CRS signed on to a letter that reminds our state legislators of our moral and religious imperative to support the passing of the Pretrial Fairness Act on February 22, 2021 without allowing regressive policies to counteract them.

Community Renewal Society (CRS) member congregations, board members, volunteers and staff joined with 17 community organizations to protest this life-threatening situation and to deliver 62,250 bottles of safe and clean water

Calling all Faith in Action advocates!  We are midway through the 2017 spring legislative session and your voice is needed to bring justice to Springfield. 

Support a bill which would increase employment, housing and educational opportunities for millions of Illinois residents with criminal records.

On July 29th Governor Rauner signed HB 4360 into law! Urge the Governor to sign the remaining bills to increase employment opportunities in schools for people with criminal records.

The Illinois General Assembly and Governor Rauner reached a compromise on a stopgap funding bill for fiscal year '16 and the first six months of fiscal year '17 on June 30, 2016--the last day of the fiscal calendar. However, the immense damage done in the past 365 days, without a state budget, will not be repaired by this stopgap bill.

HB 4515, a bill to create health care job opportunities for people with criminal records, passed the Illinois House on Wednesday, June 29, 71-38! It will now be sent to the Governor.

The Illinois state legislature adjourned the 2016 spring session just minutes before midnight on May 31 and, once again, failed to pass a budget for FY16 or FY17.

Join us on June 30 and demand that Gov. Rauner and legislative leaders put aside non-budget agendas and pass a responsible, fully funded budget with adequate revenue.

Three bills have passed the Illinois General Assembly with significant bi-partisan support and will now be sent to the Governor for his signature.

Illinois has gone 11 months without a fully funded state budget for FY16 and, on May 31, the spring legislative session will likely adjourn without an FY17 budget.

Members of the Illinois General Assembly will have a chance to vote for a proactive long-term solution to the Illinois budget crisis when they go back to Springfield next week.

Current Illinois law prohibits park districts from even considering qualified candidates with certain criminal convictions—regardless of how long ago those offenses occurred, the circumstances surrounding them or any other mitigating information. As a result, deserving and qualified applicants in our communities are unable to access jobs in their own communities.

At the April 12 rally in the rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol, hundreds of faith leaders joined CRS and put their faith into action. We marched, chanted, and prayed outside the Governor’s office demanding a fair budget now! We met with legislators and asked them to: increase job opportunities for people with criminal records; improve police accountability; and enact a fair tax and fair budget that protect the most vulnerable.

Thanks to you advocacy, four bills to increase jobs opportunities for men and women with criminal records are advancing with significant bi-partisan support through the Illinois General Assembly!

Governor Rauner delivered the annual State of the State Address to the members of the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday, but he ignored the state’s most pressing issue: nearly seven months into FY16, the state of Illinois is still operating without a budget and this crisis is devastating families and communities across the state.

The State of Illinois is about to enter its fifth month of operating without a budget, while children and families in our state continue to suffer. Illinois is now worst in the nation for access to affordable, quality child care.

"No more public giveaways without benefits for the community," said Angela McClellan. "We need a Community Benefits Agreement because it’s no more business as usual on the West Side."

Isaiah 58:1, 6 and related verses speak to us in the faith community and to people of conscience to "Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voices like a trumpet to let the oppressed go free." 

One of my favorite scripture passages is Psalms is 51, verse 10 that says:  “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

July 1 marked the first day of the new fiscal year in Illinois. With no budget in place, uncertainty and instability reign. As people of faith, we can and should respond in two ways...