Full Text of HR1279 97th General Assembly
HR1279 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives recognize that there are distressed counties | 4 | | and communities throughout Illinois that struggle with many | 5 | | economic and social problems including crime, unemployment, | 6 | | poverty, mortgage foreclosures, declining property values, | 7 | | deficiencies in public health services, and deficits in public | 8 | | education; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In recent years these economic and social problems | 10 | | have become more prevalent and they have exacerbated existing | 11 | | conditions which include: inequalities in access to justice in | 12 | | the civil court system, an overburdened and ineffective | 13 | | criminal justice system, overcrowded correctional facilities, | 14 | | increased homelessness, inadequate educational opportunities, | 15 | | insufficient affordable housing, inadequate delivery of social | 16 | | services to the less fortunate, and deficits in the | 17 | | availability and quality of public health services; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Some segments of our society, some communities, | 19 | | and some counties disproportionately experience these serious | 20 | | social and economic ills; for example, the Illinois counties | 21 | | which had 16% or more of their population in poverty in 2010 | 22 | | included: Alexander, Champaign, Coles, Cook, Franklin, | 23 | | Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Lawrence, McDonough, Macon, Marion, |
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| 1 | | Massac, Perry, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Vermilion, | 2 | | White Williamson, and Winnebago; and the municipalities with a | 3 | | population of over 100,000 that had family poverty rates of 10% | 4 | | or more are: Aurora, Chicago, Joliet, Naperville, Peoria, | 5 | | Rockford, and Springfield; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, It is important to take a comprehensive approach | 7 | | to the ongoing crisis of distressed communities in Illinois and | 8 | | a significant poverty rate is among the best indicators that a | 9 | | community is in distress; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Care must be taken when addressing poverty and its | 11 | | associated problems in counties with distressed communities | 12 | | because an emphasis on serving the largest number of people in | 13 | | poverty will miss other areas of the State with significant | 14 | | problems and an emphasis on areas with the highest rates of | 15 | | poverty will ignore large populations in need, as shown by | 16 | | these facts:
| 17 | | while Cook County has the highest number of persons | 18 | | living in poverty (which amounts to nearly 50% of the | 19 | | State's poverty population), DuPage County
(which has | 20 | | historically been considered to be a wealthy county with a | 21 | | small low-income population) has the second-highest number | 22 | | of persons in poverty;
| 23 | | the 10 poorest counties in Illinois, as measured by | 24 | | poverty rate, are generally downstate with small total |
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| 1 | | populations and while their poverty rates are
very high | 2 | | (the highest county poverty rate is 31.1%; and an average | 3 | | for all 10 of the poorest counties is a poverty rate of | 4 | | 21.6%), these counties collectively account for less than | 5 | | 10%
of the State's total poverty population;
| 6 | | the 10 counties with the highest numbers of persons in | 7 | | poverty are, for
the most part, near urban centers (5 of | 8 | | these counties are in the Chicago metropolitan area) and
| 9 | | these 10 counties include over 70% of the State's poverty | 10 | | population;
| 11 | | a Statewide emphasis on the top 10 counties with high | 12 | | poverty rates
will ignore the needs of 94% of the State's | 13 | | poverty population, but an emphasis
on the 10 counties with | 14 | | the highest numbers of people in poverty will deemphasize | 15 | | the counties with the highest poverty rates; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Census Bureau on September 12, 2012 | 17 | | announced that, in 2011: | 18 | | the median household income in the United States | 19 | | declined by 1.5% from the 2010 median, which was the second | 20 | | consecutive annual drop; | 21 | | the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of | 22 | | four in 2011 was $23,021; | 23 | | the nation's official poverty rate was 15.0 percent, | 24 | | with 46.2 million
people in poverty; and
| 25 | | although the poverty rate and number of people remained |
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| 1 | | statistically unchanged since 2010, this is the fourth year | 2 | | in a row with such significant amounts of poverty in this | 3 | | country; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The poverty rate in Illinois increased to 14.2% in | 5 | | 2011 and there has been a 42% increase in the poverty rate in | 6 | | Illinois from 2007 to 2011; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Living in a high poverty rate Chicago neighborhood | 8 | | carries with it an increased threat to life itself; a recent | 9 | | comparison of 2 sets of Chicago neighborhoods, the 5 poorest | 10 | | and the 5 least poor, showed that: | 11 | | the poorest neighborhoods had a homicide rate that is | 12 | | 11 times the homicide rate in the least poor neighborhoods; | 13 | | the mortality rate for the leading causes of death in | 14 | | Chicago (cancer, heart disease, diabetes-related | 15 | | illnesses, stroke, and unintentional injury) is 5 times | 16 | | higher in the 5 poorest neighborhoods than it is in the 5 | 17 | | least poor neighborhoods; | 18 | | the infant mortality rate is 2.5 times higher in the 5 | 19 | | poorest neighborhoods than in the 5 least poor | 20 | | neighborhoods; and | 21 | | a measure called the Years of Potential Life Lost | 22 | | (YPLL), which determines how many years of life are lost | 23 | | due to deaths in a community (using the base age of 75 | 24 | | years), showed that the YPLL rate for homicide in the 5 |
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| 1 | | poorest neighborhoods was 2,172 (that is for every 100,000 | 2 | | residents 2,172 years of life were lost each year to | 3 | | homicide) compared to the YPLL homicide rate of only 186 in | 4 | | the 5 least poor neighborhoods; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, So long as these social and economic problems are | 6 | | not successfully addressed in distressed counties and | 7 | | communities, the cost to taxpayers in Illinois for the many | 8 | | programs funded or operated by the State will only increase; | 9 | | and | 10 | | WHEREAS, State government resources are expended in | 11 | | ever-increasing amounts to address these social and economic | 12 | | problems and those expenditures are a significant drain on the | 13 | | State's road to financial stability; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, There exist numerous ways for State government | 15 | | programs to be operated more efficiently and more economically; | 16 | | and | 17 | | WHEREAS, State government, taxpayers, and those living in | 18 | | distressed counties and communities with significant poverty | 19 | | rates could benefit from the creation of a State action plan | 20 | | that identifies: modifications that should be made to existing | 21 | | State programs so as to dramatically improve the delivery of | 22 | | services, reduce the cost of those services, and eliminate |
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| 1 | | wasteful spending; leadership programs and new educational | 2 | | opportunities that would foster and equip new leaders; and ways | 3 | | in which State government could actively create a change | 4 | | environment that will have numerous positive impacts; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, If more effective, efficient, and economical ways | 6 | | to deliver social and law enforcement services can be | 7 | | developed, then significant strides can be made in the overall | 8 | | welfare of the distressed counties and communities and those | 9 | | solutions could be replicated, with adjustments as | 10 | | appropriate, to all communities in Illinois; and | 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 13 | | we urge the Governor to create a Distressed Counties and | 14 | | Communities Commission composed of stakeholders in distressed | 15 | | counties and communities, representatives of appropriate State | 16 | | agencies, and community leaders to explore, discuss, and | 17 | | coordinate efforts to prepare an action plan to offer enhanced | 18 | | State governmental services in a meaningful way, to foster | 19 | | leadership, and to create programs that can succeed in | 20 | | addressing the myriad social and economic problems that exist; | 21 | | this, in turn, can benefit all Illinois communities; and be it | 22 | | further
| 23 | | RESOLVED, That we urge that the Governor appoint members of |
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| 1 | | the Distressed Counties and Communities Commission by early | 2 | | January 2013, so as to allow the Distressed Counties and | 3 | | Communities Commission to hold its first meeting in January | 4 | | 2013, and designate an executive department to provide | 5 | | administrative support for the Commission; and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That the Distressed Counties and Communities | 7 | | Commission be charged with: finding and creating innovative | 8 | | means to address and meet the numerous needs of those who | 9 | | receive State social services; designing plans to assist and | 10 | | enhance the efforts of State agencies and local governments | 11 | | that provide law enforcement and social services; analyzing | 12 | | successful state
and local governmental programs in other | 13 | | locales in law enforcement, court administration, corrections, | 14 | | job skill retraining, education, economic opportunity, job | 15 | | creation, social services, and public health; and developing an | 16 | | action plan that includes information about changes and | 17 | | improvements to existing programs, statutes, and regulations | 18 | | that can be made by
reallocating existing resources and not | 19 | | increasing State taxes; and be it further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That we urge that the Governor call upon the | 21 | | Distressed Counties and Communities Commission to hold public | 22 | | hearings and issue a written report of its findings and | 23 | | recommendations to the Governor and to the General Assembly on | 24 | | or before April 15, 2013; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | delivered to Governor Pat Quinn.
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