Now that President Obama has signed the economic stimulus package into law, the question remains: at the local level, will those in greatest need receive the helping hand they deserve?

The answer will determine whether working families -- struggling against a destructive headwind of rising unemployment, stagnant wages, unaffordable healthcare, and foreclosures -- will find the path to safer ground.

The final price tag on the federal stimulus came to $787 billion and Illinois’ share should begin arriving by spring. Chicago will see the bulk of those funds.  But the city’s specific plan for how it intends to use these dollars remains under wraps at a time when more than 7,000 municipal governments across the nation have already released their “shovel ready” plans. It does not bode well that, last month, Mayor Richard Daley’s roundtable meeting on the federal stimulus excluded the voices of organized labor and community groups; two important advocates for working families.

That’s why we are calling for Mayor Daley to make these three objectives the centerpiece of all meaningful recovery initiatives at the local level:

- Create good jobs that pay a living wage and provide decent health care.
- Stop home foreclosures.
- Use TIF dollars for their intended purpose.

In his inaugural address, President Obama challenged government to make a difference for working families. Illinois is being hit hard by this recession with state unemployment at its highest level in more than a generation. Families are losing their medical coverage at an alarming rate and wages are declining.  Meanwhile, Illinois ranked among the top 10 in home foreclosures in 2008, and two-thirds of these lost dreams (about 77,000 homes) were located in Chicago neighborhoods, according to news reports.

Chicago's economic recovery must be an “all hands on deck” effort and the state and federal dollars pouring into the city coffers must be used wisely.  No one wants to see a return of derisive terms such as “chronically unemployed” and “dislocated worker” to describe our citizens.

Mayor Daley must invest the estimated $555 million in annual Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenue into only those projects that rebuild depressed neighborhoods and improve the lives of working families. Yet about $100 million in TIF dollars -- revenue diverted from schools, libraries, law enforcement, and other local taxing bodies -- goes unutilized each year, according to public records and documents.

These same objectives must be applied to the $3 billion generated from the sale of Chicago public assets such as Midway Airport and municipal parking meters.

Mayor Daley’s new plan to address foreclosure is a good start. But it targets only about 2,000 homes and should be expanded.

Failing to take these steps will raise questions about accountability at a time when Chicagoans are feeling the stress of crumbling infrastructure and declining property values.

The last eight years have been tough on working families. Productivity has increased since 2001; yet 96 percent of our nation’s income growth went to the wealthiest 10 percent of our society during this period, according to research from the U.S. House of Representatives.

We only need to look at last fall’s Wall Street bailout to see what happens when taxpayer-funded initiatives advance under the wrong priorities. Just ask the 260 men and women let go from Republic Windows & Doors last December after Bank of America canceled the company’s line of credit and the owners moved their factory to Iowa.  Let's ensure these types of stories don't make the front pages again.

Tom Balanoff is president of the Illinois State Council of the Service Employees International Union.  Founded in Chicago in 1921, SEIU is the nation’s largest and fastest growing labor union. The Illinois Council joins more than 165,000 members, many of them employed in property services, the public sector, healthcare and childcare related fields.

Full Disclosure: The SEIU Illinois State Council sponsors this website.