2025 Springfield Agenda

February 10, 2025

Related News & Commentary
Supplemental Resources:
Last Updated on 3/7/2025

Investments in our state’s Latino communities are investments in everyone that calls Illinois home. And policies that promote equity for Latinos in education, housing, and immigration, are essential to the promise of making Illinois the “best state to raise a family.”

Latinos and Latino immigrants have been in this country and in Illinois for generations and have always been a critical component of our state’s success. As the second-largest racial group after Whites, Latino communities, through birth and immigration, stabilize our state’s population, keep our industries moving, and our schools open. In return, we call on our state to invest in our community as we have invested in Illinois, and that our families and communities be protected and not torn apart.

And recognizing that immigrants are significant members of the Latino community, the Forum will fully support policy proposals that honor the human rights of and protect this population in our state and we will wholeheartedly reject any effort to rollback protections or hurt this community.

This agenda outlines our policy, administrative, and budgetary priorities for creating a more equitable Illinois for Latinos. Focusing on education, immigration, and housing, we outline investments and initiatives that we will be supporting in the 2025 Illinois legislative session.

Education

Whether accessing early childhood services as a baby, beginning their education in the United States in elementary or middle school, or pursuing the dream of a college degree, the Latino Policy Forum is committed to advocating for equitable access to supports, programs, investments, and policies that support Latino students.

Investments in quality early childhood, K-12, and higher education programs yield dividends through improved education outcomes, higher lifetime earnings, and stronger communities.

The Forum alongside advocate partners and stakeholders will work with the Illinois General Assembly to support the following initiatives:

Early Childhood

Early childhood budget increases across four main programs, including: preschool, home visiting, childcare, and early intervention. Annual increased investment in SMART START, which will create 20,000 new preschool slots, enhance access for thousands of families with babies and toddlers from birth to age three, and increase wages for the workforce.

  • $75 million increase to expand access to preschool in high-need areas and to provide child development and family support services for families with children from birth to age three.
  • $170 million for childcare, including increases for the Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP) and the SMART START Workforce Grants, which includes a $55 M increase to child care assistance program.
  • $60 million increase for the Early Intervention Program, funding needed to address unprecedented service delays for services to help children between the ages of birth to three with disabilities or delays.
  • $5 million increase for home visiting services for new and expecting families.
  • Increased funding for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood.

K-12

K-12 Education investments to empower school districts serving Illinois students, including:

  • $550 million increase to the Evidence-Based Funding formula, which prioritizes funding for schools that need it most, which will help to get closer to fully funding Illinois schools.
  • Level funding ($45 Million) for Teacher Vacancy Grants (TVGG) to support targeted teacher pipeline efforts.

Higher Education

  • Level funding ($8 million) for the Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship, which is awarded to minority students pursuing post-secondary degrees in education.
  • $15 million increase to the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity program, which provides training and higher education support to early childhood staff currently in the workforce.
  • $73 million increase for the Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) to enhance college affordability for students and increase persistence and graduation rates.
  • $135 million annual increase and passing the four-year university funding formula that will aid college affordability, and academic support for first-generation, low-income, Latino and undocumented students attending Illinois’s public four-year institutions.
  • Increased funding for community colleges, adult education, and career and technical education.

Immigration

Illinois has a proud tradition of being the most protective state in the nation for immigrants, which has made it possible for many immigrant and Latino families, and the state, to thrive.

Protecting and investing in immigrant communities helps ensure Illinois is safer and more prosperous for everyone. During this legislative session, the Forum will monitor and support the following budget line items:

FY 26 Budget Priorities

  • $2 million increase for Immigrant Integration Services. The Forum supports the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in their request for an additional $2 million in funding to support the New Americans Initiative and Immigrant Family Resource Program for a total of $40 million. These programs have consistently and successfully facilitated the long-term integration of immigrant families across the state.
  • $25 million increase for Illinois Access to Justice (A2J). In this time of heightened immigration enforcement and racial profiling, legal service providers will require more support. The Forum supports The Resurrection Project in their request for an additional $25 million, for a total of $50 million, so A2J can continue to provide legal education, expand its geographical reach, and increase its caseload. 
  • Level funding ($14.4 million) for the Immigrant Legal Support Program (ILSP). Similarly, the Forum supports The Resurrection Project in their request for level funding for ILSP, a statewide program funded through the State of Illinois to scale centralized immigration application workshops and expand access to reliable, accessible information and services. In just four months last year, ILSP partner organizations completed over 3,500 legal screenings and filed over 3,200 asylum, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and work authorization applications with USCIS. These services are scalable and essential to the already overburdened legal service infrastructure here in Illinois.
  • Level funding ($170 million) for Illinois Welcoming Centers. Continued investments for Illinois Welcoming Centers (IWCs) will help expand the State’s capacity for culturally and linguistically responsive comprehensive services for the integration of new and long-term immigrants in Illinois. While the number of new arrivals has slowed down, $40 million is not enough to meet this need.
  • Increased investment to the state Child Tax Credit (CTC). The Forum supports continued efforts to ensure the most efficient and equitable CTC possible.
  • Additionally, the Forum supports efforts to restore programs that ensure access to basic medical, food and cash assistance for the most vulnerable, such as Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) and Victims of Trafficking, Torture, and Other Crimes (VTTC). We understand the constraints of our budget; however, we believe that the urgency of this moment calls for ongoing collaboration and compromise.

Legislative Priorities

  • S.B. 2305 (Aquino)/H.B. 2706 (L. Hernandez) – IL TRUST Act Changes. Since it passed in 2017, the IL TRUST Act has been the gold standard for protecting immigrants from warrantless conduct by ICE and local police. The Forum supports ICIRR and other advocates in advocating for strengthening it further.

    This bill strengthens the TRUST Act in two key ways:
    • By closing several loopholes around data and information sharing. For example, if passed, law enforcement may not give any immigration agent access, including by telephone or other communication medium, to any individual who is in that agency’s custody. Immigration agents would also be prohibited from accessing any electronic databases not available to the public.
    • By expanding the definitions of “immigration agent”, “law enforcement agency” and “law enforcement official.” Under the current administration, federal agencies other than ICE have been instructed to conduct immigration enforcement operations, further confusing and harming immigrant communities. Expanding and clarifying these definitions makes it unequivocally clear that the State of Illinois will not participate nor assist with civil immigration enforcement (unless presented with a federal criminal warrant).
  • S.B. 2251 (Villavalam)/H.B. 2909 (Olickal) – Equal Treatment for All. The Forum supports MALDEF in their efforts to expand protections against discrimination in public accommodations and financial credit by including citizenship, primary language, and immigration status as protected categories in the Illinois Human Rights Act.
  • S.B. 1619 (Aquino)/H.B. 2436 (Gong-Gershowitz) – Clarify Public Defender’s Immigration Representation Authorization. In 2021, the General Assembly passed Public Act 102-0410, allowing the Cook County Public Defender to represent county residents in Chicago immigration court. Since 2022, the Cook County Public Defender has represented nearly 150 clients in the Chicago immigration court. This bill will allow the Public Defender to represent Cook County residents regardless of where they are detained and to provide legal services to noncitizens without a pending court case. This is critically important given the anti-immigrant climate we live in, and the likelihood that Cook County residents will be detained outside of County’s jurisdiction. The Forum joins The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender and The Resurrection Project in this effort.

Housing

Addressing homelessness and improving access to stable, safe, and quality housing is essential to creating a fair, dignified, and equitable future for all Illinois residents. By investing in these critical programs, Illinois can continue to make significant strides in ending homelessness for Latinos and everyone across our state.

  • $100 million in new funding for HOME Illinois initiatives. Led by partner Housing Action Illinois, the Forum, along with over 200 organizations and state-funded emergency shelter providers, is urging the Governor to expand funding to these critical initiatives to help reach functional zero homelessness across the state.
  • $40 million increase for the Emergency and Transitional Housing (ETH) Program. This funding will help expand and strengthen services for individuals and families facing homelessness, providing crucial short-term shelter and transitional housing for those in need.
  • $10 million for Street Outreach to support outreach efforts to connect people experiencing homelessness with services and support, helping them transition from the streets into stable housing.
  • $4 million increase to expand the Shelter Diversion Program that will help people avoid shelters through alternative housing solutions.
  • $5 million increase for the Homelessness Prevention Program to provide more resources for at-risk households and keep families and individuals housed before they face homelessness.
  • $11 million for Supportive Housing Programs. This increase can help strengthen various supportive housing initiatives to ensure individuals and families experiencing homelessness have the long-term support they need.
  • $30 million for additional priorities identified by the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness including Rapid Rehousing and Scattered Site Permanent Supportive Housing, as well as addressing current gaps in service.
Scroll to Top