In Key Election Year, AARP Illinois Launches Statewide Voter Education Effort
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Jan. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With Illinoisans facing a critical election year in 2018, voters and the general public must have information that will help them make informed decisions at the booth. That is why AARP Illinois is launching today a major statewide voter education effort, to inform and educate Illinoisans about key issues, share with them how their elected officials voted, and ensure that elected officials are held accountable to results that help fix the state's recurring fiscal and financial woes.
As center pieces of this campaign, AARP Illinois published today its first-ever report on voting records covering the 2017 Legislative Session. The report, which will be published annually and delivered to every member of the General Assembly and other elected officials, including the Governor, centers on bills identified by AARP Illinois as being of particular interest to citizens ages 50 and older, their loved ones, and their communities.
"Our mission is to educate and inform our members, as well as the general public, about issues affecting them," said Ryan Gruenenfelder, Director of Advocacy and Outreach for AARP Illinois. "Illinoisans need to know how legislators voted on key issues, so that they make informed decisions come election time."
The report, put together by AARP staff and volunteers, identifies nearly 30 pieces of legislation along five major subject lines: state budget, home and community based services, consumer protections, utilities, and livable communities. Each bill enlists the sponsors and reproduces the roll call for committee and floor votes.
Along with the 2017 Illinois Report on and Voting Record on Legislative Issues, today AARP Illinois launched a new website to further expand the reach of its Enough is Enough campaign, an effort launched in 2017 to mobilize citizens in order to put pressure on legislators and the Governor to break the budget impasse and address our financial woes once and for all.
The Enough is Enough website will allow the public to stay up to speed on Illinois news related to the state's fiscal and financial issues, and take action to connect directly with their elected officials.
"We must continue urging our elected officials to fix Illinois' fiscal and financial issues and not let the state remain in disarray," Gruenenfelder added. "Enough is Enough! We demand action from the Governor, Legislative Leaders, and ALL state legislators. Permanent solutions must be implemented that restore Illinois' fiscal health, provide the services our population ? especially vulnerable Illinoisans ? need, and ensure a bright future for our children and grandchildren."
AARP's 2017 Illinois Report and Voting Record on Legislative Issues can be found here. The report is also available on AARP Illinois' Enough is Enough website.
SOURCE AARP Illinois
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