SPRINGFIELD – Following the Senate’s advancement of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and tax relief plan, State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) released the following statement:

“Illinois’ fiscal standing continues to improve, and now we have a budget to continue our progress while also ensuring taxpayers reap the benefits of our growing economy.

“Additionally, our relief plan to pause the 1% sales tax on groceries, provide direct tax refund payments to residents and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit will allow for a much-needed injection of activity into our economy, while also ensuring our families can afford the things they need the most.

“I am also pleased to see our K-12 school districts being fully funded—our students have faced a disruptive two years, and ensuring our most vulnerable school districts can support getting children back on track is critical.

“Investments in community public safety is also paramount; that’s why I’m glad to see millions of dollars in funding to strengthen violence prevention initiatives and address law enforcement’s needs, including funding for local organizations.

“We are also catching up on unpaid bills, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. I look forward to getting ahead on our pension payments and putting $1 billion aside for stability in our Rainy Day Fund.”

SPRINGFIELD – Eligible mothers who choose to utilize a midwife during the pregnancy and birthing process may soon have services covered under Medicaid thanks to legislation supported by State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin).

“Last year, after decades of work, we passed a law to officially license and certify midwives in Illinois,” said Castro, who sponsored the Licensed Certified Professional Midwife Practice Act. “We knew to truly make a difference, access to these services needed to be as equitable as possible, and expanding Medicaid coverage for them will create more options to mothers who need it most.”

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SPRINGFIELD – To help ensure construction workers are properly compensated, State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) spearheaded a measure to allow construction workers employed by a subcontractor who fails to pay them to seek remedy from the primary contractor.

“Construction sites can involve a complicated network of multiple subcontractors and dozens of workers,” Castro said. “When subcontractors fail to pay their workers, we have a duty to ensure there is a mechanism in place for workers to receive their hard-earned wages.”

In a typical construction project, commercial property owners or developers will hire a primary, also called a general, contractor to oversee a project. The general contractor will hire and coordinate with subcontractors, such as ones specializing in painting, window installation, electrical and more. Subcontractors employ their own workers to carry out their part of the project.

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A recent report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found that the number of maternal deaths rose 14% nationally during the pandemic. We also know that an average of 75 Illinois women died while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy each year during 2008-2017, according to the most recent data available from The Illinois Department of Public Health. 

Not all women are at equal risk of dying, however. Black women are about three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related condition as white women in Illinois.

We know that 60% of all maternal deaths in this country are preventable and there are programs that offer proven solutions to help improve maternal health. Here in Illinois, the national Nurse-Family Partnership ® program provides a trusted nurse for expectant mothers to help identify medical conditions and mitigate the risk factors that can lead to maternal death. Having a nurse there at the critical moment to identify warning signs of preeclampsia, for example, could be life saving for both mother and her baby.

As currently funded, Nurse-Family Partnership is only able to serve less than 5% of the 24,000 eligible families in the state. With increased funding to home visiting services, programs like Nurse-Family Partnership can reach more expectant mothers and expand in new counties.

More should be done for Illinois families, especially for those affected by racial and economic inequality.

Investing in keeping mothers’ healthy also means investing in our state’s children, and in turn, investing in our future.

It’s time for Illinois to do a better job of reducing inequities in our health care system. That’s why I am supporting an increase in the state budget for home visiting programs through the Department of Human Services fund.