Creating Jobs Now continued

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• I support immediate restoration of cuts to and expansion of the highly effective JTED workforce training program;

• Economic development policy should be coordinated with workforce development policy in Illinois, so that we are creating in the same community both jobs and the skilled workers to fill those jobs;

• I will sponsor legislation to increase support and training for home-based businesses and small-scale community-based businesses that create jobs, such as the South Side Community Federal Credit Union, a community-owned financial institution, and the Chicago Honey Co-op in North Lawndale, which trains and employs ex-felons in an apiary; and

• I will sponsor legislation to create technical assistance and financial resources to foster the development of worker-owned businesses.

In addition, I will sponsor legislation to:

• Fully fund the office of Urban Assistance of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which will coordinate state services and programs to address the unique issues faced by community businesses located in the inner city for the purpose of stimulating economic growth (the office was created but not funded);

• Make available funds for an urban corps to clean up our cities and a green corps to repair parks and plant trees, and target these public service jobs to young people in cities and rural areas;

• Create and expand adequate pre-apprentice and apprentice programs for young men and women, especially persons of color, seeking entry into construction trades;

• Create resource centers by industry for minority and women-owned firms;

• Increase resources for effective retraining programs for jobs in new and expanding areas of the economy;

• Prohibit unnecessary credit checks by employers when they are unrelated to prospective employees’ ability to perform the job;
  
  
• Expand and improve expungement laws;
  
  
• Implement income tax credits and other incentives for businesses that hire and train ex-offenders voluntarily;
  
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