Black and Latino caucuses voice support for proposed budget
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[February 03, 2022]
By BETH HUNDSDORFER
Capitol News Illinois
bhundsdorfer@capitolnewsillinois.com
Members of the Illinois Legislative Black
Caucus and Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus voiced their overall
support for Gov. GB Pritzker’s budget in separate news conferences
Wednesday, but said they will continue to push to address the lack of
access to health care, affordable housing, economic development, and
high quality education for Black and brown communities in Illinois.
Illinois Senate Black Caucus Chair Robert Peters, D-Chicago, and Latino
Legislative Caucus Chair Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, said
Pritzker’s budget is a fair starting point.
“This budget is at a good place, and considering the circumstances, it
reflects a more optimistic outlook than where we were a year ago,”
Peters said. “The budget proposal certainly takes into account the
improved circumstances of our state’s economic and fiscal situations,
and it’s a good place to begin the process of drafting our first budget
that puts us on the road to economic recovery during this pandemic.”
Villa and Peters, in separate appearances, praised the investment of
$240 million in new money for the Reimagine Public Safety Act for
increased funding for community-based violence intervention programs,
behavioral health programs and trauma recovery.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/03/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
“We have a unique opportunity to heal trauma, repair harm and create
safety for communities who have been faced with too much pain for way
too long,” Peters said.
Peters also pushed for the full implementation of the SAFE-T Act, a
criminal justice reform passed in January last year.
The proposed budget includes funding for the Illinois Supreme Court’s
requested $26 million to establish comprehensive pretrial services in
the 63 counties that lack such services. It includes another $10 million
in new appropriations from the Law Enforcement Training and Standards
Board to pay for the obligations associated with the SAFE-T Act.
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![](../images/020322pics/news_a89.jpg)
State Sen. Robert Peters, Senate chair of the
Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, is pictured in a file photo.
(Credit: Blueroomstream.com)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/03/images/ads/current/guzzardos_lda_LUAL_2017.png)
“We are improving public safety, supporting better law enforcement and
working to end systemic injustice at the same time,” he said.
Peters said he supported housing assistance that includes $10 million
for eviction mitigation, and $40 million for the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program.
Low unemployment rates and rising revenues show signs of a growing
economy, but Villa said families are experiencing the lingering effects
of the pandemic.
She praised a one-year proposed vacation on the 1 percent grocery tax,
as well as a proposal to cancel an anticipated 2.2 cent increase to the
state’s motor fuel tax for the current fiscal year.
Members of the Black Caucus said the budget should result in real and
transformative change to close the economic gaps for minorities.
“One of the things I like is we will be addressing healthcare
disparities, ensuring economic viability by retaining and creating jobs,
investing in small businesses, which is the backbone of our local
economies, supporting education,” said Rep. Nick Smith, D-Chicago.
The COVID-19 pandemic also underscored inequities in housing and health
care in the Latino community, Villa said.
“The reality is that we still have a very long way to go when it comes
to recovering. The pandemic further uncovered a dire need to access
health care in our community,” Villa said.
Leaders of the two caucuses said they will continue to work to improve
opportunities for their constituents as they negotiate the budget.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service
covering state government and distributed to more than 400
newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press
Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |