AURORA, Ill. – State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, is inviting small business owners to attend an in-person informational event for new or current business owners to learn about affordable loans, grants, and technical services, in partnership with Allies for Community Business, Chicago Community Loan Fund, and Self-Help Federal Credit Union on Wednesday, June 3, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The event will teach small business owners about the options where they can get low-interest loans to help with salaries, working, capital, equipment, real estate acquisitions, renovations, and other expenses – including non-profit loan funds or credit union companies that can offer more flexibility and faster access to resources. 

“In Aurora, small businesses are at the heart of our neighborhoods, and it’s important we provide the owners with the resources to grow financially within our communities,” said Hernandez. “Low-interest loans can help many business owners cover much-needed expenses – expenses that can make a massive difference on the income they bring home and on the salaries they provide to their workers.”

“Allies for Community Business believes that entrepreneurs from any background can start and grow businesses that create generational wealth for their families and communities,” said Brad McConnell, CEO of Allies for Community Business. “We provide the capital, coaching, and connections entrepreneurs need to grow great businesses, and we are excited to work with Representative Hernandez to serve more businesses in Aurora and beyond.” 

“Chicago Community Loan Fund offers financing for real estate projects across the six-county Chicago region including Aurora helping entrepreneurs to acquire, expand or repair properties where they can grow their wealth while meeting increasing demand for their products and services.” Juan Calixto, Executive Vice President of External Relations for Chicago Community Loan Fund.

“Small businesses, along with nonprofits and religious institutions, are the anchors of their neighborhoods, yet too many still face barriers to affordable, mission-aligned capital,” said Kimberly Jones, Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships at Self-Help Federal Credit Union. “Whether it’s buying or renovating a building, investing in equipment, or strengthening day-to-day operations, access to fair, flexible financing can be the difference between surviving and thriving. Self-Help is thrilled and grateful to partner with Representative Hernandez to better serve Aurora and surrounding communities.”

The Small Business Event will be held in-person. The event is open for new or current business owners, and they must RSVP prior to the event. For more information, please contact Rep. Hernandez district office at (630) 270-1848.

AURORA, Ill. – State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, is inviting residents to attend an in- person Mental Health First Aid Training for Youth, given in Spanish, in partnership with the Family Service Association of Greater Elgin on Wednesday, April 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The course will cover the Mental Health First Aid for Youth Training, developed by the National Council on Mental Health and Wellbeing. The skill-based training course will teach adult participants how to talk to young people from ages 12 to 18 about mental health and substance use, and how to intervene when they need help.

“Our youth are the most prevalent and vulnerable to mental health crises or substance abuse,” said Hernandez. “Adults learning how to talk to our youth, and when to intervene, is crucial in
encouraging them to receive the appropriate help they need. Sometimes, all they need is someone to listen and encourage them to the right path.”

The Mental Health First Aid Training for Youth will be held in-person and given in Spanish. With only 20 spots available, community members who are interested in attending must RSVP prior to the event and should expect to pay $20 dollars per person for materials. For more information, please contact Gaby at garriaga@deltoromentalhealthwellness.com

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, is taking action to lower home and auto insurance costs by passing a new bill that ensures Illinois customers are not paying to pad the profits of big corporations or cover corporate losses in high-risk states like Florida or Texas.

“Illinois constituents should not be struggling to make ends meet by paying high insurance costs that only benefit big corporations,” said Hernandez. “It is not the responsibility of Illinois’ residents to cover corporate losses, even more so when the money won’t benefit Illinois residents.”

Homeowners across Illinois have seen insurance plans rise by nearly 30% in the last year, raising concerns that Illinois residents are footing the bill for other states at high risk of natural disasters. In an effort to reduce costs for Illinois customers, Hernandez passed Senate Bill 1486, which takes several steps to rein in rising insurance costs by:

• Empowering the Illinois Department of Insurance to reject unfair rate increases by subjecting all Illinois homeowners insurance, fire insurance, and auto insurance policies to a comprehensive rate review process.
• Requiring insurance companies give customers 60 days’ notice before double-digit rate increases, giving customers more time to make informed decisions.
• Shrinking auto insurance premiums for drivers over the age of 55 who complete a 4-hour defensive driving program or e-learning course. 

“By lowering insurance costs for our working families, we are helping them live a more financially stable life,” said Hernandez. “Working families shouldn’t have to choose which monthly utilities they need to cut to be able to pay their high insurance costs. Every family deserves to have affordable insurance protections.”

AURORA, Ill. – State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, is offering constituents of the 50th District three museum programs allowing them to receive 4 tickets to explore up to 16 museums in the state of Illinois, as well as the Paramount Theater in Aurora. 

“Many museums are not accessible to the general public because of their prices, and that’s why it’s so exciting to be able to offer our community members free opportunities to explore the diverse culture, history and beauty our state has to offer,” said Hernandez. “I’m hopeful that this program will benefit my community by allowing them to enjoy new experiences with their families throughout the state and to have fun learning something new!”

The first program allows each of Hernandez’s constituents to receive up to four tickets to visit the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield. The second program allows each constituent to receive four tickets each month to visit the following museums:

• Adler Planetarium
• Brookfield Zoo
• Chicago Botanic Garden
• Lincoln Park Zoo
• The Art Institute of Chicago
• Chicago History Museum
• DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center
• The Field Museum
• Museum of Science and Industry
• Museum of Contemporary Art
• National Museum of Mexican Art
• National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
• Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
• The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
• John G. Shedd Aquarium

Finally, in the fall, Hernandez plans to establish a new pilot program that will offer a limited number of free Paramount Theatre tickets for residents of the 50th district, particularly those who have not been able to experience Paramount plays before. 

“History and culture are an essential part of the education of our communities,” said Hernandez. “By educating ourselves on different cultures, we create a community that is compassionate, safe and empathetic—qualities too often hard to find in times like these.”

For more information or to register, call the district office at 630-270-1848 or visit their social media at https://www.instagram.com/rep.bhernandez/. For more information on program eligibility, visit https://www.elections.il.gov.

AURORA, Ill. – State Representative Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, released a statement to support Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed budget to give $100 million in state funding to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) for residential renovations:

“Funding for the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy is an enormous step for funding public education in the state. When living on-campus, students face additional stress from being far from home, that’s why it is important to accommodate their needs. Students thrive in an environment where they feel safe, heard and comfortable. Updating their residences will do just that.

“The renovation for the residence halls would expand to accommodate 650 students and their adult supervisors, would support both academic and non-academic learning, expand the number of students served on campus and incorporate sustainable and energy efficient opportunities wherever possible. These are all fundamental necessities for students to thrive academically and socially in their environments.

“During negotiations, I will continue to support this funding for the renovation of IMSA residence halls and make sure they stick in the budget. The success of our students depends on the resources we provide them, whether they are outside or inside the classroom. Funding their living arrangements will help students feel further connected with their communities, more comfortable in their living spaces, and help push them forward in their academic success.”

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Representative Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, responded to the Governor’s annual budget address on Wednesday, releasing a statement to establish her commitment to a state budget focused on families’ budgets:

“The federal administration has frozen billions of taxpayer dollars while working-families struggle to afford housing, healthcare, childcare and education. The freezing of these funds not only affects our immigrant communities by taking away important resources for daily lives, it also affects working families that depend on food and other resources and programs that alleviate their daily economic hardships. 

“While we can’t reverse the federal policies or extreme cuts, we can take charge of what we can control. 

“For the next couple of months, I will continue to work with House Democrats to negotiate a compassionate and responsible state budget that invests in an affordable future for working families in Illinois. 

“I will personally focus on prioritizing a budget to invest in small businesses in our community, make grants available for non-profit organizations to keep helping our neighborhoods thrive, increase funding for every level of education and direct funding to food and housing security resources for at-risk communities. 

“I will continue to work here in Springfield to make sure our future continues to be bright and strong for the community of the 50th District. I look forward to negotiating a compassionate budget worthy of our community.”

AURORA, Ill. – Completing years of work from reformers, law enforcement and business leaders, the transformational “clean slate” criminal justice reforms that state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, helped pass last fall were signed into law today.

“When formerly incarcerated people are saddled with the burden of a criminal record that isn’t expunged, the reality is that, whatever their sentence, they are serving time for their whole lives,” Hernandez said. “They pay for their offenses with more than just imprisonment, they pay with new obstacles to housing, employment and opportunities for a better life living inside the bounds of the law. I’m grateful to law enforcement, business leaders and especially advocates for justice- like the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments and the Illinois Clean Slate Coalition- who fought for so long to achieve this milestone.”

More than 2.2 million Illinoisans have an old arrest record or minor conviction that would currently qualify for sealing, but that process can be complicated and costly. It’s estimated that only 10% of those eligible have been able to receive relief, making it more difficult for many to qualify for affordable housing, to advance their education, and even to find employment.

Last fall Hernandez, in a continuing commitment to build a more equitable justice system, worked to pass the Clean Slate Act (House Bill 1836), which was signed into law today. It will automatically seal many minor criminal records, ensuring these records are accessible only to law enforcement, prosecutors and sensitive employers-such as daycares and schools. Arrests resulting in an acquittal or dismissal will be sealed immediately, while misdemeanor convictions will be sealed after two years. The most serious felonies, domestic abuse convictions and other violent crimes against persons will not be eligible for sealing.

The measure is the product of years of negotiation with business groups, law enforcement, housing advocates and criminal justice reformers.

“Contrary to what opponents who misunderstand this bill might say, it is a step forward for safety as much as it is equality,” Hernandez said. “People who have made mistakes deserve to return to normal life without bias or discrimination. That’s the way we give them a real second chance and put an end to the unfortunate trend of offenders falling back into criminal patterns.”

AURORA, Ill. – State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, helped pass major new reforms to protect people in hospitals, institutions of higher education, courthouses and childcare centers from constitutional abuse by law enforcement officials, which were signed into law today.

“Signing this legislation into law represents a major step forward for the safety of our community against abusive immigration actions. Donald Trump’s ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ and the out-of-control agents carrying it out are bringing chaos to places where people are meant to feel safe,” Hernandez said. “Patients at hospitals, students at colleges, kids at childcare centers and people seeking justice at courthouses are having constitutional rights trampled on.”

In a pushback against Trump Administration overreach, Hernandez backed House Bill 1312, which creates constitutional guardrails by granting victims of unconstitutional immigration enforcement actions a private cause of action if the overreach occurred in hospitals, childcare centers, institutions of higher education or courthouses. House Bill 1312 also requires hospitals to establish safeguards for patients in cases of inappropriate immigration enforcement actions taking place on hospital property. It further creates policies that state-licensed facilities and public campuses respond lawfully to immigration activities while continuing to protect the privacy of the people they serve.

Hernandez has been an active voice against similar misconduct and taken a major role in passing previous similar legislation like the TRUST Act, which prevents local law enforcement from coordinating with immigration agents.

This legislation was signed into law by the Gov. today.

“Essential freedoms like free speech and due process are being torn away by a would-be strong man—all to serve a racist agenda,” Hernandez said. “Donald Trump is counting on us being intimidated into silence or goaded into violence, but we aren’t so effortlessly cowed or easily provoked. I’m proud to join with my colleagues to take this step, and I’ll be fighting to ensure more progress is on the horizon.”

AURORA, Ill. – State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, delivered transformational ‘clean slate’ justice reforms, bringing together reformers, law enforcement and business leaders to expand opportunity for employment, housing and education by creating an automatic sealing process for thousands of non-violent arrest records. 

“The major failure at the heart of our criminal justice system is that millions of people who were found guilty of a non-violent crime are continuing to ‘pay their debt to society’ long after they are no longer incarcerated,” Hernandez said. “Having even a non-violent criminal record can make it much harder to get a lease or mortgage, to be accepted for higher education, even to get hired and pay bills. Eliminating this problem is at the heart of the Clean Slate Act, and passing this legislation is a big step in the right direction.”

More than 2.2 million Illinoisans have an old arrest record or minor conviction that would currently qualify for sealing, but that process can be complicated and costly. It’s estimated that only 10 percent of those eligible have been able to receive relief, making it more difficult for many to qualify for affordable housing, to advance their education, and even to find employment. 

Hernandez recently worked to pass the Clean Slate Act (House Bill 1836), which will automatically seal many minor criminal records, ensuring these records are accessible only to law enforcement. Arrests resulting in an acquittal or dismissal will be sealed immediately, while misdemeanor convictions will be sealed after two years. The most serious felonies, domestic abuse convictions, and other violent crimes against persons will not be eligible for sealing. 

The measure is the product of years of negotiation with business groups, law enforcement, housing advocates, and criminal justice reformers.

“By putting the futures of millions back in their hands, Illinois gains more workers for our economy, voters for our democracy and consumers for our businesses,” Hernandez said. “Expanding opportunities for the formerly incarcerated is a big step toward cracking down on recidivism and promoting public safety as well.”