About Government Affairs

In order to impact policy and decision making as it relates to the Jewish community, JUF's Government Affairs Program develops and maintains working relationships with key government officials.

What's New at Government Affairs?

Important legislation is moving in our state and national capitols.

Washington:

112^th Congress

The 112^th session began on Tuesday, January 17. Since this is an election year, nothing controversial is likely to move. Congress is not expected to have an active legislative year. We continue to work with the Illinois Delegation and the rest of Congress on a myriad of issues, found here. We will continually update you on important legislation.

Elections 2012

Tuesday, December 27, was the filing deadline for the U.S. House races in Illinois. Here you can find a link to the new IL map, background on each candidate, and links to each candidate's websites (if available). The Illinois primary is on Tuesday, March 20. Dates for each primary can be found here. Please visit this site to find out where you vote.

For more information on the current events in Congress, contact the Washington office at 202-466-7090.

Springfield:

Implications of the Governor's three year State Budget Projections for Jewish Federation agencies:

(This covers only General Revenue Funds- not Federal or Special Funds). The Operating Budget is reduced from $24.352 billion (fy12) to $24.182 billion (FY 2013, 2014, and 2015).

Spending for education and healthcare remains flat for all four years.
Spending for human services is reduced from 6.873 billion to 6.523 billion between fy 12 to fy13 and then remains flat.

Keep in mind that this is an optimistic scenario. Many questions have been raised about whether funding for healthcare must be increased, perhaps by quite a lot. There are several reasons for this. The percent of the Illinois population which is over 65 is increasing. Many of them may become "dual eligibles," eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid; including those in nursing homes. Rising numbers of families on Medicaid as parents become unemployed and/or get jobs without health insurance. Finally, the implementation of the Affordable Health Care Plan will increase expenditures. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Human Services, under Director Julie Hamos, is leading the way to reduce costs through "rate reform," innovative projects to spend health care dollars more cost efficiently, and through a legislatively mandated campaign to move all Medicaid eligible people into Managed Care programs. Julie was listed in the Chicago Tribune article on people to watch because of this very ambitious undertaking to reform Medicaid. Mt. Sinai Hospital and CJE Seniorlife, because of the Lieberman nursing facility, are preparing to advocate for rate reform built around on a long term vision for the health care system in Illinois. Their concern is that a simple approach of rate reduction could damage the safety net hospitals and the nonprofit nursing homes; both of which are invested in delivering quality care to the poor. Illinois already has among the lowest Medicaid rates in the country in most areas.

lllinois backlog of unpaid bills

Of concern in the budget projections is that there does not appear to be any plan to get ahead of the bill backlog. Overdue bills now total close to $8.5 billion. Absent a miraculous injection of money, the size of the debt will increase as the State continues to delay payment of its bills. Right now, most bills are not paid for at least six months and the projection, according to state officials, is that that will continue through 2014 and probably longer. (There are some exceptions of bills that must be paid within 30 days due to law.) The Federation agencies will then need to either borrow money to pay bills, which may require increasing their line of credit, borrow from the Jewish Federation, or exit state-funded programs.

Pension Reform and Tax Reform

Two "big picture" issues come into focus from reading the Governor's budget projections. The mandatory contributions to state pension plans increase from 4.135 billion (FY 12) to 5.250 billion (FY 13) to 5.593 billion (FY 14) to 5.905 billion (FY 15). With revenues fixed, this squeezes funding available for other programs. Pension reform is a hugely controversial topic. The Civic Committee proposed SB 512 which makes significant changes in employee contributions, COLAS, etc. Other legislators are drafting their own bills. Word on the street is that nothing will be done until veto session, after the November 2012 elections.

The other "big picture" issue is tax reform. Once the temporary tax increase is phased out in 2015, the State's revenues again drop and the deficit is increased to 818 million or more. The current tax increase, individual and corporate, was very unpopular with the voters. There may be a comprehensive approach to the tax rules to keep revenues at current levels and allow for some growth as the economy grows. The political challenge is to create a policy whereby some taxpayers will see their taxes decrease under comprehensive tax reform. These two "big picture" issues will not be part of the Jewish Federation agenda in Springfield but will be monitored because, absent change in either of these areas, state government funding for human services will be squeezed.

More departures from State government:

Grace Hou, Assistant Secretary to the Illinois Department of Human Services, and a longtime friend of the Jewish Federation is leaving state government to become President of the Woods Fund of Chicago, a foundation. Grace personified quality public service. She believed in the mission of the Illinois Department of Human Services, combined both a mastery of the details with strategic vision, and acted always with integrity. Plus Grace was the rare animal in Springfield: an articulate speaker who never wasted a word.

Adam Braun, legal counsel to Governor Quinn, is leaving to join the law firm of Greenberg-Traurig, effective January 31st. Adam has built strong ties with the Jewish Federation and we send him our best wishes in his new role.

Federation agencies host Illinois legislators and Directors

CJE Seniorlife- Mark Weiner, Laura Prohov, Donna Pezzuto, and others met with John Holton, the new Director of Aging. He was clearly interested in the Managed Community Care program and how lessons learned from MCCP could be applied to improve cost effectiveness of supportive care services to the frail older adults living in the community. Director Holton is looking at fy14 as a watershed year in program changes within the Illinois Department of Aging. These budgets will be developed over the summer of 2012. He feels that CJE Seniorlife should have an opportunity to present their data on this program to IDOA staff.

Members of the House Appropriations on Human Services Committee, led Chairperson Sara Feigenholtz, met with CJE Seniorlife as well. The meeting was the day after the first very bad snowstorm of the season so Rep. Daniel Biss and Robyn Gabel participated in person while other members, Rep. Patti Bellock, Lisa Dugan, and Michelle Mussman along with staff from other Representatives, participated by phone. This Committee will again be asked to make major decisions about the budget. Getting in early with the MCCP data can only help.

Jewish Vocational Services met with Rep. Daniel Biss and Congresswoman Schakowsky. JVS staff showcased programs and raised concerns about the paperwork associated with the government contracts, particularly the federal ones.

Jewish Child and Family Services Howard Sitron and Sabrina Townsend met with Senator Dan Kotowski who is a major voice in the "budgeting for outcomes" movement which is sweeping through the State Capital. The JCFS CQI work was intriguing to Sen. Kotowksi who is looking for data to justify all decisions to "invest state money" in human service and education programs.

For more information on current events in Springfield, contact Suzanne Strassberger, Director, State Government Affairs at gov@juf.org.

Metropolitan:

City Council on Thursday approved a new Chicago ward map, avoiding the possibility of forcing a costly referendum. The new map, which might still face a legal challenge, endangers roughly a half-dozen incumbents, and will place roughly 1/3rd of Chicagoans in new wards, effective 2015. It is legal for the City to delay implementation until 2015, which means that the City will have to do a remap again in five to seven years when the 2020 census is complete.

Federation's government affairs team will work in the coming days to try to determine which agency facilities will be placed under new wards and which will remain as is. With the exception of the 2nd ward, described below, our initial analysis does not indicate any significant alterations to the wards in which most agency facilities are located: 4th (Burns), 28th (Ervin), 39th (Laurino), 46th (Cappleman), 49th (Moore), and 50th (Silverstein).

The map includes 13 Hispanic wards and two Hispanic "influence" wards," in response to the 2010 Census showing Hispanics added 25,218-people to the City's population. The new map also includes 18 black wards, down from 19 currently, despite a 181,453-person drop in Chicago's black population.

One of the more notable developments is the total redistricting of the 2nd ward, currently represented by Alderman Fioretti, out of the loop. The new ward snakes its way from Gold Coast to Ukrainian Village. The new 3rd, 4th, and 25th, wards (represented by Ald. Dowell, Burns, and Solis, respectively) fill the gap left in the South Loop by the 2nd Ward's departure. In the West Loop and the Near West Side, Ald. Walter Burnett's 27th Ward takes over most of the turf, with Solis taking a small chunk.

For more information on currents events in Chicago, contact David Brinn, Assistant Program Director, JCRC/GAO, Communications at gov@juf.org.