HR0608 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0608 LRB098 14318 GRL 48944 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The "shutdown" of the federal government is having a negative impact upon the United States economy between Wall Street and the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, An estimated 800,000 federal employees have been sent home without pay, resulting in a daily economic daily loss of $300 million; and

WHEREAS, According to the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois in Edwardsville, the direct economic loss to the Metro East region is $855,000 daily from the furloughing of 3,000 workers at Scott Air Force Base; and

WHEREAS, The Chicagoland area has an estimated 40,000 federal employees who have been furloughed during the "shutdown"; and

WHEREAS, Examples of the effects of the federal "shutdown" include the loss of the funding cushion in Cook County for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, the closing of national parks, reductions in the funding of Veterans' Affairs programs, such as disability payments and the GI Bill, the loss of payments to the federal work-study program and Perkins Loan Programs, the furloughing of safety inspectors at the Federal Aviation Administration, and the halting of most food and drug safety inspections by the Food and Drug Administration; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is also seeing an impact regarding the federal funds in its State budget, such as furloughed employees at various State agencies, such as the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the Illinois Department of Human Services, human service programs being funded with reserve payments only, and economic development and business development grants being funded for a month, with the future service funds being uncertain while the "shutdown" exists; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we show our support for the addition, via amendment to the United States Constitution or other measures, of a double dissolution procedure that is similar to the process in the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks where the dissolution of both parliament chambers is called and a full election is held; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives to conclude the federal "shutdown" for the people of this great nation.