Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Service Employees International Union (SEIU) alongside Illinois Democrats held a Tuesday morning news conference in the Blue Room of the Illinois State Capitol to talk about fair pay for home care providers.

The Community Care Program (CCP) lets 120,000 Illinoisan seniors to live in their homes instead of nursing facilities according to SEIU. The program pays home care workers to help seniors in their homes to cook, clean and all manner of household chores that become harder with age.

There is a workforce crisis in the senior care industry, with advocates saying their former workers loved the job, but couldn’t support their families on the low wage they receive. Decatur senior Diana Inman said her life becomes much harder for her and her family when a care worker isn’t available.

According to our news partners at WAND-TV the bills minimum wage increases from $18 to $20 hopes to alleviate some of the pain. It has received a fair amount of support from both Senate and House Democrats. Both the Senate and House bill are in committee, where lawmakers could talk about it in the near future.