* House Floor Amendment 1 to SB2800. Click here.
…Adding… A few more…
* Sen. David Koehler’s FOID bill: SAM1 to HB562
* Rep. Sonya Harper’s trailer bill for the new equity law: HAM2 to SB166
* Rep. Robert Rita’s gaming bill: HAM1 to SB521
I’ll have more for subscribers in the morning, including a summary of the new elections bill.
*** UPDATE *** This is from that Rita bill…
…Adding… Press release…
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, representing community providers of services and programs for thousands of Illinoisans with intellectual and developmental disabilities, today issued the following statement as lawmakers prepare to vote on a Fiscal Year 2022 state budget and adjourn the spring legislative session:
“Our mantra this spring has been clear: we must do better on funding I/DD services in Illinois. The proposed state budget legislators have put together does not meet that standard.
A federal decree requires Illinois to do better, by providing better funding for services, staff wages, and reducing wait lists for services. The Guidehouse rate study commissioned by the Department of Human Services and released late last year made clear it will take a significant investment starting this coming fiscal year to make real progress.
The Governor’s proposed funding increase of $122 million – the amount that is included in the budget being considered today – is simply not nearly enough to meet the tremendous needs of the people we serve. This budget does not:
• Fully fund the rate study, nor an agreement among our service providers and the labor unions representing their workers to increase state support
• Support 28,000 individuals currently receiving services and more than 17,000 on the state waiting list for services
• Fully fund a single priority in the rate study, including wage increases for staff. In Chicago, frontline staff will barely make above the city’s increased minimum wage
• Spend a dime of the state’s $8 billion in federal relief funds on I/DD services and supports
Other critical, core government services and programs are receiving large budget increases and amounts, including K-12 education, hospitals and nursing homes. But this budget ignores the stark reality that Illinois ranks 47th in spending on disability services.
Our ask today is simple: amend the proposed state budget to provide a full $193 million to fully fund the rate study starting Jan. 1, 2022. We must do better, before it’s too late.”
- Occasional Quipper - Monday, May 31, 21 @ 10:14 am:
The budget bill has been filed? Doesn’t it now need to be read on three different days in each chamber? I’m kidding, of course. I know how the process works. I know it will never happen, but I would like to see the constitution amended to reflect how the process is actually implemented, i.e. a bill can be filed, have one reading in each chamber, and be voted on in each chamber, all on the same day. It would also eliminate the need for all those shell bills that have to be created and managed every GA, just in case they need them. And it would keep the minority party from whining so much about not having enough time to read multi-thousand page bills in an hour, shortening the last day of session by about half.