Full Text of SR0596 097th General Assembly
SR0596 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The United States economy is experiencing the | 3 | | worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, At 26%, 2011 was the worst summer teen (16 to 19) | 5 | | employment rate in post-World War II history, with black and | 6 | | Hispanic youth being the hardest-hit groups; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, In the summer of 2011, more than 2 million | 8 | | low-income youth were out of work and on the streets; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In 2011, 73% of all teens in Illinois were | 10 | | jobless; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The jobless rate of teens in Illinois rose from | 12 | | 50% in 2000 to 72% in 2011; black teen joblessness rose from | 13 | | 79% in 2000 to 88% in 2011, while Latino teen joblessness rose | 14 | | from 60% to 70%; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, In Chicago, black teen joblessness was at 90% in | 16 | | 2010, Latino teen joblessness was at 81%, and white teen | 17 | | joblessness was at 76%; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, From 1964 until its end in 2000, a separate summer | 19 | | youth employment program for over 750,000 low-income youth was |
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| 1 | | in place; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Along with the short-term improvement in their | 3 | | earnings and income, teen employment has a variety of long-term | 4 | | benefits for youth; the more that teens work when they are 16 | 5 | | and 17, the more likely they are to work when they are 18 to 21 | 6 | | years old; teen employment also raises the average earnings of | 7 | | youth when they are 25 years old; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Teens who work are more likely to get trained by | 9 | | their employers via formal apprenticeship training; in | 10 | | addition, low-income youth who work more while attending high | 11 | | school, especially males, are less likely to drop out of high | 12 | | schools, and female teens who work more are less likely to get | 13 | | pregnant; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In 2009, the U.S. Congress and President Obama | 15 | | passed a $787 billion stimulus for the economy, including $1.2 | 16 | | billion for summer youth employment that employed over 330,000 | 17 | | jobless youth across the country; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, There is a great need to continue the summer youth | 19 | | employment program during the summer of 2012, but there is no | 20 | | funding allocated for the program at this point; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, In Congress, United States Representative George |
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| 1 | | Miller has introduced H.R. 3425 and United States Senator | 2 | | Richard Blumenthal has introduced S. 1861, both of which are | 3 | | known as the Pathways Back to Work Act of 2011; the Act would | 4 | | allocate $5 billion for summer and year-round employment, | 5 | | education, and training for disadvantaged youth and adults; | 6 | | this funding would allow teens and adults to earn money while | 7 | | they are producing meaningful work; these teens and adults | 8 | | would spend this money immediately, providing a direct economic | 9 | | stimulus to the U.S. economy; therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 11 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge President | 12 | | Barack Obama and Congress to pass the $5 billion Pathways Back | 13 | | to Work legislation as soon as possible to create an employment | 14 | | program throughout the year and with a particular emphasis on | 15 | | the summer for 500,000 youth and adults, by combining education | 16 | | and productive work in their neighborhoods; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 | | presented to President Barack Obama and the members of the | 19 | | Illinois congressional delegation.
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