This past Illinois legislative session has been one for the books! In Illinois, a General Assembly class lasts for two years, with the first year typically hallmarked by freshman legislators seeking to pass their first bills and work in collaboration with more senior legislators to pass sweeping changes. The first year of the 103rd General Assembly is certainly no exception to this trend. What is new, is the significant number of young adults who are now members of the IL General Assembly. This youthful, optimistic view of change and unique understanding of the young adult experience in America is prevalent in both the legislation passed out of the Illinois General Assembly and its budget for FY 24.
Let’s explore some of the hits and misses from this past legislative session!
Legislative Wins
HB 1119 passed out of the General Assembly right at the buzzer, and this win deserves to be celebrated as it heads to the governor’s desk! HB 1119 is the brainchild and passion of three former participants of our Midwest Young Advocates Program. This proposed legislation is a direct response to an issue they saw pervasive in their life.
So, what does the bill do?
The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) operates under a set of rules and standards set by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA). ICJIA describes itself as “a state agency dedicated to the administration of criminal justice”. The ICJIA board, who creates the rules and regulations for IDOC, is made up of 6 Illinois citizens. These 6 individuals have a massive amount of authority over all those incarcerated under the IDOC system.
HB 1119 condenses the board from 6 citizens to now 4. 4. However, it’s important to note that the bill adds the appointment of 2 members to the board who have been previously incarcerated in the IDOC system. There is no one who could better understand the lives and unique needs of the incarcerated than those who were previously incarcerated within the system themselves.. Those who were previously incarcerated understand the challenges faced both within the system, but also the challenges posed after release.
YI Midwest hopes that adding lived experience to the ICJIA board will be a small step toward criminal justice reform in IL.
Budget Wins
The Illinois FY 24 budget can best be described as ‘the student’s budget’. This budget provides massive investment in the IL higher education system, by both increasing spending on universities directly, but also student supports. This FY 24 budget includes:
- $100 million additional dollars added to the Monetary Award Program (MAP) Grant. The MAP grant is a need-based student aid program that has become critical to Illinois students being able to afford their education. Unfortunately, the purchasing power of the MAP grant has seen a dramatic decrease in recent years due to rising tuition costs and failure to adequately fund the grant at the state level. The FY 23 and FY 24 budgets seek to radically change this, and correct past wrongs. According to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the average grant award will increase by 16%!
- A 7% increase in direct funding for IL public universities. This is the largest increase in 20 years! This increase in funding will help universities combat inflating costs of tuition and provide direct support to students on campus.
- $12.6 million to fund the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act. While not the full amount needed, this funding can help colleges and universities hire more mental health providers, host training for faculty and staff, purchase screening tools, and connect students with the support they need to stay in school and graduate. However this is dependent on continued funding. Colleges and universities must be able to plan for more than one fiscal year out, and more funding is needed to adequately meet their mental health needs.
Misses
Although there were many wins for young adults in Illinois throughout the 103rd General Assembly, there still were several shortfalls in supporting young workers. More specifically in adopting a Child Tax Credit (CTC) to support working parents and a Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act (FMLA) for extended work leave availability.
Leader Marcus Evans Jr. in the House and State Senator Mike Simmons introduced HB3950/SB1444 for a Child Tax Credit in Illinois alongside the Cost-of-Living Refund Coalition, as bills that would have given $700 per child to each taxpaying household earning less than $75,000 per year. The coalition and bill sponsors later endorsed a modified, $300 per child version of the credit with the same eligibility criteria. Unfortunately, legislators still did not include this in the FY 2024 budget.
Due to not finding a middle ground between legislators and the Time to Care Coalition in the last weeks of session, we were unable to see The Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act move forward which would have created a state-run insurance program that allows Illinois workers to use up to 26 weeks of job-protected leave a year. This Act would enable working people to meet their health and caregiving needs, benefit businesses, reduce economic inequality and improve economic opportunities for all.
Although both of these efforts may have not passed through the 103rd General Assembly, there have been lots of successful movements throughout this legislative session that will lead into possible successes next year! We are so proud to have laid the ground work to hit the ground running during the next session!