JUNE 5, 2007                                                                           WEEKLY REVIEW
  Provided through the Generous Support of the McCormick Tribune Foundation                                                          

 

In this issue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

COMPREHENSIVE FISCAL REFORM

Session adjourns - what comes next?

 

REPORT: ECONOMIC MOBILITY

American families face new challenges as they seek economic prosperity

 

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

What's moving in Springfield - 8 bills pass out of the General Assembly!

 

FEDERAL BUDGET

Appropriations veto threatens to cut spending on domestic programs

 

FEDERAL ACTION

Minimum wage increase signed into law

 

 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

  • June 5, 2007: Human Services Transportation Plan spring meeting (Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery, Fayette, Marion, Clinton, Bond, Madison Counties)

  • June 5-6, 2007: Construction Management: Community Housing Developers Institute (Springfield)

  • June 6, 2007: Policy Briefing on "State Budgets or Busts: The Challenges of Funding Medicaid, Pensions, and K-12 Education." (Chicago)

  • June 6, 2007: Human Services Transportation Plan spring meeting (Effingham, Jasper, Crawford, Clay, Richland, Lawrence, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, Hamilton, White, Saline, Gallatin, Pope, Hardin Counties)

  • June 7, 2007: Human Services Transportation Plan spring meeting (St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Washington, Jefferson, Perry, Franklin, Jackson, Williamson, Union, Johnson, Alexander, Pulaski, Massac Counties)

  • June 16, 2007: Moving from Poverty to Opportunity Action Forum (Kankakee, Will, Grundy, Kendall, Livingston and LaSalle Counties)

  • June 21, 2007: Community Renewal Society’s “Future Summit” (Chicago)

  • June 21, 2007: Statewide Policy Caucus (Bloomington)

  • September 11-12, 2007: Single-Family Development: Community Housing Developers Institute (Springfield)

  • October 16-17, 2007: Property and Asset Management: Community Housing Developers Institute (Springfield)

  • November 1-30, 2007: Affordable Housing Month (Public education events and activities to be held throughout the state)

 

COMPREHENSIVE FISCAL REFORM

 

 

 

 

 

 

SESSION ADJOURNS - WHAT COMES NEXT?

 

Last week, Illinois lawmakers failed to pass a state budget before the legislative session adjourned on May 31st.  As a result, we are now in an "overtime" session, which means that any proposed budget plan must garner enough votes to establish a super-majority.  A super-majority is constituted by gaining 3/5 of the legislators' votes in each chamber.

 

So what does this mean for Illinois' chance at achieving comprehensive fiscal reform this year?

 

The good news is that advocates like you were able to stop the General Assembly from leaving Springfield without enacting comprehensive fiscal and school funding reform.  In the final weeks of the legislative session, there was some talk among lawmakers that the best way to wrap up session would be to pass a limited or no-growth budget.  Legislators received thousands of phone calls from advocates around the state, telling lawmakers a limited or no-growth budget would be unacceptable.  Your message was heard!  In fact, 40 representatives and 15 senators signed a letter in opposition to a no-growth budget. The letter also called for adequate and equitable funding for public schools and property tax relief. 

 

Today, A+ Illinois issued a press release, denouncing the stalemate on school funding reform.

 

But we're not done yet!

 

This overtime session gives us an opportunity to carry on our work around fiscal and education funding reform.  Continue to call your Representative and Senator and urge them to pass a comprehensive school funding and fiscal plan that:

  • Increases school funding and quality so that every child has access to a quality education,

  • Restores Illinois' fiscal health, and

  • Ends Illinois' over reliance on property taxes to fund schools.

We still have an incredible opportunity in 2007 to get something done for schools and families.  This is the year.  The time is now.

 

REPORT: ECONOMIC MOBILITY

 

 

 

 

"Economic mobility describes the ability of people to move up or down the economic ladder within a lifetime or from one generation to the next"

 

AMERICAN FAMILIES FACE NEW CHALLENGES AS THEY SEEK ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

 

A new report by the Brookings Institution suggests that Americans today may increasingly experience a harder time moving up the economic ladder than in years past; this changing dynamic in the economic fabric of American society calls into question whether America's economic meritocracy is still alive and well.

 

Key findings from the report include:

  • Income inequality is growing.  Data show that income inequality has been growing for nearly the past three decades, and growth in after-tax income for the top 1% has far outpaced growth for other income groups.  Between 1979 and 2004, income earners in the top 1% watched their incomes grow nearly 180%, while the top 20% and bottom 20% of income earners experienced roughly a 70% and 10% growth, respectively, over the same 25-year time span. 

  • The United States has less relative mobility than many other developed nations, with relative mobility defined as mobility that occurs regardless of what is happening to the society as a whole.  Most studies show that the identity and characteristics of a parent is one of the greatest predictors of an American child's economic success, demonstrating that economic success is in many ways predetermined and outside of a child's control.  Compared to other industrialized, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Germany, and France all have more relative mobility than the US.

  • Men in their 30s today earn less than men in their fathers' generation and family income growth has slowed.  The Brookings report categorizes this type of mobility as absolute mobility, which refers to mobility that occurs because of economic growth, which normally ensures that each generation is better off than the one before it.

  • Productivity and median income are growing apart.  Between 1947 and 1974, productivity and median family income growth grew together; however, between 1974 and 2005, this trend took a turn, and productivity grew at a faster rate than did families' incomes.  Between 2000 and 2005, the productivity and income gap widened dramatically.

Read the full report, Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?

 

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's moving in Springfield - 8 bills pass out of THE General Assembly!

 

Several bills have now passed both chambers of the General Assembly and are on their way to the Governor's office to be signed into law.  Below is an update of the bills from our Legislative Roster that have made it this far in the legislative process.  Stay tuned to the Legislative Roster, which is posted on CTBA's website, for up-to-date information on all other legislative action.

 

SB 338 - Earned Income Tax Credit.  Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act, by removing statutory language that inhibits states from giving families the entire amount of EITC funding for which they qualify. Those most strongly affected by this bill are foster parents, parents of children partially or totally disabled, childless adults, and adults who have children under the age of 24 who are full time students.  SB 338 passed both houses on 5/25/07.

 

SB 547 - Establishes a Health Data Task Force in the Department of Public Health. Provides that the Task Force shall develop a plan to create a linked health data system that measures, analyzes, and reports on the health status of Illinois residents. SB 547 seeks to reduce health disparities by creating and improved collection of health data that would allow legislators to develop policies that address barriers to the health and well being among Illinois residents.  SB 547 passed both houses on 5/31/2007.

 

SB 220 - Good Housing Good Schools Act. Amends the Local Planning Technical Assistance Act to create a School Funding Bonus for School districts with eligible new or renovated multifamily housing, that advances the housing preservation and/or live near work goals of Illinois Comprehensive Housing Plan, codified in 2006. SB 220 passed both houses on 5/25/2007.

 

SB 75 - First Offender Probation Program. Allows judges to sentence those charged with first time felony prostitution to an alternative probation in lieu of prison time. Upon successful completion of the 24 month probation, the case is dismissed and the offender avoids a criminal record. SB 75 passed both houses on 5/22/07.

 

SB 534 - Amends the Safe Homes Act. In provisions authorizing tenants to request that a landlord change the locks if one or more of the tenants reasonably believes that one of the tenants or a member of tenant's household is under a credible imminent threat of domestic or sexual violence at the premises, deletes a requirement that the threat be from a person who is not a lessee under the lease. SB 534 passed both houses on 5/29/2007.

 

HB 295 - Amendment to Energy Assistance Act. Ensures that the Illinois Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will continue for 6 more years. The Illinois LIHEAP fund makes available approximately $70 - $80 million per year for the LIHEAP program. HB 295 passed both houses on 5/15/07.

 

SB 715 - School Health Center Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to initiate 20 new school health centers over a 5-year period beginning July 1, 2007, and build capacity with existing school health centers in the state. SB 715 passed both houses on 5/31/2007.

 

SB 544 - Amendment to the Language Assistance Service Act. Makes changes in the list of things a health facility must do to ensure access to health care information and services for limited-English-speaking or non-English-speaking residents and deaf residents. The need for language assistance is growing in Illinois -- up 12% between 2000 and 2005, and limited language access puts patients at risk and leads to wasteful medical testing, higher health care costs and underutilization of resources. SB 544 passed both houses on 5/31/07.

 

FEDERAL BUDGET

 

 

 

 

 

The Budget Resolution is a document that consists of a set of numbers stating how much Congress is supposed to spend (or "appropriate") in each of 19 broad spending categories and how much total revenue the government will collect, for each of the next five or more years.

APPROPRIATIONS VETO THREATENS TO CUT SPENDING ON DOMESTIC PROGRAMS

 

On February 5, 2007, President Bush submitted a budget request to Congress for fiscal year (FY) 2008. The requested budget would amount to $2.9 trillion in federal spending and would generally hold domestic spending levels as they were in  FY 2007.  Under the president's budget, additional resources would be devoted to national and homeland security and international affairs.

 

At the time of the president's budget request, the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) released an analysis of the proposed budget and concluded that the president's proposal expressed the wrong priorities for our communities and our country.  Specifically, CHN criticized the president's budget for cutting vital services for our families, for making permanent the tax cuts that would benefit the wealthy and would increase our nation's debt, and for shifting costs to states and denying aid to some of our most vulnerable citizens.  In their analysis, CHN called upon Congress to take some critical steps in order to lead our nation down a path of good priorities.  Among their recommendations, CHN urged Congress to provide $450 billion for domestic, annually appropriated programs, rather than the $392 billion recommended by the president.  By doing so, Congress would be able to address previous cuts in spending since 2005, adjust for inflation and population growth, and meet some of the needs of families that have been neglected over the years.  (CHN also provided state-specific analyses of how the president's proposed budget failed to meet the growing needs of low- and middle-income families.)  

 

After the president issued his budget proposal (or "request"), Congress got to work on the Budget Resolution.  CHN and other human needs advocates worked hard to urged Congress to include additional money for appropriations.  On May 11, the president’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, Rob Portman, sent a letter to Congress saying he would recommend vetoes if appropriations bills exceeded the President’s budget proposal.  Nonetheless, Congress passed a Budget Resolution that included an additional $23 billion for appropriations.  After the Congressional Budget Resolution was passed, Portman issued a press release repeating his veto challenge. The House Republican Study Committee also vowed to sustain the veto. While Congress’ Budget Resolution is only 2.4% higher than the President’s figure, it allows Congress to provide above-inflation growth for domestic programs, a much-needed increase that is recognized by advocates for low and middle income families.  

 

What’s Next?

The House hopes to complete floor action on all appropriations bills, except defense, by the end of July. The Senate expects its committee work to be done by then, with floor votes later.  After the House and Senate work out their differences, appropriations bills must be signed by the President before October 1st. In order to maintain increased funding for domestic programs, advocates will need to show how essential this funding is to areas such as nutrition, housing, and education.

 

Click here to read more from CHN.

 

 

FEDERAL Action

 

 

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE SIGNED INTO LAW

 

After remaining at $5.15 an hour for nearly a decade, Congress has finally passed an increase in the minimum wage.  The increase will occur in three increments, with the first raise to $5.85 in July, followed a year later by another 70-cent increase to $6.55, and finally reaching $7.25 in 2009. 

 

It is projected that about 10% of the workforce will be affected by this increase in the minimum wage. 

The final minimum wage agreement also included $4.8 billion in business tax cuts.  The wage increase and tax-cut package were ultimately added to the must-pass emergency supplemental spending bill containing $120 billion in funding mostly to cover the costs of the war in Iraq.  

 

In addition to defense-related spending, the supplemental spending bill also contains funding for domestic programs including the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), agriculture disaster aid, fire-fighting, FEMA hurricane recovery and the Corps of Engineers. Unfortunately, additional funding for the Low Income Heating and Energy Program (LIHEAP) was dropped from the final bill when $4 billion was trimmed from the overall cost. 

 

Click here for more information from the Coalition on Human Needs.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

 

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE TODAY

 

WHAT? Human Services Transportation Plan spring meeting (Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery, Fayette, Marion, Clinton, Bond, Madison)

WHEN? Tuesday, June 5, 2007, 1:30 - 4:00 PM and 6:30 - 8:00 PM

WHERE? Montgomery County Senior Center, Route 127, Taylor Springs, IL (less than 1 mile south of Hillsboro)
The same materials will be covered in both afternoon and evening meetings. For more information, contact Erica Interrante at (312) 793-3532, Erica.Interrante@illinois.gov  or follow this weblink (click on HSTP: Program Overview).

 

WHAT? Construction Management: Community Housing Developers Institute

WHEN? June 5-6, 2007

WHERE? Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center/President Abraham Lincoln Museum, Springfield
Contact: nate@housingactionil.org or 312-939-6074 x 201 More info: www.housingactionil.org.

 

WHAT? Policy Briefing on "State Budgets or Busts: The Challenges of Funding Medicaid, Pensions, and K-12 Education."

WHEN? June 6, 2007, 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

WHERE? Wieboldt Hall, Kellogg School of Management, 340 E. Superior St. in Chicago
The Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University will be holding this policy briefing.  The event is free, but advanced registration is required. Lunch will be served. Click here for more information.

 

WHAT? Human Services Transportation Plan spring meeting (Effingham, Jasper, Crawford, Clay, Richland, Lawrence, Wayne, Edwards, Wabash, Hamilton, White, Saline, Gallatin, Pope, Hardin)

WHEN? Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 1:30 - 4:00 PM and 6:30 - 8:00 PM

WHERE?  Illinois Employment Training Center (“one stop” site), 303 S. Commercial St. in the Parker Plaza, Harrisburg, IL (off of I-57 S, 30 minutes east of Marion, IL and Williamson County)
The same materials will be covered in both afternoon and evening meetings. For more information, contact Erica Interrante at (312) 793-3532, Erica.Interrante@illinois.gov  or follow this weblink (click on HSTP: Program Overview).

 

WHAT? Human Services Transportation Plan spring meeting (St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Washington, Jefferson, Perry, Franklin, Jackson, Williamson, Union, Johnson, Alexander, Pulaski, Massac)

WHEN? Thursday, June 7, 2007, 2:00 - 4:00 PM and 6:30 - 8:00 PM

WHERE?  Shawnee Community College, 8364 College Rd., Ullin, IL (Meeting will be held in the River Room in the Main Building, lot parking is available)
The same materials will be covered in both afternoon and evening meetings. For more information, contact Erica Interrante at (312) 793-3532, Erica.Interrante@illinois.gov  or follow this weblink (click on HSTP: Program Overview).

 

WHAT? Moving from Poverty to Opportunity Action Forum (Kankakee, Will, Grundy, Kendall, Livingston and LaSalle Counties)

WHEN? Saturday, June 16, 2007, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

WHERE?  Kankakee Community Resource Center, 150 N. Indiana, Kankakee

For more information, click here to view a flyer.

 

WHAT? Community Renewal Society’s “Future Summit”

WHEN? June 21, 2007, 1:30-5:30

WHERE? University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, Rothman Winter Garden, 5807 S. Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL
Click here for more information.

 

WHAT? Statewide Public Policy Caucus

WHEN? June 21, 2007, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

WHERE? The Chateau, 1601 Jumer Drive, Bloomington, IL
Topics to include: 2007 General Assembly Legislative Update, Investing in Families and Other proposals, Federal Issues Update, FY08 Priorities and Activities. To register or more information on how to become a member of Action for Children call Nicole Bonilla at (773) 697-6132 or bonillan@actforchildren.org.

 

WHAT? Single-Family Development: Community Housing Developers Institute

WHEN? September 11-12, 2007

WHERE? ICAA Training Facility, 3435 Liberty Drive, Springfield, IL
Contact: nate@housingactionil.org or 312-939-6074 x 201 More info: www.housingactionil.org.

 

WHAT? Property and Asset Management: Community Housing Developers Institute

WHEN? October 16-17, 2007

WHERE? ICAA Training Facility, 3435 Liberty Drive, Springfield, IL
Contact: nate@housingactionil.org or 312-939-6074 x 201 More info: www.housingactionil.org.

 

WHAT? Affordable Housing Month

WHEN? November 1-30, 2007

WHERE? Public education events and activities to be held throughout the state
Contact: nate@housingactionil.org or 312-939-6074 x 201 More info: www.housingactionil.org.

 

For any questions on information contained in this Weekly Review,
or to JOIN OUR MAILING LIST, please contact Valerie Chepp at:
312.332.2151, vchepp@ctbaonline.org