Jose Sanchez, Norwegian American Hospital’s new CEO, will be Chicago’s only Latino to lead a hospital

CHICAGO, Illinois - This week, Norwegian American Hospital established a welcome milestone for Chicago’s Latino community by naming Jose R. Sanchez as its new President and CEO.  Sanchez, who has built a distinguished 30-year career as a health care executive and urban health care expert, will be the city’s only Latino to serve as a hospital CEO.

Read more: Delgado Welcomes Urban Health Care Expert To Chicago

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Below are resources to provide you with more information regarding House Bill 174. 

Illinois is in fiscal crisis.

• The state’s deficit is nearly $13 billion.
• Currently the state doesn’t have the funds necessary to craft a budget which meets the needs of Illinoisans across the state.
• Healthcare, seniors, education and state government all need a revenue source that will maintain services and programs Illinoisans depend on.

It is a myth that Illinois spending is out of control.

• The truth is that despite all the talk of cutting the fat in Illinois State Government, Illinois’ budget is one of the leanest in the nation.
• Currently Illinois has the lowest ratio of state employees to population in the Nation by far and have had the same ratio of state employees that we had in 1972.
• Sadly, the state that has sent a President and Secretary of Education to the White House ranks 49th in the nation in funding equity for support of our elementary and secondary schools.

House Bill 174 gives Illinois the revenue it needs to begin to balance the state budget.

• This legislation will provide and estimated $5 billion dollars in new revenue helping cut the state’s growing deficit.

HB 174 continues our work in increasing education funding

• The bill will reform our tax system to change the way we currently fund education and maintain a consistent revenue source for Illinois children.
• The legislation makes commitments to fund education from the revenues it produces – the original intent of the state’s lottery
• Currently, Illinois ranks 49th of the 50 states in the state-contributed portion of school funding. 62% of school funding in Illinois comes from local sources. (Nationally the rate is 50%).
• The bill increases the Foundation Level from $5,959 to $6,190 (+$231 increase)
• Then more than $2.5 billion will be dedicated to education funding annually in the coming years.
• The passage of this legislation will not only help alleviate our fiscal crisis; it will ensure that education funding for critical programs is at least the FY 09 level.
• The General Assembly has made critical investments in education under Democratic control and funding levels have risen over the past 5 years.

The passage of this bill will bring property tax relief amidst economic tough times.

• Doubles the Property Tax Credit from 5% to 10% and makes it fully refundable to help seniors and others without income tax liability.
• This will provide $700 million in property tax relief to the people of Illinois.

Increasing EITC and exemptions will provide working poor families with more of the help they need.

• An over reliance on cuts would cause an incredible pain to vulnerable Illinois families already suffering from the gradual reduction or elimination of vital state services.
• Studies show low income Illinois families pay a far greater percentage of their earning in state and local taxes than wealthier households.
• Our state’s tax threshold remains among the nations lowest and harshest on working poor households. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
• Our current state credit represents a maximum benefit of $241 per qualifying family, the second smallest state EITC in the nation.
• This bill triples the Earned Income Tax Credit from 5% to 15% of federal EITC.
• The bill also increases the standard exemption from $2,000 to $3,000.

Senate Democrats continue to support responsible spending cuts. 

• Over the course of the past two years, Senate Democrats have supported more than $2.3 billion in state spending cuts – equaling nearly 8%
• For FY2011, lawmakers, constitutional officials and top agency directors will take a 12 unpaid furlough days.  Members of the General Assembly took 12 unpaid furlough days last year.
• For FY2011, by a partisan roll call in the General Assembly, Democrats passed a 5% spending cut on state bureaucracy.
• Ultimately, a fix to Illinois’ fiscal crisis includes cuts and reasonable revenue solutions like those found in HB 174.

Q & A on HB-174
CTBA Analysis on HB-174
Voices For Illinois Children Fact Sheet on HB-174 

Click on the image above to watch live video from the Illinois Senate chambers.
Available on session days only.
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