CHICAGO – Elected officials, community leaders and youth to discuss nearly 90 percent unemployment rate for minority youth during an Illinois State Senate hearing at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 28 at the Bilandic Building in Chicago.

"Our youth are the hardest hit when communities suffer from unemployment," said State Sen. Mattie Hunter, who organized statewide hearings in 2014 to create youth jobs. "We live in a state where nearly 90 percent of our black and brown youth are unemployed. We cannot pretend our youth are going unharmed by our dissolved social net, or that the budget impasse isn't causing our state to fail our young people."

Roughly 89 percent of Black males aged 16-19 and 87 percent of Hispanic males were jobless in Chicago in 2014, according to a study by the University of Illinois Chicago's Great Cities Institute.

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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Senate passed an emergency funding bill, with bipartisan support, to keep public universities open, help MAP grant recipients attend classes and provide human services.

“We’ve been fighting the governor since last May to keep the doors of our colleges and human service organizations open,” said State Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago). “Today, I supported keeping colleges and vital human services afloat while we continue working on ending the budget impasse.”

Senate Bill 2059 will provide funding for public universities, community colleges, city colleges and MAP grant recipients.

The Illinois Senate also passed Senate Bill 2047, which provides emergency funding for critical human services.

Senate Bills 2059 and 2047 passed the Senate 55-0. Senate Bill 2047 now goes to the House for further consideration.

SPRINGFIELD – Chicago senators took on hate in a statehouse press conference by recognizing April 19 as Illinois Muslim Action Day.

Senate Resolution 1748 recognizes the national Take on Hate Day and efforts to fight anti-religious hate crimes.

State Sens. Mattie Hunter and Jacqueline Y. Collins joined the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) for a press conference and recognized pages for the day on the Senate floor.

"The great state of Illinois has always welcomed, supported and protected people of all races, religions and walks of life," said Hunter, sponsor of the resolution. "We must work together to inspire a movement to restore our inherent American value that all people deserve to live free of bigotry, hate and violence."

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CHICAGO - In efforts to reduce identity theft, Chicago elected officials are hosting a free document shredding and electronic recycling event from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 7 at 1254 N. State Parkway on the State Street parking lot.

Ald. Brian Hopkins, state Sen. Mattie Hunter and state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz are teaming with NewTech E-Scrap Recycling to help residents safely discard important documents and old electronics.

Attendees can bring up to three boxes worth of materials to discard.

For more information call Alderman Brian Hopkins' 2nd Ward office at 312-643-2299 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.