Shriver Center Urges Illinois Governor Pritzker to Adopt COVID-19 Policy Priorities for Low-Income Communities

More than ever, we need to advocate for systemic change that ensures healthcare, paid sick time, access to secure shelter/housing, and support for the justice-involved.

Today, The Shriver Center on Poverty Law sent Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker a letter outlining our top policy strategies to protect communities likely to experience the harshest health, housing, court, justice system, and economic impacts from the COVID-19/Coronavirus crisis.

Read our letter and full list of recommendations to Governor Pritzker.

Our clients live in predominately disinvested communities, long victim to discriminatory policies and practices that limited their opportunities and well-being even in the best of times.  They are simply without the resources to weather this health and economic crisis alone, now and for the long term.

Among our recommendations, we urge Governor Pritzker to take action to:

• Ensure that all Illinois residents have access to healthcare coverage, including safe, reliable access to free COVID-19 tests and treatment;
• Ensure that Illinois workers who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have emergency paid leave and that furloughed workers can receive emergency unemployment compensation;
• Expedite applications for life-sustaining benefits like TANF, SNAP, and WIC, and waive all in-person contact requirements for applicants and recipients;
• Suspend work requirements, sanctions, and time limits for TANF, SNAP, and housing recipients;
• Suspend all rental housing evictions, property tax sales, and mortgage foreclosures, as well as utility shutoffs;
• Release all eligible incarcerated people to home detention and encourage local officials not to seek money bond for people accused of low-level offenses;
• Require child protection authorities to set forth emergency plans that protect parents’ ability to be reunified with their children.

These critical steps must be taken immediately to ensure the well-being of our most vulnerable and at-risk populations. The Shriver Center stands ready to help our communities and our government in any way we can.

Read our letter and full list of recommendations to Governor Pritzker.

Read our 2020 agenda.

Read our recent COVID-19 communications: Response, Care, and Advocacy for the Communities We Serve