Join your fellow Illinois HIV advocates in Springfield, IL on one of these 2013 lobby days..
Wednesday: April 10th, May 8th, May 22nd

Registration is free and required for all activities. Register Here!
or contact Lucy Baglin, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by fax 312-922-2916
Travel expenses are the responsibility of the participants

Scholarships
A number of scholarships are available for selected HIV/AIDS advocates. The Scholarships will cover participant’s transportation costs. Apply for a scholarship on registration form. 

Questions?: Contact Lucy Baglin (AFC)
312-334-0909

Change the Game. Register today!
Registration will close 2 days prior to the Lobby Day. Please note that we highly encourage you to sign up for the following days according to your region:
April 10 -- Chicago and surrounding suburbs
May 8 -- Northern Illinois (north of Springfield, except for Chicagoland)
May 22 -- Southern Illinois (including Springfield)

Check back in early 2013 for information on AFC's Springfield 2013 lobby day.

Or sign up for advocacy email alerts, and we'll send the information your way as soon as we have it.

2012 Lobby Day: Putting a Face with the Numbers
Written by Gregory Trotter  
Monday, April 23, 2012

The advocates woke in the dark before dawn and trudged half-asleep onto a bus bound for Springfield.

Bound together by a single purpose, they came from Chicago’s distinct neighborhoods, from the rural communities of southern and western Illinois, from the North Shore towns stretching toward Wisconsin. The narratives of their lives were utterly distinct; their stories were proof that HIV can affect anyone.

Most of the 200 or so advocates who traveled to Springfield for Lobby Day last week had been living with HIV for many years. Others were social workers who had dedicated their lives to confronting the AIDS epidemic. But all of them, on some level, had been deeply affected by the epidemic and weren’t about to stand by quietly when $4 million in essential HIV services were placed on the chopping block.

The mission was simple but demanded courage: To track down their respective legislators and tell their stories, to impress upon lawmakers why it’s important to fully fund HIV services.

Read the rest...

Facing a proposed 11% reduction to HIV funding in the fiscal year 2012 Illinois state budget, over 150 AIDS advocates from across the state rallied March 2 in Springfield.

Advocates urged their legislators to enact a debt restructuring plan that would reduce the state's nearly $9 billion backlog of unpaid bills.  HIV service providers, social service agencies, universities, schools, and local governments are laying off staff and even closing their doors because they are waiting half-a-year or more to be paid by the state.

Advocates attended an afternoon of training on March 1 where they learned about the issues that they would discuss with their legislators.  They also spent time developing compelling stories about their lives that would bring the issues home to their elected officials.

AFC thanks legislators who addressed the crowd at the HIV/AIDS Lobby Day rally in the rotunda, including State Representatives Greg Harris (D-Chicago), Camille Lilly (D-Chicago), La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) and Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago).  During the rally, members of the Illinois Alliance for Sound AIDS Policy (Illinois ASAP) unveiled a new t-shirt campaign that aims to reduce the stigma of HIV.  Throughout the day, advocates living with HIV and allies sported red t-shirts with the words, “HIV POSITIVE.”

Other issues advocates discussed with their legislators include:

• The Personal Responsibility Education Program Act (SB 1619, Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago), which would institute in schools age-appropriate, medically-accurate sexual health education programs that include abstinence;
• HB 1748 (Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago), which aims to increase the number of state prison inmates who accept the offer of HIV testing by permitting opt-out HIV testing, and
• HB 1846 (Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago), which would require the Illinois Department of Corrections to establish HIV/AIDS sensitivity training programs for facility staff and allow inmates access to harm reduction supplies, including condoms.

AFC presented long-time advocates with two awards.  Will Wilson of Chicago received the Mary Dixon Advocate of the Year award for his advocacy for passage of national health reform.  The award is honors Mary Dixon, the ACLU of Illinois lobbyist who has partnered with AFC for nearly two decades to implement sound HIV policies in Springfield.  John Dawson, chair of AFC’s AIDS Housing Advisory Council, was presented with the Hector Hernandez award for recruiting his fellow advisory council members for lobby day.   The award is given in memory of extraordinary HIV advocate Hector Hernandez.

To stay up-to-date on state and federal HIV policy issues and contact your legislator to show your support, sign up for the Online Action Bulletin, or join the Illinois Alliance for Sound AIDS Policy (IL ASAP) Facebook page.

Additional resources:
Lobby Day training presentation
State budget fact sheet
Debt restructuring fact sheet (SB 3)
Illinois Personal Responsibility Education Act (PREP) (SB 1619)
Opt-out HIV testing in corrections (HB 1748)
Harm reduction in prisons (HB 1846)
Preparing effective testimony worksheet
Illinois Alliance for Sound AIDS Policy anti-stigma campaign
Illinois Alliance for Sound AIDS Policy Facebook page

Rescue 2010: Illinois’ HIV/AIDS Lobby Days was a huge success! The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) thanks the more than 230 AIDS advocates from around the state who came to Springfield by bus, car, and train to urge the Illinois General Assembly to fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, HIV prevention, care, and housing programs, and to raise taxes to protect these and other vital services. The event was the largest in our community’s ten year history.

“I am so impressed by the number of people who came down,” said AFC’s Pete Subkoviak. “This is our tenth Lobby Days and with all that is on the line for our community, it’s wonderful to see so many new faces joining the fight to protect the AIDS programs we’ve worked so hard to build."

Lobby Days participants spoke with their representatives and senators about House Bill 6173/Senate Bill 3821, which call for an increase of $18 million in funding for state HIV programs next year. Advocates also urged their elected officials to support House Bill 174, which would responsibly address the state’s massive deficit by raising new revenue through a modest tax increase.

Check Out Photos from Lobby Days.

View the PowerPoint presentation from the advocacy training (PDF)

View the Agenda for Advocates (PDF).

For the latest on the latest current events affecting the Illinois HIV/AIDS Community, join the IL ASAP Facebook group

Why Come to Lobby Days? (PDF)

Lobby Days flyer(PDF)