Members lobby in Springfield for healthcare funds

When we traveled to Springfield 2 weeks ago, we had several van loads of members and we talked to our legislators about releasing the $600 million in Hospital Provider Tax funds that are sitting in the bank. We told them we needed the money that already had been appropriated, but just needed legislators to vote to release it. As a result of our presence, legislators passed the bill out of the Appropriations Committee and sent it to the Senate. When we went back on Feb. 27, we had hundreds of our members from the proposed new union pushing our message. The Senate passed the bill through unanimously. The next step is to get the House to pass it through so the Governor can sign it.