Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HJR0094
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Full Text of HJR0094  99th General Assembly

HJ0094 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Many child care advocates have studied the social
3and economic implications of state-subsidized child care
4assistance programs and have argued that such programs increase
5maternal employment as well as children's educational
6attainment, labor force participation, and earnings as adults;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services recently made
9significant changes to the Child Care Assistance Program
10(CCAP); and
 
11    WHEREAS, These changes came into effect on July 1, 2015 and
12include an increase in co-payment levels, criminal background
13checks for relative caregivers, mandatory child support
14collection cases for eligible families with an absent parent,
15and a freeze on enrolling new CCAP applicants who do not fall
16under one of the following four "priority services groups":
17        (1) Families who receive benefits under the Temporary
18    Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program;
19        (2) Teen parents enrolled full-time in elementary,
20    high school or GED classes to obtain a high school degree
21    or its equivalent;
22        (3) Families with Special Needs children; and
23        (4) Working families whose monthly incomes do not

 

 

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1    exceed 50% of the most current Federal Poverty Level for
2    their family size; and
 
3    WHEREAS, These new CCAP guidelines are harmful and will
4hurt thousands of families and young children as it is
5estimated that 90% of working families who would typically
6qualify for child care benefits under the former CCAP
7guidelines are now ineligible for such benefits; and
 
8    WHEREAS, These new CCAP guidelines will also have a
9devastating economic impact on small businesses, including
10child care providers that rely on the enrollment of children
11receiving CCAP benefits to fill their classrooms and businesses
12whose employees utilize child care services; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Even more glaring than the sweeping changes made
14to CCAP guidelines is the fact that the Department established
15these new guidelines through the adoption of emergency rules at
1639 Ill. Reg. 10072; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act,
18a State agency may adopt an emergency rule without prior notice
19or hearing if the agency finds that an emergency exists and if
20the agency states in writing its reasons for that finding; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The Illinois Administrative Procedure Act defines

 

 

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1"emergency" as "the existence of any situation that any agency
2finds reasonably constitutes a threat to the public interest,
3safety, or welfare"; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services has stated that
5the adoption and implementation of the new CCAP guidelines is
6necessary given "the budget constraints projected for fiscal
7year 2016" and that the Department is "strongly committed to
8serving [the] state's most vulnerable population"; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Regardless of the Department's official
10statements, the sweeping changes made to CCAP guidelines do not
11appear to be directly connected to the State's current budget
12crisis and consequently the emergency adoption and
13implementation of the new CCAP guidelines indicates the
14Department's disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of
15the very citizens it has a duty to protect and serve;
16therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
19SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we respectfully urge the
20Department of Human Services to rescind the new Child Care
21Assistance Program guidelines established by emergency rules
22adopted at 39 Ill. Reg. 10072, effective July 1, 2015, and to
23restore the CCAP eligibility standards and guidelines in effect

 

 

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1on June 30, 2015; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That if the Department of Human Services fails to
3voluntarily rescind the new CCAP guidelines, that we
4respectfully urge the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
5to undertake an investigation, as authorized under the Illinois
6Administrative Procedure Act (IAPA), to determine whether the
7Department of Human Services has complied with the provisions
8of IAPA, including (i) whether the Department of Human Services
9considered alternatives to the emergency rules adopted at 39
10Ill. Reg. 10072 in order to meet the Department's stated
11purpose and objective for those rules and (ii) whether those
12emergency rules are designed to minimize the economic impact on
13small businesses; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
15delivered to the Governor, the Secretary of the Department of
16Human Services, and the Joint Committee on Administrative
17Rules.