SR0680 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0680 LRB100 13317 MST 27850 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The General Assembly and the Governor have failed to enact a State budget for the last 23 months; and

WHEREAS, The State adds approximately 11 million dollars in debt every day that a budget is not signed into law; and

WHEREAS, The State has not met its contractual obligations to the numerous vendors that render services; and

WHEREAS, It is costing taxpayers approximately 44 thousand dollars every day we convene for special session; and

WHEREAS, The State, its local municipalities, and their institutions continue to suffer from continual downgrades from all of the major credit rating agencies - nearing junk status; and

WHEREAS, The lack of a State budget has caused homeless shelters to close on Christmas Eve, youth violence prevention centers to go out of business, domestic abuse programs to be defunded, and a myriad of other essential human services needs have gone unfunded; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly and the Governor have not met their duty to fully fund the future of our State - the education of the children; and

WHEREAS, Teacher strikes, school closings, instructional time decreases, and faculty layoffs loom over school districts and institutions of higher learning across the State; and

WHEREAS, Thousands of students, like generations of Illinois' students before them, continue to count on the funding of the Monetary Assistance Program to create promising futures for themselves and equal access to education; and

WHEREAS, Without the guarantee of those funds in-state students are seeking educational advancement outside of Illinois and over 16,000 thousand students migrated to out-of-state universities; and

WHEREAS, As economic development and opportunity in the State have become less available particularly to ethnic and racial minorities - Illinois has seen a historic spike in the murder rate; and

WHEREAS, For the 70th month in a row, Illinois has had the highest unemployment rate among African Americans in the nation, nearing 15%; and

WHEREAS, Forty-four percent of African American young men between the ages of 20-24 in Illinois are unemployed and out of school; and

WHEREAS, Things are not getting better for middle class and poor citizens of our State during this historic budget impasse - people are hurting; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Governor to wholeheartedly commit to enacting a State budget; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Governor is urged to call a meeting with legislative leaders to negotiate a budget; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Governor is urged to dedicate all of his resources to work toward a solution to the budget impasse; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Governor and legislative leaders are urged to meet daily until a budget is enacted.