By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD – The House on Wednesday, April 6, unveiled a $45.6 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1. Revenues are expected to be just over $46 billion.

The negotiations on an agreed proposal continued Wednesday and the bill numbers were likely to change before a budget passes either chamber.

The proposal contained about $1.3 billion in tax relief, up from $1 billion proposed by the governor but down from $1.8 billion offered by Senate Democrats.

While the House Democrats’ plan includes direct payments to Illinoisans, it would apply to only those currently eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. Those qualifying for that credit would receive $100 from the state for single filers and $200 for joint filers, plus $50 per dependent.

The cost for the House plan would be $165 million, according to estimates from the House Democrats, while another expansion to the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, would cost $103.5 million.

That measure would increase the state Earned Income Tax Credit by two percentage points, raising it to 20 percent of the federal tax credit. The EITC is a credit available to low- and moderate-income households. It is a refundable credit, meaning those who qualify can receive a refund, even if the amount of the credit exceeds what they would otherwise owe in taxes.

It would also expand the state EITC to include people aged 18-24 and those 65 years and older.

Pritzker, at an unrelated news conference in his office, said his administration was analyzing the proposal, but he praised the EITC language.

The proposal doubles the tax credit that teachers can claim for the personal purchase of supplies for their classrooms to $500 from $250.

The House plan also adds $100 million to the Local Government Distributive Fund, partially satisfying a longtime request from municipalities.

Another $1 billion in tax relief is attributable to a property tax relief proposal, a one-year stay on the state’s grocery tax and a six-month stay on an automated increase to the motor fuel tax at the pace of inflation.

Property taxpayers earning less than $250,000 individually or $500,000 jointly would receive a property tax credit of 5 percent of property taxes paid, up to $300 per household.

The motor fuel tax was scheduled to rise between 2 and 3 cents on July 1 without action, but the measure would push that back to Jan. 1, 2023, while a subsequent increase at the rate of inflation would occur again on July 1, 2023.

The budget also included $236 million in new funding that the House Democrats said would address public safety through a variety of investments in law enforcement and youth intervention programs. That included $124 million “to support local police and reduce violent crime,” according to House Democrats. That includes funding for body cameras, license plate readers, non-deadly equipment, and ballistics testing and forensics.

The budget also includes $50 million in interest payments on Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund debt, which still has an outstanding balance of about $1.8 billion after lawmakers directed $2.7 billion in federal funding to the debt last month. Harris said a solution for paying down that remaining debt is still being negotiated between business and labor interests.

It also includes the statutory added $350 million for K-12 education and a 5 percent increase for higher education.

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SENATE DEM PLAN: Democrats in the Illinois Senate on Friday announced a $1.8 billion package of mostly temporary tax relief proposals that they hope to include in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget as the legislative session entered its final week. A proposal by the Illinois House release Tuesday night pared those numbers down, however.

The package is $800 million beyond the tax relief package proposed by Gov. JB Pritzker in his budget in February, although it includes many of the same tax reductions backed by the governor. The measures are contained in eight amendments to Senate Bill 1150.

Pritzker’s office said it will review the plan, while Republicans called it an election-year gimmick.

Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, one of the lead budgeteers in the Senate, said the tax relief was made possible by unspecified “additional revenues” made available in the budget.

The plan announced Friday would include one-time direct checks to Illinoisans. Those earning less than $250,000 in 2021 would receive a $100 check, while joint filers earning less than $500,000 would receive $200. Checks would include an extra $50 per dependent, up to three dependents.

Lawmakers said the hope would be that the checks would be distributed by September. Taxpayers would not need to take action to receive the checks. Anyone who is eligible based on their 2021 return would be sent a check.

Other programs include a six-month suspension on the state’s 1 percent grocery tax, as well as a six-month stay on the inflationary adjustment to the motor fuel tax. That equates to keeping the motor fuel tax at its current level rather than increasing it by 2-3 cents.

Democrats are also proposing to increase the state Earned Income Tax Credit by a percentage point, raising it to 19 percent of the federal tax credit. The EITC is a credit available to low- and moderate-income households. It is a refundable credit, meaning those who qualify can receive a refund, even if the amount of the credit exceeds what they would otherwise owe in taxes.

Another proposal would allow for a tax credit up to $300 for homeowners who earn less than $250,000 individually or $500,000 jointly. The credit would be 5 percent of property tax paid, up to $300.

Another measure gets rid of the sales tax on school supplies from Aug. 5 to Aug. 14 this year. The tax moratorium would also apply to qualifying clothing and footwear items up to $125 per item.

It would also give teachers a tax credit up to $300 beginning in tax year 2023, up from $250 the current tax year, for supplies purchased for their classrooms and a $500 credit for volunteer firefighters and EMS who held those positions for at least nine months in the tax year. The sponsors said those credits would be permanent.

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TEACHER COVID LEAVE: Public school, community college and public university employees who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are now entitled to paid administrative leave for any days they miss this school year due to coronavirus-related issues.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed House Bill 1167 into law, which provides those employees as many days off as needed to abide by public health guidelines and mandates related to isolation and exclusion. The law applies to any employee of public educational institutions, including support staff and contractors.

It also applies retroactively to days missed this school year.

Lawmakers initially passed a bill during last year’s fall veto session that provided paid leave for any education employee who had to miss work due to COVID-19, but Pritzker vetoed that measure in January because it also would have applied to unvaccinated employees.

At the same time he issued that veto, however, Pritzker announced he had reached a negotiated agreement with teachers’ unions, school districts, colleges and universities on a bill that would include a vaccine requirement for the benefit.

The original bill passed the General Assembly in October with near-unanimous support, but the inclusion of a vaccination requirement to be able to receive the benefits sparked Republican opposition. They argued that unvaccinated employees who have to stay home to care for a sick family member would be deprived of a benefit that a vaccinated person in the same position would receive.

But Pritzker defended the vaccine requirement as a way to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

“What we’re trying to do, of course, is to encourage people to do the right thing to keep their students safe, to keep the rest of the school safe, by being vaccinated. That’s the whole purpose of that provision in the law,” he said.

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HEALTH CARE VISITS: The Illinois House advanced a measure Monday, April 4, that aims to ensure nursing home patients have a right to visitors even amid a public health emergency. The Senate passed the measure Wednesday, April 6.

Senate Bill 1405 states that a health care facility must ensure “an opportunity for at least one visitor to visit a resident or patient,” even amid a gubernatorial disaster declaration. A clergyperson would not count against the limit.

Health safety guidelines set by the health care facility, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would need to be followed for entry. And the person seeking entry may be required to pass a health screening.

Rep. Chris Bos, R-Lake Zurich, the bill’s chief House sponsor, said the legislation would give local control to the health care facilities. Bos also said it is in response to constituents who were upset that they could not visit family members in health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic due to Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders.

Bos said facilities would still have to comply with local health department guidance as well.

Early in the pandemic, Pritzker issued an executive order restricting visitation of those in health care facilities during peak transmission periods to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, expressed concern that the bill would lead to a repeat of executive orders being challenged with lawsuits.

“The reality is, when you have a worldwide pandemic, the governor has to have the ability and the authority to make the decision that is in the best interest in the state,” Ammons said.

She was one of three Democrats voting against the measure, along with Chicago Reps. Will Guzzardi and Greg Harris, as it passed on a 105-3 vote with three lawmakers not voting.

Ammons said that she understands that Bos was aiming to ensure family members are not alone during a public health crisis but that the bill “usurps the governor’s authority.”

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Pritzker said the pandemic won’t likely be the last one the state faces, and he wants to ensure laws that are put in place are appropriate going forward to ensure the most vulnerable are safe.

He didn’t say whether he would sign the bill or offer any amendatory veto.

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DCFS AUDIT REQUESTED: In the wake of the recent deaths of five children who were in contact with the state’s child protection agency and eight contempt citations against the agency’s director, House Republicans on Wednesday, April 6, asked for a performance audit at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

House Resolution 824 was filed Wednesday, requesting the state’s auditor general audit the agency and create a report that details DCFS policies, their shortcomings and how they could be improved.

During a news conference on Wednesday, the resolution’s sponsors, Reps. Tom Weber, R-Lake Villa, David Welter, R-Morris, and Chris Bos, R-Lake Zurich, said they want a snapshot of the agency performance over the last two years.

During a simultaneous news conference in his Capitol office, Pritzker pointed to the decimation of the agency by the previous administration by failing to pass a budget to fund DCFS.

But Bos disagreed.

“Director Smith has had three years. He could have came in and been a hero and turned this agency around,” Bos said in an interview after the news conference.

In response to a question about whether Pritzker has confidence in Smith, he said he and the DCFS director are both concerned for child safety.

“The director is, like me, also deeply concerned about the conditions for these children and making sure that we’re doing everything we can with the budgets that we have, with the time that we have, to do it as quickly as possible to bring back beds for these kids to make sure that they’re getting the services they need,” he said.

Since December, at least five children have died after contact with the state’s child protection agency. They are Navin Jones, 8, of Peoria; Damari Perry, 6, of North Chicago; Sophia Faye Davis, 1, of Dawson; Zaraz Walker, 1, of Bloomington; and Tamsin Miracle Sauer, 3, of Nelson.

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DCFS DEATHS: Eight-year-old Navin Jones died Tuesday evening at OSF Healthcare St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Jones’ family had been in contact with DCFS before his death, according to DCFS spokesman William McCaffrey.

Stephanie Jones, 35, and Brandon Walker, 40, Navin’s parents, face first-degree murder charges in connection with the boy’s death.

“I think there should be a hefty internal investigation by DCFS into this case,” Harwood said. “And if there were failures, those should be remedied.”

The Peoria Journal Star reported Peoria County State’s Attorney Dave Kenny said during the arraignment for Navin’s parents that the boy weighed 30 pounds and was living in deplorable conditions. The child was last seen in late October or early November, when was in “relatively good health,” according to the newspaper report.

Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood declined to comment on Navin’s condition at the time of his death, citing the pending investigation, but did say the cause of his death was homicide and the manner was abuse and neglect.

Eighty miles due north of Peoria in Nelson, another coroner was investigating the death of 3-year-old Tamsin Miracle Sauer. She died in a Sterling hospital in Whiteside County on Saturday. The manner and cause of her death is still under investigation.

Tamsin’s family also had contact with DCFS, McCaffrey said.

The deaths of Navin and Tamsin are the latest cases of children who have died after having contact with DCFS. Since January, Sophia Faye Davis, 1; Damari Perry, 6; and Zaraz Walker, 7 months, have died from child abuse.

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DCFS HIRING: On Tuesday, March 29, Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith filed the first annual report on the department’s plan to address investigator caseloads as a requirement of a federal consent decree. That report, filed in a court document, showed there is a current statewide rolling vacancy percentage of 21 percent, and DCFS has a goal of reducing it to 6 percent or less.

DCFS stated in the report that they are aggressively hiring, having added 198 investigators to the payroll since March 2021, but due to the high number of employees leaving and retiring, the overall headcount went up by only a dozen investigators.

The agency pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and a labor crisis, coupled with rising child abuse investigations across the state, as obstacles to meeting that goal.

Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, whose office represents about 7,100 children in state care, said Thursday that if DCFS had been keeping up with hiring over the past few decades it would not be in such straits now.

“It’s clear that when DCFS’s investigators labor under untenable caseloads without the supports that they need, in violation of court orders, both children and the investigators alike are at risk of serious harm and even death,” Golbert said in a phone call. “I fear that until DCFS gets its investigator caseloads down to reasonable levels, as mandated under a federal court order that is now more than 30 years old, we will continue to see children harmed.”  

Golbert also mentioned the January death of DCFS investigator Deidre Silas as an impediment to hiring.

In the motion filed by DCFS last week the 12-month average of investigations in March 2021 was 6,535. That rose to 7,726 in March 2022. An increase in reporting may be attributable to children having more contact with mandated reporters, such as teachers and doctors, as the pandemic eases. The increase may also be attributable to an increase in family stress, such as financial pressures.

In addition to recruiting and retention efforts, DCFS is conducting weekend “blitzes,” moving staff from other locations to volunteer for weekend shifts to help with completing investigations. In DCFS’s northern region, the agency conducted 13 blitzes where 148 staff worked a combined 2,500 weekend hours to help with investigations.

Last year, the court granted a three-year extension to DCFS to meet caseworker hiring goals. The parties agreed to make changes in 1991, but 30 years later the agency is still struggling to be in full compliance with the decree.

 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.