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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Section 2 of Article VIII of the Illinois
3Constitution provides, "The Governor shall prepare and submit
4to the General Assembly, at a time prescribed by law, a State
5budget for the ensuing fiscal year"; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Constitution further provides, "The budget
7shall set forth the estimated balance of funds available for
8appropriation at the beginning of the fiscal year, the
9estimated receipts, and a plan for expenditures and obligations
10during the fiscal year of every department, authority, public
11corporation and quasi-public corporation of the State, every
12State college and university, and every other public agency
13created by the State, but not of units of local government or
14school districts"; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The Governor never submitted a balanced budget
16proposal to the General Assembly for Fiscal Year 2016; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The State is entering its tenth month without a
18duly enacted budget; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The lack of a State budget impacts citizens across
20the State; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Social service agencies, including Catholic
2Charities and Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, have begun
3to shut down facilities offering needed social services
4throughout the State because they have yet to receive funding
5due under grants from the State; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Social services serving the homeless and senior
7citizens have been forced to either halt services or find
8creative methods to obtain funding to continue operations; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Youth employment services are without funding,
10exacerbating a crisis of unemployment among younger workers;
11and
 
12    WHEREAS, Mental health programs have been cut across the
13State, causing an increase in violence; and
 
14    WHEREAS, A lack of funding for services for children with
15autism has forced families to go without treatment for their
16children or other support; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The impasse has also affected State universities;
18and
 
19    WHEREAS, The continued impasse could lead to the closure of
20State universities, including Chicago State University and

 

 

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1Eastern Illinois University, leaving students of these
2institutions and citizens of this State without affordable
3higher education; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Other institutions of higher education have
5received lower credit ratings because of the uncertainty
6surrounding future State funding of the universities; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The budget impasse threatens Chicago Public
8School students as well through the refusal to help relieve the
9fiscal crisis, putting almost 400,000 children at risk; and
 
10    WHEREAS, State credit ratings have continued to drop since
11the onset of the budget impasse, making it more expensive for
12the State to borrow money on the financial markets; therefore,
13be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16Democrats and Republicans work together toward a responsible
17budget that is fiscally sound; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That both parties agree that the General Assembly
19must craft, agree to, and pass a budget; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That every community should have a say in passing

 

 

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1a State budget; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3delivered to the Governor, Speaker of the House, the Minority
4Leader of the House, President of the Senate, and Minority
5Leader of the Senate.