On May 6th, 2026, SAAPRI and the Pan-Asian Voter Empowerment Coalition (PAVE) held its 13th Asian American Action Day (AAA Day) at the State Capitol in Springfield, IL, heralding the start of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
AAA Day was an opportunity for SAAPRI’s Democracy and Civic Action Fellow, Chitra Iyer – along with over 500 volunteers from 19 PAVE organizations – to speak with elected officials. Together, they helped inform policymakers by sharing their stories and highlighting the unique needs and perspectives of Asian American communities in Illinois, and participated in a powerful rally to celebrate another successful AAA day.
This edition of SAAPRI’s Policy Update Newsletter, released upon the culmination of the Spring legislative session, will cover a few of the PAVE coalition’s legislative priorities on AAA Day, and how participation in AAA Day helped elevate community perspectives and inform policymakers at the Illinois State Capitol.
What Is Pave?
Established in 2011, the Pan-Asian Voter Empowerment (PAVE) Coalition is a nonpartisan partnership of 19 Asian American advocacy and direct community service organizations serving the greater Chicago area and Illinois.
The South Asian American Policy & Research Institute (SAAPRI) has been an active member of the PAVE Coalition for over a decade, with collaborative legislative work dating back to at least early 2016; During the 2016 Illinois primary elections, SAAPRI and partner organizations combined forces to reach over 7,600 suburban voters through nonpartisan outreach, encouraging civic participation and access to election information within Chicagoland’s South Asian community.
By encouraging civic engagement, electoral participation, voter education and turnout, the coalition seeks to strengthen the political voice of Asian American and immigrant communities. Operating through a mixture of grassroots community organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter mobilization, PAVE’s initiatives have included nonpartisan candidate forums with live translations in multiple Asian languages, the recruitment and training of volunteer poll monitors to safeguard language access and voter rights.
Asian American Action Day is one of PAVE’s most important initiatives. It is an annual advocacy day at the Illinois State Capitol during the Spring legislative session, where hundreds of organizers and community members travel to meet directly with state legislators and members of the Illinois General Assembly’s Asian American Caucus to share their experiences, discuss community priorities, and foster dialogue on community-focused policies.
Policy and Budget Initiatives
Pass Progressive Revenue Measures
PAVE advocated for progressive revenue measures to generate sustainable state funding for essential public services without disproportionately burdening low- and middle-income residents. Due to budgetary cuts from Federal changes (including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), Illinois faces deep federal cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other public services, alongside state and federal tax policies that affect businesses and individuals.
To address these federal changes, Illinois must explore state-level approaches to strengthen and sustain essential programs and services. The Illinois Revenue Alliance identified options to potentially generate over $6 billion in new annual revenue–enough to close the projected deficit and fund essential programs. Additional state revenue supports investments in education, healthcare, immigrant services, and other programs that benefit communities across Illinois.
During the legislative session, lawmakers approved and adopted many of these recommendations. Illinois lawmakers passed a bill that decouples some state taxes on businesses from the federal government, allowing Illinois to collect more taxes from corporations in spite of the Federal OBBBA reducing taxes for many businesses. Moreover, Illinois lawmakers approved a 10% tax on digital advertising, targeting revenue generated from search engine ads, display ads, programmatic advertising, and social media ads by companies making more than a million dollars, per year, on advertising revenue. Together, these measures are expected to generate more than $1 billion in future state revenue. Proposals establishing a Billionaires Tax and Combined Worldwide Income Reporting, however, were not included in the final budget.
Healthcare Benefits for Immigrant Seniors and Adults – SB3976 and HB5390
Illinois’ Healthcare Benefits for Immigrant Seniors (HBIS) and Healthcare Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) programs provided state-funded health coverage to eligible low-income older adults who were ineligible for federal programs and Medicaid due to their immigration status. These programs helped expand access to preventive care and reduce reliance on emergency medical services, benefiting many immigrant communities, including South Asian seniors – Asian Americans made up at least 18% of HBIS recipients. However, the HBIS program closed to new enrollees in 2023, and HBIA funding zeroed out in 2025, leaving tens of thousands of people uninsured.
Led by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), the PAVE Coalition sought to restore eligibility and reopen this program to ensure healthcare coverage for the state’s most vulnerable, low-income immigrants and seniors. During the FY2027 budget process, HBIS funding was preserved at $143 million, ensuring continued coverage for enrolled seniors. Though SB3976 has effectively stalled and the HBIA was not funded or reopened to new participants, the General Assembly adopted HB 5390, amending the Fair Patient Billing Act to expand and simplify access to hospital financial assistance for low-income, uninsured Illinois residents. Notably, it stipulates that hospital healthcare discounts cannot be denied based on citizenship or immigration status. HB5390 was signed into law by Governor Pritzker in June 2026.
Restrict Collection of Immigration Status Information and Sharing of Personal Data – SB1995
Illinois Senate Bill 1995 (SB1995) sought to amend the Personal Information Protection Act to protect the immigration and citizenship status of state residents by limiting the collection of this information by state agencies and restricting the disclosure of personal information to federal immigration authorities except where required by law. Though Illinois has laws limiting cooperation with ICE, federal immigration enforcement can still access personal data through loopholes like public records requests and third-party data brokers.
ICIRR led PAVE’s advocacy to close those gaps by limiting unnecessary collection of immigration status, restricting how that data is shared, and preventing ICE from accessing sensitive information through backdoor channels like FOIA and private companies. Such protections are particularly significant for immigrant communities, including many South Asian families, by helping ensure that residents can access public services without fear that personal information will be shared for immigration enforcement purposes. This legislation did not advance during the spring session but remains under consideration for inclusion in a broader data privacy omnibus package during the October veto session.
Increase Funding for the Immigrant Services Line Item
The Immigrant Service Line Item (ISLI) supports programs that provide direct financial assistance to immigrants across Illinois. Funding also helps cover citizenship application services, English language instruction, fee waivers for DACA and naturalization applications, and resource navigation to connect immigrants with available services and support. These programs support many newly arrived and long-established immigrant families, including members of the South Asian community.
While PAVE sought an increase in funding to $41 million, the FY2027 budget allocated $40 million to ISLI. Although the increase was not realized, maintaining funding represented a significant achievement during a challenging budget year.
Increase Funding for Access to Justice
The Access to Justice (A2J) program is a state-funded initiative that expands community-based legal services for low-income Illinois residents with issues including housing, family law, immigration, and consumer protection. It operates through a network of over 80 civil legal aid organizations, including some PAVE Coalition partners.
Expanding access to legal representation helps reduce barriers faced by vulnerable communities, particularly immigrants and individuals with limited financial resources. Although advocates requested $50 million in funding, the FY2027 budget maintained A2J funding at $35 million, preserving existing services but not providing additional resources to meet growing demand.
Fund K–12 Inclusive History Implementation
Due in part to previous AAA Day advocacy, Illinois has enacted several curriculum requirements to broaden the inclusion of diverse historical perspectives in K–12 education. Illinois law requires schools to incorporate more inclusive histories into K–12 curricula, including the experiences and contributions of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious communities.
However, the Illinois State Board of Education needs sufficient resources to fully implement these mandates. Dedicated funding would allow Illinois to develop high-quality instructional materials, ensuring that educators can implement the Inclusive American History Commission’s recommendations.
PAVE advocated for a $4 million appropriation, intended to fund the training and materials educators need to support the complete implementation of these requirements. However, the FY2027 budget did not include the requested $4 million for implementation, leaving school districts to continue meeting these requirements without dedicated state funding.