•July 31, 2019•
By Rebecca Anzel
Capitol News Illinois
Lack of affordable housing impacts many facets of family life — access to education and health care, for example — for Illinoisans throughout the state, Sen. Mattie Hunter and Rep. Delia Ramirez said.
It’s a truth the Chicago Democrats said they each experienced before their time in office. Each has a background in social service work — Hunter as a community organizer who grew up in public housing and Ramirez as director of a community social service agency.
Illinois’ affordable housing program received $200 million through the state’s first capital plan in 10 years, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in late June. Other investments totaling about $129 million are included elsewhere in the budget.
And while Hunter and Ramirez said that money will make a “significant difference,” they added it will take $1 billion to properly address the infrastructure need in Illinois.
“I’m trying to be the kind of organizer that celebrates the small victories, and certainly the funding was a small victory and we’re grateful for it,” Ramirez said. “It means, at a minimum, we’ll be able to develop another 2,000 units of affordable housing — so it’s another 2,000 families that otherwise would not be able to have some kind of permanent, stable housing — and certainly that’s a victory. But I certainly can’t say enough about how much more we need.” Read More
