Aurora students focus on affordability, job prospects

AURORA - June 22, 2012. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon said she supported keeping student loan rates affordable during a round table Friday with adult education and ESL students at Waubonsee Community College's new downtown Aurora campus.

Simon urged Congress to vote soon on a plan to keep interest rates from doubling July 1. The hike on federal subsidized loans to undergraduates would cost the average Illinois student more than $1,000.

"College isn't a luxury, it is a necessity that all of us should be able to afford," Simon said.  "Congress needs to take steps to keep rates down. The General Assembly needs to fund state education grants. And students need to do the hard work it takes to complete college and enter the workforce here in Illinois."

Simon serves as the Governor's point person on education reform. In her first year in office, she conducted a Complete College Tour of the state's 48 community colleges to promote college completion. She has advocated for strengthening the state's Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants so more low-income students can access higher education. And a bill she crafted to reduce remedial math needs at colleges and universities awaits the Governor's signature.

Simon visited Waubonsee's downtown Aurora campus in recognition of its first anniversary. Unlike the former campus on Stolp Island, the River Street campus enables students to complete certificates and degrees at the single downtown location.

As part of her tour Friday, Simon learned about a "bridge" program that allows students to earn a GED while also taking a health information technology prep course.  This course improves writing proficiency and introduces students to health terminology and the health information technology career. She also learned about Waubonsee's unique Health Care Interpreting and Legal Interpreting programs that prepare bilingual students for interpreting careers.

"Health care jobs are in-demand in our state, and we need to make every effort to help students graduate on time, in less debt and with a credential that connects to these good-paying jobs," Simon said.

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Legislation to help shine light on Illinois' higher education institutions

SPRINGFIELD - May 1, 2012. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon submitted written testimony to the Senate Higher Education Committee today in support of House Bill 5248, Amendment 2. The legislation, approved 7-0, will require public and private colleges and universities to publish annual "College Choice Reports" with key student and institutional data.

The College Choice Reports could contain information such as degree and certificate completion rates, net costs, debt loads and job placement outcomes. Much of the suggested data is already collected by the Illinois Community College Board and Illinois Board of Higher Education, but HB 5248 will ensure it is published in an easy to find and digestible format.

"Future undergraduates will be able to access College Choice Reports online to comparison-shop among institutions," said Simon, who helped draft the legislation following her Complete College Tour of the state's 48 community colleges. "Think of this new tool as a consumer report, guiding parents and students toward high-quality, affordable higher education investments."

Upon passage of HB 5248, Amendment 2, higher education stakeholders will convene a committee to determine the style and content of the reports by January 1, 2014. Public and private degree-granting institutions will publish their first College Choice Report by January 1, 2015. Simon, as chair of the Joint Education Leadership Committee of the P-20 Council, will monitor the committee's progress.

The General Assembly, with guidance from the P-20 Council, recently revamped the elementary and high school report cards which have been required for more than a decade. The College Choice Reports will build on these resources, Simon said.

HB 5248, sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford, now moves to the Senate for a vote.

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Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will advocate for higher education reforms to increase college completion in both Washington DC and Springfield this week. Simon will join education experts in Washington DC this afternoon to release a new report from the Lumina Foundation that ranks states in degree attainment. Tomorrow, Simon will testify before the Illinois Senate Education Committee in support of a bill to improve college and career readiness in math.

 

EVENT: Release of A Stronger Nation through Higher Education report

DATE: Monday, March 26

TIME: 2:30 p.m. CT

LOCATION: Rayburn House Office Building, Committee on Education and the Workforce Hearing Room 2261, Washington D.C.

NOTE: Members of the media who cannot join this news conference in person can participate via teleconference by dialing 800-230-1085.

 

EVENT: Testimony to Senate Education Committee

DATE: Tuesday, March 27

TIME: 9 a.m.

LOCATION: 409 Capitol, Springfield

 

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Top education network aids Illinois college completion reforms

SPRINGFIELD - March 19, 2012. Illinois is moving toward its college completion goal thanks to a new partnership between Lt. Governor Sheila Simon and a leading education foundation, the lieutenant governor's office announced today.

Lumina Foundation has selected Lt. Governor Simon to represent Illinois in its Postsecondary Productivity Strategy Lab sites. The Strategy Labs provide policymakers in 22 states technical assistance on Lumina Foundation's "Four Steps to Finishing First" reform agenda. The steps include performance funding, student incentives, new learning models and business efficiencies.

"This partnership with Lumina Foundation will help move toward more college completers and a stronger state workforce," Simon said. "Together, we will work to get more students across the stage at graduation and into good jobs."

Simon, who serves as Governor Quinn's point person on education reform, conducted a statewide tour of all 48 community colleges last year to focus attention on the state's college completion goal and recommend steps to achieve it. The Strategy Labs will help the state's higher education system implement the reforms needed to strengthen completion rates and move students into good-paying jobs in Illinois.

"Lumina Foundation is excited to work with Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon because she understands that our nation's economic health is best addressed by educating more students beyond high school," said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation. "Her unique ability as a statewide elected leader to convene and collaborate with stakeholders from preschool to graduate school is critical to boosting the college completion effort."

Simon shared Illinois' new higher education performance funding model with Lumina and asked it to compare it to other states. The model, developed by the community college and university communities with input from Simon and other stakeholders, ties up to 2 percent of state funding to performance outcomes, such as certificate and degree completion.

About 41 percent of the state's working-age population holds at least a two-year degree, according to Lumina. Simon and Governor Quinn want 60 percent of workers to hold a degree or credential by 2025 to keep pace with employer demands for skilled workers. The completion goal will require higher education institutions in Illinois to produce nearly 9,400 additional completers each year.

Simon is pursuing three pieces of legislation this session which will help more students complete college on time and with less debt. Her reform package aims to improve college readiness in math, smooth transfers from community colleges to universities and make it easier for parents and students to compare higher education institutions.

In early March, staff from the lieutenant governor's office and the City Colleges of Chicago attended a Lumina lab to study innovative college completion strategies at the City University of New York. The strategies were shared with the Joint Education Leadership Committee, chaired by Simon, which will consider their potential to serve as models for accelerated learning on Illinois campuses.

Lumina Foundation is a private, independent foundation committed to enrolling and graduating more students from college. It will release a new report, A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education, in late March that will includes updated higher education attainment rates for every state and county in the U.S., along with the top 100 metro regions. A Stronger Nation also describes higher education attainment in the context of current economic trends, and shows how the U.S. can move more aggressively to increase it to the levels the nation needs.

 

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Asks LaSalle County Board to initiate hearing, promote public input

SPRINGFIELD - March 12, 2012. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon is advocating for more transparency and public input as a proposal to open a sand mine on 300 acres of farm land adjacent to Starved Rock State Park moves ahead.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is only required under state law to hold a public hearing on the proposed Mississippi Sand, LLC mine if a hearing is requested by the LaSalle County Board, Simon said. IDNR is not expressly required by law to hold a public hearing at any other party's request.

Simon sent a letter today to the LaSalle County Board urging it to request IDNR hold a hearing on the project's reclamation plan. The plan explains how the mine would be used in 40 years, after the sand is exhausted. Mississippi Sand, LLC proposes to fill the mine with water and turn it into a recreational lake.

"Your action in demanding the hearing will show your commitment to an open, public process that serves all citizens of your county," Simon said in the letter addressed to LaSalle County Chairman Jerry Hicks. "Democracy is not speedy, and it works best when as many people as possible, representing all sides of an issue, can provide input."

Simon serves as chair of the Illinois River, Mississippi River and Ohio and Wabash Rivers Coordinating Councils, advisory bodies comprised of citizens and government agency officials that work with local communities to raise awareness of watershed issues. The Illinois River Coordinating Council adopted a resolution in February to promote public input into the mine proposal and ensure local, state, and federal agencies consider fully all impacts of the proposed mine.

Starved Rock State Park is located along the south side of the Illinois River, one mile south of Utica. Known for its hiking trails and eagle watching, the park celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2010 and set an attendance record in 2011, attracting nearly 2.2 million visitors.

Mississippi Sand, LLC is seeking a permit for phase one of the project, which would mine sand from 80 acres near the east entrance of the park. The proposed sand mine would create 39 jobs.

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Strip club surcharge passes Senate committee

 

SPRINGFIELD - March 6, 2012. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon testified in support of legislation that passed 8-0 out of a Senate committee today that would fund rape crisis centers through an entrance fee at strip clubs.

 

Senate Bill 3348, sponsored by Sen. Toi Hutchinson, would require all adult entertainment facilities that permit alcohol to pay a $5-per-patron fee. The funds would be distributed to community-based sexual assault prevention and response organizations that have seen their state funding decrease 28 percent in the past five years. Over the coming weeks, Simon looks forward to working with Hutchinson to continue research to address suggestions from the committee.

 

In her testimony, Simon said: "This bill is a responsible way to regulate the adult entertainment industry in Illinois and restore funding to community-based organizations that provide critical services to women, children and law enforcement agencies. Substantial evidence links alcohol sales at strip clubs to negative secondary effects, including violence against women. Clubs that profit from alcohol and nude dancing should pick up the tab for the related social ills. If they don't want to pay the tab, they can stop permitting alcohol."

 

R.T. Finney, the president of Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, and Dr. Richard McCleary, a University of California-Irvine professor and adult entertainment business researcher, submitted written testimony in support of SB 3348 today.

 

Last year, the Texas Supreme Court upheld legislation that imposed a $5 entrance fee at strip clubs permitting alcohol, based on the "negative secondary effects," or related social ills such as sexual abuse and assault. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge of that decision, effectively opening the door for other cities and states to purse similar measures. California is among the states seeking legislation; it is considering a $10-per-patron fee.

 

To view the written testimony submitted by Lt. Governor Simon, Professor Richard McCleary, and Police Chief R.T. Finney, please click here.

 

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SPRINGFIELD - February 22, 2012. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon today put her support behind a House bill that would abolish a legislative scholarship program that more than half of the state's legislators are voluntarily abstaining from this year.

Simon backed House Bill 3810, sponsored by Rep. Fred Crespo, which passed out of the state government administrative committee 14-3 today. Earlier this month, the Better Government Association delivered an online petition with more than 600 signatures in support of the program's abolishment to the Lt. Governor and state leaders.

Simon said: "While legislative scholarships help a small number of students, the program's abuse comes at an incredibly high cost in terms of trust in government and absorbed tuition at colleges and universities. We would do better by our schools and students if we strengthened the need-based Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants that help thousands of Illinois students across the state fulfill their dreams of higher education. By eliminating the legislative scholarship program, Illinois can take a meaningful step toward improving our ethical standards, while focusing our efforts on making college more affordable for all students."

Nearly 100 of the 177 members of the General Assembly have now opted out of giving legislative scholarships this year. HB3810 would end the political scholarship program June 1, 2012.

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Lt. Governor to work with lawmakers to fund violence prevention

CHICAGO - February 17, 2012. An advocate for sexual and domestic violence survivors, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon today pledged to work with State Sen. Toi Hutchinson and the General Assembly to pass legislation that would fund rape crisis centers through an entrance fee on strip clubs that permit alcohol.

Simon said adult entertainment facilities that profit from the combination of nude dancing and alcohol should help pick up the tab for related social ills, such as rape, sexual assault, prostitution and other crimes. She likened the surcharge to using a gasoline tax to pay for road construction or gambling fees to pay for addiction services.

"As a former domestic battery prosecutor, I see a connection between the alcohol-fueled exploitation of women and violence against women," Simon said. "It is only fair to require the people who profit from the adult entertainment industry to finance those who provide advocacy and counseling services to the victims of sexual assault."

Simon, who founded the domestic violence legal clinic at the Southern Illinois University School of Law, announced her support for Senate Bill 3348 on Friday alongside the bill's sponsor, State Sen. Hutchinson, advocates from the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, and survivors of the commercial sex trade.

"Illinois' budget woes have forced cuts to many social service organizations, including many that serve victims of rape and sexual assault, limiting the ability of sexually abused women to receive the treatment they need," Hutchinson said.  "The legislation I have introduced is still in its infancy and is by no means a final plan for how we can deal with this issue.  I am looking forward to sitting down with the adult entertainment industry to discuss ways they can be a part of the solution to this problem."

As introduced, the legislation would require strip club owners who serve or allow alcohol to be consumed on their premises to pay a $5-per-patron fee. The money would be funneled to the new Sexual Assault Prevention Fund, and the state would fund grants to community-based organizations that work to reduce sexual assault or aid crime victims. Similar legislation was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court last year.

The Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault asked Simon and Hutchinson to support the Illinois legislation as it deals with the state's budget constraints. The coalition's funding decreased $1.2 million the past three budget years, and one Chicago crisis center closed Dec. 31 due to funding struggles.

The strip club surcharge is a proactive, budget-neutral way to restore funding for critical violence prevention and rehabilitation services for women, Simon said.

"Strip clubs contribute to the objectification and sexual exploitation of women. Rape crisis centers respond to women exploited by sexual harassment, abuse, rape and trafficking.  Our doors are open 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year. SB3348 is not the end of strip clubs, but a new beginning for helping victims recover from the trauma of sexual violence," said Polly Poskin, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a not-for-profit corporation of 33 community-based sexual assault crisis centers and 26 satellite offices across Illinois.

Illinois is home to more than 100 strip clubs, and many serve or permit alcohol on their premises. Women who dance in strip clubs report a wide range of verbal, physical and sexual abuse at the workplace. Research also links strip clubs to trafficking, prostitution, and an increase in male sexual violence against both the women who work in the clubs and those who live and work in the surrounding areas.

"Strip clubs can increase the demand for other sexual services in a community. When more men are seeking to buy sex, pimps report to researchers that they meet the demand by bringing prostituted women and girls to the area," said Lynne Johnson, director of policy and advocacy for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, a non-profit that addresses the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation.

Simon and Hutchinson said the next step is to work with Senate leaders to pass the regulatory legislation.

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CHICAGO - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon, Sen. Toi Hutchinson and women's advocates will support an entrance fee on strip clubs to raise money for rape crisis centers and violence prevention.

DATE: Friday, February 17

TIME: 1:45 p.m.

PLACE: Blue Room, 15th floor, Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago
Online poll to identify needs, promote statewide access

CARBONDALE - February 15, 2012. As a statewide voice for Southern Illinois, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon is urging rural residents to participate in a new online survey about high-speed internet usage that launched today and will help create jobs, improve medical care and enhance educational opportunities.

Unlike past surveys that simply looked at internet access, this statewide poll will reach out to households, farmers, businesses and anchor institutions, such as community colleges and hospitals, to learn how they put broadband to use now and their needs moving forward.

The 20-minute survey includes questions about preferred internet devices, frequent web activities such as research, workforce training and buying or selling of goods, and the importance of broadband to job retention and expansion.

"Rural Illinoisans need affordable, high-speed internet access to land new employers, expand educational opportunities and improve health care," said Simon, who chairs the Governor's Rural Affairs Council. "I encourage my neighbors in Southern Illinois to participate in this research project to ensure that we are a part of the state's broadband strategy and can compete in the 21st century economy."

The survey is being conducted by Partnership for a Connected Illinois, a Springfield nonprofit, enlisted by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) as part of the High-Speed Internet Services and Information Technology Act of 2007 to guide local, state and federal policymakers. The results will be used to develop broadband plans in several categories: agriculture, energy and the environment, economic development, education, health care, public safety and government performance.

Illinois is already working with its federal and private sector partners to improve current broadband infrastructure. In his State of the State address, Governor Pat Quinn announced the Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge, a $6 million statewide competition funded by the Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program. It will provide seed money to private and public organizations that expand broadband networks and connect at least 1,000 end-users to ultra-high speed Internet.

Simon said it is crucial for rural Illinoisans to compete in the challenge and complete the survey, as they represent the communities that can benefit most from high-speed internet. Nearly one-fifth of the land area in Illinois lacks any broadband access, and eight of the 10 counties with the least access to broadband in the state are in Southern Illinois. Many suffer from slow speeds.

Similar surveys have been conducted recently in Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia. A 2010 North Carolina survey of 6,266 businesses showed that 17.5 percent of new jobs created over a 12-month period were attributed to the use of the internet and that 32 percent of those businesses consider access to mobile internet essential to their operations.

Partnership for a Connected Illinois, also known as Broadband Illinois, is working with organizations such as the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University and state agencies such as DCEO and the Illinois State Board of Education to distribute the survey to internet users throughout the state.

"A major goal of this survey is to ensure that residents of rural Illinois will have access to better broadband," said Drew Clark, executive director of Partnership for a Connected Illinois. "By developing a statewide strategy for better broadband, we're creating a future that includes enhanced economic opportunities, increased availability of educational tools, and higher-quality health care for Illinois residents."

The online survey is open to the public and can be accessed at www.broadbandillinois.org.

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