Cervantes advocates for grants to independent living centers
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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Javier Cervantes is leading legislation to direct over $16 million in state funding to a program that would provide grants to independent living centers.
“Folks in our community that live in independent living centers understand the need for improvements and funding for our centers across Illinois,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “We are advocating for better funding for our residents who need these services in order to live independently, and Illinois needs to invest in their future.”
Independent living centers offer core services like counseling, skills training, referrals and more to empower people with disabilities to live and participate fully in their communities. Senate Bill 3214 would direct $16,358,900 to the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Rehabilitation Services Bureau for grants to independent living centers – a $10 million increase from the prior year’s budget.
Cervantes advocates for labor protections to ensure uninterrupted services for people with disabilities
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SPRINGFIELD – To continue his commitment to union workers across Illinois, State Senator Javier Cervantes and members of the Senate Appropriations-Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing Wednesday to discuss a measure that would further protect the labor rights of frontline and direct support staff.
“With this legislation we are making sure residents with developmental disabilities do not see an interruption in their services from direct care service agencies,” said Cervantes. “This applies to programs in the Division for Developmental Disabilities and provides workers with collective bargaining tools while benefiting the workplace environment for many of our essential services in Illinois.”
To ensure the continued, uninterrupted provision of services to people with developmental disabilities in Illinois, Cervantes is leading a measure to bring this type of agreement to the state’s home- and community-based services programs.
Cervantes joins SEIU members to advocate for better wages
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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Javier Cervantes joined members of the Service Employees International Union at a press conference Wednesday to advocate for higher wages under a new legislative initiative.
“Being a longtime advocate for SEIU has shown me that our home care workers deserve a living wage and deserve to know that Illinois has their back,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “Creating a way to incentivize a high-quality home care workforce leads to better outcomes for our residents and provides our SEIU workers with an avenue to a living wage that grows with their experience and essential work.”
Illinois’ Community Care Program allows seniors to receive care and community-based services in their own homes. Thanks to the program, over 100,000 Illinois seniors are able to receive in-home care, allowing them to live independently without the need to move to a more restrictive setting like a nursing home or institution. Currently, only 77% of CCP rates paid by the state go toward employee wages, resulting in a current minimum wage of $17 per hour and leading workers to call on lawmakers to address the low wages fueling the home care workforce shortage.
Cervantes advances bill to reduce barriers for real estate licensing
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SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Javier Cervantes passed a bill in the Senate to expand real estate licensing in Illinois to brokers licensed in another state.
“To modernize our real estate practices in Illinois, this legislation would promote greater diversity in the market for many residents to utilize,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “Allowing more brokers and managers from other states to operate in Illinois would benefit our residents and the businesses wanting to operate in our state.”
Senate Bill 3740 would require brokers and managing brokers licensed in another state who are applying for licensure in Illinois to follow specific guidelines to obtain licensure.
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Thank you for visiting my legislative website. It is my privilege to serve the citizens of the 1st Senate District in the Illinois General Assembly. On this website, I will provide information about myself, my legislation and the services I can assist you with.
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Javier Loera Cervantes
Illinois State Senator, 1st District
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