CHICAGO - Sen. Collins attends a bill signing with her mentee, Avery Bolden. On Saturday, Gov. Quinn signed a new law that will automatically expunge most juvenile arrest records (when the arrest did not lead to charges) for youth who have turned 18 and have not been arrested during the past six months. Until now, the procedure for asking a court to order these records expunged was so complicated that of 21,000 minors arrested in Cook County in 2013, only 400 successfully petitioned for expungement. When young people have a second chance to find employment or continue their education, communities thrive and our future looks brighter.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16th) noted that 14.2 percent of Illinoisans lack consistent access to food and called on six groups to combine forces to end hunger and food insecurity in the state. The Senate adopted her resolution urging the governor to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat hunger using the existing resources and expertise of these organizations and commissions.

“Hunger is a multifaceted problem, and ending it will require the combined and focused attention of government, schools, food banks, non-profits, the business community and the faith community at every level,” said Collins, who has championed efforts to bring fresh, nutritious foods into “food deserts.”

Collins’ resolution recognizes the ongoing and potential contributions of the following groups to the fight to connect all Illinois residents to healthy foods:

• The Illinois Commission to End Hunger, which encourages partnerships between food pantries and farmers’ markets
• The Greater Chicago Food Depository, which supplies food to 650 food pantries and soup kitchens across Cook County and is pioneering an urban agriculture and employment initiative
• The Illinois Local Food, Farms and Jobs Council, created by legislation Collins sponsored in 2009, which supports the consumption of locally grown foods throughout the state
• The Serve Illinois Commission, which encourages volunteer service and engages local food projects in building a strong volunteer infrastructure
• The Illinois Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise, which works at the intersection of social and economic progress
• The Illinois Business Development Council, which is developing a state business plan that prioritizes areas of high poverty and low employment

“To alleviate hunger and poverty, we must harness the power of existing resources, not create yet another stand-alone task force,” Collins said. “I know that applying dedicated talent and grassroots innovation from around the state to the unacceptable reality of hunger in our communities will bring about change.”

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16th) issued the following statement on her support of education funding reform and a ballot referendum on raising the minimum wage:

Public servants have an obligation not only to provide short-term relief and assistance to people in need, but to bring an end to the generational poverty that traps so many of our neighbors in a cycle of hopelessness persisting through good times and bad. Those caught in the cycle are disproportionately men, women and children of color. Yet whatever their race, national origin or zip code, they are crushed by the same appalling yet familiar litany of wrongs: few jobs, unfair pay, underfunded schools, subpar housing, predatory loans, decaying blocks and unsafe streets.

This week, I was proud to support two legislative measures with the potential to attack the root causes of generational poverty. One will let voters in this November’s election tell legislators whether or not they support raising the minimum wage — a policy popular in all regions of the state and among people of all political persuasions. No one who works full-time should live in poverty, unable to provide for his or her family.

The other would radically reform Illinois’ broken and unjust education funding system. Because of the inequitable way state funds for public schools are distributed in Illinois, poor communities tax themselves at high rates yet struggle to provide a barely adequate education for their young people, while wealthier communities pay far lower property tax rates but can afford luxuries. Senate Bill 16 would base state aid on a combination of local resources and student need, acknowledging that more resources are needed to overcome barriers to learning in communities with higher concentrations of poverty.

High-quality education and fair pay are essential to lifting families and communities out of generational poverty. I commend my colleagues for letting voters’ voices be heard on the minimum wage. I urge members of the House to follow the Senate’s lead on school funding and not turn their backs on children who could not choose where they were born but with a world-class education can choose a better future.

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16th) secured passage today of legislation ensuring that when a student transfers from a charter school to a traditional public school — or vice versa — the funding needed to educate the child moves with the child.

“This commonsense measure supports the kind of school system that is best for our state’s young people: one in which students have access to adequate resources and services wherever they attend school,” Collins said. “Clarifying that a school cannot retain money to educate a student no longer in attendance will remove the perception that schools are making dismissal decisions based on finances."

Charter schools receive payments from their school districts on a quarterly basis. Collins’ legislation would require a charter that dismisses a student to pay back to the public school district a prorated portion of its last quarterly payment. That reimbursement would correspond to the portion of the payment period during which the student no longer attends the charter school. House Bill 4591 would also require the school district to make a prorated payment to a charter school whenever a student transfers from a traditional public school to the charter school during the academic year.

HB 4591 now goes to the governor to be signed into law.