This year’s state legislative session has been moving at its usual hectic pace. Our team continues to spend plenty of time in Springfield to meet with representatives and their staff, attend hearings, and do everything we can to move our 2025 Policy Agenda forward.

Now that we’re about halfway through the Illinois General Assembly session, we wanted to give a quick update on some of our advocacy work.

Thanks to everyone who has supported one of Housing Action Illinois’ advocacy initiatives during the first quarter of 2025.

State Advocacy Update

State Budget

Governor Pritzker’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, announced in February, included $282.7 million for the HOME Illinois line item, a 2.6% percent reduction compared to the current year ($290.3 million). We understand the State of Illinois’ budget challenges and we appreciate efforts by the governor’s office and state agencies to use existing resources as effectively as possible.

The General Assembly will pass a budget by the end of may, and we are still speaking with legislators the critical need to increase overall funding each year, particularly for emergency shelters, which serve people with absolutely no place else to go.

Read our full budget response, issued jointly with the Illinois Shelter Alliance »

Bills Passed Out of Committee

We’re pleased to share that two of bills we are working on at the State Capitol have passed committee:

Stopping the Criminalization of Homelessness: HB 1429, sponsored by Representative Kevin Oilckal, protects people from being fined or penalized for basic survival activities, such as trying to stay warm, resting, and eating. This is a response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which sanctioned local government ordinances criminalizing homelessness. View WAND TV’s press coverage of the committee hearing and endorse the campaign »
Advancing Fair Housing: The Community Safety Through Stable Homes Act, SB 2264, sponsored by Senator Karina Villa, regulates the use of so-called “crime-free housing and nuisance ordinances.” These local Illinois laws can force landlords to evict tenants because of 911 calls or other alleged “nuisance” activity. This punishes renters for calling for help and puts survivors of domestic violence, as well as people with disabilities, at risk. Read Senator Villa’s press release and view WAND TV’s coverage of the committee hearing, including some of Senate President Harmon’s comments in support of the bill. Learn more and endorse the campaign »

Bills We Are Working to Move

We expect other bills we are working on to pass towards the end of the General Assembly session as part of various omnibus legislative packages, including:

Incentivize Rental Housing Production: SB 1911 and HB 3466 extend and clarify the Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program, which incentivizes the preservation and creation of affordable rental housing in newly constructed and substantially rehabbed rental properties.
Property Tax Reform: We are also part of a coalition advocating to change state law, through SB 2029 and HB 3146, to help homeowners pay delinquent property taxes and maintain equity if they lose their homes due to unpaid property taxes. This would also bring Illinois state law into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Tyler v. Hennepin.
Eliminate Matching Fund Requirements for Shelters and Supportive Housing: We also continue to advocate for legislation, HB 1862, that will eliminate matching fund requirements for the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program, as well as the Supportive Housing Services Program. These match requirements create needless barriers to nonprofits making use of state funding. We are working to have this included in the budget implementation legislation at the General Assembly session.

Federal Advocacy Update

At the federal level, we continue to work with partners around the country and members of our Illinois Congressional delegation to oppose budget cuts and policies that weaken the federal role in supporting the housing needs of people not served adequately or fairly in the private market.

Speaking Up for Vital HUD Programs

A year-long stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), was recently passed to extend funding for the federal government through the remainder of federal FY 25. Unfortunately, the budget does not provide enough funding to support all existing Housing Choice Vouchers and underfunds other federal programs that end homelessness and create affordable housing,

Turning our attention to the future, we have been speaking up with the media about the harm that further cuts to HUD programs and staff will have on Illinois communities. Last week, Policy Director Bob Palmer appeared on WGN News to talk about how federal funding to help people afford a home is much more important than creating tax cuts for wealthy households and corporations

Our Housing Policy Organizer, Foluke Akanni, was just in Washington DC to meet with the housing staffers of many of our federal elected officials to let them know how the full-year CR and subsequent cuts would negatively impact efforts to end homelessness.

This builds on other recent work, such as participating in a February press conference with Senator Durbin, Representative Quigley, and more of our Congress members to oppose budget and tax policies that would essentially force cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other critical safety net programs.

Earlier in March, letters to the editor from our Executive Director Sharon Legenza opposing cuts to HUD staff and programs were published by the Chicago Sun-Times and Crain’s Chicago Business. And Bob Palmer joined Heartland Housed in sharing concerns with WCIA for a story picked up by Our Quad Cities News.

Please reach out if you would like to collaborate on media outreach to help people understand how HUD programs support your community.

Speak Up With Us

There are multiple ways to support our work—from contacting your elected officials to filling out a witness slip for a committee hearing at the State Capitol to endorsing one of our campaigns. If you have any questions about getting involved, please contact Policy Director Bob Palmer.

Support our work by donating or becoming a member today »