Learn about the new Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act

Link to TCE’s CEJA Toolkit on CLEANetwork.com for background info and summary details of CEJA.

The Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs act was signed into law on September 15, 2021. It took years of negotiations and give and take among hundreds of community groups across the state, government and labor organizations. The crafters of the bill got direct feedback from people from north to south, east to west, so it wasn’t just politicans and CEO’s making this bill. Here are three things we know for sure:

1. This is probably the best bill in the US right now for clean energy and equity, which means it protects people first and foremost, and also protects our environment for future generations. Then of course there’s tons of new jobs, training, business investment, etc. We should all be high-fiving! This is big stuff!
2. The bill is not perfect, and no one is saying that it is, but it’s really good. Everyone came together and compromised and we got the best bill we could. That’s democracy! We still have a lot of work to do, but this will put us on the right path for a better future for all Illinoisans.
3. The bill is funded through ratepayers, so we’re all going to see an extra line item on our bills for this, and of course no one likes that. It’s an investment for the future of this state and all it’s people, and everyone should be able to find many ways to get cheaper electricity with solar, save money on their bills and/or find new jobs or other benefits from all the new programs in the bill. It’s going to help people, so we can all feel good about that.

The more we know, the better off we are, in that we’re going to be able to take advantage of all the benefits that the bill provides. At this CEJA Toolkit page we’ll always aim to get everyone the best info we can, and we apologize in advance for errors and omissions. This is a big bill, and it’s going to take time and effort. So make sure you stay up to date!

For now, you can check the CEJA Toolkit for ideas, and the summarized details of the new programs categorized by climate, economy and humanity. Many thanks to the Illinois Clean Job Coalition (ICJC), which was intrumental in keeping the forward momentum going towards completion of this bill. They also provided the “ICJC Legislative Analysis” that summarizes the bill. If you want to dig even deeper, you can use this CEJA table of contents also developed by the ICJC and the bill itself. Happy learning!