HJ0094 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0094 LRB099 13687 KTG 37641 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Many child care advocates have studied the social and economic implications of state-subsidized child care assistance programs and have argued that such programs increase maternal employment as well as children's educational attainment, labor force participation, and earnings as adults; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services recently made significant changes to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP); and

WHEREAS, These changes came into effect on July 1, 2015 and include an increase in co-payment levels, criminal background checks for relative caregivers, mandatory child support collection cases for eligible families with an absent parent, and a freeze on enrolling new CCAP applicants who do not fall under one of the following four "priority services groups":

(1) Families who receive benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program;

(2) Teen parents enrolled full-time in elementary, high school or GED classes to obtain a high school degree or its equivalent;

(3) Families with Special Needs children; and

(4) Working families whose monthly incomes do not exceed 50% of the most current Federal Poverty Level for their family size; and

WHEREAS, These new CCAP guidelines are harmful and will hurt thousands of families and young children as it is estimated that 90% of working families who would typically qualify for child care benefits under the former CCAP guidelines are now ineligible for such benefits; and

WHEREAS, These new CCAP guidelines will also have a devastating economic impact on small businesses, including child care providers that rely on the enrollment of children receiving CCAP benefits to fill their classrooms and businesses whose employees utilize child care services; and

WHEREAS, Even more glaring than the sweeping changes made to CCAP guidelines is the fact that the Department established these new guidelines through the adoption of emergency rules at 39 Ill. Reg. 10072; and

WHEREAS, Under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, a State agency may adopt an emergency rule without prior notice or hearing if the agency finds that an emergency exists and if the agency states in writing its reasons for that finding; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Administrative Procedure Act defines "emergency" as "the existence of any situation that any agency finds reasonably constitutes a threat to the public interest, safety, or welfare"; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services has stated that the adoption and implementation of the new CCAP guidelines is necessary given "the budget constraints projected for fiscal year 2016" and that the Department is "strongly committed to serving [the] state's most vulnerable population"; and

WHEREAS, Regardless of the Department's official statements, the sweeping changes made to CCAP guidelines do not appear to be directly connected to the State's current budget crisis and consequently the emergency adoption and implementation of the new CCAP guidelines indicates the Department's disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of the very citizens it has a duty to protect and serve; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we respectfully urge the Department of Human Services to rescind the new Child Care Assistance Program guidelines established by emergency rules adopted at 39 Ill. Reg. 10072, effective July 1, 2015, and to restore the CCAP eligibility standards and guidelines in effect on June 30, 2015; and be it further

RESOLVED, That if the Department of Human Services fails to voluntarily rescind the new CCAP guidelines, that we respectfully urge the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to undertake an investigation, as authorized under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (IAPA), to determine whether the Department of Human Services has complied with the provisions of IAPA, including (i) whether the Department of Human Services considered alternatives to the emergency rules adopted at 39 Ill. Reg. 10072 in order to meet the Department's stated purpose and objective for those rules and (ii) whether those emergency rules are designed to minimize the economic impact on small businesses; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Governor, the Secretary of the Department of Human Services, and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.