SPRINGFIELD – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) believes the governor’s proposed budget is a good starting point, but she wants to see a greater focus on education as negotiations move forward. In response to the governor’s proposal, she issued the following statement:

“Overall, the governor’s proposal is a good starting point. It funds preschool. It funds the criminal justice reform law we just passed. It provides additional funding for programs to keep older adults and people with disabilities in their homes.

“However, I think we need to have a bigger conversation about K-12 education funding. If we follow this plan, it will be the second year in a row that we don’t fulfill our commitment to increase funding to Illinois public schools. I understand this is a difficult budget year because of the pandemic, but our kids and teachers in low-income communities cannot and should not have to wait forever to see the funding increases they were promised.”

Join us on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. for a virtual town hall to discuss the Illinois Black Caucus' Criminal Justice bill. This an excellent opportunity to learn about the real facts of this legislation. To register and submit questions, click here: https://bit.ly/3jtO3Rs.

The town hall will be broadcast on Facebook Live. To attend, click here: https://bit.ly/3cUpFak. 

NORTH RIVERSIDE – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) is pleased to announce that one of the first state-sponsored COVID-19 vaccination sites is opening in North Riverside today.

“I’m happy to see a vaccination site located in the district I represent that prioritizes health care workers,” said Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood). “They will finally have a chance to be protected the way they have protected us during this tragic pandemic, and giving everyone the opportunity to get vaccinated is vitally important. Vaccination is the pathway to getting families back together, businesses back open, and our lives back to normal.”

The site opens today, Jan. 19, at the North Riverside Health Clinic, located at 1800 S. Harlem Ave., and its hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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