Welch Fights For Working Families In Midst of COVID-19 Crisis

HILLSIDE, Ill. –State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, issued the following statement after the conclusion of a special legislative session to provide critical services and resources for families facing the COVID-19 pandemic:

“Today we concluded an unprecedented legislative session, during an unprecedented time. We took important steps to help families across Illinois receive the care and assistance that they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We passed a budget that protects vital services for families, while not spending more than we have. We increased funding for Medicaid and fully funded unemployment programs, while also increasing funding for public health by over $700 million dollars including, $400 million for COVID-19 related testing and care.

“We passed protections for essential workers and first responders that have been putting themselves at risk to keep our communities safe and healthy by streamlining workers compensation for individuals who are on the front lines and contract COVID.

“We prioritized our local schools by continuing to give our schools the resources they need to need and have taken steps to ensure that our schools will have the support they need to continue to offer remote learning in the face of the pandemic.

“And to help families during these uncertain economic times we delivered property tax relief to families by suspending late payment penalties and tax sales.

“While we made significant progress to move our state forward and protect Illinois families, we will continue to face new challenges presented by the pandemic. As we move forward, I will continue to fight to ensure that working families have the resources and protections that they deserve.”