Rep. Greg Harris • 13th District
Springfield Update • March 4, 2011
House Budget Process Begins
The House began our budget process this week, which will be entirely different than we have used for many years. Those of you who advocate for agencies or line items should pay immediate and early attention to how these changes will dramatically 1) reduce the amount of money the state has to spend, and 2) major changes in how you will need to advocate for your priorities.
The House Revenue Committee this week voted on our initial revenue estimate, which is the amount of money that we will have available to appropriate for all budget purposes. The House revenue estimate is $33.173 Billion. This figure is $759 million lower than the estimate in the Governor’s introduced budget (owing to the Governor counting on certain revenue sources that have not yet been approved by the General Assembly).
The House revenue estimates are also $2.2 Billion less than the Governor projected to spend in his proposed budget. You do not need to be a math whiz to see that these figures portend huge cuts across all of state government in every agency and program.
You can see the House revenue estimates here: http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700HR0110ham001&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HR&LegID=60366&DocNum=110&GAID=11&Session=
This must still be approved by majority vote of the full House. Then, it is my understanding that certain obligations of the state (pension payments, employee benefits and debt service) will be taken out of the revenue estimate to obtain an appropriable balance. The House must then vote to allocate certain percentages of that remaining balance to each appropriation committee. That allocation will be the maximum cap which appropriation committees can fund within all the agencies under their jurisdiction. It is in this process where the major cutting of programs and agencies will occur.
As a guide, here is the average percentage distribution of appropriation between the committees over the last 3 years:
Elementary/Secondary Education 28.941%
General Services 5.060%
Higher Education 8.766%
Human Services 50.143%
Public Safety 7.090%
Again, the amounts of money available to appropriate for these purposes this year will be dramatically lower (by billions) than we are used to, so there will be major cuts ahead.
This week I was lobbied by a variety of interest groups and constituents about a wide range of budget issues. My advice to them (and to you) is to avoid the “shotgun” lobbying of past years, and instead (if you wish to save your program or appropriation) use highly targeted lobbying only of members of the Appropriation Committee that has jurisdiction over your program area. For instance, while I may be a firm believer in and incredibly sympathetic to the needs of the Community Cares Program, funding decisions about that program are going to be made by the Appropriations—Human Services committee of which I am not a member, and therefore have no vote. (FYI—I am Vice Chairman of Appropriations-Public Safety).
Hence my advice to all advocates is to study the Appropriation Committee membership lists and develop highly targeted information and lobbying campaigns to only those members. Lobbying other House or Senate members may not be a good use of your time, and your message may be totally lost while funding decisions are being made elsewhere.
Also, do not assume that just because your program is worthwhile it will be funded. Facing over $2 Billion dollars in cuts demands that many worthy and useful programs are bound to be severely cut or eliminated in order to maintain funding for those deemed to be essential, and also those programs that can prove success in achieving outcomes for their target populations.
In short, my advice to advocates during this initial phase of the budgeting process is:
1) Strategically lobby only those members of appropriations committees which will be voting on your funding during the initial stages of crafting agency budgets.
2) Be prepared to carefully, truthfully and factually explain and document why your program is important to the people of Illinois, is effective and efficient
3) Be prepared to show evidence of demonstrable outcomes for services provided, as well as collaboration, cost-cutting and efficiency measures in place, as well as providing fact-based estimates of short- and long-term benefits to the state should your program be funded.
You can see the list of appropriations committees here, click on the committee name to see its members and scheduled hearing dates: http://ilga.gov/house/committees/default.asp
Also, pay careful attention to the Senate which will be operating its own budget process, which will be distinct and separate from ours. By midnight on May 31, both the House and the Senate will have to agree on a single budget package which can get majority support in both Chambers, so this process will be long, detail intensive, fluid and complicated. You should follow it carefully 24 hours per day until complete if you have an interest in the outcome.
As always, I welcome your thoughts and ideas. I can be reached in Chicago at 773 348 3434 or in Springfield at 217 782 3835. My email is greg@gregharris.org