Bill Text: IL HR0234 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the creation of an environmental justice agenda.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 28-3)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-22 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Justin Slaughter [HR0234 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-HR0234-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Access to employment, economic investment, | ||||||
3 | economic mobility, and training opportunities
are unequal | ||||||
4 | across Illinois, with minority, low-income, environmental | ||||||
5 | justice, and rural communities
having less access to these | ||||||
6 | opportunities; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Clean energy technologies present new economic | ||||||
8 | opportunities, and the Future Energy Jobs
Act creates the | ||||||
9 | Illinois Solar for All program to train residents across | ||||||
10 | Illinois, including persons with
criminal records and foster | ||||||
11 | care alumni, for jobs in the clean energy economy; and
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12 | WHEREAS, The Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice | ||||||
13 | and Sentencing Reform seeks to reduce the
State's current | ||||||
14 | prison population by 25% by 2025; and
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15 | WHEREAS, The Commission found that half of the persons with | ||||||
16 | criminal records currently in Illinois prisons will
likely | ||||||
17 | re-enter prison within three years of release; and
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18 | WHEREAS, The Urban Justice Policy Center found in a study | ||||||
19 | of Illinois that only 31% of those released from prison were | ||||||
20 | employed within two months; and
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1 | WHEREAS, High levels of unemployment correlate directly | ||||||
2 | with violence in Illinois communities and
recidivism; and
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3 | WHEREAS, The families and spouses of persons with criminal | ||||||
4 | records are negatively and economically impacted
and deserve | ||||||
5 | good paying jobs; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Wage gaps continue to exist based on gender and | ||||||
7 | race, with Caucasian women earning 82 cents, African American | ||||||
8 | women earning 65 cents, and Hispanic women earning 58 cents for | ||||||
9 | every dollar earned by Caucasian men in hourly wages; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Higher recidivism rates lead to higher | ||||||
11 | incarceration rates and costs for Illinois taxpayers; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Educational and vocational training for persons | ||||||
13 | with criminal records is a gateway to break the cycle
of | ||||||
14 | incarceration and is critical to reduce violence and recidivism | ||||||
15 | rates; and
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16 | WHEREAS, All people desire to live in safe neighborhoods, | ||||||
17 | with access to public land, clean air, drinkable
water, good | ||||||
18 | health, and to be empowered through work; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Addressing environmental justice has been a | ||||||
20 | national priority for over two decades, as first
outlined in |
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1 | 1994 in Executive Order 12898 on Federal Actions to Address | ||||||
2 | Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and Low-Income | ||||||
3 | Populations; and
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4 | WHEREAS, President Obama reaffirmed the necessity of | ||||||
5 | working for a healthy environment for all
communities in a | ||||||
6 | Proclamation on the 20th Anniversary of the Executive Order; | ||||||
7 | and
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8 | WHEREAS, Illinois upholds the commitment to ensure that no | ||||||
9 | community disproportionately bears the
burden of pollution or | ||||||
10 | environmental degradation through the Illinois Environmental | ||||||
11 | Protection
Agency Commission on Environmental Justice; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Communities of color and | ||||||
13 | economically-disadvantaged communities have historically | ||||||
14 | shouldered the burdens of pollution and its toxic impacts on | ||||||
15 | health, air, water, and land; and
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16 | WHEREAS, The United States Department of Health and Human | ||||||
17 | Services Office of Minority Health reports that
African | ||||||
18 | American children are four times as likely as non-Hispanic | ||||||
19 | Caucasian children to be admitted to the hospital for
an asthma | ||||||
20 | attack and 10 times as likely to die from one; and
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21 | WHEREAS, Growing the clean energy economy through the jobs |
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1 | and investments set forth in the Future
Energy Jobs Act is | ||||||
2 | vital to reducing asthma-causing air pollution and carbon | ||||||
3 | emissions that contribute to
climate change; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Lack of investment in stormwater infrastructure | ||||||
5 | causes basement flooding, sewer backups,
and water | ||||||
6 | contamination that disproportionately affect | ||||||
7 | economically-disadvantaged communities; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Lack of access to fresh, local, healthy food | ||||||
9 | causes poor health outcomes such as obesity,
diabetes, and | ||||||
10 | heart disease throughout communities of color and | ||||||
11 | economically-disadvantaged
communities; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Communities of color face barriers of access to | ||||||
13 | green open space and the health and
recreational benefits | ||||||
14 | provided therein; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Economically-challenged communities across | ||||||
16 | Illinois - urban, semi-urban, and rural -
together face | ||||||
17 | environmental injustices; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Illinois has the ability to equip our labor force | ||||||
19 | with skills for the future, protect public health,
and be | ||||||
20 | faithful stewards of the planet and our many resources; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Existing funds from the Renewable Energy | ||||||
2 | Resources Fund allow the implementation of the
Solar-for-All | ||||||
3 | Program to meet its statutory goals, creating 2,000 jobs for | ||||||
4 | persons with records and foster
care alumni in the clean energy | ||||||
5 | economy by 2030 by offering incentives to companies to hire | ||||||
6 | trainees; therefore, be it
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7 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
8 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
9 | work together to create an environmental justice agenda that | ||||||
10 | creates
clean energy jobs that are accessible to all, addresses | ||||||
11 | gender inequities and income disparities as we
move toward a | ||||||
12 | green economy, reduces recidivism rates while curbing climate | ||||||
13 | change, and shapes
policy that addresses the adverse and | ||||||
14 | disproportionate impacts of climate change upon communities of
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15 | color and economically-disadvantaged communities; and be it | ||||||
16 | further
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17 | RESOLVED, That funds in the Renewable Energy Resource Fund, | ||||||
18 | which were paid for by Illinois electric
customers, must be | ||||||
19 | preserved and maintained for the Illinois Solar-for-All | ||||||
20 | program as established by the
Future Energy Jobs Act, and | ||||||
21 | protected from sweeps, interagency transfers, chargebacks, or | ||||||
22 | other
reallocation of those funds away from their statutory | ||||||
23 | purposes.
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