Adoption of Modest Progressive Revenue Measures is Positive Step, but Falls Short

Greg Kelley, President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, issued the following statement upon the news that state lawmakers failed to pass a crucial rate increase for Illinois Department on Aging (DOA) Community Care Program (CCP) home care workers, while utilizing modest progressive revenue measures to fund other important programs:

“Springfield failed to meet the moment by leaving behind thousands of seniors who need home care and the workers who make that care possible. More than 20,000 Illinois seniors in the state eligible for home care through CCP cannot access services due to a severe workforce shortage. A rate increase for home care workers was not optional—it was necessary to help seniors age with dignity at home.

Our home care members have been a consistent presence at the Capitol since session began, lifting up the role that home care plays in ensuring that the seniors of our state can remain in their own homes. Our members and their clients know firsthand that low wages are driving workers out of the field while demand for care continues to grow.

While we’re disappointed in this outcome, our members, as part of the Illinois Revenue Alliance, worked diligently to build the political will needed to pass Illinois’ first-ever digital advertising tax. This is a historic win that would not be possible without home care workers at the forefront.

While progressive revenue measures like this are a step in the right direction, this budget still falls short of the bold action needed to address the challenges facing Illinois families and seniors. At a time when families are already struggling with rising costs and facing deeper federal cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other essential services under HR1, the need for real investment has never been greater

Even with this setback, I have no doubt that our home care members will continue to fight forward to win the stable, sustainable public investments that our communities deserve.”

Additional background: 

For months, care workers with SEIU Healthcare Illinois (HCII) raised their voices through rallies, peaceful civil disobedience, speakouts, opinion pieces, roundtables, ads and more to demand Illinois lawmakers make corporations pay what they owe in taxes to fund essential care services in the state budget.

Home care, child care and hospital workers from every corner of the state — from Peoria, to Alton, to Chicago, to Rockford, to the Quad Cities, and beyond — brought their statewide campaign to a crescendo the week of the budget vote with a flurry of actions in Springfield. On Wednesday, SEIU HCII members led a march with hundreds of allies with the Illinois Revenue Alliance through the streets straight to the state Capitol Building and demanding funding for care at a major rally that filled the Capitol. On Friday, child care workers, parents, and young children led a “story time” speak out and “superhero march” at the Capitol urging lawmakers to make corporations pay what they owe in taxes to fund child care and other essential care services. On Saturday, faith leaders, seniors, and home care workers held a prayer procession through the Capitol, urging lawmakers to fund senior care and a $2 wage increase for home care worker raises by cracking down on corporate tax avoidance.

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