Cook County residents soon will receive $93.94 million in critical funding for LIHEAP, winter road maintenance and local shares of video gaming and motor fuel tax revenue.

“I voted so that vulnerable residents and seniors could receive the energy assistance they deserve,” said State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago, 3). “Hopefully Governor Rauner will stand with us and sign this bill so our local communities can receive critical funding.”

The Senate approved legislation today to free up gas tax money for Cook County residents and recipients of LIHEAP. According to last year’s estimates, Cook County received $93.94 million in gas tax dollars, while the state received $275.53 million.

In response to news reports about the police shooting of Laquan McDonald, a Chicago teen, Majority Caucus Whip Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago, 3) released the following statement:

“Too many families, including my own, have been touched by violence in Chicago. As we turn to the police for help, yet again we are faced with disappointment. I’m calling on Superintendent Garry McCarthy to terminate Officer Jason Van Dyke immediately to prove this horrific circumstance is not symbolic of the Chicago Police Department’s ethics.”

Over 200 local students received valuable and timely information at Senator Mattie Hunter and Rep. Sonya Harper’s college fair at VanderCook College of Music. Saturday’s fair could not have arrived any sooner for one graduating senior.

Meet Ronnesha Whitfield, an Ombudsman High School senior, who is graduating in three weeks.

“I didn’t expect for it to be this awesome and amazing to get information from the colleges,” said Whitfield. “People are not informed that much. They might hear about a college from other people but they don’t know much more until they meet recruiters.”

Concerned students from across the state descended on the Capitol today in support of critical funding for MAP grants and higher educational institutions.

With the state in its fourth month without a budget agreement, many students are worried they will not be able to attend school next semester without the assistance of their MAP grant. 

Paris Griffin, a senior from the South Side of Chicago who attends Chicago State University, receives financial aid through the MAP grant program. She joined her peers in advocating for a budget agreement that would fund the MAP program and provide a higher education budget for the state.