EQUALITY CITY

With same-sex marriage becoming law in Illinois on June 1, 2014, LGBT folks in Illinois have had a good year. But a recent report from the Human Rights Campaign shows plenty of work remains to be done at the local level in the name of equality. HRC published its nationwide Municipal Equality Index last week, including fi ve cities in Illinois: Springfi eld, Chicago, Rockford, Aurora and Champaign. Springfi eld scored reasonably well with 78 out of 100 possible points, which is better than each of the other cities’ ratings except Chicago’s perfect score. The index measured things like nondiscrimination in city employment, the existence of a human rights commission within city government, and whether the city reported hate crimes to the FBI. One place Springfi eld could have improved was offering domestic partner health benefi ts, and readers may recall that the city tried to do just that in 2012, but they did so behind closed doors in violation of the state Open Meetings Act. Illinois Times sued the city to force the city’s Joint Labor/Management Health Care Committee to meet in public, where they could vote on the issue again, but that hasn’t happened. It’s unclear whether the city has begun offering the benefi ts through another means. It’s probably a moot point now that same-sex marriage will have the same protections under the law as opposite-sex marriage, but sometimes the simple gesture means the most.

HELP FOR THE HOLIDAY

Winter seems to have come early this year, which means higher heating bills and less money for the holidays. City Water, Light and Power offers a way to help those in need through its Project Relief program. Starting its 30th year on Dec. 2, Project Relief allows CWLP customers to donate a dollar or more extra on their power bill, which goes to help pay off overdue bills from other customers. CWLP employees also contribute through payroll deductions, and the program raises about $25,000 each year on average. Last year, the $26,000 raise helped 115 families keep the power on. All of the money goes to families in need, and none of it goes to administrative costs. A signup form is included in the November bill. For more information, visit the CWLP offi ce in Municipal Center West, 800 E. Monroe St., or visit cwlp.com/customer/account/ contributerelief.html.