Action Alert! Minimum Wage Bill Passes Out Of Senate Exec. Committee!

An increase in the Illinois Minimum Wage that has been championed by Action Now and a large coalition called Raise Illinois advanced out of the Senate Executive Committee on May 16th, 2012!  The day after the vote we had over 100 Raise Illinois members and minimum wage workers in Springfield lobbying for the bill to be passed by the full Senate.

Please call, email and fax your State Senator today!

CLICK HERE to go to the District Locator to find out who your State Senator is and how to reach him/her.

We need as many people as possible to reach out to their Senators and voice a strong message for working families: Pass Senate Bill 1565 to raise the minimum wage in Illinois!

Once you have entered your address into the District Locator, click on the name of your State Senator and you will find their contact info. Calling their Springfield office is the most important, but you can call their District office as well.

Senator Kimberly Lightford, lead sponsor of SB 1565

Thanks to our sponsor, Senator Kimberly Lightford, and all the Democrats on the committee!  The bill, SB 1565, which would raise the minimum wage from $8.25/hour to over $10/hour in fifty cent per year increments by 2014, received the support of every Democrat and the opposition of every Republican.  Anyone who thinks that there is no difference between the two parties should think about the impact on the lives of minimum wage workers. If you want to reduce the extreme inequalities in our economy, you can help by taking action today.  Click here to find your Illinois legislators. We still need the bill to pass through the full Senate as well as the House of Representatives.

Minimum wage worker and grandmother Evalin Boblitt speaking about her struggle to raise the three grandchildren she takes care of on her own.

Below are links to some of the press coverage around the state.  The first one is an interview with a Springfield grandmother who is raising her three grandchildren on a minimum wage job as a dishwasher in a diner.

“Illinois Minimum Wage Bill Moves out of Committee” on CBS Channel 31 in Peoria

“IL Senate committee votes to send minimum-wage hike to the floor” in Illinois Statehouse News 

“Illinois committee OKs higher minimum wage” on CBS Money Watch

“Illinois legislature to consider increasing the minimum wage” in Daily American News

“State Senate Committee Approves Minimum Wage Hike” on CBS Chicago News  

“Illinois committee OKs higher minimum wage” in Peoria Journal Star

“Minimum wage proposal advances in Illinois” in Quad City Times

“Vote on $10 minimum wage goes to Ill. Senate floor” in The Southern Illinoisan

“Illinois Minimum Wage Could Be Raised Significantly” on WIBQ-FM Terre Haute Radio

 “Illinois Minimum Wage Bill Advances” in Progress Illinois

“Bill increasing Illinois’ minimum wage moves forward” in STLToday.com

Action Now President Michelle Young In Chicago Tribune!

Photo of Michelle Young with her protest sign (Click image to zoom)

Action Now President Michelle Young and her son Eugene were profiled in the Chicago Tribune speaking about making protest art at the Stand Up Chicago office:

“I first got involved in politics during Harold Washington’s run for mayor,” said Michelle Young, one recent Saturday afternoon. She stayed involved and became more so after retiring from an insurance company a few years ago. Young is now president of the community group Action Now. She was making her first visit to the Pilsen workplace. “This is wonderful, so open. You can be yourself here but know you are part of a bigger effort. You don’t need to be an artist — and I am not — to express yourself.” Young included photos of her children on the poster she made.

Click here for photos of Michelle Young and other community leaders with their art.

Click here for the full article.

Action Now Leader Charles Brown Speaks About What NATO Means For Chicago Neighborhoods!

Action Now Celebrates Success Of Vacant Property Ordinance; More Work To Be Done

Action Now welcomes the numbers recently released by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Alderman Pat Dowell, showing the success of the Vacant Property Ordinance we created and advocated for over the course of two years. According to the Mayor, the city has collected $619,000 in fines from financial institutions in three months, and the number of registrations of vacant properties has risen 56%.

“We hope that the Mayor and Alderman Dowell will continue to support our fight to maintain the integrity and security of our neighborhoods,” says Action Now President Michelle Young.

“While we are positive about the success of the ordinance,” Young continues, “Action Now proposes that the money generated from the ordinance should go to providing watchmen to guard unsecured vacant properties.”

In October of 2011, Bank of America arrested five Action Now members at a protest held to get the bank to maintain and secure their vacant buildings

Action Now has seen a rise of sexual assaults, shootings and dead bodies found in and around vacant buildings. Action Now members experience firsthand the destruction that abandoned buildings cause every day.

Young states: “The increase in the number of registered vacant buildings shows much greater safety measures are needed. Our children should not have to fear for their lives while walking to school. We need watchmen to ensure that our families are protected.”

Press coverage:

CBS 2 News, “Fine Collections Against Banks Way Up Since Ordinance On Vacant Properties” (mentions Bank of America Five arrests)

Huffington Post, “Chicago Vacant Buildings Ordinance Nets $619,000 For City In 3 Months: Report” (mentions Bank of America Five and quoted Action Now leader Gloria Warner)

Chicago Tribune, “Chicago levies $619K in vacant-building fines”

WBEZ 91.5 FM, “Vacant homes policy brings Chicago big cash”

Action Now members travel to Detroit to protest at GE Shareholders Meeting

Video of Action Now members Deborah Robinson and Donna Roberts-Williams speaking at the protest in Detroit about the effects of the greed of the richest 1% on the well being of the hardworking 99%.

Video by Aaron Krager, read the full article by clicking here.

Community Rallies At Vacant Building Where Dead Body Was Found

Action Now leader and Humboldt Park resident Lillian Ferrer speaking about the communities' struggle with these vacant buildings

Action Now members, families and residents in Humboldt Park held a rally and press conference on April 19th, outside of a vacant building at 3808 W. Grand where a woman’s dead body was found on Saturday, April 14^th, 2012. At the rally, Action Now members and neighborhood residents spoke about the danger of these buildings and their fear for the children in the community who pass these buildings when they walk to school.

Some of the Action Now members and community residents at the rally

Members and residents of Humboldt Park had already held a protest regarding the lack of security and maintenance of the vacant buildings at 3808 and 3810 W. Grand last September. They had tried calling 311 and meeting with the Alderman, but nothing was done. Now, as a result of the lack of security at 3808 W. Grand, a dead body was found inside the building this weekend. This vacant building is only two blocks away from Cameron Elementary School and across the street from a church and community center, yet there is no protection for children or families forced to walk by it every day.

The vacant building at 3808 W. Grand where the dead body of a woman was found

There were six code violations reported about 3808 W. Grand on January 3^rd, 2012 including no watchman, unsafe conditions and no registration. Members find it problematic that the city knew about the danger of this vacant building and the community had already held a rally at the building over six months ago, but the city did nothing to enforce the Vacant Property Ordinance. The neglect of the owner of the building and the city has led to another horrible crime in a vacant building. As Action Now President Michelle Young said at the rally, ” Enforcement of the Vacant Property Ordinance, as well as getting Alderman Deborah Graham’s Safe Passages Watchman Ordinance through the City Council are key to keeping Chicago’s neighborhoods safe in the aftermath of the housing  crisis.

The morning after the rally, Ms. Ferrer reported that there were three Streets and Sanitation trucks cleaning up the vacant property and that there had been constant police patrol at the building throughout the night!

Press coverage:

CBS News, “Neighbors: City Doesn’t Care About Abandoned Buildings On West Side”

Telemundo, “Edificios abandonados: foco de criminalidad”

Univision, “Protestan falta de seguridad en Humboldt Park”

99% Tax Protest! Rally to Demand that Rich Tax Dodgers Pay Their Fair Share

Action Now at the beginning of the march in Federal Plaza

On Tax Day, April 17th Action Now joined hundreds of people from labor and community organizations in a rally to to demand that the richest 1% pay their fair share in taxes like the rest of us! The rally began at Federal Plaza, with marches onto tax-dodging corporations (Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Bank of America, Verizon, Exelon and BMO Harris Bank), ending with a rally at the Board of Trade. They also delivered puppet versions of the corporate executives to a mock jail. We were also there to urge lawmakers to pass the Buffet Rule that requires millionaires to pay more taxes.

Action Now leader Charles Brown speaking at Bank of America

Action Now marched to Bank of America to deliver a tax bill demanding they pay the taxes that they owe to the American people, since they took our tax dollars to get bailed out. Under CEO Brian Moynihan’s leadership, Bank of America paid NOTHING in taxes the past three years, despite hauling in $5.5 BILLION in profits. Bank of America didn’t just dodge taxes, they received a $5 BILLION tax refund for the year 2009. Moynihan has been amply rewarded, receiving a $10 MILLION salary in compensation.

It is unfair and un-American for corporations and rich CEOs to pay nothing in taxes while working families continue to foot the bill. Public services and programs for families, children and the elderly are being cut just so that the rich can get more tax breaks and increase their profits. It’s time to take back our country for the American people!

Video:

Press coverage:

CBS News, “Activists Deliver ‘Tax Bills’ To Big Corporations On Tax Day”

Huffington Post, “Tax Day Doesn’t Belong to the Tea Party Anymore”

Chicago Tribune, “Protesters target CME, Duffy”

Press Conference Against Mayor’s Infrastructure Trust

Action Now members at the press conference

On Monday, April 16 Action Now and other community groups in the Grassroots Collaborative held a press conference at City Hall to urge their aldermen to vote “no” on the mayor’s Infrastructure Trust Ordinance, an ordinance that if passed will give corporate investors the opportunity to finance future development projects in the city of Chicago.

Early in March, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the Chicago Infrastructure Trust as “an innovative way to leverage private investment for transformative infrastructure projects to guide the city’s renewal of these vital and foundational elements in the 21st century.”

However, many groups including the Grassroots Collaborative have criticized the ordinance explaining that the measure could open a revenue stream for big banks, that fast decisions are made without a fair dialogue and that City Council oversight is at stake. It could result in another parking meter disaster where taxpayers are on the hook for corporations taking over public services for profit.

Press coverage:

ABC News, “Committee OKs mayor’s plan to fund infrastructure projects” (Action Now in video)

WGN News, “Finance Committee takes up infrastructure trust plan” (Action Now in video)

NBC News, “Rahm’s ‘New Chicago’ Plan Draws Skeptics”

The Gate, “Mayor’s Infrastructure Trust Ordinance Raises Concerns Over Transparency, Accountability” (photo of Action Now)

Huffington Post, “Emanuel Infrastructure Plan Criticized Ahead Of Chicago City Council Vote “

Progress Illinois, “Finance Committee Scrutinizes, Then Passes, Emanuel’s Infrastructure Trust”

Members Join Stop The Violence Rally And March

Action Now members at the beginning of the rally at St. James Cathedral

On April 2nd, Action Now members joined hundreds of people from other organizations and congregations for a march against violence. Since 2008, more than 630 young people have been killed in Chicago. This issue is very important to Action Now members because, like most Chicago citizens, many have to deal with neighborhood crime on a daily basis.

 

As Action Now Leader Annie Harris said, “Every night I’m hearing gunshots, and then the next morning I hear that somebody’s been killed.”

Click here to watch NBC Channel 5 News coverage of the march showing Action Now members with a clip of Annie Harris speaking.

Action Now Day In Springfield!

Action Now President Michelle Young with Representative Esther Golar

On March 22nd, around 75 Action Now members traveled to Springfield for “Action Now Day” at the Capitol. We went to Springfield to speak to legislators about vital bills that impact working families in Illinois. There was also a rally held in the Capitol Rotunda where Action Now leaders spoke about legislation that was important to them and why our organization supported it. Senator Kimberly Lightford, Representative Esther Golar and Senator William Delgado also spoke at the rally.

Action Now members at the rally in the Capitol Rotunda!

Here is a short synopsis of the bills we support in the Illinois General Assembly:

• Minimum Wage: Senate Bill 1565 would increase the minimum wage each year until it reaches its historic level of $10.65 by 2014 and after that the minimum wage would simply be adjusted each year to keep up with the cost of living. Raising the minimum wage would pull working families out of poverty and help the Illinois economy by creating 20,000 new jobs and over $1 billion in consumer spending.

• 

  Senator Kimberly Lightford and Action Now Board Member Charles Brown

  Vacant Properties: Senate Bill 16 would authorize local governments to enact ordinances that hold financial institutions responsible for maintaining and securing vacant properties. Vacant buildings blight our neighborhoods and drain municipal budgets. This legislation would make it clear that local governments can hold lenders and servicers responsible for maintaining and securing such properties.

• Grow Your Own Teachers:  House Bill 4049 and Senate Bill 2872 would fully fund the Grow Your Own Teacher Program at $2.5 million for fiscal year 2013 in order to make gains and graduate more highly effective teachers of color. GYO has over 100 graduates with an average GPA of 3.3 that are highly qualified to teach in hard to staff positions in schools where the majority of students are low-income African-American and Latino children.

• Expungement: Senate Bill 3488 would make it a civil rights violation to refuse to sell, rent or deny housing to an individual simply because they have an arrest (rather than a conviction) record, or a legally expunged or sealed record.

• Education: HB 4487 and SB 3239 would provide for a moratorium on schools closings, consolidations and phase-outs in the 2012-2013 school year. They would require the district to establish policies that address and remedy the academic performance of schools, as well as clear criteria for decisions like closings, consolidations and phase-outs. SB 3362 would create maximums for school class sizes in Chicago public schools.

If you support some or all of these bills, let your voice be heard! Please call your State Senator and/or Representative and tell them how you feel.

You can find your legislators by clicking here and entering your address.