HR0292 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0292 LRB097 11581 GRL 54591 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, A proposed 50% cut in Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) federal funding for local community action agencies, such as Cook County's private, not-for-profit Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA), will seriously damage already scarce community resources and have a devastating impact; and

WHEREAS, The economic impact of Community Action Agencies (CAA) extends far beyond a path to self-sufficiency in the communities and municipalities for which service is provided; and

WHEREAS, Community action programs serve as the major vehicle by which our most vulnerable citizens receive vital services that assist them on the path toward economic stability; community action programs created and retained 18,432 jobs over the past two years, of which 525 were created and retained by CEDA; and

WHEREAS, CEDA is one of the 1,065 community action agencies in the United States, assisting 240,000 households in Cook County; and

WHEREAS, CEDA has a network that includes Head Start centers, Women, Infant and Children (WIC) centers, LIHEAP and Home Weatherization partnerships, and university joint projects, with every CSBG dollar multiplied by 57 times in private and other public funding; and

WHEREAS, CEDA manages a multi-million dollar budget, leveraging a $3.5 million Community Services Block Grant into millions of dollars from non-government sources; and

WHEREAS, Full funding of all community action programs, including Community Services Block Grants, will protect jobs for the American economy; and

WHEREAS, In his State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama said, "I recognize that some in this chamber have already proposed deeper cuts, and I'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without. But let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens."; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we strongly urge the members of the United States Congress to fund the Community Services Block Grant program at the Fiscal Year 2010 level; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to President Barack Obama, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Daniel Inouye, and the members of the Illinois congressional delegation.