Family Violence Option Stopped by Senate President Philip—Immediate Action Required

With a vote of 110 to 0, the Family Violence Option (FVO), House Bill 650, passed the full Illinois House on March 25. It then went on to the Senate. In spite of the strong support of Gov. George Ryan, the Conference of Women Legislators and the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women in Illinois, the FVO bill did not pass out of the Senate Rules Committee. The Senate Rules Committee is controlled by Senate Pres. James "Pate" Philip.

To keep the FVO alive at this point in the legislative session (the session ends on May 21) the bill must be amended onto another bill that is up for a vote on either the Senate or House floor. WomanView is attempting to find such a vehicle for the FVO. This, of course, does not ensure success. Therefore immediate action is required.

Please call or fax Senate President Philip immediately. Ask him why he refuses to help battered women and their families. Ask him to allow the Family Violence Option to pass through the Senate for a vote by the full Senate so that it may become law in Illinois.

His Springfield phone number is 217.782.8194, and fax is 217.782.7818. His district office phone number is 630.941.0094, and fax is 630.832.2356.

If you have any questions about the Family Violence Option (H.B. 650), contact Wendy Pollack at 312.263.3830 ext. 238.

S.B. 680 Also Needs Your Help

Senate Bill 680 sponsored by Senator Barack Obama (formerly H.B. 1846) also needs immediate action to get through the Senate. S.B. 680 does three things to improve the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. First, it allows the parents of children with disabilities to apply for an exemption from work requirements and time limits if the child’s disability interferes with the adult’s ability to comply with TANF work requirements. Second, it changes the way earned income is budgeted so that recipients are not cut off their grant or the grant is not significantly reduced when they report new employment or an increase in work hours, until the recipients actually receive the new earned income. Currently recipients who do report as required are terminated from TANF or their grant is reduced before they ever receive any other income. If the job or extra hours do not materialize as planned, they are left without any income or a significantly reduced income. And, third, the bill establishes a pilot project that allows local offices to extend their hours to nights and weekends to accommodate recipients who are working or participating in education or training activities.

As with the Family Violence Option, call Senator Philip and ask him to allow S.B. 680 to come to the Senate floor for a vote by the entire Senate so that it may become law in Illinois.

If you have any questions about S.B. 680, contact John Bouman at 312.263.3830 ext. 250.