Please click on the link below TODAY and send an electronic letter to your local House Representative urging her or him to vote to override the Governor’s budget veto. This is it folks! The budget not only avoids cuts for our services but also includes a raise for DSPs. PLEASE go the link now and let’s push this budget across the finish line. The link will identify your House representative for you and already has the letter written. Super easy!

On July 6th, our State Representatives will vote to override the Governor’s veto of an annual budget – one that includes additional support addressing the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This state budget provides an important first step in the right direction – a 75-cent per hour raise which will help providers get over the $10 mark with average starting wages for DSPs. But it is only a first step.

Here are a few additional actions you can take:

Copy and paste this email to friends to spread the word:

Subject: Tell Your State Rep to Support People with Disabilities – Vote YES on Veto Override.

Body:

The budget passed by the Illinois General Assembly provides an important first step in addressing the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Since it’s passing, the budget has been vetoed by the Governor, which was overridden by the Illinois Senate. On July 6th, the Illinois House will vote to override the veto as well, which will cement the bill as law.

The budget includes a badly needed wage increase for caregivers for people with disabilities (DSPs), who are paid poverty wages and haven’t had a raise in almost a decade.

Stagnant DSP wages have led to a long-running staffing crisis that now threatens to push the entire system over the edge. Community homes are closing, hundreds of caregiver positions are going unfilled, and nearly 20,000 children and adults with disabilities are stuck on a waiting list with no services.

For the sake of Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens, please join me in contacting our State Representatives and urging them to make this state budget a reality. http://theydeservemore.com/take-action?source=email&

Thanks!