Rep. Greg Harris • 13th District
Springfield Update • March 31, 2011
Budget, Protecting People With Disabilities, JCAR
The House budget plan for FY12 continues to proceed in a bipartisan manner with only a few minor hiccups. This week Speaker Madigan and Minority Leader Cross presented bills to the various appropriations committees that would allocate portions of the available $33.173 billion GRF to statewide purposes such as payments to the state pension funds, debt service payments, the annual payment for group health insurance, etc.
Not yet included in these “off the top” expenditures are appropriations for Statutory Transfers Out which will amount to $2.317 billion GRF. Transfers Out includes automatic recurring appropriations to the Local Government Distributive Fund, certain transit agencies and other automatic distributions. These automatic transfers occur by law, and it is certainly within the power of the legislature to vote to stop them and re-allocate those funds for other purposes, although any proposed reduction in Transfers Out would certainly result in an outcry for local government bodies and other beneficiaries.
Assuming all “off the top” expenditures are accounted for (including the Statutory Transfers Out, permanent lapse and accounts payable), under the system authorized by HR156, here are the approximate GRF amounts available for appropriation:
Elementary and Secondary Ed: $6.855 billion
General Services: $1.230 billion
Higher Ed: $2.089 billion
Human Services: $12.011 billion
Public Safety: $1.664 billion
Cursory comparisons of these totals versus the anticipated GRF spending for this FY11 appears to indicate that the potential cuts necessary are far less than were feared. HOWEVER,
There are substantial reductions in federal funds from the stimulus (ARRA) that will have to be replaced by GRF or other state funds this year. So the potential for cuts, especially in human service (including Medicaid) lines and education lines may be as bad or worse than feared when factoring out ARRA current funding. We are awaiting an analysis backing those numbers out.
In addition, we are analyzing temporary ‘one time’ replacements of GRF with Other State Funds (OSF) in different departments that may ease the situation this year only to leave a bigger hole to fill next year. An example of this would be IDOT’s proposed utilization of Road Fund money to replace GRF this year.
I would advise those who are looking at the budget from an advocacy perspective to carefully include analyses of changes to both Federal Funds and Other State Funds in your reviews to get a true picture of the situation this year, and with an eye towards out-years.
Again, all of us on Appropriations Committees who are charged with making these cuts will be very appreciative if advocates can propose strategies to reduce expenses in their lines that are strategic and sensible. I strongly urge advocacy groups to work with their statewide partner organizations and to collaborate with similarly situated organizations to avoid pitting one ‘silo’ against another, and instead to come up with well thought out reduction strategies. Make no mistake…a lot will be cut, please bring constructive recommendations to the table. “Just don’t cut me, cut the other guy” is not acceptable.
Protecting People with Disabilties
The tragic occurrences at group homes for people with disabilities where there was a long series of abuse, neglect and death at facilities operated by the Graywood Foundation in central Illinois has highlighted glaring failure in the State’s ability to monitor and investigate facilities within its control. Having spoken with the families of some of the victims of these horrific crimes I share their wish that their loved ones have not suffered or died in vain and that we must do everything within our power to be sure that similar things never happen again.
Yesterday, I convened a meeting with the top management of state agencies to be certain that each and every type of facility the state funds or licenses is subject to tougher safety criteria, that investigation and inspection reports are easily accessible to law enforcement and family members and that there are automatic triggers that require immediate and decisive action by authorities if there are any possible cases of abuse or neglect suspected. These are the agencies participating in drafting new law and regulation to help prevent future tragedies:
Attorney General
Illinois State Police
Department of Public Health
Guardianship and Advocacy Commission
Department of Children and Family Services
Department on Aging
Department of Health Care and Family Services
Department of Human Services
I will be meeting with advocacy groups for people with disabilities including Equip for Equality and Access Living tomorrow.
We must do everything possible to be sure we are protecting the frail and vulnerable that depend on us for their homes and care to be sure that they live in safety and not in fear.
Joint Committee On Administrative Rules
I was very honored to be appointed by Speaker Madigan yesterday to serve as one of the House Members on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR). JCAR is a bi-partisan joint committee formed of a small group of House and Senate Members and is charged with approving all regular and emergency rulemaking and regulation by all State government bodies and agencies.
As always, I appreciate your thoughts and comments. Since we will be in Springfield almost constantly until June 1 now, please call me at 217 782 3835 or drop me a note at greg@gregharris.org