Legal Action Chicago

10/14/2026

Tomorrow is the big day! On October 15th, Legal Action Chicago is hosting our 2nd Annual Reception, featuring keynote speaker David Axelrod, from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM. We cannot wait for you all to join us tomorrow for an evening out with leaders, partners, and advocates across Chicago’s legal and civic communities while supporting Legal Action Chicago’s mission to address the issues families in poverty face across Chicago and Illinois.

Light hors d’oeuvres will be served, along with an open bar. All of you who’ve registered, we thank you for joining us for such a momentous occasion! Full event info is found here: https://legalactionchicago.org/annual-reception/

Of course if you cannot join us, we ask you to please consider making a donation to support Legal Action Chicago’ mission and efforts: https://legalactionchicago.org/donate/

10/08/2026

We at Legal Action Chicago are disappointed by the recent, tentative decision of the Illinois Commerce Commission to allow a hike in Peoples Gas rates in order to pad the company's pockets. Utility customers deserve affordability, not higher corporate profits.

Legal Action Chicago, along with the City of Chicago, Illinois Attorney General, and Illinois PIRG have opposed any proposed increase in Peoples Gas’ and North Shore Gas’ authorized profit margin, and argued instead that these profits should be cut. Despite this, the initial decision by the Commission's administrative law judge will *increase* the company's profits by millions of dollars while families across Chicago are struggling just to make ends' meet.

We look forward to appealing this tentative decision to the full Commerce Commission, and will continue fighting alongside Illinois PIRG, the Illinois Attorney General, and the City of Chicago for fair utility rates that put consumers first.

Read the Proposed Order in Peoples Gas' 2026 rate case here (starting at page 344):

10/07/2026

Evedase join us for our Annual Reception next Thursday, October 15 at Impact House on 500 W. Madison Street in Chicago! Event starts at 4:30pm, and more details can be found here: https://legalactionchicago.org/annual-reception/

Every dollar helps! If you aren't able to join us in-person this year, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Legal Action Chicago today and support our efforts to help uplift Illinois families living in poverty: https://legalactionchicago.org/donate/

In the realm of public policies and systems and public budgets, all of the interest groups that compete for their favored outcomes have lawyers, lobbyists, media specialists and other professionals working on their behalf.

09/28/2026

Please join us for our Fall reception on October 15, 2026! Learn more and register for the event here:

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

09/18/2026

If you didn't see it yourself earlier this week, the latest 2025 Census data on poverty show some progress. Poverty improved, incomes rose as wage gains outpaced inflation, and the uninsured rate remained near historic lows. But significant challenges remain, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP):

*More than 44 million people — including 9.7 million children — lived in families below the poverty line in 2025.

*27 million people were uninsured.

*After-tax income inequality reached its highest level in at least 17 years.

The CBPP's report on the new data also highlights the role of programs like SNAP, Medicaid, ACA marketplace coverage, Social Security, and refundable tax credits in helping families afford food, health care, and other basic needs. According to CBPP, SNAP lifted more than 3 million people above the poverty line in 2025, while refundable tax credits lifted 6 million.

For Legal Action Chicago, these numbers reinforce why access to food, health care, and economic supports matters — especially for children and families facing financial hardship.

Read the full analysis:

At a moment when the cuts enacted in last year’s harmful Republican reconciliation law have begun to take away food assistance and health coverage from millions of people, today’s Census data are a reminder of the important role Medicaid, Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace coverage, and SNAP ...

09/17/2026

Want to learn more about how low-income families can save money on their utility bills? Join Legal Action Chicago and the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies on October 27, 2026 at 10 a.m. for a brief webinar to learn more about critical cost-reducing programs, how they work, and how to qualify.

Click the link below to sign up for the event, or, reach out to Daniel Schneider at [email protected]

https://iacaanet-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/rXF2nVPvTPiiu0VRqjMPeA

09/16/2026

Don't forget to join us for our Fall reception on October 15, 2026! In the past few years, Legal Action Chicago has helped reduced low-income families' utility bills by hundreds of millions of dollars, won class action lawsuits to improve fair housing practices, and passed numerous state laws to help domestic violence survivors, people struggling with credit card debt, and more. But you can still help us to do even more with even a small contribution.

Learn more and register for the event here: https://legalactionchicago.org/annual-reception/

09/16/2026

Legal Action Chicago was pleased to contribute to the proposed primary settlement of Nicor Gas' recent rate case. While not going far enough to stop constantly-rising costs for consumers, it represents a reasonable step forward that (i) reduces the gas utility's profits by over $70 million, (ii) reduces the flat charge consumers pay to just $15 per month, and (ii) overall only results in a $2 per month rate increase, rather than the $6 per month the Company originally asked for, with all new costs coming from necessary infrastructure investment and not excessive profits.

Learn more about the deal in the Chicago Tribune:

Nicor Gas has reached a settlement with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to reduce its pending rate request for next year by nearly $140 million, or 63%.

09/04/2026

Workers have a right to fair wages, safe working conditions, and freedom from abusive immigration enforcement that can make them afraid to report violations of the law or even come to work. Period.

This Labor Day, at Legal Action Chicago, we’ll be thinking about how the ability to assert one’s rights shouldn’t depend on whether an employer thinks their employee can afford to push back.

08/21/2026

Access to water is a human right, but, unfortunately, that right is often only afforded to the people who can pay for it.

Since 2024, we have campaigned with the Water for All Coalition to expand access to Chicago's utility billing relief program and improve communities' access to water.

The goals of the Water for All Coalition are to:
- Increase income eligibility for the program from 200 to 250% of the poverty line
- Open up the program to people living in buildings with up to 5 units
- Ban the use of liens on real estate as a water debt collection tool

These changes, supported by a coalition that includes Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL), the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Blackroots Alliance, would help to ensure more families in the City can afford an essential service.

Currently, Alderman Daniel La Spata is carrying this ordinance, which we hope will be heard by the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy on September 1, 2026 at 10am.