The Right to Choose is under attack

 

Last week, I, along with nearly 900 state legislators from across the country, filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States urging the Court to uphold the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.

 

According to the ACLU, in 2021, 560 abortion bans were introduced in some form across the country. I was deeply upset to hear about one of the most troubling ones that made the news recently: a ban on all abortions after six weeks in Texas. This Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear a case from Mississippi challenging Roe v. Wade and threatening to end the right to choose as we know it.

 

An attack on reproductive rights is an attack on human rights. Women, trans-men and non-binary people who may become pregnant are at great risk of losing the right to bodily autonomy. I have joined other local elected officials in resisting and organizing efforts to renounce the Texas and Mississippi bans and to amplify the voices across our community saying we will not allow Roe v. Wade to be rolled back.

 

We are fortunate enough to live in a state that values the right to choose; however, we have one more critical task. We must repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act, which requires people under the age of 17 who are seeking abortion care to notify a parent, grandparent, step-parent they live with, or other legal guardian within 48 hours in advance of the procedure. The majority of young people who trust these figures in their lives will voluntarily inform them that they are seeking abortion care. But for young people who do not feel safe alerting an adult in their life, they are challenged with navigating the judicial bypass system. This system requires the person seeking care to take time away from school or other commitments, set an appointment with a judge, travel to a courthouse, and expose very personal information to get the care they need. Both the PNA requirement and the judicial bypass system hurt young people who are already forced to navigate systemic barriers in seeking abortion care.

 

That is why I am proud to be a chief co-sponsor of legislation that repeals the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. I will continue to confront systemic injustices like the PNA and fight for equity for women and young people in the 7^th District and across the state and country.

 

 

Rental Assistance

 

We have to move quickly to stave off a wave of evictions and displacement. The U.S. Treasury Department announced last week that state and local officials had disbursed less than 17% of federal rental aid as of the end of August, up from 11% in July. We have an unprecedented amount of federal aid for rental assistance right now, and state officials must move these funds out the door as intended. As you may recall, earlier this summer I wrote a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker urging him to reopen the Illinois Rental Payment Program, which closed in July. I'm happy to announce that we have received word that plans are in the works to reopen the program in the next few weeks. We have not been given a specific date yet, but I am pleased to know that relief is coming soon to those who need it. I will provide you with updates as soon as they are announced.

 

Unemployment Insurance

 

Oct. 15 will mark the first payment period after the expiration of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Nearly half-a-million people in our state - whose systemic struggles were only exacerbated by the pandemic - rely on this support to keep food on the table and the lights on.

 

The federal government has encouraged states to be creative with their American Rescue Plan Act funds to support our struggling families. We cannot grow complacent as our neighbors are held down by financial burdens when a solution is feasible and within our grasp. My office is following up with the Illinois Department of Employment Security to find ways Illinois can support residents who were reliant on PUA. My office will keep you updated with the latest information.

Out in the Community

 

Southeast Asia Center visit on MidAutumn Festival

 

 

During the 2021 Mid-Autumn festival, I met with leaders at the South-East Asia Center to talk about early childhood care and ways to support community based organizations. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all of those who celebrate! I was honored to celebrate and enjoy Mooncakes in the community!

 

Howard Brown Health Future Executive Program

 

 

I enjoyed speaking to participants of the Future Executives program at Howard Brown Health! I shared my leadership journey as a gay, Black man and shared examples from my career of how I became a better manager, navigated difficult work environments, and took care of myself.

 

Black Trans Lives Matters mural

 

 

I joined the Andersonville Chamber for the dedication of the Black Trans Lives mural by artist Molly Costello. I remember seeing this mural when it was being painted over the summer and it stopped me in my tracks. It represents so much and gives visibility to our Black trans siblings as well as a visual into all of the diversity in the 7^th District. This is a community with “neighbors not watching each other, but truly seeing each other." We have so much to do to support our siblings. Thank you to Molly and to all of the community groups supporting and represented today. Check it out at 5340 N. Clark!

 

Seniors Legislative Council

 

 

I continued my series of People's Legislative Councils last week, this time meeting with seniors from across the 7th District. I want the voices of the people I represent to be at the center of my work as we collectively work together to shape a legislative agenda for the upcoming spring session.

 

Andersonville Homecoming

 

 

I celebrated Andersonville Homecoming over the weekend. We were lined up and down Clark Street for food, music, community, and celebration. It was a great way to honor one of our city's best communities!

 

Care for Real 50th Anniversary Block Party

 

 

I joined several local leaders at a block party to help celebrate Care for Real's 50th anniversary. Care for Real is an amazing organization in our community that provides food, clothing and support to struggling families. Here's to 50 more years!

 

Community Drive

 

 

My office is continuing our Welcome Kit drive with World Relief Chicago! Please feel free to come by any of our drop off locations and donate gently used items for our newest neighbors! The only item that must be new are bed sheets. The Welcome Kits lists are provided by World Relief Chicago. Call us with any questions!

 

Upcoming Events

 

AIDS Walk and Run

 

 

Register here.

 

Family Matters Walk and Roll-a-thon

 

 

Family Matters Chicago is hosting its 32nd Annual Walk & Roll-A-Thon, a much-anticipated event that brings together youth, families and the community in joyful celebration. It will take place Saturday, Oct. 2 from 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Willye B White Park.

 

Vaccination Event

 

 

The 48th Ward is hosting a flu and COVID-19 vaccine event in Jubilee Hall at St. Ita's Church, 5500 N. Broadway. Please bring an ID and health insurance card with you if you have them. No one will be turned away due to insurance or immigration status. Please register in advance here.

 

As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (773) 769-1717 if we can help you with anything.

 

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons
State Senator | 7^th District

Climate change is happening live. In the 7th District, we see the effects of it in many ways, including on our eroding shoreline and invasive species in Lake Michigan. We also are living through unprecedented changes in weather patterns, storms, and months-long fires raging across the west. We are running out of time and need to make big changes to save our climate. As a chief co-sponsor of the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), I support much of what was included in legislation passed out of the Senate earlier this week. I am happy to see Illinois is putting our state on a course to becoming free of fossil fuels by 2050. However, there are two points that led me to vote present on this legislation. First, the final bill did not have an aggressive enough timeline to phase out greenhouse gases. Second, the bill includes rate hikes on residents that will bail out Exelon for the second time in five years in order to keep nuclear plants open.

I wanted to brief you on the bill, my vote, and my fight against rate hikes for consumers, especially low-income people and seniors.

The Energy Transition Act puts our state on a path to phase out power generated by climate-damaging fossil fuels and puts the state on a path to 100% carbon-free energy by 2050, with goals of 40% of our energy coming from renewable sources by 2030 and half by 2040. All privately owned coal plants in the state would have to shut down by 2030. Natural gas plants will have until 2045. It also sets a timetable for carbon emission reduction at Prairie State, which is the 7th largest polluter in the country. The legislation creates a number of incentives and programs that will enable job creation in the renewable sector over the next several years, along with aiming to place 1 million electric cars and trucks on the road by 2030. These are all solid steps forward.

In recent months, however, many residents emailed and called to make two priorities clear:

• We need real action on climate change to save our state and our planet
• They did not want this to be accomplished by means of bailing out nuclear and other power plants

This bill will raise fees and rates for residents and will impact low-income families and seniors the most.

The bill achieves all of the above in tandem with keeping several nuclear plants open, which provide us a source of carbon-free energy in the interim as renewables begin to come online. But the bill will raise monthly electricity bills for residents across the state around $4 or more dollars per month, and potentially even more for local businesses. Right now, residents and mom-and-pop businesses are trying to weather a pandemic that has been unrelenting for them. Many residents are falling behind on rent and are already behind on their electric bills. Many of our neighborhood shops have shuttered or are barely making it. I know firsthand what it’s like to have your lights shut off or to forgo heat in the winter because of high electric bills, and I would have preferred that the bill used federal ARPA dollars or other sources to keep the nuclear plants live in a way that would not rely on higher charges for already vulnerable residents.

Nearly 25% of residents in parts of the 7th District live below the poverty line, which means they spend over 13% of their income solely on energy bills. These charges add up, especially during and after the financial hardships of the pandemic.

Rogers Park: 23.6% below
West Ridge: 17.2% below
Uptown: 24% below
Lincoln Square: 10.9% below

Exelon Rate Hikes On Residents

The money from the rate hikes will subsidize Exelon, the parent company of ComEd, to keep the nuclear plants open. I have grave concerns that Exelon will receive these subsidies given their track record of systemic public corruption in recent years. I also feel like it’s a fundamental question of equity and justice that we should not be providing corporate subsidies on the backs of low-income residents anymore, especially during a pandemic that has aggravated inequality across our state. We can’t keep doing things the same way they’ve always been done.

Due to the rate hikes on residents and the payouts to major energy companies, I simply could not vote in full support of this bill, knowing it would be on the backs of our low-income residents. I simply feel it is untenable to support a rate hike of this scale on lower-income folks and local businesses when past rate hikes simply have not yielded the results that were promised.

This bill is a long time coming, and I do want to thank all of you, many 7th District residents who reached out to me about what’s in today’s bill over the last several months. I also would like to thank all the environmental organizations, consumer protection groups, and labor organizations who worked for many months to get us to this week’s vote. As I said earlier, as a chief co-sponsor for CEJA, I support many of the components of this bill but simply cannot support a rate hike on residents and mom and pop businesses and giving another dollar to Exelon right now. I also look forward to continuing to work with Senators and environmental groups to accelerate the timeline to get us free of fossil fuels much sooner where we can because the science is very clear that we are nearly out of time.

Click below to watch a video recap of my remarks yesterday at the State Capitol where I discuss the legislation and my vote.

As always, I encourage you to reach out to my office at 773-769-1717 with any questions, concerns, or suggestions, or visit https://senatormikesimmons.com/.

See you out in the district soon!

Dear Friend,

Back to School Events

After one of the most trying school years we’ve ever had, it’s important that we support education, especially students, so I participated in some back to school events around the 7th District. A lot of people could use a bit of help with information about the upcoming school year or school supplies, so that’s what we provided at these events. I want students and parents to know that my office is always a place they can turn to for support.

My office hosted an event with many community service organizations and resource
providers, where we were able to hand out school supplies to nearly 500 families.

Last week, I was joined by Ald. Harry Osterman, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, and US Rep. Jan Schakowsky at Senn High School in Edgewater to hand out school supplies. Over 500 families attended and received items their students needed. My office also attended a Back to School Bash at Hayt Elementary in Edgewater, and we provided information to students, parents and community members. My office also donated backpacks to Uplift High School in Uptown, Budlong Elementary School in Lincoln Square, Mather High School in West Ridge, Jordan Elementary School in Rogers Park, and a variety of social service organizations in the 7th District.

My office hosted our own table with activity books, more information on the services we
provide, and snacks, games, and stickers for the students who stopped by.

Sen. Simmons hands out backpacks and supplies to kindergartners!

Donation Drives

Over the next few weeks, there will be some donation drives in the 7th District that you can participate in to help support our neighbors.

Tomorrow, Sat. Sept. 4, there is a donation drive to help support resettled Afghan families, who left their country last month when the U.S. military was fully withdrawn.

The Chicago Therapy Collective is hosting an Essentials Drive to support Black and Brown LGTBQIA+ youth. My office, located at 5533 N. Broadway Avenue, is a donation location. You can come by Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to donate items.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (773) 769-1717 if we can help you with anything.

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons
State Senator | 7th District

Dear Friend,

Our office is now more accessible than ever! We have a new texting service where you can send inquiries. Simply send a text to (773) 945-9979 with your question, concern or request, and someone in my office will be more than happy to help!

You can also call us at (773) 769-1717 or fill out the form at www.SenatorMikeSimmons.com/contact-us if texting is not an option for you.

We look forward to continuing to provide support to anyone who needs it!

Advocating for housing relief

The Illinois Rental Payment Program closed on July 18. Since then, residents have been reaching out to my office regarding rental assistance and eviction prevention support. The closing of the program and the expiration of the eviction moratorium on Aug. 1 has caused a great deal of financial stress for 7th District households, as many have struggled to keep up with rent payments during the last 15 months of the pandemic. Therefore, I wrote a letter with State Rep. Delia Ramirez to Gov. Pritzker asking for the ILRPP to be reopened and for more funds to be dedicated to assisting renters — so they can stay housed and so landlords can continue to be paid on time. The letter also requests greater support to prevent eviction for renters, more communication with renters and landlords on diversion programs, and the sealing of eviction cases so they do not end up on people’s records. The letter was signed by 27 members of the Black, Latino, and Progressive Caucuses of the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives, and submitted to the Governor on Aug. 10, 2021. We are expecting to receive a response and next steps by the end of this week. I will provide substantive updates as we receive them.

As a renter, you have rights. ONE Northside is hosting two emergency trainings to help you become aware of what those rights are. The trainings will be held Saturday, Aug. 21 at 1 p.m. and Wednesday Aug. 25 at 6 p.m., and you can register here. Advance registration is encouraged, but same-day registration is allowed.

I am here for you. Stay subscribed to this newsletter for updates.

Back to Business Grants

The Back to Business program (B2B) is a new $250 million small business relief program that will be available for small businesses in our community.

Read on for more information about what kinds of businesses are eligible for B2B and how to apply. If you know a small business owner in need, feel free to forward this information to them. You can also direct them to my office at (773) 769-1717 or www.SenatorMikeSimmons.com for assistance.

What is the Back to Business grant program?

The B2B program, administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, will award eligible small businesses one-time grants of up to $150,000 to cover operation costs, staff payroll and other expenses in an effort to make up for losses sustained due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of $250 million will be distributed.

Is my business eligible?

In order to qualify for a grant through the B2B program, a business must have made $20 million or less in revenue in 2019 and be able to demonstrate a reduction in revenue in 2020.

How will businesses be selected?

To direct aid where it’s needed most, DCEO will prioritize businesses in the following categories:

• Businesses in particularly hard-hit industries, like restaurants, retailers, arts organizations, child care providers, fitness centers and mom and pop businesses
• Businesses located in disproportionately impacted areas
• Businesses that have not received funding through other state and federal relief programs
• Businesses that brought in $5 million or less in revenue in 2019

When and how can I apply?

The B2B application portal is now open on DCEO’s website at Illinois.gov/DCEO.

Business owners are encouraged to review the program requirements and gather any required documentation before beginning their applications. A variety of local and state organizations are offering assistance to small businesses looking to apply for grants through B2B. A full, searchable list of these program partners is available here. There are also two small business agencies located in the 7th District that can help you apply:

• Rogers Park Business Alliance: 1448 W. Morse Ave. in Rogers Park, (773) 508-5885
• Chinese Mutual Aid Association: 1016 W. Argyle St. in Uptown, (773) 784-2900

I encourage interested small business owners to explore the program and see if their business may be eligible for aid. As always, my office can point you in the direction of helpful resources to make the application process smoother. Simply contact us at (773) 769-1717 or www.SenatorMikeSimmons.com.

And, speaking of small businesses, August is National Black Business Month! I encourage you to support all of our local black-owned businesses! Click these links for a list of businesses you can support in Rogers Park, and in Uptown!

Sen. Simmons shops locally at a black-owned restaurant on Howard St. in Rogers Park

The Jett Hawkins Act is now law!

Last Friday, I joined 4-year-old Jett Hawkins, his mother Ida Nelson, Gov. JB Pritzker and several General Assembly colleagues in the 7th District for the signing off the Jett Hawkins Act, banning school policies that penalize Black hair. No child should ever have to experience being traumatized or humiliated for honoring their heritage.

There has been a lot of media coverage on this historic legislation. Here's a selection:

• Simmons bans hairstyle discrimination with Jett Hawkins Act
• New Illinois law bans ‘hairstyle discrimination’ in schools
• Illinois Leads The Charge In Banning Natural Hairstyle Discrimination With ‘The Jett Hawkins Law’ [sic]
• New Illinois law bans 'hairstyle discrimination' in schools
• Kids to be protected from hair discrimination in schools: ‘Our existence deserves to be celebrated, not just tolerated’
• Mom's fight against hair bias sparks statewide changes in Illinois

In the District

As often as I can, I like to take the opportunity to meet with friends and neighbors in the 7th District, so that I can speak face-to-face with the people I represent and hear directly from them. I spent some time the past few weeks attending block club parties, yard sales, and back to school rallies where I met and heard from residents on issues such as: gun violence, climate change, senior wellness, access to housing, returning to schools during the pandemic, and diversity across the district. I am enjoying meeting you all and appreciate having direct perspectives from my constituents on issues in the community. If your block club is having an event and you'd like me to stop by, you can invite me by contacting my office at (773) 769-1717.

Sen. Simmons meets with residents in Edgewater

Sen. Simmons speaks at a youth organizing summit in Ravenswood

Sen. Simmons attends a block party in Andersonville

Sen. Simmons talks with volunteers at a back to school event in West Ridge

Sen. Simmons after running the annual Dim Sum 5K, hosted by Chinese Mutual Aid Association in Uptown

Sen. Simmons poses with residents while visiting a block party in Lincoln Square

Sen. Simmons chats with an Uptown family while attending a community celebration honoring Jackie Taylor at Black Ensemble Theater

Sen. Simmons tours PACTT Learning Center for children and young adults living with autism in Rogers Park

Sen. Simmons leads a legislative town hall with residents of The Breakers, an independent living facility for seniors in Edgewater

Sen. Simmons helps serve lunch at a festival to celebrate youth in Uptown

Upcoming Events

Back to School Celebration

Mark your calendars! I am hosting a Back to School event Wednesday, Aug. 25 at 5 p.m. at Senn High School with our neighbors at 5533 N. Broadway Ave. We will be distributing school supplies to students who need them. We’ll also be at Jordan Elementary School on Saturday, Aug. 28 for their back to school fair. We will be distributing book bags stocked with supplies at schools across the 7th district next week.

Looking to donate school supplies? We are accepting donations all week!

Glenwood Arts Festival

We will be out this weekend in Rogers Park for the 20th annual Glenwood Arts Festival! Feel free to stop by and chat with us and support our local artists and vendors and meet your neighbors!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (773) 769-1717 if we can help you with anything.

Sincerely,

Mike Simmons
State Senator | 7th District