CHICAGO – State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago) participated in a “walk a day” event to highlight the child care crisis affecting the workforce, parents and children exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the event, Pacione-Zayas shadowed day care provider Lucia Rubio to learn about the scope of work performed daily by child care providers.

“This event has affirmed my concerns about the struggles our child care providers go through on a day-to-day basis, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Pacione-Zayas, a longtime advocate for early childhood policy. “This year, the legislature took up measures to help our early childhood workforce, but we also need to turn our focus toward the federal government to help our state and the nation provide the vital resources needed to help the early childhood workforce, parents, and most importantly, children recover and thrive.”

During the “walk a day” event, Pacione-Zayas learned that Rubio was only a few classes short of achieving her bachelor’s degree focusing on early childhood education but does not have the economic resources to complete it. A law sponsored by Pacione-Zayas that was recently signed by Governor JB Pritzker, Public Act 102-0174, creates the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity to streamline higher education pathways for providers like Rubio to meet her educational goals and foster economic stability.

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CHICAGO – A wide-ranging new plan to bolster the early childhood education workforce in Illinois by creating a new Early Childhood Education Consortium was signed into law Wednesday, the result of legislation championed by State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago).

“To truly provide Illinois children with the best possible education, we know that we need to invest in early childhood education, and that means investing in the educators who work so hard to help them learn and grow,” Pacione-Zayas said. “This is a step toward properly valuing those who do this incredibly important work, and it’s the beginning of a new chapter in our approach to raising our kids.”

The Early Childhood Education Consortium will be a broad coalition between all public universities and community colleges, as well as any private institutions that choose to participate. The consortium will use regional hubs to improve access to degrees, certificates, and other licensure for early childhood educators, with special priority given to those already working in the early childhood workforce and often need flexibility in their career education when it comes to scheduling, location and format.

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CHICAGO – State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D- Chicago) commends Governor JB Pritzker for signing House Bill 3308 to expand telehealth in Illinois. The new law will ensure people who have been utilizing telehealth services during the pandemic continue to have access to the care they need.

“Expanding telehealth services will remove barriers that many face when accessing the medical care they need,” Pacione-Zayas said. “The new law includes an expansion of early intervention services, which is so important in ensuring infants and toddlers receive diagnoses that can help put them on track toward healthy development.”

The law signed Thursday will maintain and expand telehealth services, which were largely used during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow people to access their doctors when they could not leave their homes. Efficient and accessible health care is paramount to creating an equitable system that allows everyone to get the care they need.

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CHICAGO – State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago) wants residents of the 20^th District to know that they could be eligible for the federal Child Tax Credit even if they did not file taxes in 2019 or 2020.

“The American Rescue Plan’s Child Tax Credit will provide an unprecedented amount of relief to families, and they should take full advantage of it,” Pacione-Zayas said. “Even if you did not file taxes in 2019 or 2020, you can still get this relief by filling out the non-filer application on the IRS website.”

According to data provided by the White House, there are hundreds of residents in the 20^th District who did not file taxes in 2019 and 2020 who are eligible to sign up as non-filers to receive the Child Tax Credit. People with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers or Social Security Numbers are eligible to apply. More information and the application are available on the White House website.

The Child Tax Credit will provide families with children under 6 years old $2,000 to $3,600 per child, and families with children from ages 6 to 17 $2,000 to $3,000 per child. To get money into people’s bank accounts quicker, the IRS will be sending families half of their 2021 Child Tax Credit as a monthly payment of $250 to $300 per child through the end of the year. Those who filed taxes in 2019 and 2020 should receive those payments automatically.

“Although payments started on July 15, families who sign up as non-filers can still get the full amount of this credit no matter when they sign up,” Pacione-Zayas said. “I urge everyone to check their eligibility and sign up to receive this relief if they are eligible.”

Families can check their eligibility on the IRS website and sign up as non-filers at any time.