Advocacy Team
Important Illinois State Legislation: We Need You TODAY!
Access Living friends and allies,
It’s a busy advocacy week with our state legislature here in Illinois! We need your help to show support for the following three efforts.
State Bill to Fund Home Modifications:
HB 5551 will help Illinois set aside $7.5 million in state funds to allow Centers for Independent Living help more people with disabilities get home modifications to make their homes accessible. While there are some existing home modification opportunities, there are many more people who don’t qualify for those programs. Several of the Illinois Centers for Independent Living help people secure home mods right now, but we want to do more! Support HB 5551 by filing a witness slip at this link. When you go to the link, you can say you represent “self” as an individual. Be sure to check “proponent” (that means “supporter”) and “record of appearance only” since it is online support.
Support the Legislative Accessibility Act:
Recently, the Legislative Accessibility Act (SB 180) passed the Illinois Senate! We’re very excited about this. Now, SB 180 is in the Illinois House under the leadership of State Representative Ann Williams. Help us work to educate our legislators about the need for improving legislative accessibility! You can send a quick email to your state rep at this link. Learn more about this bill on Access Living’s website.
Take Action for AABD Cash in Illinois:
Illinois’s Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled (AABD) program helps provide critical financial support for the seniors and people with disabilities with the fewest resources, including refugees and asylees. Today, the income support available to these Illinoisans is simply not enough-the program has been ignored for decades, forcing people who receive this assistance to live below the federal poverty level. Advocates are asking our state legislators to include an increase for AABD recipients in our state budget. Help support economic justice by sending a letter to your legislators at this link.
Please share these action alerts/updates with fellow Illinoisans. Thank you for your advocacy!