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 | 3 | | and economic implications of state-subsidized child care | 4 | | assistance programs and have argued that such programs increase | 5 | | maternal employment as well as children's educational | 6 | | attainment, labor force participation, and earnings as adults; | 7 | | and | 8 | | WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services recently made | 9 | | significant changes to the Child Care Assistance Program | 10 | | (CCAP); and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, These changes came into effect on July 1, 2015 and | 12 | | include an increase in co-payment levels, criminal background | 13 | | checks for relative caregivers, mandatory child support | 14 | | collection cases for eligible families with an absent parent, | 15 | | and a freeze on enrolling new CCAP applicants who do not fall | 16 | | under 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 | 4 | | hurt thousands of families and young children as it is | 5 | | estimated that 90% of working families who would typically | 6 | | qualify for child care benefits under the former CCAP | 7 | | guidelines are now ineligible for such benefits; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, These new CCAP guidelines will also have a | 9 | | devastating economic impact on small businesses, including | 10 | | child care providers that rely on the enrollment of children | 11 | | receiving CCAP benefits to fill their classrooms and businesses | 12 | | whose employees utilize child care services; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Even more glaring than the sweeping changes made | 14 | | to CCAP guidelines is the fact that the Department established | 15 | | these new guidelines through the adoption of emergency rules at | 16 | | 39 Ill. Reg. 10072; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Under the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, | 18 | | a State agency may adopt an emergency rule without prior notice | 19 | | or hearing if the agency finds that an emergency exists and if | 20 | | the 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 | 2 | | finds reasonably constitutes a threat to the public interest, | 3 | | safety, or welfare"; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services has stated that | 5 | | the adoption and implementation of the new CCAP guidelines is | 6 | | necessary given "the budget constraints projected for fiscal | 7 | | year 2016" and that the Department is "strongly committed to | 8 | | serving [the] state's most vulnerable population"; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Regardless of the Department's official | 10 | | statements, the sweeping changes made to CCAP guidelines do not | 11 | | appear to be directly connected to the State's current budget | 12 | | crisis and consequently the emergency adoption and | 13 | | implementation of the new CCAP guidelines indicates the | 14 | | Department's disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of | 15 | | the very citizens it has a duty to protect and serve; | 16 | | therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 19 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we respectfully urge the | 20 | | Department of Human Services to rescind the new Child Care | 21 | | Assistance Program guidelines established by emergency rules | 22 | | adopted at 39 Ill. Reg. 10072, effective July 1, 2015, and to | 23 | | restore the CCAP eligibility standards and guidelines in effect |
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| 1 | | on June 30, 2015; and be it further
| 2 | | RESOLVED, That if the Department of Human Services fails to | 3 | | voluntarily rescind the new CCAP guidelines, that we | 4 | | respectfully urge the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules | 5 | | to undertake an investigation, as authorized under the Illinois | 6 | | Administrative Procedure Act (IAPA), to determine whether the | 7 | | Department of Human Services has complied with the provisions | 8 | | of IAPA, including (i) whether the Department of Human Services | 9 | | considered alternatives to the emergency rules adopted at 39 | 10 | | Ill. Reg. 10072 in order to meet the Department's stated | 11 | | purpose and objective for those rules and (ii) whether those | 12 | | emergency rules are designed to minimize the economic impact on | 13 | | small businesses; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 15 | | delivered to the Governor, the Secretary of the Department of | 16 | | Human Services, and the Joint Committee on Administrative | 17 | | Rules.
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