Chicago's West Side, We Want to Hear From You!

Join Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford on Thursday, June 10 from 6-8 p.m. for a virtual listening session to discuss how poverty has impacted the West Side community and how the state of Illinois can better serve you. To register for the event, click here: https://bit.ly/3fRUrRj. Also, please take a simple survey here: https://bit.ly/3vB2isZ.

Lightford works to protect teen parents and sexual violence survivors

SPRINGFIELD – In an effort to keep teen parents and teenage survivors of domestic and sexual violence from dropping out of school, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) passed legislation that would protect their privacy and safety.

“Being a parent is difficult at any age, and surviving domestic or sexual violence is already traumatizing,” Lightford said. “We want all students to feel safe and to get the support they need to succeed with a good education.”

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Lightford moves to create more cannabis dispensary licenses for minority applicants

SPRINGFIELD - With many Black and Brown Illinois residents trying to enter the cannabis industry but finding themselves shut out, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) has revisited cannabis licensing laws to ensure that these residents have a fair shot at obtaining a dispensary license.  

"People from disadvantaged communities were disproportionately targeted during the war on drugs," Lightford said. "We have enough hurdles just being Black, and our communities deserve to reap the benefits of this new industry."

House Bill 1443 fixes Illinois’ recreational cannabis law to ensure that licenses for minority applicants that have been delayed since May 1, 2020 are actually awarded, as well as expanding the total number of licenses available. Currently, there are still no dispensaries controlled by someone who is Black, Brown, or a woman.  

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Lightford fights to ensure public institutions serving disadvantaged communities receive fair funding

SPRINGFIELD - Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) continued her years-long effort to create a more equitable education system in Illinois by passing legislation that would form a commission to assess whether public institutions of higher education serving disadvantaged communities need a different funding model and are receiving their fair share of state funding. 

“If we want our Black, Latino, and low-income students to have the same opportunity as their white peers, our universities that serve them must have fair funding,” Lightford said. “We have to close the funding gaps between our schools that serve a large number of historically disadvantage students and the universities that don’t.”

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