* This statement from the Housing Action Illinois and the Illinois Shelter Alliance kinda fell through the cracks on Wednesday, but I wanted you to see it…

Governor Pritzker’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, announced today, includes $282.7 million for the HOME Illinois line item, a 2.6% percent reduction compared to the current year funding of $290.3 million.

The proposal also allocates $72.4 million in additional funding for these programs: Emergency and Transitional Housing, Homelessness Prevention, Homeless Youth, and Supportive Housing. These are flat-funded compared to the current year budget. The HOME Illinois line item provides additional funding for the programs listed above, as well as many other programs, such as court-based rent assistance, shelter diversion, and rapid rehousing.

Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly have made significant new investments over the last two years to support the HOME Illinois plan, which reversed a long history of state budgets with no or only very minimal budget increases from year to year.

Unfortunately, the proposed FY26 budget does not build on that progress; instead, it has a decrease. We understand the State of Illinois’ budget challenges and we appreciate efforts by the governor’s office and state agencies to use existing resources as effectively as possible by increasing some specific uses for HOME Illinois while decreasing others.

However, it is critical to continue increasing overall funding each year, particularly for emergency shelters, which serve people with absolutely no place else to go. It will take many years of consistent, significant investments to meet the plan’s goals of reaching functional zero homelessness, where instances of people not having a home are rare and brief.

All HOME Illinois programs, including funds that go to homeless shelters, rely on a strong network of nonprofit agencies around the state to implement the programs working with people in crisis. In addition to the benefits to the families and individuals being served, these agencies provide jobs and contribute to Illinois’ economy.

The State’s two-year HOME Illinois plan, released near the end of 2024, estimated a shelter bed deficit of 5,379 beds statewide, based on 10,044 being available. There is also a deficit of 10,972 permanent supportive housing units and other rental housing necessary to end homelessness.

Based on the shortage of shelter beds, more than 5,000 people at a time—many of them children—will continue to struggle for daily survival. As the Illinois Shelter Alliance and 250+ organizational partners stated in our December 23 letter to Governor Pritzker requesting a $100 million budget increase for HOME Illinois, including $40 million for shelter: every shelter bed that does not exist represents a person, often a child, who has literally no place to call home.

The lack of emergency shelter often forces people to live outside, in a car and/or a place where their physical safety and life is at risk. For the most vulnerable, including people who are victims of domestic violence and people with mental illness, having access to emergency shelter makes the difference between life and death.

Last year, the Illinois Department of Public Health completed a five-year Homeless Morbidity and Mortality Report. Based on the findings, the average life expectancy for someone experiencing homelessness is nearly 20 years lessthan someone not experiencing homelessness. In addition, people experiencing homelessness had $16 billion in emergency medical costs over five years.

We support the Governor’s focus on fiscal responsibility. However, under-funding shelter and housing is shortsighted and ultimately results in higher healthcare spending.

We urge the Governor and legislature to address this imbalance by funding additional shelter and affordable rental housing, including permanent supportive housing, in the final fiscal year 2026 budget.

The vast majority of the state budget supports basic human needs, like K-12 public education, and the proposed state budget rightly included funding increases for certain high priorities. We also ask Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly to ensure that the State of Illinois also has adequate revenue to keep making progress towards meeting all our high priorities, including making sure everyone has access to shelter if they need it, as well as an affordable place to call home.

* Excerpt from the Chicago Coalition to end Homelessness press release…

After multiple years of increased funding for HOME Illinois, the proposed $7.3 million decrease is disheartening, as we know more funding is sorely needed to address homelessness. CCH has traditionally advocated for funding for specific line items, which allows us to better understand how funds are utilized and assess when and how underspending occurs. This is especially pertinent when there are delays in contracting and payment from the state.

We applaud the $2 million increase to supportive housing funding, but flat funding the traditional housing line items (Homelessness Prevention, Homeless Youth, and Emergency and Transitional Housing) means fewer people experiencing homelessness in Illinois will get the housing and services they need.

As the cost of living rises annually due to inflation and COVID housing protections expire, eligible households need the amount of assistance to rise as well. As the Governor noted in his budget address, “One of the biggest affordability challenges people are facing is housing.”

A statement from the Supportive Housing Providers Association is here.