August 15, 2011

To the Honorable Members of the

Illinois House of Representatives,

97^th General Assembly:

I hereby return House Bill 1659 with specific recommendations for change.

I am committed to long-term care rebalancing to assure people of all ages are offered adequate choices of community and institutional options, to achieve a balance between the proportion of total Medicaid long-term support expenditures used for institutional services and those used for community-based supports. I commend the sponsors for their support in this effort and continued work on improving the quality of care for individuals with developmental disabilities.  

House Bill 1659 requires the transfer of funds from any state operated developmental disability facility realizing a reduction in residents of at least ten percent to line items providing appropriation authority for the new venues caring for the residents who are no longer receiving care at the facility.  However, in order to assure adequate care to individuals in state facilities and in order to fully realize the benefits of long-term care rebalancing, it is important to maintain appropriate budgetary flexibility.  For that reason, I am recommending these changes.

Therefore, pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 1659, entitled “AN ACT concerning health.”, with the following specific recommendations for change:

on page 2, by replacing line 5 with:

“the General Assembly within 30 days of when a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Human Services is made”; and

                        on page 2, by replacing line 10 with:

“Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, including, but not limited to, Section 13.2 of the State Finance Act, based on information contained in the report required”; and

                        on page 2, by replacing line 11 with:

“under this Section, the Department, at the direction of the Governor, shall transfer funds from”; and

                        on page 2, by replacing line 14 with:

“authority for the new venues of care, as necessary to carry out the objectives of the Governor’s long-term care rebalancing efforts or to otherwise facilitate the transition of services to the new venues of care, provided that the new”.

With these changes, House Bill 1659 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.

Sincerely,

PAT QUINN

Governor