Contact Information
Office of State Representative Kelly Cassidy

5533 N Broadway

Chicago IL 60640



Phone: 773-784-2002

Fax: 773-784-2060

Email: [email protected]
 
Dear Neighbors,


Last night, the House adjourned at the end of the regular Spring session without passing a budget that funds the needs of our State for the second year in a row. The House passed SB 2048 last week, which laid out a spending plan that I could potentially support, including repairs to the Chicago Public Schools funding formula. That bill was not linked to any revenue and therefore spends far more than current revenue predictions. I voted against it, and while it passed the house it was defeated in the Senate for the same reasons I opposed it. The Governor made clear he would veto the bill due to that imbalance and it is highly unlikely his veto could be overridden.


The House then voted on HB 2990 - which was an education bill that funded pre-school through 12th grade. This bill saw a significant increase to education funding - $900M more to fund schools, including more funding for CPS. But I was unable to vote for this because, similar to SB 2048 it did not provide for any means to pay for it, and was soundly defeated in the House. 



When the income tax was reduced January 1st, 2015, everyone involved was fully aware that we would not be able to sustain the progress we had been making on paying down the bill backlog and restoring fiscal health to the state without replacing that revenue. Since then, several approaches have been pursued, including attempts atpassing a constitutional amendment to reform our regressive income tax system and create a fair tax system for the state. In addition, there were votes on restoring the tax rate to the pre-rollback level, a tax on incomes of over $1,000,000, and corporate tax loophole closures. None of these were successful.


Since coming to the General Assembly in 2011, every budget I have worked on has included cuts without additional revenue. Nobody likes the idea of paying more, and I nearly always get some responses to my updates that loudly declare a need to make cuts. Over the years we have cut spending in every realm of State government including facility closures, cuts to social services and healthcare as well as finding savings through efficiencies that allow better access to federal funding through Medicaid expansion and waivers. 


Our Corrections facilities are dangerously overcrowded and programming in the facilities is nearly non-existent as a result of these cuts. As an advocate of criminal justice reform, I believe we can reduce our prison population through reforms, but not immediately and not at the level required to restore the system to safe and productive levels of population and programming.


The kinds of cuts that would be required without seeking additional revenue would be devastating - closing more prisons, closing institutions of higher education, pushing more school costs onto the local property tax systems, decimating an already underfunded higher education student aid program, eliminating critical services to the elderly and people with disabilities. Simply put, this is not a problem we can cut our way out of, period.


Governor Rauner has acknowledged the need for additional revenue but has so far been refusing to discuss revenue options until his Turnaround Agenda items are addressed. The central components are not directly related to the budget, but he believes that if implemented, they will save the state money.


There are rank and file members and staff that have been meeting for several weeks working to find common ground on these issues, including on workers compensation reform and changes to collective bargaining. While I believe compromise is always possible, there are significant issues with the demands he is making among members on both sides of the aisle. Taking away collective bargaining rights is a prime example of an area that remains a sticking point. Having started from a demand that Illinois become a "right to work" state, it is difficult to find a place of agreement with myself and the majority of my colleagues who believe in labor union rights. There seems to be more progress in the discussions on workers compensation reform. My conversations with Republican colleagues suggest a less extreme path is possible and I must put my hope and faith into the work we can do together, outside the extreme demands and political positioning, to find that path.


Last year, we sent over an assortment of bills laying out the spending plan, which similarly lacked the necessary revenue. The hope at that time was that we could work together to address the shortfalls either through the Governor making use of his line item reduction veto or a revenue proposal we could agree on to bridge the gap. The Governor's proposed budget was $3.5 billion short this year and $3.6 billion short last year, and the spending plan passed by the House last year was short by $4 billion. This year's gap increased to as much as $7 billion. This is largely due to the huge growth in our unpaid bills combined with the growth in the deficit due to operating the state on 2015 spending levels in the absence of a 2016 budget.


When SB 2048, this year's spending plan, was presented, I joined a group of colleagues who met with the Speaker and asked him to consider another path forward. We shared our concern that the impasse would only continue if we sent the Governor a plan we were certain he would veto and we would not have the votes to override his veto again. After my no vote on the bill, I again met with the Speaker and shared my reasons for opposing the bill. I restated my belief that this procedure was essentially doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I went on to explain that while the vast majority of state services have continued under an assortment of compromise stopgap spending bills and court orders, I believe my role here is to speak for the very small percentage of people who are not being served, who are being hurt every day by this impasse.


At this point, there is a bill to at least mitigate the harm to these providers and clients sitting on Governor Rauner's desk. SB 2038 was passed with huge bipartisan support after a group of rank and file legislators worked to find a way to provide at least a portion of the funds for FY 2016 to providers who have gone all year providing services in good faith without payment. I believe that signing that bill, just as he signed a similar provision addressing looming closings in Higher Education would be a show of good faith at a time when it is sorely lacking. He signed the Higher Education bill almost immediately after it passed and described the use of existing funding sources and compromise among members on the distribution of those funds as exactly what we need to do more of. The Human Services bill followed the same model, yet he criticized the absence of funding for other priorities. It's time to sign that bill and get at least a small measure of relief to providers and clients.


Over the last week, my conversations with colleagues on both sides of the aisle suggested a growing belief that the solution lies with the rank and file and a willingness to stand up and say exactly that. A majority of both caucuses in both chambers planned a press conference immediately after adjournment to mutually declare a desire for continued negotiation, compromise and civility. Instead, the Governor introduced a stopgap budget plan that just a couple of days ago he ridiculed when a similar solution was suggested by the Senate President. The Governor and most of the members of the Republican caucuses in both chambers stood with him to have another "gotcha moment," declaring that the Democrats weren't willing to work with them on a bill that was introduced yesterday via press release. This action derailed the planned bipartisan press conference. 


While much has been made about the need to pass turnaround agenda items before a revenue vote can be taken, the reality is even more insulting. With the general election looming large in everyone's mind, difficult votes on both tax increases and reforms become more unlikely. 


It has been announced that we will be in continuous session until a deal is reached. So far, session has been scheduled for every Wednesday in June. I intend to continue looking for places of agreement with colleagues across the aisle and doing everything I can to advance solutions with thoughtfulness and civility.


In the coming weeks I will be hosting a town hall to discuss these issues with members of our community. If you have any questions about how to participate, contact my office by responding to this email or calling 773-784-2002. 














State Representative Kelly Cassidy | 5533 N. Broadway | Chicago | IL | 60640