Moms on a Mission (MOMs)
Updated: July, 2026
Every year, COFI and its parent-led membership organization, POWER-PAC IL (Parents Organized to Win, Educate, and Renew – Policy Action Council), travel to Springfield, Illinois, for “Moms on a Mission” (MOMs), an annual advocacy day.
Moms on a Mission typically occurs on the Wednesday before Mother’s Day. During this powerful day, COFI-trained parent leaders meet with lawmakers to advocate for a family-focused agenda that emphasizes early care and education, education rights, economic security, and healthcare for Black, Brown, and immigrant families.
This advocacy day provides an opportunity for parent leaders to voice their concerns directly to lawmakers and ensure that the needs of their families and communities are addressed. This year was especially meaningful as we celebrated COFI’s 30th Anniversary and held a gala on June 4, 2026. Learn more about COFI’s Anniversary here.
We are excited to share updates for our 2026 legislative priorities. We won several things but, for many initiatives we need to continue to fight!
Funding Our Priorities - Progressive State Revenue
Working with partners at the Illinois Revenue Alliance (ILRA), COFI and POWER-PAC IL leaders urged lawmakers to adopt ILRA’s solutions to generate state revenue needed to fund the various priorities in our legislative agenda (further below). We know many of our priorities require state funding, which is why we needed legislators to commit to building Progressive Revenue so that we could fund affordability and the social safety net our families deserve!
This year we WON $1 billion en new revenue! Our goal was to raise $7 billion, so we will continue to advocate to raise more revenue from the people and companies that can afford to pay more in taxes.
Legislative & Budget Priorities
Children and Family Rights to Economic Security
POWER-PAC IL Saliendo de la pobreza Campaña works to decrease the racial wealth gap by advocating for and implementing policies that put cash in families’ pockets.
NEST
SB 3756 / HB 5238 NEST: Newborn Equity Support Transfers (Sen. Guzman / Rep. Cassidy): Support creating the NEST (Newborn Equity Support Transfers) cash assistance program for Medicaid-eligible pregnant parents in Illinois. Learn more here.
DID NOT PASS AS A FUNDED PROGRAM – HOWEVER the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) has set up the infrastructure for future guaranteed income pilots and both Cook and Lake Counties are exploring a pilot similar to NEST.
Save Our SNAP
Prepare Illinois to cover $800 million in new state costs to operate SNAP each year. Illinois must be ready to counter the harmful effects of federal changes to SNAP through these legislative priorities below. Learn more about the Save Our Snap coalition and legislative priorities here.
SB 3277 / HB 4730 FRESH: Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger (Sen. Sims / Rep. Avelar): Creates a program to provide emergency assistance to Illinois residents who are at risk of losing SNAP.
SIGNED INTO LAW – $70M for the new FRESH program provisioning $400 one-time emergency assistance to families who lose SNAP benefits due to new work requirements.
SB 3276 / HB 5062 (Sen. Sims / Rep. Lilly): Forms a working group of legislators and advocates to shine a light on the harms of federal SNAP changes.
DID NOT PASS
SB 3167 / HB 4831 Food Assistance for Lawfully Present Immigrants – VTTC Expansion (Sen. Guzmán / Rep. L. Hernandez): Expands existing state-funded program (VTTC Food) to provide ongoing food assistance to lawfully present immigrants losing SNAP.
DID NOT PASS
Children and Family Rights to Early Care and Education
POWER-PAC IL Campaña de Aprendizaje Temprano works to ensure universal and equitable access for all of Illinois’ youngest residents to high-quality early childhood programs, enabling them to succeed and thrive later in life. The Campaña de Justicia Elemental works to break the cycle of criminalization of low-income youth of color by advocating for policies and practices that focus on a student’s physical, emotional, and relational safety.
HB 4606 Universal Newborn Home Visiting Services (Rep. Faver Dias / Sen. Castro): Ensures that families with newborns across the state are supported in their first weeks of life.
SIGNED INTO LAW – Creates a state infrastructure to support universal newborn home visiting pilots.
SB 3966 (Sen. Guzmán): Prohibit the federal school voucher program in Illinois.
DID NOT PASS
BUDGET – $40 Million Increase for Early Intervention: Support the provider pipeline, increase access to in-person and bilingual services for families, and ensure that all Illinois babies get the critical developmental support they need.
WON additional $15 million (9% increase)
BUDGET – Fully Fund Illinois Public Schools: Our schools continue to be grossly underfunded by $5.7 BILLION in the state budget.
Maintained a $350M increase in the budget for the Evidence Based Funding Formula, which falls short of closing the $5.7 Billion funding gap for public schools by 2027.
Children and Family Rights to Health and Human Services
POWER-PAC IL Justicia y equidad en salud mental Campaña works to ensure children and families of color have good mental, physical, and social supports.
SB 3462 / HB 4824 (Sen. Guzmán / Rep. Avelar): Provides health coverage for lawfully present immigrants with humanitarian status who are losing Medicaid coverage under H.R.1 after October 1, 2026.
DID NOT PASS
SB 3976 / HB 5390 (Sen. Aquino / Rep. Avelar): Strengthen hospital financial assistance (also known as Charity Care) policies for all uninsured Illinois residents, making it easier for community members to apply for hospital financial assistance.
SIGNED INTO LAW
SB 1995 (Sen. Guzmán): Expands data protections for immigrant communities in Illinois by restricting collection of immigration status information and sharing of personal data.
DID NOT PASS – HOWEVER, efforts to update the Illinois TRUST Act next year will continue.
BUDGET – $143.6 Million to Protect HBIS Funding (Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors): Maintain health coverage for immigrant seniors 65+ who don’t qualify for Medicaid based on their immigration status.
WON preserving $143.6 million
BUDGET – $41 Million for the Immigrant Services Line Item (ISLI): Provides essential services and resources to immigrant families.
WON $40 million
Support Our Parent-Led Agenda
Call Your Legislator
Call your local legislators and urge them to support COFI and POWER-PAC IL’s 2026 Legislative Agenda. Click the button below to find your Illinois State Senator and Illinois State Representative on the Change Illinois website.
Make a monthly contribution
Please consider making a monthly donation to sustain our work today. COFI is a grassroots nonprofit and every gift helps develop parent leaders who are taking action and winning critical victories for families.
Sign up for COFI’s mailing list
Stay connected with us and sign-up for our mailing list. We send quarterly newsletters about COFI’s growing parent-led movement for economic, racial, and social justice.
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