(February 16th, 2016) — A host of community leaders representing working families, including SEIU Healthcare Illinois, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Grassroots Illinois Action, Alderman Carlos Rosa and Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia all gathered today to endorse Omar Aquino running for an open seat in the Illinois State Senate’s 2nd District.

See video of Jaqueline Rodriguez, HCII Vice-President’s remarks and the full text of her statement below along with other information from the press event today.

Jaqueline Rodriguez, HCII Vice-President, Endorses Omar Aquino for Illinois Senate 2nd District

 Statement from Jaqueline Rodriguez, SEIU HCII Vice-President

Good morning. I am Jaqueline Rodriguez, and I am a vice president at SEIU Healthcare , the union that represents more than 50,000 home child care providers and homecare workers who get paid by the State of Illinois.

Our members and the children, seniors and people with disabilities whom they serve, understand more than most the danger that Bruce Rauner poses to vital services in Illinois.

Recently, our union uncovered a Rauner budget memo that said that, “government doesn’t solve problems, it subsidizes them.”

It is this type of cynical and borderline racist point of view that has led Illinois down such a destructive path.

We are entering our 8th month without a budget and now it is almost on a daily basis that we hear of another disaster caused by Rauner’s approach, which proves his indifference to the suffering he is causing the people of Illinois.

Universities are on the verge of shutdown. Social service agencies like Lutheran Social Services closed their doors putting at risk the communities they serve. Other services like homecare agencies have had to shut down after they went months without paying workers who had already provided home care to seniors.

One of our own union home care agencies is on the verge of not being able to make payroll this week after they have been hanging on a thread for the past 8 months. Gang intervention, rape prevention, cervical and breast cancer screenings, have all been sacrificed for the Bruce Rauner agenda that has nothing to do with saving taxpayers money and everything to do with protecting corporations, big banks and the super wealthy like Rauner for their own subsidies.
We say enough is enough and we know Omar Aquino does, too.

With his record of advocacy for vulnerable citizens, particularly women and people of color and immigrants, we know that he rejects the Rauner approach to hostage-taking and will work to find real solutions that STOP subsidizing the rich at the expense of vital services.

Governor Rauner is wrong when he says that government “subsidizes” problems and the public is starting to recognize this too.

We know that Omar Aquino will go to Springfield to help “turnarond” the runaway Rauner agenda and help improve the lives of his constituents, instead of treating them like they don’t deserve a more responsible state government and that is why Omar Aquino has our strong endorsement to be the next senator from the Second District.