Image: Andy Kravetz

This blog post was jointly written by Janice Parker with Navicore Solutions and Jody Blaylock with Heartland Alliance and the Illinois Asset Building Group.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Consumer Bureau) is a U.S. government agency that makes sure that we are all treated fairly by banks, lenders, and other financial companies. Created in the aftermath of the Great Recession, the Consumer Bureau has provided over $11.9 billion in relief to more than 29 million consumers nationwide. They receive and resolve consumer complaints, including more than 34,000 complaints filed by Illinoisans about issues related to student loans, mortgages, payday loans, and more.

A little-known fact about the Consumer Bureau is that they provide robust financial education toolkits to help local nonprofits provide high-quality financial empowerment services. They also offer a range of tools and guides to directly help consumers navigate important financial decisions, such as saving for college.

One of these toolkits –Your Money, Your Goals – Focus on Reentry toolkit – was recently used as part of a broader re-entry program in the Peoria County Jail. With the help of the Consumer Bureau’s toolkit, incarcerated individuals learned critical money management skills that will set them up for a successful return to the community.

A collaboration between Navicore Solutions and the Jobs Partnership, the Re-Entry Program addressed the holistic needs of individuals incarcerated in the Peoria County Jail.  The missions of both organizations aligned perfectly:  Navicore’s mission is to strengthen the well-being of individuals and families through education, guidance, advocacy and support, and Jobs Partnership believes that relationships are key to changing and improving lives.

The Re-Entry Program provided individuals at the Peoria County Jail a variety of life skills classes to improve their abilities to successfully re-enter the community and not return to jail.  Classes were conducted every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon for seven consecutive weeks.  The classes focused on three areas:  job skills, behavioral issues, and educational needs – including financial education and money management.  Navicore saw this as a great opportunity to use the Your Money, Your Goals – Focus on Reentry toolkit.  Janice Parker, certified consumer credit educator, provided financial education workshops, specifically using two of the modules: Managing Money and Understanding Credit Reports and Credit Scores.

The participants enjoyed the workshops and every participant indicated they had gained valuable knowledge about money management and credit reports.  Individuals who completed the 7-week program participated in an inaugural graduation ceremony held at the jail.  The success of the program and graduation gained publicity – see the local media coverage here, here, and here.

The Consumer Bureau impacts all of our lives – they regulate the marketplace and make sure financial companies treat us fairly. But the Consumer Bureau’s impact and value to communities is even deeper than many know: they are equipping people across the country, and here in Illinois, to have more control over their financial lives.

Peoples Gas has been working for years to replace Chicago’s aging gas pipes in a project called the System Modernization Program. The cost of this project has exploded over the years, which will mean higher gas bills for Chicago residents. Peoples Gas currently is running a proposal through the Illinois Commerce Commission, a body that regulates utilities, that would give a green light for the project to continue as-is, without any attempt to rein in the cost to Peoples Gas customers. Over the next 20 years, this will double a family’s gas bill. 

In a hearing today about the proposal, Jody Blaylock with Heartland Alliance and the Illinois Asset Building Group delivered comments to the Illinois Commerce Commission about the devastating impact higher gas bills would have on lower-income families:

Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to comment today on the proposed order for the Peoples Gas System Modernization Program, which would allow Peoples Gas to continue as-is with its multi-billion dollar project to replace Chicago’s gas pipes, at the expense of Chicago’s residents.

My name is Jody Blaylock, and I lead Heartland Alliance’s Financial Empowerment policy work. Heartland Alliance is an anti-poverty and human rights organization that provides healthcare, housing, safety, and support services while advancing polices that end poverty and promote equity.

I am also a Chicago resident and Peoples Gas customer.

This Peoples Gas program will double a family’s gas bill over the next 20 years. This rate increase will disproportionally impact people experiencing poverty and people of color. Our 2017 report on poverty in Illinois revealed that nearly half of Chicagoans are considered low-income or living in poverty, and people of color and children have the highest rates of poverty in Illinois. The rate increase will take an outsized portion of a family’s income just to pay for heat, one of the most basic human needs, and make it much more difficult to make ends meet every month.

When families struggle to afford their gas bills, it directly puts their health and wellbeing at risk. A 2011 study from the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association found that 23% of LIHEAP recipients kept their homes at unsafe or unhealthy temperatures in the past year due to not having enough money for the energy bills. Under the Proposed Order, we are likely to see more Chicago families adopt strategies like these – not turning on their heat, or keeping their home at unsafe temperatures – in an attempt to manage their expensive gas bills.

I urge the Commission to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all Chicago families by rejecting the Proposed Order, slowing down the System Modernization Program, and better prioritizing the most at-risk pipes.

We will continue to work with our partners to fight for affordable utilities, so that all families can meet their most basic needs for water, heat, and electricity.

Here at IABG, we’re taking time this holiday season to reflect on our priorities going into the New Year. Here are our five new year’s resolutions to promote financial equity in 2018:

• Establish a universal children’s savings account program in Illinois.
• Support the launch of Secure Choice, a first-of-its-kind retirement savings program in Illinois.
• Defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a U.S. agency that makes sure that financial companies treat us fairly.
• Protect the Consumer Bureau’s federal payday loan rule, which ensures that Illinois families do not get stuck in a debt trap. (Help us by signing your organization onto this letter to the Illinois Congressional delegation in support of the rule!)
• Fight for strong state-level consumer protections, especially for debt collection, predatory loans, and utilities.

We’ll be releasing our 2018 policy agenda in the coming weeks that will reflect these New Year’s resolutions, so stay tuned!