Bill Text: IL HR0620 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Supports the creation of a guaranteed income pilot program for women at or below the poverty line in the communities of East St. Louis and Cahokia Heights. Urges this guaranteed pilot program be funded by the Department of Human Services through cannabis revenue.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-09 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HR0620 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HR0620-Introduced.html

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HR0620 LRB102 24804 ECR 34049 r
HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, According to 2018 Census estimates, in Atlanta's
Old Fourth Ward, the neighborhood where Martin Luther King Jr.
grew up and later preached, 37 percent of Black children live
in poverty while no white children do; and
WHEREAS, As the Old Fourth Ward has quickly gentrified
over the last two decades, nearly half of the remaining Black
households are living on less than $25,000 a year; and
WHEREAS, This trend of disproportional poverty among
racial lines along with gentrification is happening across the
country; and
WHEREAS, In Georgia, Black women make 63 cents for every
dollar that white men make; and
WHEREAS, Later this year, the Old Fourth Ward will become
home to one of the largest guaranteed income experiments in
the U.S. and the largest to ever specifically focus on Black
women; and
WHEREAS, The GRO Fund is partnering with GiveDirectly, a
nonprofit that has been giving unconditional cash transfers to
people living in poverty for a decade, to run the program,

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which will later expand to predominantly Black suburban and
rural areas in Georgia; and
WHEREAS, The In Her Hands program plans to enroll 650
Black women who will be randomly divided into two groups, one
getting $850 a month for two years and the other receiving an
upfront payment of $4,300, followed by recurring $700 monthly
payments; and
WHEREAS, The new program will test whether it is more
helpful to give a larger sum of cash initially rather than a
monthly payment alone; and
WHEREAS, When the program expands to rural parts of
Georgia, it will also help organizations understand the value
of cash transfers in another setting, since most programs in
the U.S. have happened in cities so far; and
WHEREAS, The lessons from the project could help inform
better policy, support a redesigned social safety net, and
help make the case for a federal guaranteed income program;
and
WHEREAS, There is ample evidence that giving out cash,
with no strings attached, can be transformative; and

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WHEREAS, In a village in Kenya, the first place that
GiveDirectly worked, recipients have used the money to pay for
food and healthcare, to start businesses, and to let their
children attend school instead of working; and
WHEREAS, In Houston, the nonprofit distributed prepaid
debit cards after Hurricane Harvey; this is arguably the most
efficient way to make sure that people get what they actually
need following a disaster, rather than the usual model of
handing out donations of clothing or laptops that may or may
not be useful; and
WHEREAS, In Stockton, California, one of a handful of
cities that have tried a basic income experiment for
low-income residents, recipients spent money on basic needs
like food and utilities and, unsurprisingly, experienced more
stability in their lives; more people were able to work or
become involved in their communities; and
WHEREAS, Having a predictable flow of money not only helps
people living near the poverty line with day-to-day needs but
also provides stability when faced with surprise financial
costs, such as medical bills; and
WHEREAS, In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s last book Where
Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, he wrote "The solution

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to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed
measure: the guaranteed income"; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we support the creation of a guaranteed income pilot program
for women at or below the poverty line in the communities of
East St. Louis and Cahokia Heights; and be it further
RESOLVED, That this guaranteed pilot program should be
funded by the Department of Human Services through cannabis
revenue; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
delivered to the Department of Human Services.