PEORIA, Ill. – Illinois Governor JB Pritzker used the Illinois Central College Peoria campus Monday to praise a program that he says the college helped start and is working well.
That program is ICC’s Workforce Equity Initiative — helping low-income Illinoisans get trained in needed industries.
“Programs in transportation and information technology and 21st Century Manufacturing have helped graduates land and retain well-paying jobs in high-demand occupations,” said Pritzker.
Pritzker — as part of his budget proposal, wants to see a similar initiative set up for health care programs — proposing to dole out $25 million to community colleges to help students get into such training.
Peoria Mayor Rita Ali says if there’s a city that could use a program to help people — especially those in low-income areas — get trained for jobs in high-demand areas of health care, it’s Peoria.
“Contrary to what some may think, the Peoria area does not have a workforce people shortage. It does not,” said Ali. “We have a workforce skills shortage.”
Pritzker says he knows what’s been driving people to leave the State of Illinois.
And, it’s not him.
“What drives people out of a state is instability,” said Pritzker. “And that’s what we had before I became Governor. We had two years without a budget. State government was hollowed out. The programs like programs that support students who want to go to ICC were decimated.”
Pritzker says part of the problem is that people go to out of state college to get such training because it’s less expensive, then, they never come back to Illinois.
Pritzker held a moment of silence to mark the anniversary three years ago of the deaths of five people, and the injuring of six more, including five police officers, when a gunman — just laid off — opened fire at a manufacturing plant in Aurora. Police later killed the gunman.
“We can never make up for such tragedies. But, we must never forget them either,” said Pritzker. “Most importantly, we must do all that we can to keep them from happening again.”
Pritzker says the Illinois State Police last year stopped what he called a “record 25,000 illegal attempts to acquire a firearm.”
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