Full Text of SR0643 96th General Assembly
SR0643 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
SR0643 |
|
LRB096 21016 JAM 36864 r |
|
| 1 |
| SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The United States economy is experiencing the | 3 |
| worst slow down in the past 30 years and is in a severe | 4 |
| recession; and
| 5 |
| WHEREAS, At 26%, this year's summer teen (16 to 19 years | 6 |
| old) employment rate was the worst in post-World War II | 7 |
| history, with Black and Hispanic youth the hardest hit groups; | 8 |
| and
| 9 |
| WHEREAS, In the summer of 2009, more than 2 million | 10 |
| low-income youth were out of work and on the streets; and
| 11 |
| WHEREAS, In Illinois, in 2009, 72% of all teens, 87% of | 12 |
| Black teens, and 70% of Latino teens were jobless; and
| 13 |
| WHEREAS, The jobless rate of teens in Illinois rose from | 14 |
| 52% in 2000 to 72% in 2009; Black teen joblessness rose from | 15 |
| 79% in 2000 to 88% in 2009; and Latino teen joblessness rose | 16 |
| from 60% to 70% during those years; and
| 17 |
| WHEREAS, There is discussion in Congress of another | 18 |
| stimulus to help prevent a slump in the economy; and
| 19 |
| WHEREAS, From 1964 until 2000 when it was ended, there was |
|
|
|
SR0643 |
- 2 - |
LRB096 21016 JAM 36864 r |
|
| 1 |
| a separate summer youth employment program for over 750,000 | 2 |
| low-income youth; and
| 3 |
| WHEREAS, Teen employment has a variety of long-term | 4 |
| benefits for youth as well as the short-term improvement in | 5 |
| their earnings and income, and the more teens work when they | 6 |
| are 16 and 17, the more likely they are to work when they are 18 | 7 |
| and 19 and then are more likely to work when they are 20 and 21; | 8 |
| teen employment raises earnings of youth when they are 25; and
| 9 |
| WHEREAS, Teens who work are more likely to get trained by | 10 |
| their employers via formal apprenticeship training, and | 11 |
| low-income youth who work more in high school, especially | 12 |
| males, are less likely to drop out of high school, and female | 13 |
| teens who work more are less likely to get pregnant; and
| 14 |
| WHEREAS, Last year, the United States Congress and | 15 |
| President Obama passed a $787 billion stimulus for the economy | 16 |
| with $1.2 billion for summer youth employment that employed | 17 |
| over 330,000 jobless youth across the country; and
| 18 |
| WHEREAS, For this summer, there is a great need to continue | 19 |
| this program, but at this point there is no funding allocated; | 20 |
| and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, Senator Patty Murray from the state of Washington |
|
|
|
SR0643 |
- 3 - |
LRB096 21016 JAM 36864 r |
|
| 1 |
| has proposed a $1.5 billion summer and year-round youth | 2 |
| employment program; therefore, be it
| 3 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 4 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois Senate | 5 |
| urges President Obama and Congress to allocate $2 billion of | 6 |
| the next proposed economic stimulus to create an employment | 7 |
| program throughout the year and with a particular emphasis on | 8 |
| the summer for 700,000 youth (13 to 21 years old), combining | 9 |
| education and productive work in their neighborhoods; teens | 10 |
| would earn money while they are producing meaningful work, and | 11 |
| they will spend this money immediately, providing a direct | 12 |
| economic stimulus to the United States economy; and be it | 13 |
| further
| 14 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 |
| presented to President Obama, the Majority Leader of the United | 16 |
| States Senate, and the Speaker of the United States House of | 17 |
| Representatives.
|
|