|
This was another very busy week in Springfield. Friday was the deadline to file new bills for the 103rd General Assembly, so we spent a fair bit of time trying to make sure that all of our bills are ready for filing. We’ll feature the bills I’m introducing in next week’s newsletter.
This week also brought the Governor’s combined State of the State and Budget message. It was the first time we’d done this in person since right before the pandemic hit in 2020, and the return of the traditions of the Senate seeking admission to the chamber, followed by the appointment of a committee of escort to allow the Governor to present to our joint session was unexpectedly special to experience again. Now that the Governor has made his budget proposal, our budget team and Appropriations committees will begin their work at delivering a balanced budget by the end of the session in May, so all of this is subject to change during those negotiations.
Governor Pritzker gave a quick review of what the last 4 years have meant for us as a state budget-wise, including going from $17 billion in unpaid bills to a 30-day payment cycle with no backlog, from multiple credit downgrades over his predecessor’s term to multiple upgrades over the last 4 years which has allowed us to make investments in areas that have been historically neglected. We went from 16th in the nation in terms of spending on behavioral health to number 9 now.
The Governor is making significant investments in early childhood education, including ensuring full access to preschool/pre-K for every 3 and 4-year-old in the state and funding an additional 5,000 more scholarship slots in community colleges training early childhood education workers through the Smart Start Illinois program. He’s also proposing an additional $506 million to K-12 education representing the statutorily required $350 million additional payment into the Evidence-Based Funding Formula for educational equity, restoring transportation grants, and funding to increase the pipeline of teachers into Illinois.
In the area of Higher Education, he is once again proposing a significant increase to the state’s Monetary Access Program or MAP grant program which would bring the total to over $700 million, and cited increasing freshman enrollment in Illinois colleges and universities as proof these investments work. Building on that, he also announced tuition-free community college as a reality for Illinois.
On Public Safety, Pritzker cited that the Illinois State Police’s efforts to beef up security and safety on our highways have resulted in an 80% drop in homicides and a 50% drop in shootings on area highways and expressways. On violence prevention investment, Pritzker pointed out that Illinois was spending roughly $200 million on violence prevention and youth employment in 2019 compared to $1 billion dollars now annually.
In the area of Human Services, we continue to try and restore the critical social safety net after years of disinvestment and neglect. The Governor returned to the issue of behavioral health, acknowledging that the pandemic had exposed significant cracks in the system and that often folks have trouble even knowing where to start to find help, especially for kids. He is proposing a $10 million investment to build a care portal/resource referral tool for families seeking care that he envisions as a one-stop shop.
Just as in other fields, the human services sector is experiencing significant workforce challenges. This proposal includes $120 million to the Department of Human Services for rate increases for service providers for people with developmental disabilities at the same time the department plans to expand access to in-home services by extending care to an additional 500 children on the PUNS list.
In addition to announcing a $50 million increase in food assistance to recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Pritzker is proposing an initiative designed to take a new approach to solve the issues of food deserts in underserved areas. Pritzker recalled ribbon cuttings at big box retailers who accepted incentives to open stores in these areas only to see those same stores close and leave in short order. The $20 million Illinois Grocery Initiative program will instead focus on drawing smaller, independent grocers into communities in need. This program will be complemented by an additional $2 million grant program designed to assist Illinois farmers by focusing on purchases from local farmers for schools, institutions, and organizations in underserved areas.
An issue that has touched every community in the state is housing insecurity. Pritzker shared the sobering data: 120,000 of our neighbors are experiencing homelessness, 76,000 kids in Illinois are technically “doubled up” in overcrowded conditions, and here in Illinois, you are 8 times more likely to experience homelessness if you are Black.
He went on to say that “homelessness is not an identity, it’s a set of circumstances,” then cited the success of the city of Rockford’s rehousing and eviction prevention program, something we’ve seen used with success here in the city as well. The Governor’s budget proposal includes $350 million for the Home Illinois program targeting prevention, crisis response, housing units, and staffing.
In discussing the work the legislature and Governor have undertaken together to ensure access to Reproductive and Gender Affirming Health Care for all, he said, “Let's not pull punches — this is the result of a national conservative crusade to legislate against the most intimate matters of a woman's basic healthcare. I'm sure there are some elected officials who would like us to stop talking about abortion. Well, too bad,” and went on to discuss the countless ways opponents are seeking to demonize and punish patients and providers in our neighboring states while vowing to ensure Illinois remains a safe haven for Reproductive and Gender Affirming Care. Citing the ever-increasing demand on our providers, Pritzker discussed our efforts to ensure that we have enough health care providers to meet that demand with investments in health care worker training, technology upgrades in the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to streamline the licensing process for all health care licensees, and the creation of a new Trans and Intersex Health Fund to ensure access to care.
Finally, Pritzker took aim at the seemingly bottomless well of rage and hatred aimed at marginalized communities.
Citing Elie Wiesel’s admonishment that we must always take sides, that neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim, Pritzker said, “With that in mind, I want to take sides on something I feel obligated to speak out about, especially given the history of anti-Semitism and discrimination suffered by my ancestors and that persists for so many others today. There is a virulent strain of nationalism plaguing our nation, led by demagogues who are pushing censorship, with a particular attack right now on school board members and library trustees. It's an ideological battle by the right-wing, hiding behind a claim that they would protect our children — but whose real intention is to marginalize people and ideas they don't like. This has been done in the past, and it doesn't stop with just snuffing out ideas.”
He went on to cite his education plan as doing everything in our power to invest in our children’s education but said it would be meaningless if we become a nation that bans books from school libraries that discuss racism, that tells kids they can’t say gay, that seeks to eliminate the richly diverse history of our nation or suppress discussions of the parts of our history about which we shouldn't be proud. I encourage you to read the whole speech here. He got his most enthusiastic ovation during this section of the speech where he raised the specter of the efforts in Florida and Texas to demonize teachers and remove truth from the curriculum and shared the contrast of our efforts to embrace our diversity in Illinois.
As I stated at the beginning of this section, this represents the Governor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024. It is now up to the House and Senate to examine the proposal in detail, address any changes that the chambers propose, and pass the budget back to the Governor by the end of the Spring session.
With today’s bill filing deadline, we return to Springfield next week ready to get down to business in committees advancing bills to the floor for full debate. More on my legislative agenda for the session in next week’s newsletter!
Not one to procrastinate, I moved my first bill of the session out of the Judiciary - Civil Law committee last week. HB1591 represents the ongoing work of the Dobbs Decision Working Group and was proposed by the Illinois State Bar Association who brought to our attention the presence of outdated turn of the 20th-century language aimed at protecting the ability of states to prohibit interracial marriage by threatening criminal action against anyone in Illinois who performed a marriage for residents of another state where their marriage would be prohibited. The Dobbs decision explicitly put the Obergefeld decision establishing marriage equality for the LGBTQ community and the Loving decision reversing the anti-miscegenation laws these statutes sought to defend on the radar for those seeking to set us back, so it’s critical that these dormant “zombie” statutes be removed from our laws.
Don’t forget that early voting is underway in the wards and is open 7 days a week. You can register to vote on the same day if you’ve moved recently or just haven’t gotten around to registering. The link in the paragraph will take you to the list of sites and hours, but locally, the 40th ward site is at Budlong Woods Library at 5630 N. Lincoln, the 48th ward site is at the Broadway Armory at 5917 N. Broadway, the 49th ward site is at Willye White at 1610 W Howard, and the 50th ward site is at Northtown Library at 6800 N. Western. Chicago residents can vote at any early voting site or at the downtown super site between now and Election Day on February 28th.
| 
