Fellow Illinoisan,

Last week, a group of Democrats and Republicans—including myself—came together and introduced compromise emergency COVID-19 relief legislation in the areas where we could agree. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a start. 

Our bipartisan bill quickly became the catalyst for larger relief negotiations. And those negotiations eventually led to the $900 billion bipartisan COVID-19 emergency relief legislation that Congress passed this week. 

DURBIN SHARES SUPPORT FOR BIPARTISAN COVID-19 EMERGENCY RELIEF LEGISLATION

Like all compromises, the final relief bill is not perfect.  I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to agree on including much-needed funding for states and localities in this package.  I want to be clear:  I’m not giving up on funding for states and localities.  This funding is essential in our fight against the pandemic and for our economic recovery.

However, this legislation includes many important provisions including extending crucial unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans; offering a lifeline to struggling small businesses and nonprofits; providing direct checks to millions of American families; and providing funding for vaccine distribution, nutrition assistance, rental assistance, our hospitals and health care clinics, schools and universities, transit systems, and more. 

As we continue to face this unprecedented public health crisis, I believe that more funding will be needed.  But this emergency relief will help us weather a tough winter ahead and should be signed by President Trump without delay.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

PS—If you are interested in finding out more about what is contained in the relief package, or how it will affect Illinois, check out this webpage.