 Voices for Illinois Children 2021 Winter Newsletter
March 15, 2021
From Voices Executive Director Tasha Green Cruzat
Dear Friends,
We are on the verge of spring and it does seem to be bringing some hope. - With each passing week, additional COVID-19 vaccines are available.
- Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation to reform criminal justice practices and education in Illinois and hopefully bring greater racial equity with those changes.
- President Joe Biden has signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law bringing billions of dollars to the state to help us address the impacts of the pandemic that include health, education, and housing needs. (You can find a summary of the major provisions of the Rescue Plan on our website.)
Yet, there’s a great deal of work ahead of us. Hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents lost their jobs last year. Many of those job losses are permanent. Particularly hardest hit were low wage individuals in the leisure and hospitality industries who could least afford it. Children have fallen behind in their education with remote learning. More Illinois residents face food insecurity than at the start of 2020. Of course, we cannot forget the thousands of Illinois resident who have lost their lives in the past year due to the coronavirus. The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that as of Saturday there have been 20,924 Illinois deaths from COVID-19 with another 2,264 probable deaths. Many of these individuals were parents and grandparents. Voices will be working with our fellow advocates, legislators, and the Governor’s administration to help address the outstanding issues the coronavirus is leaving behind. Furthermore, the pandemic has exposed the economic, health, and educational inequities that existed in our state before COVID-19 arrived. While we can inoculate ourselves against the virus, we still need to root out the barriers that prevent every child from succeeding. HB 2170
One step in the direction of eliminating racial and ethnic inequities is by taking a deeper look at who accesses state programs and services and matching the information with data on existing needs. Earlier this month, Governor Pritzker signed into law HB 2170, which was part of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus agenda to address existing racial and ethnic inequities in early childhood education, K-12 education, and higher education as well as associated workforce issues. A key element of this bill, which Voices worked on with the Legislative Black Caucus, is a provision requiring the State Board of Education, human services agencies, and other designated departments to report on the racial and ethnic demographics of major program participants. This data should allow policymakers and others to detect inequities in the delivery of state services and help direct state resources to the most vulnerable residents in Illinois still in need of such services. Other provisions include an extension of early intervention services for three-year olds, creation of the Whole Child Task Force (with the mission of establishing an equitable, inclusive, safe, and supportive environment in all schools for every student), and new high school graduation requirements regarding laboratory science and foreign language. You can go to our website for a factsheet on additional provisions in the bill. Illinois Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding
Improving the readiness of our state’s youngest residents for kindergarten and bringing greater equity to the state’s early childhood education and care system are just two of the goals a Commission appointed by the Governor has been working on this past year. The Governor formed the Illinois Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding in December of 2019. The Commission has issued a final draft report, which calls for bringing programs now housed within the State Board of Education, Department of Human Services, and Department of Children and Family Services under the roof of a new agency. You can read more about the draft report on our website. Preparing a Fiscal Year 2022 State Budget
As we move into spring, the legislature will be ramping up its efforts to craft a state budget for the next fiscal year. Governor Pritzker’s proposed budget calls for eliminating or curtailing $932 million in tax expenditures. These steps include capping the maximum amount of loss a company can take on its taxes for the next three years and decoupling from several federal tax provisions.
While the contributions to our state pension systems increase by $739 million from our current fiscal year, the proposed budget generally has level funding for government operations (with some variations within that total). However, that picture could change with federal approval of the American Rescue Plan that will provide $7.5 billion to the state for government services affected by a revenue reduction related to the pandemic. (However, the new federal funding cannot be used to fund tax cuts or pensions.) There are additional revenue streams that will flow to the state that include funding for rental assistance, public health, education, and child care. You can read Voices’ analysis of the proposed FY22 budget on our website. Keeping a strong Voice
With decisions to be made on how to allocate new federal funding, what to fund in a new state budget, and how to improve our early childhood education and care system, it’s important to have a strong voice to keep bringing the needs of our state’s children and families to the attention of our elected officials. I know how difficult this past year has been for many of you but, if you can, please contribute online to Voices for Illinois Children. Your contributions help us produce the reports that show the facts on the well-being of our children, the existing inequities, and the work that remains to be done. Thank you to all of you who have contributed this past year and thank you to everyone for your continued support of Voices. |
