House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Brad Schneider joined local activists in Winnetka, Illinois, to spotlight the rising cost of living in the U.S. They blamed President Trump and GOP congressional leaders for soaring expenses on housing, healthcare, groceries, and more, calling it an “affordability crisis.” Jeffries urged Americans to contact their representatives and push for Democratic solutions to lower everyday costs and improve economic conditions for working families.
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NewsTranscript
00:00You'll know when your microphones take up the place my speech is supposed to go.
00:06We'll make this work.
00:08Anyway, welcome and thank you for joining us.
00:19So, for those that don't know me, I'm Brad Schneider, the representative for Illinois' 10th Congressional District, where we are.
00:24The district runs from Winnetka up through the full length of Lake County to the Wisconsin border and west from
00:31Lake Michigan into McHenry County all the way to Hebron.
00:35I want to especially take this moment to welcome Leader Jeffries to the 10th District in Winnetka.
00:41We're very excited to have you here.
00:43We just completed, next door, a rather important, robust conversation about the state of the economy here in Illinois.
00:51And we got to hear from leaders across my district, from Cook, Lake, and McHenry counties, who are hearing from
00:57their constituents and the people they serve,
01:01how everyday Americans, virtually every American, are suffering from rising costs, struggling not just to get by, it's hard to
01:10get ahead.
01:12We had some of the examples in the roundtable talking about the challenges people are facing.
01:17Someone, a 40-year-old person, working, making a living by selling things on eBay, who lost his Medicaid because
01:29it didn't quite fall within the categories that the Republicans redefined for people trying to make ends meet.
01:36We heard about families struggling to make their rent.
01:39We heard about young people who are struggling with issues.
01:43And over the past year, life has gotten, not just gotten more expensive for the American people,
01:49it's gotten to the point where the American dream seems out of reach and, for many people, an impossibility, an
01:56impossible dream.
01:57Meanwhile, President and Congressional Republicans have not only failed to lower costs at every turn, they've made it worse.
02:06The American people are tired of the broken promises.
02:09They want a real plan with real solutions.
02:13I'm proud that last week the New Democrat Coalition released our affordability agenda.
02:18I am privileged to chair the coalition, and I can tell you that the agenda is the culmination of more
02:22than a year of work,
02:23where we talked about addressing five core costs that every American faces.
02:28Cost of groceries, cost of housing, cost of health care, utilities, and the cost of family care,
02:33whether it's caring for young children still at home or caring for aging parents.
02:39We believe affordability and lowering costs are an essential part of that American dream
02:44that every person should have an aspiration and an ability to achieve.
02:49Affordability means not just getting by.
02:51It means being able to get ahead, to build a better future for yourself, for your community, for your family,
02:56to pay your bills, to save for your future, and maybe even to take a vacation.
03:01While the president jerks from one ill-conceived policy scheme to the next,
03:05all to try to deflect from the harm being inflicted on our working families,
03:08I'm proud that Democrats across our caucus are doing the work to figure out how we can help lower costs
03:14and make life better for the American people.
03:18And speaking of Democrats doing the work, I am proud to be here with our leader, Hakeem Jeffers.
03:24And with that, let me turn it over to him to talk about what the Democrats are focused on
03:28to make life better for the American people.
03:34Well, good afternoon.
03:35It's an honor and a privilege to be here in the 10th Congressional District of Illinois
03:38in the Chicagoland area, and certainly to be here with my good friend
03:43and an amazing member of Congress, Brad Snyder,
03:47who is doing the work each and every day in Washington
03:50and here on the ground to make life better for the people that he represents.
03:55And it was a great honor to have the opportunity to participate in this roundtable
03:59with everyday Americans, with civic leaders, with business leaders,
04:04with not-for-profit leaders, people who are doing the work to try to make life better
04:10for people who are struggling in this economy to make ends meet.
04:15The state of the real economy in America right now is a mess.
04:22There is an affordability crisis that is not a hoax.
04:26It is very real, and that point was brought home clearly during this roundtable discussion.
04:34People are struggling with housing costs.
04:38People are struggling with health care costs.
04:41People are struggling with the cost of groceries.
04:44People are struggling with child care costs.
04:47People are struggling with the cost of running a small business,
04:51particularly as a result of the Trump tariffs.
04:54The state of the real economy is a mess.
04:58The affordability crisis is one that we are committed to dealing with decisively,
05:02and the need to do that with great urgency, with the fierce urgency of now,
05:07was reinforced by this roundtable discussion.
05:12All across the country, Democrats are holding similar discussions
05:16because rather than talk at the American people,
05:19we want the American people to talk to us,
05:22to lay out their real, on-the-ground experiences.
05:25So when we go back to Washington next week,
05:30we can continue to press forward to do what we have to do
05:34to lower the high cost of living in this country,
05:37to make life more affordable,
05:39to ensure that people who are working hard and playing by the rules
05:43cannot just survive, which is hard to do in this environment,
05:48but can thrive.
05:50Here in America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world,
05:53that's the least that we can do.
05:56Make sure that when you're working hard and playing by the rules,
05:59you can live an affordable life, a comfortable life, and live a good life.
06:03That's our commitment to the American people.
06:06The road ahead of us is not going to be easy
06:08because our colleagues on the other side, led by the president,
06:11who promised to lower the cost of living on day one,
06:14are doing the exact opposite, making life more expensive for the American people.
06:20So I thank Congressman Snyder once again for hosting.
06:24Me, it's always wonderful to be back here in the Chicagoland area,
06:29and I look forward to our continued work together,
06:33inspired by the stories that I heard from each and every one of the participants
06:37in the roundtable, that Congress needs to act.
06:42We need to act decisively.
06:43We need to get this situation turned around
06:46so we can bring the American dream to life for everyone.
06:52Great, thank you.
06:53Let me now turn it over to our Township Supervisor here in New Trier Township,
06:58Gail Schnitzer-Eisenberg.
07:03Good afternoon.
07:05Thank you to Representative Snyder for inviting me
07:07and to Leader Jeffries for joining us here in New Trier Township.
07:10As Township Supervisor, I work with residents who are doing the, quote, right things.
07:15They're working hard, they're raising families, contributing to our community,
07:19and still they're feeling the squeeze of the cost of living.
07:23Affordability is not an abstract policy issue for them.
07:26It's a daily reality.
07:27The gulf between the minimum and the living wage helps to explain that reality.
07:33Here in Cook County, the minimum wage is $15 an hour.
07:36That's already more than double the federal minimum wage.
07:39But the living wage, the minimum income necessary for workers to meet their basic needs
07:44like housing, food, child care, health care, and transport,
07:47for a family of four with two working parents is over $29 an hour, $42.65 if only one parent
07:57is working.
07:58At the Township, we see the results.
08:00More families turning to food pantries like ours.
08:03Usage is up 110% since 2015.
08:06More residents seeking emergency financial help due to hardships, 82% of which is for housing.
08:15And more residents seeking assistance for child care, special needs.
08:19These are not people who lack work ethic.
08:22The numbers simply cannot add up.
08:25They must rely on a combination of local, state, and federal aid just to make those ends meet.
08:32And once such federal aid is threatened, be it health care subsidies, child care funding, SNAP, Medicaid,
08:40those economic stressors are amplified, and the emotional toll is severe.
08:45Our role at the Township is to be a bridge, to provide those emergency services and social programs
08:51to help people stay on their feet.
08:53We can only address individual needs.
08:56The larger challenges of affordability are systemic, requiring partnerships across governments,
09:02employers, and community organizations.
09:05A strong community is one where working families can live with dignity and stability,
09:10and that's a goal we can all be working towards.
09:16Thanks, Gil.
09:17I'd now like to call up the Township Supervisor from Waukegan Township, Supervisor Mark Jones.
09:22Thanks.
09:26I did have a prepared statement by my colleague, Township Supervisor, said a lot of it,
09:31so I won't be redundant.
09:33And instead, I'll just focus and get straight to the point.
09:35We are fortunate to have legislators such as Congressman Snyder and Leader Jeffries
09:39that took time to come here today to speak to us about these real issues
09:42that as Township Supervisors we see every day.
09:45We hear messaging of growth and prosperity economically.
09:48However, in our offices, we see the exact contrast of that flat.
09:52We see the mother having to decide between putting clothes on her child's back and food on the table.
09:57Through the cuts of Medicare, we see that grandmother or that grandfather
10:01who has to decide between groceries and medication.
10:04It's been a strain all around for everyone across the board
10:07in regards to socioeconomic or educational levels.
10:10And again, to have legislators in D.C. and state fighting on our behalf
10:15is very encouraging for us in the work that we do
10:18because we know that we cannot provide help through our legislators.
10:22We can certainly provide hope.
10:29Thank you, Mark.
10:30And let me now call up the President of Community Partners for Affordable Housing, Rob Antony.
10:43Good afternoon.
10:44I also want to express my gratitude for Congressman Snyder
10:48and Leader Jeffries for having this important conversation with us.
10:52Community Partners for Affordable Housing works on housing issues.
10:55And what we're seeing is that rent and home prices are increasing
11:00at two to four times the rate of income.
11:02So home prices are going up like this.
11:05Incomes are going up like this.
11:06There's a widening gap.
11:08And it's not that people are not working hard
11:10or doing what they're supposed to be doing,
11:12but there's a structural problem where income is not keeping up with home prices
11:16and it's creating a widening gap for people.
11:21In the Chicago area, someone would have to earn $33.87 per hour
11:27just to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
11:30Compare that to the minimum wage of $15 per hour.
11:34So someone would have to work more than two full-time jobs
11:37to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
11:3930% of homeowners and 50% of renters in Lake County are housing cost burdens.
11:46In Lake County, we need more than 8,000 affordable housing units.
11:51And as we talked about in the session prior to this,
11:54CEPA is one of the organizations generating the most number of affordable housing units.
11:59But on a good year, we're adding 40 to 50 affordable housing units per year.
12:04And so if you do the math, that's 160 years until we reach the 8,000 goal that we need.
12:11So the structure needs to change.
12:14We need to address this differently.
12:16And the impact of that is that it's creating housing instability, financial insecurity,
12:23negative physical and mental health outcomes, diminished school and work performance,
12:28intergenerational poverty.
12:30Seniors can't remain in the communities where they live.
12:33Families are pushed out after a death or a divorce or a job loss or a health crisis.
12:40Most of us are one crisis away from needing affordable housing.
12:44And young people who grew up in communities can't afford to return to those communities.
12:50There are a number of challenges facing the addition of affordable housing units.
12:56Construction costs have skyrocketed in recent years.
12:59The tariffs are certainly not helping.
13:01We've experienced steel tariffs on affordable housing developments that we're working on right now.
13:06And we appreciate the cooperation with our representatives to try to address some of these issues.
13:13And finally, I just want to make the point that there's a very strong connection between housing and economic development.
13:19I was on a long call this morning with an employer, a large employer, who has their headquarters in Deerfield.
13:28And they were trying really hard to recruit someone for this job.
13:31And this person really wanted the job, but they could not accept it because they couldn't afford housing in the
13:37area.
13:38And so housing is where jobs go to sleep at night.
13:43And so it's vital to the economic development and thriving economies.
13:53Thanks, Rob.
13:54And I now want to invite Dulce Ortiz, the executive director of Mano a Mano Family Resource Center.
14:03Good afternoon, all, my name is Dulce Ortiz, D-U-L-C-E-O-R-T-I-Z.
14:08I'm the executive director at Mano a Mano Family Resource Center.
14:12And for over 20 years, Mano a Mano has served the immigrant community across Lake County and parts of McHenry
14:18County,
14:19including Waukegan, North Chicago, and the Romley area.
14:23Last year alone, we served more than 15,000 community members,
14:27more than triple what we've served just a few years ago.
14:31Our mission is simple, to ensure immigrant families can fully participate in their communities they call home.
14:39They are your neighbors, your small business owners, taxpayers,
14:47and just like some of you, they are parents.
14:50They are parents raising their children who will shape the future of not just the great state of Illinois,
14:56but this country.
14:58This year has been incredibly difficult.
15:01What used to be classrooms for ESL, GED classes and workforce training,
15:06now has become a makeshift food distribution center.
15:10Families who were once focused on improving their English,
15:15finding better jobs, and building stability,
15:18are now asking how will they pay for rent?
15:21How will they renew a work permit, or put food on the table?
15:26Through our immigration clinic, we have already exceeded 100% of our annual goal for immigration applications,
15:34with months still remaining, because fear and enforcement are driving desperation.
15:41When a parent is detained or disappeared, or is too afraid to go to work, household income vanishes overnight.
15:49That is just not an immigration issue.
15:53That is an affordability crisis.
15:55At the same time that working families are losing access to health care, SNAP,
16:01and education supports, programs that were already underfunded,
16:06we are watching taxpayer dollars redirected into expanding DHS enforcement.
16:13The Trump administration and MAGA Congress members have doubled down on violence
16:19at the expense of programs that families across the country rely on.
16:23Let's be clear, investing billions into ICE slush fund while cutting safety net programs
16:31does not lower costs for families.
16:33It raises them.
16:35It destabilizes entire local economies.
16:38I stand here as an immigrant woman, a daughter, a mother,
16:44to say that it does not have to be this way.
16:47It is time for our leaders to say no, to uncheck DHS funding, and yes to working families.
16:55To Leader Jeffries and Congressman Schneider,
16:57I truly appreciate the opportunity to highlight what we are seeing on the front lines
17:02and highlight the injustices and affordability challenges happening here in the state of Illinois
17:08and all over the country.
17:10For this reason, I ask for you and your Democratic Party to stand firm on redirecting ICE funds
17:18to food access, education, legal stability, and economic opportunity.
17:24Because when immigrant families thrive, all communities thrive.
17:32Thank you, Dulce.
17:33And for our last speaker, I want to invite Jennifer Phillips, the president and CEO of Keshet Disabilities and Inclusion.
17:42Thank you for this opportunity, both of you.
17:45When we talk about cost of living in Illinois, I want to emphasize that for families of individuals with disabilities,
17:52affordability is not an abstract.
17:55It determines whether someone can live safely in the community, whether a parent can remain employed,
18:01and whether a child can access the right educational environment.
18:06Many Illinois families are already stretched by the rising cost of food, transportation, and health care costs.
18:12For families raising a child with disabilities, those pressures are magnified.
18:18Therapies specialize education, transportation, caregiving responsibilities,
18:24and increase expenses while often limiting earning capacity.
18:29Many families are single-income households, not by choice, but by necessity.
18:35And beyond predictability of expenses, there are constant unexpected costs.
18:41Broken adapted equipment, emergency medical needs, insurance denials,
18:47behavioral crisis requiring additional support, or sudden staffing gaps.
18:51For most families, an unexpected expense is stressful.
18:57For families of individuals with disabilities, it can destabilize housing, employment, and long-term planning.
19:04For adults with disabilities, the community-based services are funded primarily through Medicaid waivers
19:11administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
19:14These services allow individuals to live in homes, work, participate in their communities, rather than institutions.
19:22But reimbursement rates have struggled to keep pace with inflation.
19:27Providers face rising costs of wages, insurance, transportation, utilities, and housing.
19:35At the same time, we face a serious workplace and workforce crisis.
19:40Direct service providers are essential to health care workers, yet providers compete with retail and fast food wages.
19:50Without sustainable funding tied to real labor markets and inflation, staffing instability continues,
20:00and families feel the impact immediately.
20:03Adults with disabilities are also living longer, which is a success story, but parents have been lifelong caregivers, aren't aging.
20:13Increasingly, families ask what's going to happen when they are no longer here.
20:18Too often, when a parent passes away, their child with disabilities faces housing instability or long waiting lists for residential
20:27supports.
20:28Community-based disability services are not optional, they are infrastructure.
20:33They support workforce participation, prevent costly institutional care, and allow individuals to contribute meaningfully to their communities.
20:44If affordability is truly our goal, we must protect Medicaid funding, invest in direct service professionals' workforce,
20:53mobilize SSI asset limits, and expand sustainable housing options for adults with disabilities.
21:00Affordability means stability across the lifespan, and for individuals with disabilities,
21:05the stability depends on policy decisions made here.
21:11And with that, we have time for two questions.
21:13All right, I guess we have time for two questions.
21:15I'll squeeze three.
21:16I have a question for Mark Jones and Dolce Ortiz.
21:21Can you please, each of you, share a story about a family in your area
21:28that has had to make a family or individual a really, really hard choice
21:36between one of the five things that the congressman laid out in their, you know, in their, you know, in
21:44their, in their five areas of need?
21:47I can, I can go first.
21:49So something that I share in the roundtable was that ICE agents were in Lake County this weekend,
21:57and fortunately the family was not there, but they didn't feel safe staying in that home.
22:04That home is owned by loved ones, and so where they were paying $1,600 on a monthly basis,
22:14they would love to stay within that area.
22:17That's where their child with special needs goes to school to receive the services, but they can't afford it.
22:27The market right now for a three-bedroom apartment is $2,800, and so they're going to have to make
22:36a very difficult decision
22:37of having to pull their special needs child from a school they've been attending for years,
22:43and they're also going to have to figure out how are they going to get to work.
22:48They have no transportation.
22:49They already were using the train grocery stores where, you know, within walking distance,
22:57and so moving to a very different community, having to make those very difficult choices
23:01because they cannot afford the rent.
23:04It's something that it's incredibly hard on our families.
23:07Leader Jeffries, can you answer some questions?
23:14I'm going to try to get everyone a question, so go ahead, Shia.
23:16Wait, he's here.
23:17No, I'm going to say, go ahead.
23:20So Democrats sent that latest funding offer to the White House yesterday.
23:24Did you guys give in at all on the issues of judicial forants or agent masking?
23:30You know, are there situations where somebody could go into somebody's house
23:35or an agent might wear a mask?
23:38We believe that the Fourth Amendment is not a mere inconvenience.
23:42It is a requirement, and so judicial warrants absolutely should be mandated
23:48before ICE agents can storm private property, rip everyday Americans
23:52or law-abiding immigrant families from their homes in ways that have horrified the American people.
23:58At the same period of time, our view is that ICE agents should be conducting themselves
24:04like every other law enforcement agency in the country.
24:08Police officers don't wear masks, county sheriffs don't wear masks,
24:12and state troopers don't wear masks, and we haven't been provided a shred of justification
24:18from this administration as to why ICE agents are conducting themselves differently.
24:24And our overarching premise is that taxpayer dollars should be used
24:30to make life more affordable for hardworking American taxpayers,
24:36not abuse to brutalize or kill American citizens,
24:40as was the case with Renee Nicole Good or Alex Preddy,
24:45or violently target law-abiding immigrant families,
24:49which is what we're seeing here in Chicagoland and all across the country.
25:03We're just wondering if you have thoughts on the passing of Reverend Jesse Jackson,
25:09and can you tell us what did he mean to you personally,
25:12and did he influence your involvement in politics?
25:14Well, Reverend Jesse Jackson is an iconic, legendary, true American hero
25:20who really fought hard throughout his life to bring the American dream to life.
25:27He fought for social justice, racial justice, and economic justice,
25:31and to ensure that every single person who was part of the Rainbow Coalition
25:36that he talked about and built could experience the American dream.
25:41When I woke up this morning, I received the news, of course, deeply saddened by it.
25:47But, you know, his life, his legacy, and his leadership, we're so thankful for.
25:53We all in different ways stand on his shoulders.
25:55He certainly inspired me probably when I was 14 years old in 1984.
26:02I'm giving my age away, y'all.
26:05But when I was 14 years old, his first presidential run,
26:08I still remember the T-shirt that my grandmother gave to me, Action Jackson,
26:14because she was so excited by his presidential run.
26:20And that, of course, in turn, excited myself and my younger brother.
26:25Redistricting question?
26:26Well, I'm going to wrap up.
26:28Do you want to talk to Jesse Jackson, too?
26:30I'll do it.
26:32Are you any closer, do you think, on Maryland, possibly making a move on redistricting?
26:38This has to be your last.
26:39Yes, sir.
26:40Is it a new map?
26:41Well, our view from the very beginning was that we were not going to let Donald Trump
26:46gerrymandered the national congressional map as part of some toxic effort to rig the midterm elections.
26:52That it's the American people who are the ones who should decide who serves in the majority
26:58after the November elections, not Donald Trump.
27:00And we've succeeded across the country in ensuring that we've stopped this toxic gerrymandering scheme dead in its tracks.
27:11We still have a few states to go, including, you know, some great action that has occurred in Virginia
27:18and now a ballot initiative that will be put before the people in April
27:22and some work to be done in Maryland with the support, of course, of Governor Westmore,
27:27the bill that has passed the House of Delegates,
27:30and we're looking forward to an up-or-down vote sometime soon in the Maryland State Senate.
27:36Will you be at the State of the Union?
27:39It's my present intention to be at the State of the Union.
27:43When I go into his house, he's coming to our house, and it's the people's house.
27:47And having grown up where I grew up, you never let anyone run you off your block.
27:51Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much.
27:53Thank you, everyone. Have a great day.
27:58Subscribe to OneIndia and never miss an update.
28:03Download the OneIndia app now.
28:07We'll see you next time.
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