This year’s Moms on a Mission, POWER-PAC IL’s annual lobby day in Springfield was an amazing success with a record 250+ participants! It was our first time back in-person in Springfield since 2019. Please enjoy a few of our favorite photos from the day!

We are exhilarated to see our hard work pay off after Moms on a Mission. Our major win was the approval of the FY24 state budget, which includes the funding of Governor JB Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois initiative, which aims to transform early childhood education and care! It will expand funding for childcare, Early Intervention (which addresses the “redlining” issue identified by parent leaders several years ago), preschool, home visiting, and other early childhood priorities.

We are also thrilled to win Driver’s Licenses for ALL (House Bill 3882, which makes standard driver’s licenses and state IDs available for all Illinois residents regardless of immigration status) and to have passed House Bill 2719, aimed at preventing medical debt by requiring hospitals to screen for eligibility for insurance and discount services. We eagerly await Governor Pritzker’s signatures on these bills that will be transformative for so many families.

POWER-PAC IL recognizes that there is still plenty of work to be done. We continue to fight for economic relief for Illinois families everywhere with the creation of a new Illinois Child Tax Credit, and for an expansion of state-funded health care to all eligible Illinois residents regardless of documentation status, including those 19 to 41-year-olds who are currently left out. We will not rest until ALL Illinois families have what they need to live and thrive!

Donna Carpenter and Liliana Olayo, POWER-PAC IL Co-Presidents