HR1357 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1357 LRB097 23814 MST 73012 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives recognize that there are distressed counties and communities throughout Illinois that struggle with many economic and social problems including crime, unemployment, poverty, mortgage foreclosures, declining property values, deficiencies in public health services, and deficits in public education; and

WHEREAS, In recent years these economic and social problems have become more prevalent and they have exacerbated existing conditions which include: inequalities in access to justice in the civil court system, an overburdened and ineffective criminal justice system, overcrowded correctional facilities, increased homelessness, inadequate educational opportunities, insufficient affordable housing, inadequate delivery of social services to the less fortunate, and deficiencies in the availability and quality of public health services; and

WHEREAS, Some counties and communities disproportionately experience these serious social and economic ills; for example, Illinois counties which had 16% or more of their population in poverty in 2010 included: Alexander, Champaign, Coles, Cook, Franklin, Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Lawrence, McDonough, Macon, Marion, Massac, Perry, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Vermilion, White, Williamson, and Winnebago; and municipalities with a population of over 100,000 which had family poverty rates of 10% or more are: Aurora, Chicago, Joliet, Naperville, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield; and

WHEREAS, It is important to take a comprehensive approach to the ongoing crisis of distressed counties and communities in Illinois and a significant poverty rate is among the best indicators that a community is in distress; and

WHEREAS, Care must be taken when addressing poverty and its associated problems in counties with distressed communities because an emphasis on serving the largest number of people in poverty will miss other areas of the State with significant poverty problems and an emphasis on areas with the highest rates of poverty will ignore large populations in need, as shown by these facts:

(1) Cook County has the highest number of persons living in poverty (which amounts to nearly 50% of the State's poverty population), but DuPage County (which has historically been considered to be a wealthy county with a small low-income population) has the second-highest number of persons in poverty;

(2) the 10 poorest counties in Illinois, as measured by poverty rate, are generally downstate with small total populations and while their poverty rates are very high (the highest county rate is 31.1%, with an average for all 10 of the poorest counties of 21.6%), these counties collectively account for less than 10% of the State's total poverty population;

(3) the 10 counties with the highest numbers of persons in poverty are, for the most part, near urban centers with 5 in the Chicago metropolitan area and these 10 counties include over 70% of the State's poverty population;

(4) a Statewide emphasis on the top 10 counties with high poverty rates will ignore the needs of 94% of the State's poverty population, but an emphasis on the 10 counties with the highest numbers of people in poverty will deemphasize the counties with the highest poverty rates; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Census Bureau on September 12, 2012, announced that, in 2011:

(1) the median household income in the United States declined by 1.5% from the 2010 median, which was the second consecutive annual drop;

(2) the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2011 was $23,021;

(3) the nation's official poverty rate was 15.0 percent, with 46.2 million people in poverty;

(4) and although the poverty rate and number of people remained statistically unchanged since 2010, this is the fourth year in a row with such significant amounts of poverty in this country; and

WHEREAS, The poverty rate in Illinois was 14.2% in 2011 and this amounts to a 42% increase in the poverty rate in Illinois from 2007 to 2011; and

WHEREAS, Living in an area with a high poverty rate may include threats to life itself; for example, a recent comparison of 2 sets of Chicago neighborhoods, the 5 poorest and the 5 least poor, showed that:

(1) the poorest neighborhoods had a homicide rate that is 11 times the homicide rate in the least poor neighborhoods;

(2) the mortality rate for the leading causes of death in Chicago (cancer, heart disease, diabetes-related illnesses, stroke, and unintentional injury) is 5 times higher in the 5 poorest neighborhoods than it is in the 5 least poor neighborhoods;

(3) the infant mortality rate is 2 1/2 times higher in the poorest neighborhoods than in the 5 least poor neighborhoods; and

(4) that the Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) due to homicide in the 5 poorest neighborhoods was 2,172 for every 100,000 residents (assuming a life expectancy of 75 years) compared to the YPLL homicide rate of only 186 in the 5 least poor neighborhoods (the concept of Years of Potential Life Lost is an estimate of the average years a person would have lived if he or she had not died prematurely); and

WHEREAS, So long as these social and economic problems are not successfully addressed in distressed counties and communities, the cost to tax payers in Illinois for the many programs operated or funded by the State will only increase; and

WHEREAS, State government resources are expended in ever-increasing amounts to address these social and economic problems and those expenditures are a significant drain on the State's road to financial stability; and

WHEREAS, There exist numerous ways for State government programs to be operated more efficiently and more economically; and

WHEREAS, State government, taxpayers, and those living in distressed counties and communities with a significant poverty problem could benefit from the creation of a State action plan that identifies: modifications that should be made to existing State programs so as to dramatically improve the delivery of services, reduce the cost of those services, and eliminate wasteful spending; how leadership programs and new educational opportunities could foster and equip new leaders; and ways in which State government could actively create a change environment that will have numerous positive impacts; and

WHEREAS, If more effective, efficient, and economical ways to deliver social, law enforcement, correctional, educational, and medical programs can be developed, then significant strides can be made in the overall welfare of the distressed counties and communities and those solutions could be replicated, with adjustments as appropriate, to all communities in Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Governor to create a Distressed Counties and Communities Commission composed of stake holders in distressed counties and communities, representatives of appropriate State agencies, and community leaders to explore, discuss, and coordinate efforts to prepare an action plan to offer enhanced State governmental services in a meaningful way, to foster leadership, and to create programs that can succeed in addressing the myriad social and economic problems that exist; this, in turn, can benefit all Illinois communities; and be it further;

RESOLVED, That we urge that the Governor designate an executive department to provide administrative support for the Commission and appoint members of the Distressed Counties and Communities Commission by December 31, 2013, so as to allow the Distressed Counties and Communities Commission to hold its first meeting in January 2013, and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Distressed Counties and Communities Commission be charged with: finding and creating innovative means to address and meet the numerous needs of those who receive State social services; designing plans to assist and enhance the efforts of State agencies and local governments that provide law enforcement and social services; analyzing successful state and local governmental programs in other locales in the subject areas of law enforcement, court administration, corrections, job skill retraining, education, economic opportunity, job creation, social services, and public health; and developing an action plan that includes information about changes and improvements to existing programs, statutes, and regulations that can be made by reallocating existing resources and not increasing State taxes; and be it further;

RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor to call upon the Distressed Counties and Communities Commission to hold public hearings and issue a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and to the General Assembly on or before April 15, 2013; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to the Governor.