The following can be attributed to Colleen Connell, Executive Director:
On behalf of our clients and thousands of others across Illinois, we urge the General Assembly to quickly override the Governor’s veto of budget and revenue measures passed by bipartisan votes in both the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate.
Recent court filings and expert reports — as well as the realities faced by our clients — in several cases where the ACLU has secured consent decrees protecting a modicum of funding for vulnerable persons in Illinois demonstrate the need for this budget to become law. Our clients — even those protected by a consent decree — are unable to get meaningful services as the entire social safety net in Illinois continues to erode.
There will be fights ahead on many issues in our State and we anticipate being part of many policy debates. But it is time to stop the harm being visited upon our most vulnerable residents and have a budget put in place for all Illinois residents.