DuBuclet Delivers Equity-Based Budget, Smart Reforms to Healthcare and Childcare

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Smart investments in historically disinvested communities, reforms to make healthcare more affordable, and more culturally competent resources for youth in care are among several significant accomplishments state Rep. Kimberly DuBuclet, D-Chicago, is highlighting from the spring legislative session.

“This community sent me to Springfield to stand for its priorities—and I’m getting results,” DuBuclet said. “We can’t let politicians pit vulnerable communities against each other, we need to lift up everyone in need. That’s why I’m working so hard to put resources back into our communities, cut costs for families and seniors, and make every neighborhood safer. That’s how we build a stronger Illinois for us all.”

Since taking office last May, DuBuclet has led a number of efforts to prioritize the needs of historically disinvested communities, and uplift vulnerable people. The new state budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars for innovative, community-based approaches to violence prevention, youth summer employment, and organizations working in neighborhoods hit hardest by mass incarceration. DuBuclet also worked to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding for public schools, as well as nearly $10 million dedicated to filling teacher vacancies in Chicago Public Schools.

DuBuclet also championed the rights and cultural identity of youth in care by passing House Bill 5097, which requires a hair care plans for our foster children.

Making healthcare better and more affordable was also a priority for DuBuclet. She voted for major birth-equity legislation that will require insurance companies to cover all pregnancy, birth, and newborn care. Expanded coverage for doulas and midwives, and a $4 million investment in community birth centers will give moms the ability to create a birth plan that works for them.

“It’s unacceptable that in the 21st Century, pregnancy poses so many preventable risks for women—particularly for women of color,” DuBuclet said. “By helping women choose trusted caregivers and expanding access to newborn care, we’re helping to improve outcomes for all moms and babies.”

The new Healthcare Protection Act DuBuclet worked to pass will also reduce costs and remove barriers to quality healthcare. The measure stops double-digit premium increases by creating a rate review process requiring insurance companies to justify premium increases, and empowering state watchdogs to reject unwarranted hikes that simply pad profits. Additionally, the measure curbs practices insurance companies use to deny access to medically necessary treatments, procedures, and prescription medications; instead, doctors and patients would be empowered to make important medical decisions—not insurance companies. The bill also stops insurance companies from selling inadequate short-term healthcare plans that provide little or no coverage.

DuBuclet also worked to memorialize the legacy of Emmett Till, the Chicago child whose 1955 murder in Jim Crow-era Mississippi brought national attention to the horrors of lynching. Under DuBuclet’s House Bill 4116, Illinois will recognize Till’s July 25 birthday as Emmett Till Day.

“Righting historic wrongs takes continual commitment,” DuBuclet said. “It requires us to look at systems from our schools, to healthcare, to care for our children, and ask how we can do better for everyone. There’s a lot more work to be done, and I’m going to keep working to make our voices heard.”