Emergency Stop Gap Summary
Please feel free to share this with your neighbors and friends to keep them informed.
This summary is a result of the tireless work of the budget working groups that have met during the month of June. While we were not in Springfield until this week, a lot of work has been done during this month. I had been in contact with the working groups and received regular updates.
This week we returned to Springfield and yesterday we passed a package of bills representing a compromise with the Governor and Republicans on a stop-gap emergency funding appropriations for fiscal year '16 and the first six months of fiscal year '17. All bills needed 71 votes to pass in overtime session.
These items are funded using existing funds only. We remain far short of what is needed for full operations and we will need to address this short-fall before the end of this year. Agencies that have gone without payments or contracts while providing services should expect to begin receiving payments under this plan.
K-12 Budget (School districts in the 84th District all gain money): SB2047 (Passed 105 Y - 4 N - 1 P) finally fully funds education at a level that benefits all school districts and helps the school districts in the less affluent areas without taking any funding from other school districts. This is a huge win for all our school districts. It includes a full year of funding for K-12 education, and contains an increase in general state aid by $361 million, $250 million for equity grants which assist high poverty schools and $75 million increase to early childhood education. This bill contains a "hold harmless" provision which guarantees that no district will receive less money than in FY16.
According to ISBE: Indian Prairie School district would receive an additional $224,074; Oswego District 308 would receive an additional $3.986M; and East Aurora District 131 would receive an additional $5.353M
Holding Chicago Responsible: SB318 (82 Y - 29 N) authorizes the restoration of a dedicated property tax levy for the Chicago Teacher's Pension Fund (CTPF). This levy would be capped at a rate of 0.383%, which is estimated to generate $250 million. In 1995, the dedicated pension levy was eliminated, which allowed Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to entirely skip pension payments for 10 years. This is in large part the reason for the current fiscal crisis at CPS. The money raised will go directly into the pension fund and neither the City nor CPS can use these funds for any other purpose. This does not raise property taxes and is not a bailout, it makes CPS accountable again for their responsibilities.
I voted against SB2822 (73 Y - 37 N) which provided a significant ($215M) pension payment from the State to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) for FY17. I believe we need to ensure accountability from CPS, which has been plagued with mismanagement and scandal before giving them more money.
Human Services: I have been an advocate for SB2038; and I am pleased that in SB2047 many of the recommendations from the previous bill was adopted. SB2047 will provide $667M from the Commitment to Human Services Fund to fund human services programs at a 65% level of full funding for the 18 month period (FY16 and 1/2 FY17) which are not currently covered under court order. Examples include autism services, programs for people with disabilities, addiction treatment, programs for homeless youth, rape crisis centers, domestic violence centers, etc.
Higher Education: Senate Bill 2059 was passed in April provided $600M in emergency funding to our Higher Education system. This week, SB2047 will provide an additional $1 billion in funding for Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA), community colleges, universities, and Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) grant recipients. Unfortunately, the MAP funding was only for Spring 2016 semester amounts to allow students to complete the year, or be able to graduate and receive their transcripts. There is no additional funding for MAP grants for the Fall 2016 semester.
Capital Projects: SB2047 includes funding for EPA projects, capital projects including road improvements and repairs and other infrastructure projects, and will ensure they are not interrupted and our roads can be appropriately maintained.
Other State Funds (Non Budget Accounts): SB2047 releases all Other State Funds (OSF). These are monies in funds that we are supposed to pass through and use for dedicated purposes. These funds do not commingle with the General Revenue Fund (GRF) where the budget is proposed from. While I understand there is discussion about reducing the amount of funds the state of Illinois has, in times of crisis such as this is where we see the benefit of protecting this money from sweeps. These items are federal funds we pass through, such as money to the Area Agencies on Aging, Federal Grants to organizations in addition to Leaking Underground Storage Tank clean up fund reimbursements, emergency response money, LIHEAP assistance program and many other similar programs.
The Governor has signed SB2047 and it is now Public Act 99-0524.
Please feel free to share this with your neighbors and friends to keep them informed.
This summary is a result of the tireless work of the budget working groups that have met during the month of June. While we were not in Springfield until this week, a lot of work has been done during this month. I had been in contact with the working groups and received regular updates.
This week we returned to Springfield and yesterday we passed a package of bills representing a compromise with the Governor and Republicans on a stop-gap emergency funding appropriations for fiscal year '16 and the first six months of fiscal year '17. All bills needed 71 votes to pass in overtime session.
These items are funded using existing funds only. We remain far short of what is needed for full operations and we will need to address this short-fall before the end of this year. Agencies that have gone without payments or contracts while providing services should expect to begin receiving payments under this plan.
K-12 Budget (School districts in the 84th District all gain money): SB2047 (Passed 105 Y - 4 N - 1 P) finally fully funds education at a level that benefits all school districts and helps the school districts in the less affluent areas without taking any funding from other school districts. This is a huge win for all our school districts. It includes a full year of funding for K-12 education, and contains an increase in general state aid by $361 million, $250 million for equity grants which assist high poverty schools and $75 million increase to early childhood education. This bill contains a "hold harmless" provision which guarantees that no district will receive less money than in FY16.
According to ISBE: Indian Prairie School district would receive an additional $224,074; Oswego District 308 would receive an additional $3.986M; and East Aurora District 131 would receive an additional $5.353M
Holding Chicago Responsible: SB318 (82 Y - 29 N) authorizes the restoration of a dedicated property tax levy for the Chicago Teacher's Pension Fund (CTPF). This levy would be capped at a rate of 0.383%, which is estimated to generate $250 million. In 1995, the dedicated pension levy was eliminated, which allowed Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to entirely skip pension payments for 10 years. This is in large part the reason for the current fiscal crisis at CPS. The money raised will go directly into the pension fund and neither the City nor CPS can use these funds for any other purpose. This does not raise property taxes and is not a bailout, it makes CPS accountable again for their responsibilities.
I voted against SB2822 (73 Y - 37 N) which provided a significant ($215M) pension payment from the State to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) for FY17. I believe we need to ensure accountability from CPS, which has been plagued with mismanagement and scandal before giving them more money.
Human Services: I have been an advocate for SB2038; and I am pleased that in SB2047 many of the recommendations from the previous bill was adopted. SB2047 will provide $667M from the Commitment to Human Services Fund to fund human services programs at a 65% level of full funding for the 18 month period (FY16 and 1/2 FY17) which are not currently covered under court order. Examples include autism services, programs for people with disabilities, addiction treatment, programs for homeless youth, rape crisis centers, domestic violence centers, etc.
Higher Education: Senate Bill 2059 was passed in April provided $600M in emergency funding to our Higher Education system. This week, SB2047 will provide an additional $1 billion in funding for Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA), community colleges, universities, and Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) grant recipients. Unfortunately, the MAP funding was only for Spring 2016 semester amounts to allow students to complete the year, or be able to graduate and receive their transcripts. There is no additional funding for MAP grants for the Fall 2016 semester.
Capital Projects: SB2047 includes funding for EPA projects, capital projects including road improvements and repairs and other infrastructure projects, and will ensure they are not interrupted and our roads can be appropriately maintained.
Other State Funds (Non Budget Accounts): SB2047 releases all Other State Funds (OSF). These are monies in funds that we are supposed to pass through and use for dedicated purposes. These funds do not commingle with the General Revenue Fund (GRF) where the budget is proposed from. While I understand there is discussion about reducing the amount of funds the state of Illinois has, in times of crisis such as this is where we see the benefit of protecting this money from sweeps. These items are federal funds we pass through, such as money to the Area Agencies on Aging, Federal Grants to organizations in addition to Leaking Underground Storage Tank clean up fund reimbursements, emergency response money, LIHEAP assistance program and many other similar programs.
The Governor has signed SB2047 and it is now Public Act 99-0524.
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