Chicago, Illinois - National Nurses United (NNU), the nation's largest and fastest growing union of registered nurses with more than with 150,000 RNs across the country, including 6,500 in Illinois, today announced its endorsement of Senator Daniel Biss for Governor. Biss is running in the Democratic primary scheduled for March 20, 2018.

“Nurses are proud to endorse Daniel Biss because he shares nurses’ values of caring, compassion and community,” said Martese Chism, RN, a member of the board of directors of National Nurses Organizing Committee, NNU’s Illinois affiliate.  “Under Governor Rauner, our communities are in jeopardy.  Daniel Biss shares our vision for an Illinois where every resident receives quality healthcare through a single payer/Medicare for all healthcare system. He rejects the notion that cuts to social services are necessary or inevitable and is committed to raising the progressive revenue that we require to fully fund and expand the services that our communities need.”

National Nurses United cited Biss’ support and co-sponsorship for SB 1970 which would create a LaSalle Street Tax on the nearly $900 trillion of financial transactions that occur yearly at the Chicago Mercantile and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).  While working families pay sales tax for their purchases, LaSalle Street traders pay no sales tax on trades.

For the 16th consecutive year nurses once again ranked first in Gallup’s annual poll, released on December 19, ranking how Americans view 22 major professions, with 82% of the public rating nurses’ honesty and ethical standards as "high" or "very high."

“It’s an honor to receive the endorsement of National Nurses United,” said Daniel Biss. “I’m running for governor because our system is broken: for too long, the wealthy and well-connected have gotten further ahead while working families have fallen further behind.  In this election, and in elections like this one across the country, we need to decide whether we will compromise within a system that’s failed us, or chart a new path. As the national leader in the fight for Medicare for all, National Nurses United understands the stakes in this election. I’m especially proud to have their support as we fight for an Illinois where healthcare is a right, not an option — and where working families are a priority, not an afterthought.”

“The last thing that the working families of Illinois need is another self-funded billionaire, completely out of touch with the daily realities facing my patients, my family and my community.  The office of Governor should be earned by years of fighting for the welfare of the public, not bought and sold by wealthy individuals, said Rhodelyn Bedford, RN. “Daniel Biss will bring the Bernie Sanders revolution to Illinois and the momentum that we need to win a People and Planet First Budget that puts people and planet before corporate profits.”