Bill Text: IL HR0055 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Declares August 2021 as Black Business Month. Expresses a commitment to providing equal opportunity for Black entrepreneurs and African American-owned businesses and to the elimination of business redlining targeting Black American entrepreneurs.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2021-04-28 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin [HR0055 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HR0055-Introduced.html

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HR0055 LRB102 10178 ECR 15501 r
HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, African American communities have demonstrated a
history of perseverance in the face of adversity, rising from
chattel slavery to form thousands of successful businesses in
the years after abolition; and
WHEREAS, White supremacy manifested through individual and
institutional racism has historically targeted Black Americans
and Black businesses through government policy and
extrajudicial means, resulting in stolen land, destroyed
property, the loss of capital, and the loss of life,
eliminating wealth-building opportunities for Black
businessmen and businesswomen and damaging the potential to
pass wealth to future generations; and
WHEREAS, Black communities have continually responded to
these setbacks with renewed vigor to fight not only for civil
rights and political freedom but also economic empowerment,
equity, and economic justice; and
WHEREAS, The spirit of entrepreneurship displayed by the
freedmen and freedwomen in the wake of abolition has continued
through African American communities today, leading to the
existence of over two million Black-owned businesses in the
United States; and

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WHEREAS, The spirit of enterprise is demonstrated by
African American business owners who create businesses to
pursue their passions and manage their future, manifested
through the two-thirds of African American-owned businesses
operated by members of Generation X and millennials and the
over one-third of African American-owned businesses operated
by Black women, who are the fastest-growing segment of
entrepreneurs in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Immense challenges still exist for African
American entrepreneurs as they face a general lack of access
to capital sources available to other groups, steering by
financial institutions into less desirable capital sources, a
nearly total lockout from venture capital, and unequal access
to amounts of capital provided to other people in similar
circumstances, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated
challenges for Black-owned businesses; and
WHEREAS, With the same spirit of enterprise and
entrepreneurship demonstrated throughout African American
history, Black businesses will recover and will thrive in a
post-pandemic world; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that

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we declare August 2021 as Black Business Month in the State of
Illinois; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we are committed to providing equal
opportunity for Black entrepreneurs and African American-owned
businesses and to the elimination of business redlining
targeting Black American entrepreneurs, and we will dedicate
ourselves to developing and implementing laws and policies to
achieve these goals.