The SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Illinois State Council is the state-level governing body for Illinois-based SEIU locals. SEIU Illinois State Council consists of 11 local unions, the largest being SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana-Missouri-Kansas, a local spanning Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas, claiming 92,000 members. [1]
Activities
The SEIU Illinois State Council makes political endorsements on behalf of the state’s locals and it has historically supported solely Democratic and left-progressive candidates. In 2018, the State Council supported Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker and Democratic congressional candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. [2]
The State Council’s activities appear to have declined: Its website does not have an active list of locals and leadership, nor does it have any press releases past March 23, 2018. [3]
Leadership
The SEIU Illinois State Council is headed by the leadership of the Chicago-are SEIU Local 1. SEIU Local 1 president Tom Balanoff heads the State Council; SEIU Local 1 officer Laura Garza is the state council’s recording secretary. [4] SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana-Missouri-Kansas president Gregory Kelley is the Council’s vice president. [5][6]
Finances
The SEIU Illinois State Council’s 2017 tax returns reported total revenues of $2,872,134 and total expenses of $1,417,876. [7]
In 2017, it reported directing $350,000 in elective “checkoff” contributions to its political action committee, the SEIU Illinois Council PAC Fund. [8] It also gave $31,600 to left-of-center Illinois-based lobbying groups, like Citizen Action/Illinois and the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans. [9]