The Illinois 2023 General Assembly session wrapped at the end of May, with several housing policy wins, including historic investments in preventing and ending homelessness, increased American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for gap financing of affordable rental housing, and a strengthened state law on local planning for affordable rental housing. NLIHC Illinois State Partner, Housing Action Illinois and their partner organizations played a major part in winning passage of the positive housing legislation.
The new state budget makes a historic investment in preventing and ending homelessness by including $85 million in new funding as part of a new Home Illinois budget line item to support the state’s plan to reach functional zero homelessness. The final budget amount reflects funding proposed by Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) earlier this year, with some additional provisions added by the General Assembly.
The final budget includes record funding levels for the Emergency Transitional Housing (ETH) and the Homeless Prevention programs, $40.7 million and $10.8 million respectively. The ETH program will help reduce the shortage of more than 4,550 emergency shelter beds, which in turn will reduce the number of people denied shelter due to programs being at capacity. The final budget nearly doubles the Homeless Prevention Program’s current funding, enabling the program to assist an estimated 5,000 additional households, almost half of them families with children.
“This is a huge win and a step forward toward our goal of functional zero homelessness in Illinois, especially for our shelter system, which since the onset of the pandemic has increasingly struggled to meet the demand for shelter,” said Housing Action Illinois housing policy organizer, Foluke Akanni. “Governor Pritzker putting significant funding to implement the HOME Illinois plan in his budget shows his commitment to preventing and ending homelessness.”
The Home Illinois funding also provides needed increases for existing services, such as supportive housing, youth homelessness, legal representation for tenants facing eviction, and rapid rehousing. New initiatives will also be funded, such as shelter diversion and scattered site permanent supportive housing. A $7.5 million increase in funding for home modifications will allow people with disabilities to stay in their homes. In addition, the new state budget commits almost $139 million in additional ARPA funding for gap financing for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects, bringing the total state investment of ARPA funds for affordable housing to almost $403 million.
Along with these housing investments, both the Illinois Senate and House passed a bill and sent to the Governor for signing, legislation based on Senate Bill 1476 that would improve the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act (AHPAA), a longstanding state law that encourages local government planning for affordable housing. The legislation strengthens requirements for affordable housing plans in terms of content and timelines, amends standards for filing an appeal to the State Housing Appeals Board, and updates the composition of the State Housing Appeals Board. The chief sponsors of the legislation were Senator Ann Gillespie (D) and Representative Abdelnasser Rashid (D).
Additional good bills that passed this legislative session include those addressing increased tenant protections, preventing and ending homelessness, fair housing, homeowner protections, and community development. More information about housing legislation in Illinois’ final state budget or about Housing Action Illinois’ advocacy work is here.