Full Text of HR1093 98th General Assembly
HR1093 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Feeding Illinois, the State association of 8 food | 3 | | banks serving all 102 counties, has found that more than 1.8 | 4 | | million of our 12.9 million citizens are "food insecure", | 5 | | meaning that 14.2% of our families, neighbors, and colleagues | 6 | | lack adequate access to the sustenance needed for a healthy and | 7 | | productive life; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow won a 2014 | 9 | | Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles about food insecurity | 10 | | which he described as "a lasting scar" of the 2008 economic | 11 | | collapse; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The number of Illinois citizens participating in | 13 | | the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) | 14 | | (formerly the Food Stamp Program) has increased 40.7% between | 15 | | January of 2009 and January of 2014; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The federal government responded to changing | 17 | | public interest by modifying SNAP to enable program recipients | 18 | | to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and | 19 | | farm stands; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, SNAP is one of 16 federal feeding programs | 21 | | spending approximately $4 billion a year in Illinois; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, On May 5, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson's | 2 | | aide, Sargent Shriver, proposed that the "War on Poverty" | 3 | | incorporate a grassroots component based on this observation: | 4 | | "Wherever local communities have started programs to help the | 5 | | poor help themselves, the response has exceeded all | 6 | | expectations"; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission on the Eradication of | 8 | | Poverty, created by statute in 2008, produced a strategic plan | 9 | | that affirms Sargent Shriver's proposal by asserting: "...the | 10 | | best solutions for poverty (oftentimes) come from local | 11 | | innovation"; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Illinois schools provide subsidized meals for one | 13 | | of every 5 Illinois children because they come from families | 14 | | that exceed federal poverty guidelines; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Local food, nutrition, and agriculture plans at | 16 | | the municipal and rural township level could provide structure | 17 | | to support projects designed to help end hunger and poverty in | 18 | | urban, suburban, exurban, and rural communities throughout | 19 | | Illinois; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, At least 6 Governors' councils and commissions | 21 | | possess unique expertise and functions that, if aligned through |
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| 1 | | a collaborative process, could result in the improved delivery | 2 | | of public and private resources for the benefit of | 3 | | community-based initiatives to help end hunger and reduce | 4 | | poverty in Illinois; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission to End Hunger, created by | 6 | | statute in 2010, is exploring how to encourage partnerships | 7 | | between the State's 2,000-plus food pantries and its 375-plus | 8 | | farmers' markets; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The Greater Chicago Food Depository is partnering | 10 | | with Heartland Alliance on an urban agriculture pilot project, | 11 | | Chicago FarmWorks, to create transitional jobs for | 12 | | hard-to-employ people on a 2.6-acre vegetable farm in the West | 13 | | Side Chicago community of East Garfield Park; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Council, | 15 | | created by statute in 2009, is working to facilitate action | 16 | | supporting the growth of local food and farm economies from the | 17 | | metropolitan Chicago area to Cairo; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and | 19 | | Community Service, created by statute, is discovering that | 20 | | community-based local food projects could be a pathway to build | 21 | | a statewide "volunteer infrastructure"; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Task Force on Social Innovation, | 2 | | Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise, created by Executive Order | 3 | | 11-05, has a set of charges that include the attraction of | 4 | | funds "to accelerate progress on social issues, work | 5 | | cross-sector, and advance social and economic development | 6 | | goals"; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Business Development Council, | 8 | | created by statute in 2013, will enact an annual State business | 9 | | plan based on input from such sources as "State and local | 10 | | business development and marketing efforts focusing on areas of | 11 | | high unemployment or poverty"; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Collaboration between these 6 State entities | 13 | | could accelerate development of community-based food, | 14 | | nutrition, and agricultural initiatives that contribute to | 15 | | broader efforts to end hunger and reduce poverty in Illinois; | 16 | | therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 19 | | we urge the Governor to design and execute a strategy to align | 20 | | the unique expertise and functions of the Illinois Commission | 21 | | to End Hunger, the Illinois Commission on the Eradication of | 22 | | Poverty, the Illinois Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Council, the | 23 | | Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, the |
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| 1 | | Illinois Task Force of Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, | 2 | | and Enterprise, and the Illinois Business Development Council | 3 | | in an ongoing program to embolden and empower communities to | 4 | | advance low-cost and high-return strategies to help end hunger | 5 | | and poverty; and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 7 | | delivered to the Governor.
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