Full Text of HR0621

HR0621 LRB104 20362 MST 33817 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On January 6, 2026, President Donald Trump's Department of Health and Human Services announced a unilateral suspension of $10 billion in childcare, citing allegations of wrongdoing in Minnesota to justify a freeze on funds for Illinois and other states; and

WHEREAS, President Trump's latest funding freezes follow already familiar patterns, unilaterally halting congressionally mandated funding with no authorization, selectively attacking specific states for political retribution, targeting the most vulnerable people for cuts, and exacerbating the Trump affordability crisis; and

WHEREAS, President Trump's suspension of funding to Illinois, California, Colorado, and New York was not made based on specific allegations in those states but rather appear to have been targeting states with Democratic governors critical of Donald Trump himself; and

WHEREAS, President Trump's funding freeze threatens access to safe, affordable childcare for 150,000 children in Illinois and 100,000 households, while also jeopardizing the jobs of many childcare providers already living paycheck to paycheck; and

WHEREAS, President Trump is choosing to make working parents' greatest expense even less affordable; childcare is already one of the most daunting costs facing working families, with the average cost of daycare outpacing the average cost of a two-bedroom apartment in parts of Illinois and across the country; and

WHEREAS, President Trump's allies and apologists continue to say he should have the power to temporarily pause and review spending, statements that sound even more hollow and desperate now one year into his presidency, as federal spending levels are negotiated and signed into law by Trump himself; and

WHEREAS, This is yet another case of President Trump freezing, pausing, or impounding congressionally appropriated funds, substituting his ideology for the democratic process despite repeated court rulings stating such actions exceed the power of the presidency; and

WHEREAS, President Trump's repeated attempts to freeze funds for working people and modest-income families are juxtaposed glaringly against his ongoing efforts to cut taxes for billionaires, push a $700 billion taxpayer-funded acquisition of Greenland, and pursue pathetic, self-aggrandizing projects such as building a ball room or renaming the Kennedy Center; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we condemn President Donald Trump's effort to freeze funds for affordable childcare; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call for the immediate release of all congressionally appropriated childcare funds.