For two years, the western half of a beloved local park in my Rogers Park neighborhood was taken over by a homeless tent encampment, while the City and local authorities looked the other way. In time, reports surfaced of illicit criminal activity, mostly drug activity and syringes found around the site, and neighborhood residents, including students from the high school across the street, voiced justifiable concerns regarding safety.

Soon, the Park District was forced to cancel their summer youth programs, and the high school across the street, which had used the park for its outdoor sports activities, could no longer allow its students to safely recreate.

State Rep. Kam Buckner's bill to stop cities from mandating specific numbers of off-street car parking at homes and businesses in transit-served areas should be celebrated. These mandates increase the cost of housing, take up land that could be used for just about anything else (like, more housing), and, because of how they facilitate more driving and require building more curb cuts than is truly necessary, make it harder to walk, bike, or ride the bus to run errands.

Illinois is rebuilding and modernizing its infrastructure thanks to Governor Pritzker’s bi-partisan ReBuild Illinois infrastructure investment program and President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which also had bi-partisan support. As a result of these investments, Illinois’ aging and crumbling infrastructure is being modernized at a rapid rate to ensure we have clean air and water and safe and modern roads and bridges—all designed by the nation’s most innovative and forward-thinking engineering firms, located right here in Illinois.

We were scared and devastated. Doctors had just diagnosed our daughter Melanie with advanced Stage 3 chronic kidney disease in August 2021. Doctors told us that she would need a kidney transplant to survive. I could either sit and cry over the devastating news, or I could prepare to fight for my daughter’s life. And like any mother, I found the strength to support her fight.

I was a compatible kidney match for Melanie, so in October of last year, doctors at Lurie Children’s Hospital removed one my kidneys and successfully transplanted the organ into Melanie. God prepares us for these heavy, challenging times. It was nearly overwhelming at the beginning, and I felt like the weakest person, but I knew I had to be tough when I fought for my daughter’s wellbeing.

In her Oct. 30th Daily Line guest commentary the principal of a private religious school asserts that scholarships for private school tuition will disappear if the Illinois’ voucher program sunsets as scheduled after this school year. But her anecdote about her own scholarship from the Big Shoulders Fund belies the fact that scholarships for private school tuition, and Big Shoulders itself, existed long before the General Assembly passed the Invest in Kids Act in 2017, creating a tax credit scholarship voucher scheme as part of the compromise that also revamped how we fund public schools in Illinois.

Legislators, I am literally pleading with you. The children in my community need you to invest in kids and save the Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Our remaining time is short and your support for these kids is vitally important.

The story that I have etched on my heart is not unique to me or to the Southeast Side of Chicago. I share it with many. My father suffered with substance abuse and in 5th grade he lost his job. I was old enough to see the strain it was putting on my mother as she battled with how to provide for her three daughters.

Background

The University of Illinois System is one of the largest public-sector employers in Illinois, with upwards of 40,000 employees across the state and an operating budget of $7.7 billion – almost half the budget of the City of Chicago. The University's three campuses serve nearly 100,000 students, its hospitals see 787,000 patient visits annually, and UI's decisions shape its surrounding communities. This is a vital public institution that has the power to transform the lives of students, patients, and workers across Illinois.

As we explore policy initiatives to tackle housing affordability challenges, a crucial question arises: "how will we fund it?" The Chicagoland Apartment Association (CAA) remains committed to collaborating with policymakers at all levels to address affordable housing solutions. However, we strongly oppose the proposal to increase the real estate transfer tax, as it poses negative economic consequences for both residential and non-residential segments of our communities.