The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) is a broad and powerful coalition made up of Illinois organizations and businesses representing the state’s environmental, business, and faith communities that is working to improve public health, combat climate change, build energy sovereignty, and create tens of thousands of new clean jobs across Illinois. Prairie Rivers Network is a proud and active member of the ICJC, serving on and leading multiple ICJC committees.
The ICJC was instrumental in passing landmark legislation in Illinois known as the Future Energy Jobs Act, and has crafted an essential follow up legislative package known as the Clean Energy Jobs Act, or CEJA. As an important voice at the legislative table, the ICJC was recently asked by the Illinois Senate Energy Committee for assistance in crafting a legislative response to some of the acute challenges faced by Illinois families and businesses hit hard by the COVID crisis.
At the end of the first week of April, jobless claims in Illinois totaled 201,104. U.S Department of Labor. With hundreds of thousands of families facing job loss and financial difficulty, it is imperative that the state provides relief beyond the utility disconnection suspensions ordered by the Governor and the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). What we’ve seen in job and financial losses in unprecedented, with more to surely come.
What follows is a summary of some of the actions the ICJC recommends, and Prairie Rivers Network believes, should be implemented immediately:
- Utility Bill Relief
The ICJC recommends financial assistance programs such as Percentage of Income Payment Plans, decreased utility rates, debt forgiveness, expanded access to energy assistance funds, and an acceleration of the disbursement of federal energy assistance funds. - Ban Disconnections, Late Fees, and Reconnection Obstacles
The Governor and the ICC wisely took action to ban disconnections and late fees, and to reconnect consumers to utility service. Yet families will face hardship for months to come, even after the Stay-at-Home Executive Order is lifted. These protections should be extended for at least one year after all non-essential business activities resume.Because the ICC does not regulate municipal or cooperative utilities, its ban on disconnections and late fees does not apply to them. These consumer protection requirements should be extended to all utilities in the state so that all families facing hardship and an inability to pay can be supported. - Enforce Air Quality Compliance
As the federal government abandons enforcement of environmental protections, we must now more than ever ensure that the Illinois EPA is sufficiently directed and funded to enforce local air pollution and air quality laws.
It is the mission of Prairie Rivers Network to protect water, heal land, and inspire change. Through the collective action of people, we seek to transform how we care for the earth and how we care for each other. The COVID-19 crisis has presented us with the opportunity to be a catalyst for such transformation. Let’s use this opportunity wisely and with great compassion.
Kim Knowles, attorney and policy specialist, leads our efforts to protect and restore rivers and floodplains, and works to strengthen renewable energy policy in Illinois with a focus on low income solar programs.
