Full Text of SR0370 101st General Assembly
SR0370 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Housing is our State's most important social and | 3 | | economic infrastructure; nearly one in three Illinois families | 4 | | struggles with housing costs; over half of our State's renters | 5 | | need an affordable home, including over half of seniors who | 6 | | rent their homes; we face a critical shortage of an estimated | 7 | | 23,000 supportive housing units for our most vulnerable | 8 | | populations, those who are veterans, disabled, and/or at risk | 9 | | of homelessness; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human | 11 | | Rights recognizes the right to housing as a human right; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Illinois cannot thrive if young adults cannot | 13 | | afford housing and leave Illinois, if businesses leave for | 14 | | states with lower housing costs, and when families struggle to | 15 | | keep a roof over their heads; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The 2009 capital budget set a precedent for | 17 | | investing in housing as infrastructure through an allocation of | 18 | | approximately $145 million for affordable housing; nearly $70 | 19 | | million of these funds were used to create 694 affordable | 20 | | rental homes across the State, leveraging an additional $82.5 | 21 | | million in public and private resources; capital budget dollars | 22 | | allocated towards affordable housing were highly leveraged |
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| 1 | | with private and public money and were extremely impactful in | 2 | | creating jobs, creating housing, broadening the tax base, and | 3 | | creating new economic activity; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Communities across our great State still struggle | 5 | | to provide an adequate supply of affordable homes to our | 6 | | residents; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Allocating $1 billion towards affordable housing | 8 | | in the State's next capital budget provides us with an | 9 | | opportunity to make a sizable impact on the housing needs of | 10 | | our communities; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, This investment in affordable housing would allow | 12 | | the development of homes meeting a wide range of needs, | 13 | | including, but not limited to, affordable homes for working | 14 | | families and seniors, supportive housing for people | 15 | | experiencing homelessness, accessible housing for people with | 16 | | disabilities, and affordable memory care homes for people with | 17 | | Alzheimer's disease; homeownership could be supported by | 18 | | rehabbing vacant and abandoned properties; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, This investment would be used across the State in | 20 | | urban, suburban, and rural communities to rebuild | 21 | | neighborhoods, create new jobs, attract new investment, and | 22 | | broaden the property tax base; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, With $1 billion in capital budget funds we could | 2 | | build 10,000 affordable rental homes for working families, | 3 | | seniors, veterans, and people who need supportive housing, | 4 | | create 16,000 jobs in the first year alone, and generate $755 | 5 | | million in taxes and other revenue for local governments and | 6 | | $3.9 billion in local income for businesses and workers over | 7 | | the course of 15 years; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, This investment would provide resources to meet | 9 | | the goals of the Comprehensive Housing Planning Act (310 ILCS | 10 | | 110), which is to maintain the economic health of our | 11 | | communities by requiring a comprehensive and unified policy for | 12 | | the allocation of resources for affordable housing and | 13 | | supportive services for historically underserved populations | 14 | | throughout the State; therefore, be it | 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 16 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
that we recognize one of the | 17 | | most urgently required, realistic, and important ways to | 18 | | rebuild our State
means investing in where our families live; | 19 | | increasing Illinois' stock of affordable housing would give
| 20 | | people more reasons to stay here and entice employers and | 21 | | families to relocate here, save money, build
wealth, and | 22 | | achieve a middle-class standard of living; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That we urge significant funding for affordable | 2 | | housing be included in any new capital spending plan; and be it | 3 | | further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 5 | | delivered to the offices of the Governor, the Capital | 6 | | Development Board, the Housing Development Authority, the | 7 | | Department of Human Services, the Department of | 8 | | Transportation, the Department on Aging, the Department of | 9 | | Children and Family Services, the Department of Corrections, | 10 | | the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the | 11 | | Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the | 12 | | Department of Veterans' Affairs.
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