LEGISLATIVE ISSUES

2026 - 2027 Legislative Program ​​

Approved by the CCCTU House of Representatives on July 24, 2026

​​

• Support Strengthening Illinois’ Revenue
  Advocate for a modern revenue structure in Illinois that meets the needs of residents and adequately funds public services, including community colleges. Illinois faces a structural deficit rooted in an outdated revenue framework from the 1960s. It is time to pursue revenue solutions that ensure community colleges and other public institutions receive the sustained funding necessary to fulfill their missions.
   

• Pass Legislation for an Elected Board of Trustees for City Colleges of Chicago
  An elected board would be accountable to the people, like Chicago students and community members. An elected board gives voice to faculty, staff, and students, enabling true partnership and shared governance.
   

• Protect Pensions & Improve Tier 2 Benefits
  Work to protect existing pensions. Support efforts to strengthen Tier 2 benefits for employees hired in 2011 or after.
   

• Stand Against Anti-Democratic Efforts Undermining Labor Rights
  Oppose coordinated national campaigns that aim to erode democratic governance, eliminate worker protections, and weaken the power of unions.
   

• Defend and Strengthen the U.S. Department of Education
  Support a strong and fully funded U.S. Department of Education that upholds equity, civil rights, and federal support for public education. The efforts to gut the Department of Education destroy national standards, student protections, and funding mechanisms that ensure all students, including those at community colleges, have access to opportunity and support.
   

• Oppose Attacks on Academic Freedom and Faculty Autonomy
  Oppose any political interference that undermines academic freedom, silences classroom discourse, censors curricula, or threatens the autonomy of faculty. Education must be rooted in open inquiry and evidence-based scholarship, free from partisan manipulation.
   

• Protect and Expand Vital Federal Student Aid Programs
  Advocate for full funding and protection of federal grant and aid programs that make higher education accessible to millions of students:

  • Pell Grants: We support expanding and strengthening Pell Grants to keep pace with the rising cost of college.

  • TRIO Programs: These essential student support services help first-generation and underrepresented students succeed in college. We call for increased investment in TRIO with legislation such as HR 7689, the Earl N. Williams, Sr., First Chance Act which expands TRIO to cover emergency assistance. 

  • FAFSA: We oppose efforts to complicate or privatize the federal financial aid process and call for simplified, accessible application systems.
     

• Advance Community College Workforce Baccalaureate Degree Legislation
  Support efforts in the Illinois General Assembly to authorize community college districts to establish and confer workforce baccalaureate degrees in selected programs. Enabling community colleges to offer these degrees will expand opportunity for working students, address critical workforce shortages, and keep Illinois competitive with the growing number of states that have already adopted this model.
   

• Support Legislation Establishing Artificial Intelligence Protections
  Ensure that humans are the primary decision makers in classrooms and in the functioning of our colleges. Support legislation requiring meaningful human oversight of automated decision-making systems in public institutions. Additionally, advocate for the establishment of a token tax at the state and national levels on artificial intelligence companies directed toward public education funding, workforce transition programs, and support for the educators and public employees whose work is most affected by the deployment of these technologies..
   

• Advocate for the Health of the College Insurance Program (CIP)
  Fight for full and sustained state funding of the College Insurance Program, which has been chronically underfunded for years. We must continue to support the General Assembly’s funding ramp that is returning CIP to health.
   

• Support Common-Sense Dual Credit
  Support the IFT and AFT resolutions on dual credit by advocating for policies that uphold academic quality and protect the role of qualified faculty in dual credit instruction. Courses bearing college credit must be taught by instructors who meet the same credential requirements as their counterparts on campus, must reflect the same standards of curriculum and assessment, and must be subject to meaningful faculty oversight. We oppose efforts to expand dual credit in ways that erode instructional quality, circumvent credentialing standards, or substitute for the full community college experience..
   

• Work to Pass the PSRP (Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel) Bill of Rights
  Advocate at the federal level in support of Senate and House efforts to establish the paraprofessionals and school-related personnel bill of rights, which fights for rights such as a living wage, paid time off, and affordable healthcare.
   

• Support Efforts to Pass the PRO Act at the Federal Level.
  The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act fixes loopholes in current law that get in the way of union organization campaigns. The PRO Act would ensure that all workers have an absolute right to join a union without employer interference in the decision of workers.
   

• Support Legislation that Removes Barriers for Our Students
  Support local, state, and national efforts that address issues that are obstacles to student success. These include issues such as student mental health, lack of housing, transportation needs, and lack of childcare.
   

• Empower Community Colleges to Support Economically Marginalized Communities
  Support solutions--at the federal, state, and local level-- to support communities who are economically disadvantaged, advocating for support to community colleges, and advocating for basic needs. Embrace solutions that enhance our colleges’ inclusive tradition, fostering the success of future students and community members.
   

• Support Open Education Resources Through the Illinois State Library
  Advocate for the passage of legislation establishing a recurring, permanent grant program administered through the Illinois State Library to fund Open Education Resources (OER) for academic libraries across the state. OER, including openly licensed textbooks, course materials, and digital resources, reduce the cost burden on students while empowering faculty to shape and adapt high-quality instructional content.
   

• Support Climate Safe Pension Efforts in Illinois
  Support legislative efforts to halt new state pension investments in the top 5 fossil fuel companies. As stewards of public resources, the pension systems have an obligation to pursue investment strategies that protect long-term financial stability and the well-being of communities disproportionately harmed by environmental degradation. This effort is a moderate approach that follows reforms in other states.
   

• Support Common-Sense TIF Reform and Accountability for Megaprojects
  Support legislation that brings transparency, accountability, and common-sense reform to Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts and publicly subsidized mega-projects. TIF dollars divert property tax revenue away from community colleges and essential local services. Reforms must ensure that TIF funds are used to benefit the communities they are intended to serve, that megaprojects protect community colleges by ensuring property tax revenues are not frozen at a level that risks college budgets.
   

• Oppose ICE Interference in Higher Education and Advocate for a Functioning Immigration System
  Community colleges serve as essential pathways for immigrant communities, providing language acquisition, workforce credentialing, and civic integration, and this mission cannot be fulfilled when the learning environment and larger community is disrupted by campus immigration enforcement actions. Reforms must advance a humane, functioning federal immigration and asylum system that reflects the dignity of all people and the workforce needs of the State of Illinois.

• Support Temporary Emergency Redistricting to Protect Educational Funding and Labor Rights
  Advocate for time-limited, emergency redistricting legislation to redraw Illinois legislative districts in direct response to coordinated federal attacks on voting rights, public education, labor rights, and community college funding. A legislative map that promotes the voices of working families, students, and the communities our colleges serve is a foundational requirement for advancing the legislative agenda necessary to sustain public higher education.