Illinois wrapped up its General Assembly session on June 2, but not before approving major new investments in affordable housing and acting to address the state’s structural budget deficit. The new funding will increase the supply of affordable homes, make existing homes safer, and help more families stabilize during a temporary crisis. Other wins include preventing a large sweep from the state’s housing trust fund and approving a referendum on the November 2020 ballot asking voters if they support the implementation of a progressive state income tax.
NLIHC state partner Housing Action Illinois and its allies secured $200 million for the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) within a larger capital budget funding package of $45 billion for infrastructure projects, including for transportation, schools, and healthcare facilities. Housing Action Illinois estimates this $200 million can create approximately 2,000 affordable rental homes. This capital budget package, finalized during a two-day overtime session, is the largest the state has seen in a decade.
In the state’s fiscal year 2020 budget, the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program received $16 million, a $6 million increase from 2019. The new funding will be used to enforce new and improved intervention standards adopted earlier in 2019, which made Illinois one of the few states to adopt the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reference value of 5 μg/dL or more to define an elevated blood lead (EBL) level. An estimated 6,000 additional children will receive lead-poisoning prevention care, including nurse case management and home inspections to identify hazards. Low-income children and children of color disproportionately experience lead poisoning. Investing in lead-poisoning prevention provides an opportunity for more equitable outcomes among children, and it is proven to be cost-effective because it reduces crime, increases taxable income, and lowers healthcare costs.
Advocates also secured $9 million - a $4 million increase - for the Homeless Prevention Program. The new money will allow homelessness prevention providers to serve more than 3,000 additional households facing a temporary crisis. The funds are primarily used for rental and utility assistance to help people prevent or end their homelessness.
In addition to these funding increases, Housing Action Illinois and its partners won two other significant victories that will increase the availability of affordable housing resources. First, lawmakers defeated a proposed $21.5 million sweep of revenues from the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund – one-half of the proceeds from the Illinois Real Estate Transfer Tax. Now all the trust fund income for FY2020 will be available for affordable homes.
Second, the General Assembly approved a “fair tax” referendum for the November 2020 ballot after many years of effort by the Responsible Budget Coalition, a large and diverse coalition of more than 300 organizations concerned about the state budget and tax issues. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who assumed office in January 2019, strongly supported the referendum.
Illinois is currently one of only one of nine states with a flat income tax and one of four constitutionally requiring a flat income tax. The flat tax fails to adequately capture tax revenue from income growth when most of that growth is enjoyed by people in the top income levels, as has been the case for the past several decades. The lack of a progressive income tax has contributed to Illinois’s structural deficit, resulting in inadequate support for things like affordable housing and education. The November 2020 referendum will allow Illinois voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution to allow for a fair income tax.
“Under the proposed income tax rates, 97% of people in Illinois will pay the same or lower taxes—all while making sure the wealthy pay their fair share,” said Housing Action Illinois Policy Director Bob Palmer. “A fair tax will bolster Illinois’s economy by stabilizing our state’s finances, while also allowing for more adequate funding of schools and social services, including programs that create affordable housing and end homelessness.”
Housing Action Illinois and other members of the Responsible Budget Coalition will be educating and mobilizing Illinoisans to ensure a successful vote in November 2020.
For more information on Housing Action Illinois, visit: https://housingactionil.org