Do You Believe In Second Chances?
Do you believe in second chances?
On July 29th Governor Rauner signed HB 4360 into law! This legislation will increase employment opportunities in schools for people with criminal records and put hiring decisions back in the hands of local school districts. Effectively immediately, the life-time employment ban in schools for men and women with controlled substances convictions is removed and replaced with a 7-year waiting period.
Thank you for helping to make this victory possible, but more action is still needed. During the 2016 legislative session, FORCE (Fighting to Overcome Records and Create Equality) and our partners in RROCI (the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois) passed three other bills – SB 42, SB 3005 and HB 4515 – to remove barriers to employment for people with criminal records in health care and park districts.
The Governor only has 19 days left to sign SB 42 and SB 3005 into law and give thousands of people with records a second chance in life.Thank Governor Rauner for signing HB 4360 into law and urge him to sign these bills.
We could not have passed these bills without your support! Thank you for your calls, emails, actions, and visits to your legislators. Let’s keep the momentum going.
Teleza Rodgers, FORCE leader and CRS Board member, celebrated the passage of HB 4360 saying:
“The passing of HB 4360 will aid in restoring people with records and their families to a healthier, safer lifestyle. This bill passing will open doors for men and women to thrive in a society that once DENIED THEM their right to work. This will definitely aid in changing the face of the many communities people with records reside in. More than anything, this will help bring the SENSELESS violence down amongst our youth. Men and women will soon be able to better financially support their families. It is with much hope that more people with records will get involved with this historical movement.”
Our God is a God of second chances. In fact, scripture reminds us, “God does all these things to a person—twice, even three times” Job (33:29). We all need second and third chances.
Take action now. The Governor only has 19 days left to sign SB 42 and SB 3005 into law and give thousands of people with records a second chance in life. Urge Governor Rauner to sign these bills now and thank him for signing HB 4360 into law.