HB5314 / SB3680)
The League of Women Voters of Illinois works to influence public policy on specific issues after member study and consensus. To learn more about the League’s advocacy work, visit lwvil.org/positions.