Rep. Greg Harris • 13th District
Springfield Update • April 18, 2022
End of Session Update/Budget Summary
The Spring 2022 session of the 102nd General Assembly was a very productive one, including many milestone accomplishments to balance our State’s budget, increase our fiscal stability, expand healthcare access and affordability, invest in major increases in equity, violence prevention, education and public safety.
I’m very pleased to say that my priority bills became law either individually or as part of the broader budget package. To recap them for you:
HB900 FY23 Operating and Capital budget
HB1950 Reauthorizes and extends the Hospital Assessment Program which brings $3.9 billion federal dollars to the Illinois Medicaid program. This reauthorization also continues and expands the Hospital Transformation Program to reduce healthcare disparities through community and provider collaboration, strengthens the Safety Net Hospital Pool funds, and funds the Poison Control center among other items.
HB4238 Creates major expansion of community-based mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. Designed to reduce waitlists, address workforce problem and add trauma-informed services, all in response to the skyrocketing demands created by COVID. Governor Pritzker adopted this into his FY23 budget and provided over $170 million to implement, as well as an additional $100 million to add an array of group-related services.
HB4264 Funds the Getting To Zero (GTZ) programs which will reduce racial disparities in HIV/AIDS services and care, as well as addressing social determinants of health for people living with HIV/AID. This item was funded in the approved budget for $10 million.
HB4343 The Equity In Medicaid Omnibus which makes numerous changes to increase equity in the Medicaid program, reduces artificial bureaucratic barriers to enrollment, and expands coverage and services. Major items include:
- Continues 12 month redetermination after the end of the Public Health Emergency to maintain continuity of coverage for individuals and families who have frequent fluctuations in monthly income.
- Requires HFS to use ex-parte redeterminations for AABD (Aged, Blind, Disabled) populations and persons with zero income whose eligibility is unlikely to change over time instead of making them regularly reapply which overburdens the system with pointless paperwork, and frequently causes dangerous loss or gaps in coverage.
- Reduces the penalizing and inequitable consequences of Medicaid liens and estate recovery. Expands hardship waivers for families, ends mandatory liens and allows $25,000 estate recovery waivers so that families are not forced to impoverish themselves to care for an elder.
- Increases outpatient pediatric psych rates to allow children’s hospitals to expand behavioral health services to meet COVID related demand
- Requires Medicaid to cover midwifery services
- Increases Spouse Resource Allowance for the first time in 10 years
- Expands access to healthcare for undocumented persons to those 42 years old and up
- Allows for Medicaid coverage of peer support recovery services
- Expands Medicaid dental coverage to services like preventative, restorative as well as certain surgical codes
- Allows coverage of acupuncture
- Creates mental health wellbeing screening program for grades 7-12 in schools
- Increases rates for Medicars
- And others
HB4595 Protects FQHC, Ryan White HIV/AIDS clinics and hemophilia clinic participation in federal 340B discount drug program, and puts certain limits on PBMs and insurance companies.
HB4700 The FY23 Budget Implementation Act (BIMP)
HB5142 Recent studies indicate that there are over 600,000 Illinoisans who are uninsured but are eligible to be covered by either Medicaid or the Obamacare ACA Marketplace with premium assistance. This will put a check box on tax return forms. If a person checks the box, they will be automatically notified if they are eligible for health insurance that can be low cost or no cost, and directed to the enrollment process.
FY23 Budget Summary
Government budgets should be both fiscal and moral documents. I’m happy to say that our new FY23 budget fulfills both those missions. We invested in making healthcare more accessible and affordable, transforming healthcare systems and reducing disparities; boosted wages for workers delivering services to seniors and people with disabilities; increased funding for law enforcement, violence interrupters and reimagining public safety; increased funding for the most financially challenged school districts and made MAP grant scholarships available to tens of thousands more students; and invested the largest infusion of funds in decades to expanding community based mental health and substance abuse treatment.
In FY22 (current fiscal year), we budgeted very conservatively due to the unknowns of COVID and how it would effect the economy. That paid off on the revenue side where larger than anticipated increases in sales taxes and corporate income taxes, boosted by federal and state COVID relief, gave us a large one-time surplus. To be fiscally responsible, we spent those surplus one-time revenues on one-time expenses:
- $1.8 billion in tax relief for Illinois families, including direct property tax and income tax rebate checks, grocery tax and gas tax relief, and expansion of the earned income tax credit
- $898 million to reduce the last of the state’s bill backlog to the group health program
- $230 million to stabilize College Illinois investment program
- $500 million added contribution to state pension funds, above required amount, to produce a $1 billion liability reduction
- $929 million in interfund borrowing repayment
- $1 billion addition to the Rainy Day Fund
- $1 billion final repayment of all federal debt through the Municipal Liquidity Fund (MLF), originally a $3.2 billion debt
Paying down the bulk of our debts not only has the benefit of saving hundreds of millions per year in interest costs and showing fiscal responsibility, it frees up over $1 billion per year in coming years to go to helping our schools, hospitals and public safety that otherwise would have gone into borrowing costs and principal repayment. Especially if we encounter lean years, this will be a big buffer from having to make severe cuts.
As mentioned above, we dedicated over $1.8 billion for tax relief for families, plus additional funding to assist local governments, as well as incentives to bring new businesses and jobs to Illinois, particularly in manufacturing, tech and logistics. Here are highlights of those items:
- Expanded state EITC to 20% of federal credit, made people 18-15, 65 and up, and ITIN filers eligible. Made the credit refundable to expand the number of families eligible for refunds
- One time income tax rebate check. Rebate of $50 per filer and $100 per dependent, up to 3 dependents (Not available to high income households)
- One time property tax rebate check, equal to your property tax credit (on your state income tax form) or $300, whichever is less
- Freeze on sales taxes on groceries for a year (state will reimburse cities and towns for lost revenue)
- Gas tax freeze
- Back-to-School sales tax holiday Aug 5-14
- One time increase to Local Government Distributive Fund
- Doubles maximum credit that qualified teachers, counselors, principals, school aides, etc. can use for buying instructional materials and supplies for their classroom
- Extends EDGE tax credit program for 5 years and allows start-up businesses to qualify for the first time
- Expands Reimagining Electric Vehicles (REV) program to include advanced batteries and components, a well as hydrogen fuel cell and solar refueling infrastructure
- Increases successful Film Production Tax Credit program and provides incentives for development of diverse and inclusive workforce
- Expands Live Theater Credit
- Allows employers to take a $1000 tax credit for giving workers at least 30 days paid leave after donating an organ
- Extends the biodiesel sales tax exemption and increases the amount of biodiesel to be used to qualify for the exemption
Here are some highlights from the FY23 spending plan. You can see the full budget here: https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/HB/PDF/10200HB0900sam003.pdf and the full BIMP here: https://ilga.gov/legislation/102/HB/PDF/10200HB4700sam002.pdf
Higher Education
- 5% increase to state universities
- 36% increase to Diversifying Higher Education Faculty program
- 101% increase to Competitive Grant for Nursing Schools
- Fully fund AIM High, Golden Apple Scholars, Grow Your Own Teacher, Quad Cities Graduate Study Center and IMSA Fusion Program
- Increases in Minority Teachers of Illinois, Nurse Educator Loan Program and Nursing Related Scholarships
- 25% increase to MAP Grants which funds 24,000 more need-based students
- 9% increase to Illinois Math and Science Academy
Elementary and Secondary Education
- Fully fund commitment to Evidence Based Model with an additional $350 million
- Major increases to all Mandated Categorical lines (MCATs)
- Added funding for YouthBuild, Parent Mentoring and After School Program
- Additional $54 million for Early Childhood education and an additional $15 million for birth-5
- Establishes new statewide grant program for school districts wanting to implement mental health wellness checks for grade 7-12
Human Services and Healthcare
- Adds an additional $50 million for healthcare transformation, bringing the 2-year plan allocation to $450 million
- Fully funds Long Term Care Rate Reform, workforce staffing requirements and increased pay rates
- $13.9 million in new systems to modernize and increase compliance with child support
- $94.8 million more towards implementation of Guidehouse rate study
- $240 million for implementation of Reimagine Public Safety Act, including violence interruption programs, after school and alternative youth activities, trauma informed mental health services and programming directed toward root causes of violence
- $410 million for childcare and dedicated funding to protect childcare capacity
- $1.2 billion for in-home care for seniors (CCP), including rate increases for workers and added capacity for 2,257 additional seniors
- Funding for 12 million home delivered meals for seniors, 358,000 more than this year
- $254 million increase to DCFS to strengthen residential capacity, add personnel and increase foster and group home rates
- Over $1.4 billion in state and federal funds for IDPH COVID response
- $66.8 million in equity grants to Safety Net hospitals
- $2 million for Alzheimer outreach and education
- $10 million for Getting to Zero HIV/AIDS disparities reduction
- Fully funds Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer program
Public Safety
- $528 million for Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, a $162 million increase. For violence prevention program, Witness Protection Program, R3 grants
- 3 new cadet classes for Illinois State Police
- Fully funds Safe2Help program (tip line to prevent suicide, bullying, school violence and other threats to school safety)
- $24 million for Illinois Emergency Management Agency for preparation for response and mitigation for future pandemics, acts of terrorism and natural disasters
- Grants for purchase of body worn cameras for local police departments
- Law enforcement retention grants, training and recruitment grants for local police departments
- $5.4 million for equipping the new State Police Forensic Lab in Decatur
- $4 million for NIBIN (bullet tracing) technology and costs
General Service
- $100 million for broadband equity and expansion
- $38 million in worker training program
- $18.5 million for Tourism Grants
- ARPA funds for COVID relief grants to hotels, hospitality, restaurants and bars, arts, performing arts, cultural and tourism industries
- ARPA funding for development of affordable housing and reducing homelessness
- Increased funding for Dept. of Labor enforcement of Equal Pay Act
- $5 million increase in operating assistance for 4 Amtrak passenger rail routes
- $452 million in operating assistance for CTA, Metra and PACE
- Funding of PACE para-transit program
- $143 million decrease to Central Management Services
This is just a sampling of some major programs. If you would like to know more about a specific line or program, just let me know by emailing me at greg@gregharris.org