Budget talks heat-up amid committee deadline week

Education advocates expressed their support for a budget proposal increasing investment in Illinois schools and teachers during a Senate Early Childhood Education subject matter hearing on Thursday.

Gov. JB Pritzker rolled out his Smart Start Illinois initiative during his February state of the state address, a plan which he says will improve educational service and access while preventing tax increases. Among its several components, the initiative would provide preschool access to every Illinois child ages three to four by 2027 and a $70 million plan to address teacher shortages throughout the state.

Related: Springfield District 186, local lawmakers hopeful Pritzker's pre-K plan will expand access

The committee hearing featured several proponents of the governor's initiative that could be included in a budget approved by lawmakers in coming weeks. Multiple speakers touched on the underfunding of child care centers in the state which they say has pushed some workers out of the field and thus severely limits how many children they can serve.

"Early childhood educators are drastically underpaid," said Edgar Ramirez, president and CEO of Chicago Commons which provides early education to 1,800 children. Educators have a lower starting pay at $17 per hour at his school than places like Amazon, he said, despite having to obtain credentials and 60 credit hours post-high school to do the job.

The low pay has added to instability for many child care centers and its students throughout the state, added Department of Human Services Division of Early Childhood Director Bethany Patten where pay is sometimes no higher than minimum wage.

Federal COVID-19 related funding helped during the pandemic is drying up, which she says makes Smart Start a pressing need in this year's budget.

"Smart Start childcare contracts will allow providers to cover higher wages through consistent base funding, helping to offset the unpredictable nature and fluctuation of private pay tuition and CCAP (Child Care Assistance Program) subsidy payments," she said, the governor's budget proposal including $130 million on-top of federal funding to stabilize operational funding.

The Thursday committee hearing was part of the ongoing budget negotiations continued this week in the Capitol as the clock ticks on the Illinois General Assembly's spring session. It also comes on the heels of a push by caregivers for individuals with developmental disabilities are calling to more than double a funding increase proposed by the governor.

The Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities requested a $4 hourly increase to the wage rate for direct service professionals in community-based settings that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Direct service professionals, or DSPs, are the individuals who provide daily personal care such as assisting individuals with eating, grooming and dressing. The requested increase is $2.50 beyond an increase proposed by Pritzker earlier this year.

The $4 rate increase is also backed by AFSCME Council 31, the union representing about 4,000 workers at community facilities as well as about 4,000 employees at state-run centers.

Supporters say the increase is needed to fill staffing shortages and offer more competitive wages. The current $17 wage rate is just $4 more than the state’s $13 minimum wage, although some DSPs make more than that and some make less.

“Look at the cost of food, gas rent, mortgage insurance,” Veronica Lea, a DSP of 30 years at Trinity Services in Joliet said at a Capitol news conference on Wednesday. “People working in fast food make more than we do. And that's, again, a shame…Our pay is so low that people leave. They love their job but just can't afford it.”

The governor's proposed budget tops out at $49.6 billion and keys in on addressing homelessness, poverty and crime in addition to the focus on education. House leaders, Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch and Minority Leader Tony McCombie, were asked about their budget priorities on Wednesday during a Illinois Business Day panel discussion at the Abraham Lincoln hotel.

Welch touted the budgets passed during the first four years of the Pritzker administration and expected much of the same for the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which goes into effect this July.

McCombie, as she has continuously pushed for during her first few months as leader, asked that Republicans are "at the table" when it comes to negotiations. Any item on the budget that calls for more than a $25 million increase she hopes will be reviewed thoroughly before approved.

"I want it to be balanced, I want it to be a transparent process," she said during the panel moderated by Chicago Tribune reporter Rick Pearson. "When I say truly balanced, I don't want it to be a slight-of-hand to take from one fund to another."

Committee action

Hundreds of bills advanced in committee will go to a full chamber vote before the scheduled General Assembly adjournment on May 19. House and Senate committees moved on a combined total of 212 bills over a three-day stretch before a Friday deadline.

Highlights included a bill that would require the Illinois State Board of Education to draft a bullying policy template for schools and the both versions of the Digital Forgeries Act advancing to a full chamber vote. As reported previously by The State Journal-Register, Senate Bill 1392 and House Bill 2123 grant victims of digital forgeries often referred as "deepfakes" to seek legal action against perpetrators who create and share inauthentic media.

More: Digital forgeries bills advance out of House, Senate committees

The governor also signed the first bill of the current assembly into law this week. House Bill 559 from Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, comes as the state's remaining COVID-19 health orders are set to expire next month and grants healthcare workers who have been practicing under temporary, emergency licenses during the pandemic with the opportunity to obtain full licensure, and to continue practicing while that licensure process is ongoing.

The law, signed on Thursday, also continues access for pharmacies to flu and COVID-19 tests and vaccines.

Jerry Nowicki of Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Budget talks heat-up amid committee deadline week