Illinois State Senator Cristina Castro

Advisory: Castro, Moeller and Elgin Mayor to discuss issues facing our state

Details: Category: Information; Monday, October 30, 2017 02:14 PM

Town Hall

ELGIN – State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin), State Representative Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) and Elgin Mayor David Kaptain will be joining together to hold a town hall meeting on November 2nd. They will be coming together to discuss news from Springfield and have an open dialogue with community members to find out their thoughts on what is happening in our community.

The meeting is being held to give residents the chance to ask Senator Castro, Representative Moeller and Mayor Kaptain questions and to discuss important issues surrounding their communities and state.

Senator Castro believes that town halls are important in order to receive feedback from local residents.

This event is free and open to the public.

What: Town hall
Date: Thursday, November 2
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Elgin Township Government Building, Lower Level (729 South McLean Blvd., Elgin, IL)

Speakers include:
· State Senator Cristina Castro
· State Representative Anna Moeller
· Elgin Mayor David Kaptain

For more information, call Castro’s office at (847) 214-8864 or visit www.SenatorCristinaCastro.com.

Castro: College shouldn’t be the financial burden it has become

Details: Category: News; Monday, October 30, 2017 12:58 PM

1351 SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) voted last week to override the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 1351 and to protect college students from overwhelming amounts of debt upon graduation.

Castro co-sponsored Senate Bill 1351, which creates the Student Loan Servicing Rights Act which would create a Student Loan Bill of Rights. The Student Loan Bill of Rights would prohibit loan servicers from taking advantage of students and parents.

“Some companies knowingly put students in risky loans that are overly expensive,” Castro said. “As legislators we need to do everything in our power at the state level to protect our students from being taken advantage of by the student loan industry. More and more students are coming out of college with enormous amounts of debt.”

Student loan debt has become the largest form of unsecured consumer debt in the United States with one in four borrowers being in default or behind on their payment.

“Students and their families deserve to be informed and given resources to prevent them from making mistakes they didn’t know they were making, like falling behind on payments,” said Castro. “Governor Rauner’s veto is another example of him putting profit over people.”

The Senate overrode the governor’s veto on Senate Bill 1351 and now heads to the House for consideration.

Castro: Upholding DACA will protect our state’s economy

Details: Category: News; Thursday, October 26, 2017 03:53 PM

DACA

864 SPRINGFIELD – Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) is fighting back against President Donald Trump’s efforts to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Castro sponsored Senate Resolution 864, which calls upon the Trump administration and U.S. Congress to preserve protections for undocumented young people formerly eligible for the DACA program.

“Illinois has the third largest number of DACA recipients in the United States,” Castro said. “Trump is trying to make young people, who have lived much of their lives in this country, leave a place that has become their home. We cannot allow Trump to hurt Illinois’ residents and hinder our economy.”

In September, Trump announced plans to repeal DACA, an Obama initiative put into place to protect undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. The program allows them to remain and work in the country if they meet certain criteria.

Senate Resolution 864 was adopted by the Senate on Wednesday.

Castro works to get tax relief for Cook and Kane County flood victims

Details: Category: News; Wednesday, October 25, 2017 03:20 PM

SPRINGFIELD – Senator Cristina Cas flooding403 tro (D-Elgin) is helping victims of July’s floods recover and repair property damage.

Senate Bill 403, which Castro co-sponsored, allows a natural disaster income tax credit for damages up to $750 for property owners in counties where a major disaster was declared in July.

“Individuals affected by the July floods are still waiting on money to rebuild their homes,” Castro said. “I’m not only here to represent the people of my communities, but to protect them as well.”

Anyone claiming the tax credit must be an owner of the property or business and must have reported the damage to the appropriate authority along with IEMA or FEMA, or applied for disaster relief from FEMA.

The owner is not entitled to a credit if they received reimbursement from an insurance company.

The measure applies to the following counties: Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, Carroll, Henry, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Rock Island, Stephenson and Whiteside.

Senate Bill 403 was passed by the Senate with bipartisan support and moves to the House for consideration.

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