University Professionals
of Illinois
Local 4100, IFT, AFL-CIO
Unions are happening!
A message and call to action from our President
Over the last few months, UPI Chapter Presidents and leadership have testified before the various state legislative appropriation committees to call for a 10-12% increase in state appropriations for public higher education institutions and a $50 million increase in student MAP grants. Now we are asking you to actively support this effort by sending a message to your legislators.
In February, Governor Pritzker released his state budget proposal in which he called for only a 2% increase in higher education appropriations and a $10 million increase in MAP funds. With inflation at over 4%, the Governor’s proposal would effectively be a cut in the higher education budget. Our students and institutions, after years of underfunding and cuts, need additional funding to avoid further increases in tuition/fees and/or cuts in services.
To help us secure additional funds, we need you to contact your state representative and senator today. Use this link https://actionnetwork.org/letters/university-professionals-of-illinois-legislative-agenda-2024?source=direct_link to request that your legislators support our higher education funding increase. Simply input your address and you will be taken to a pre-written message (that you can edit) which will then be sent to your representative and senator. They need to hear from you about why the state needs to fund our students and institutions today.
If you are available and interested, please contact your UPI Chapter President to join our in person lobbying efforts on May 15th. We will be in Springfield to talk directly with legislators to urge them to fund our universities and students.
In the meantime, feel free to share the link to encourage others to join in this campaign. When you contact your legislators, your message is considered, logged, and counted. Our campaign to increase higher education funding needs your participation to be effective.
In Solidarity,
John Miller
UPI Local President