In April, CSBS hosted state legislators, campus members, and friends at the 2024 PRLF Celebration. This event honored the 2023-2024 cohort of the Policy and Research Legislative Fellows Program. Fellows presented their work achieved in collaboration with local legislative partners. Notable attendees included State Representative Carol Ammons, State Senator Paul Faraci, and State Representative Brandun Schweizer. Representing University leadership were Wanda Ward, Executive Associate Chancellor for Public Engagement, and Robert Flider, former state representative and Illinois Senior Director of Community and Government Relations, both of whom shared reflections on the program.
Launched during the Summer 2022 semester, the PRLF Program, supported by the Chancellor’s Office of Public Engagement, matches Illinois graduate students with a state legislator representing Champaign-Urbana or a neighboring district to collaborate on a policy research project that can inform public policy and help make Illinois a better place to live. The program brings the university’s cutting edge research expertise to the offices of legislators in our local community to develop evidence-based policy. Graduate students and legislators collaborate to bridge the gap between theory and practice at the state level and to connect research to real-world applications.
The five fellows in the 2023-2024 cohort represent 4 departments from 4 different colleges working with 4 legislators on issues like renewable energy and health policy.
Jailene Aguirre – Human Development and Family Studies
State Representative Carol Ammons’ Office
Jailene worked with State Representative Ammons on the Family Roots Genealogy Pilot Program, which aims to provide Illinois African American descendants of enslaved individuals the opportunity to trace their roots back to their ancestral homelands through living distant relatives, and therefore be able to reconstruct their ancestral heritage, to promote their well-being. Learn more.
Benjamin Campbell – Kinesiology and Community Health
State Representative Carol Ammons’ Office
Benjamin Campbell’s research with Representative Ammons focused on education policy at different levels in the state. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus sets the tone for admissions and public understanding for Illinois’ higher education institutions and investments. As communities across the globe are working to increase equity and address racial discrimination, this report attempts to highlight admissions trends for Black and AIAN student applicants. The Hunger Free Campus Grant Fund was assigned to the Illinois’ General Assembly Appropriations Committee in 2023. This policy brief summarizes key data about financial and food insecurity among college students and recommends the bill be passed. The Invest in Kids Act was a scholarship tax credit voucher program enacted in 2017 designed to support scholarships to eligible students. This policy brief reviews the data and impact of the Act and recommends allowing the act to expire and instead be replaced by an Evidence Based Funding Formula.
Ha Young Choi – Human Development and Family Studies
Former State Representative Michael Marron
Ha Young presented her work on Securing a Future in Nonmetropolitan Areas: Community and Family Influences and Young Adults’ Intentions to Stay. The project aimed to determine why young individuals do not stay and find jobs in the state of Illinois (a growing trend that has intensified in the last few years). This project involved collecting survey data from young job seekers, young employees, and employers, to better understand the motivations of and factors impacting each group. This presentation goes into greater detail about her methods and results, and a journal article is under review.
Mia Chudzik – Special Education
State Senator Paul Faraci
Mia Chudzik worked with Senator Paul Faraci on Medicaid policy in Illinois. Her final report summarizes current Medicaid waivers in Illinois and the Katie Beckett program, which would allow Illinois to have additional flexibility in the design and implementation of Medicaid programs to provide additional medical and financial supports to families of children with complex medical needs.
Tessa Clarizio – Civil and Environmental Engineering
Former State Representative Michael Marron and State Representative Brandun Schweizer
Tessa Clarizio worked with former representative Mike Marron and Representative Brandun Schweizer on renewable energy policy incentives. There have been many federal- and state- level incentive programs to promote both the manufacturing and installation of electric vehicle charging stations in Illinois. Tessa’s report summarizes the incentives relevant to Illinois’ 104th district for municipalities, businesses, schools, and manufacturers. Tessa also researched the various incentive programs at a federal, state and local level to promote installation of solar energy. This report summarizes the opportunities available to residents, schools, businesses and farmers in Illinois’ 104th district.