Earlier this week, Rev. Jennifer Kottler, Campaign Director joined several thousand people at the Capitol in Springfield calling on legislators to pass a fair and balanced budget that preserves education, job training, human services and services for seniors and people with disabilities. It was the largest crowd the Capitol building has seen in recent memory.

“Advocates from around the state have come to the Capitol to voice their opposition to a “business-as-usual” approach to the budget.  These are difficult times, and the legislature was elected to make difficult choices,” said Kottler.  “People feel as though their lives and their freedoms hang in the balance, and are literally being held hostage by the members of the General Assembly.”

The General Assembly met on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and is scheduled to return to Springfield on Monday for a special session at the Capitol.  The current fiscal year ends on Tuesday.  The body must either send a budget to the Governor to enact or veto, or they must pass a resolution empowering the Governor to continue the current funding levels for a month, two months or six months into the future.

CJC and IWF are calling on the Governor to work with the legislative leaders (and the legislative leaders to work with the Governor) to develop a budget that will keep our state’s commitments to its seniors, children, low-income families and people with disabilities.

Below is the action alert that was sent out earlier today to the members of CJC and the IWF campaign.  Please feel free to pass this along to individuals who may need this information.

IWF staff will be working to keep you posted during this budget crisis.

The 21st Century Workforce Development Fund (HB 4186, Senate Amendment 1) has cleared it’s first hurdle, passing out of the Senate Commerce Committee on April 30, 2009.  This bill will create a grantmaking fund that can be used flexibly by communities and businesses to train the most disadvantaged workers for jobs in “green” industries, and in industries experiencing a critical shortage of skilled workers.

The next step is to pass the bill out of the Senate before the third reading deadline of May 22, 2009.  Then it has one week to be passed by the House on a concurrence vote.  The bill was passed in the House, but it was amended significantly enough in the Senate that it requires the House to vote to concur on the amendment.

Your calls are needed to both House and Senate members to ask them to both support and co-sponsor this legislation. We are asking that moneys for the fund come from from both a 1% set aside in the capital bill for worker training, and federal recovery dollars that are targeted to training significantly disadvantaged workers in green industries.  This bill puts Illinois in a strong position to compete for those dollars.

For more information, stay tuned.  We will continue to update this page as the bill progresses.

Appropriations bills have been introduced in the Illinois state Senate that will increase funding for the Job Training and Economic Development (JTED) program, and the Employment Opportunity Grant Program (EOGP) in the state’s FY 2010 budget.

Next Weds, March 18, Governor Pat Quinn will make his first budget address since taking office in January.  We have been hearing that this budget will include “difficult choices” that may include cuts in programs and services as well as increases in revenues.

It is important to understand that the Governor’s address is just the beginning of the budget process that must be negotiated with both chambers in the legislature before a final budget is approved. The Illinois Constitution mandates a balanced budget and a flat income tax, so it will be interesting to see what revenue options the Governor will put on the table and what programs may face cuts.  A budget also must pass with a simple majority of both chambers by May 31.  After June 1, a super majority is needed to pass any budget.

In conversations with Senators at the Capitol — both Democrats and Republicans — IWF staff is finding broad support for job training in this time of economic downturn.  At the present time the Senate bills have 10 co-sponsors, and more Senators are signing on as co-sponsors every day.  To see if your Senator has signed on as a co-sponsor, click here.  If you don’t know who represents you in the State Senate, go to Project Vote Smart and enter your zip+4.

We need everyone to call their Senator and if they are supportive, ask them to cosponsor both SB 1696 (JTED) and SB 1697 (EOGP). The appropriations levels in these bills is $10 million for JTED and $12.5 million for EOGP.  Please talk to your Senators about how these strategies will help put people back to work under the Recovery Act.

The JTED program partners with business to train individuals for jobs that are available in the community. The EOGP provides a pathway for disadvantaged workers, people of color and women to enter the building trades. Both of these are proven strategies that are “shovel ready” — strategies that the state has at their disposal right now to train people for the jobs that are or will be created in the Recovery Act.

For more information, or to become more involved, contact Rev. Jennifer Kottler.

On Wednesday, February 4th, Governor Pat Quinn signed SB 1132, the supplemental appropriations bill that included funding to restore both the JTED and the EOGP programs.

Participants and endorsers of the IWF campaign participated in the advocacy for this restoration by making phone calls, writing letters, and attending meetings in district and at the state capitol.  For the first time in years, members of the General Assembly became aware of these programs and the faces behind them.

“It was really compelling for legislators to hear first hand from constituents who are participants or graduates of these programs,” observed Jennifer Kottler, IWF campaign director.  “Legislators don’t automatically see the faces of those who need these job skills training programs.  For once, they saw the faces, heard the stories, and voted to restore the funding that had been cut from the budget.”

IWF encourages everyone to take time to say thank you to all the legislators and to Governor Quinn.  This bill passed unanimously out of both chambers of the General Assembly on January 13th.

Good News for Job Skills Training Programs in Illinois

Through the efforts of the IWF Campaign, our endorsers, supporters and friends, two critically important and effective job training programs were restored to pre-veto levels in a supplemental appropriations bill that passed the General Assembly on January 13, 2009. These programs were cut in half by the Governor’s veto in July 2008.

The Job Training and Economic Development program makes grants to partnerships between community-based job training programs and local businesses to develop effective training to meet business needs. JTED was created to serve vulnerable populations such as TANF recipients, ex-offenders, the homeless, immigrants, and dislocated workers, many of whom face barriers such as illiteracy, a poor work history, and limited English proficiency. Under the program, unemployed adults are provided with skills training, case management, and job placement services, while low-skilled incumbent workers get skills training that improves the productivity of their employers.

The Employment Opportunity Grant Program (EOGP) makes grants to educational institutions and community-based organizations to prepare individuals for careers in building trades occupations. The goal of the EOGP is to expand the number of individuals in historically underrepresented populations (low-income people, people of color and women) who enter and complete building trades apprenticeship programs and achieve journey-level status within building trades unions.

Since July, Illinois Works for the Future has been taking an active and effective lead in restoring cuts to the Job Training and Economic Development program, the Employment Opportunity Grant Program, and the Employer Training Incentive Program.   Each of the budgets for these programs were slashed by 50% and are desperately in need of these funds to be restored — now!

In November, IWF and CJC led “A Day at the Capitol” in Springfield — an opportunity for the workforce development community to come together and make their voices heard.  We know that during economically challenging times that there is more not less need for job training and education, so that we can ensure that every sector that needs people has a pool of qualified and trained workers to draw from.

If you joined us for “A Day at the Capitol”, thank you.  It was a great success.  More than 65 people joined us to talk to legislators, and advocate for restoring funding to these important programs.

While the bill to restore funding passed the House on November 20, this bill still needs to pass in the Senate.  Please contact your State Senators today and ask them to support HB 3889 — a supplemental appropriation to restore workforce development funds.

If you have additional questions, please contact Jennifer Kottler, IWF Campaign Director at jkottler@cjc.net, or feel free to give her a call at 312-252-0461 or 773-960-8960.

Thank you to all the wonderful organizations and individuals who have joined the campaign in recent weeks in response to our outreach efforts. These organizations include:

The Rockford Jobs Council

Careers, Etc.

UCAN

THE CENTER:  Resources for Teaching and Learning

LEED Council

Women Employed

Illinois Workforce Partnership

Illinois Associaition of Community Action Agencies

Join the campaign now!  To endorse the vision of the campaign, click here.  Stay tuned for more exciting developments!

The Illinois Works for the Future campaign is pleased to launch our newest communications tool to keep you informed about the new initiatives and advocacy opportunities available through the IWF campaign.

Not yet an endorser of the campaign?  Click here to endorse the vision!

Not a representative of an organization?  Sign up as an individual endorser!

Want to sign up to receive periodic action alerts and information about upcoming meetings and trainings?  We promise not to abuse your trust or overload your mailbox.

This campaign is about working together to ensure that Illinois has a well-trained and educated work force and that everyone in our state has access to the skills training and employment services that they need to maintain good jobs.  Investing in our workforce is necessary for the economic viability of the Illinois economy, and creating strong families and strong communities.

Join with us!  Sign up now to endorse the campaign and receive email alerts.  Remember this:  the best economic stimulus is a good paying job!

Best,

Jennifer Kottler, Campaign Director