February 22, 2024
Raising Illinois’ Response to Governor JB Pritzker’s Proposed FY 2025 Budget
Our state’s prenatal-to-three coalition celebrates this ongoing commitment to Illinois’ littlest learners and their families, but calls for greater investments for critical services.
Raising Illinois thanks Governor JB Pritzker for his ongoing commitment to building a more equitable, affordable and high-quality system of health services, learning experiences and economic supports for our state’s expecting families, infants and toddlers.
During his State of the State address yesterday, the Governor proposed a state budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) with significant funding increases to early childhood programs as part of his multi-year Smart Start Illinois initiative, as well as critical investments in maternal health and poverty alleviation strategies.
“Governor Pritzker continued to express his commitment yesterday to Illinois’ youngest children and their families. To realize this commitment, we need significant increases in state funding every year for the core programs and services that infants, toddlers and expecting families need. Particularly for those furthest from opportunity, we need investments in critical programs like Early Intervention and in the providers delivering these vital supports,” Raising Illinois Director Simone Santiago said. “We encourage the Illinois General Assembly to enact a budget that funds Smart Start Illinois and ensures we prioritize infants and toddlers with disabilities and delays.”
The budget proposal contains the following funding increases to current early childhood programs in FY25:
- $158.5 million for the Child Care Assistance Program, Smart Start Workforce Compensation Grants, Quality Support Contracts and the Early Childhood Apprentice Program (27.3% over FY24) to replace expiring federal funds, cover growing subsidy caseloads and increase staff wages
- $75 million for preschool services and prenatal-to-age 3 programs administered under the Early Childhood Block Grant (11.1% over FY24) to create thousands of new slots, strengthen existing program quality and increase workforce compensation
- $6 million for the Early Intervention program (3.8% over FY24) to accommodate growing caseloads
- $5 million for evidence-based home visiting programs (21.8% over FY24) to continue stabilizing the workforce and increasing access for families
- $5 million for the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity to replace expiring federal funds and continue developing a robust educator pipeline
The budget also includes $13.2 million to establish the Illinois Department of Early Childhood, a new state agency first announced in October. We are optimistic that this consolidated agency could improve the experiences of children, families and providers alike by reducing administrative complexity and barriers to access.
“Investing in early childhood isn’t just about your child’s first five years,” Governor Pritzker said in his address. “It’s also about paving the way for success in their K-12 education and beyond.”
While the Governor’s requests are indeed monumental and build on past progress, Raising Illinois’ coalition of parents, providers, advocates and policymakers knows our state needs far greater investments in Early Intervention (EI) than those proposed yesterday. Ensuring that all young children and their families receive the EI services to which they are legally entitled requires much more than $6M. We are therefore calling on the General Assembly to increase funding for EI by $40 million.
“While we are happy to hear the Governor call out EI as a life-changing program for children with developmental delays and disabilities, the funding is simply not enough,” Sharniaka Ambrose, Raising Illinois Family Leader and an EI service coordinator, said. “Today, there is a crisis with service coordinators and EI providers. There are just not enough of us. It is heartbreaking to see parents terrified because they know their baby needs help and not be able to support them or tell them when they will be able to come off the waitlist. Right now, we are not doing enough to support EI workers—as a result, we are not doing enough for our youngest learners and their families.”
Similarly, the proposed $5M investment for the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) is insufficient to maintain, let alone expand, these scholarships and other professional development opportunities to address the urgent need for more infant and toddler educators. We call upon the General Assembly to increase ECACE funding by $60 million.
Our state also faces persistent racial disparities in infant and maternal morbidity and mortality. To that end, the Governor’s proposed FY25 budget also includes the following investments to improve health outcomes for young children and their families:
- $50 million in Medicaid rate add-on funding for safety net hospitals that serve the most under-resourced communities
- $4.4 million to advance a reproductive health action plan with an emphasis on community-based and full-spectrum peripartum care
- $2 million for mental health training for the frontline pediatric workforce
- $1.5 million to launch a new children’s mental health resource and referral portal through the Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative
- $1 million for birth center expansion, in addition to funding to support certification, licensing, and other startup costs for new community-based intrapartum care providers
"Governor Pritzker continued to express his commitment yesterday to Illinois' youngest children and their families. To realize this commitment, we need significant increases in state funding every year for the core programs and services that infants, toddlers and expecting families need.”
Simone Santiago
Director of Raising Illinois
“While we are happy to hear the Governor call out Early Intervention as a life-changing program for children with developmental delays and disabilities, the funding is simply not enough... Right now, we are not doing enough to support EI workers—as a result, we are not doing enough for our youngest learners and their families.”
Sharniaka Ambrose
Raising Illinois Family Leader
“With two-year old twins at home, I can tell you a little bit goes a long way. This child tax credit, no matter its size, will make a difference for families that are fighting to raise their kids to be thriving adults.”
Wendy Jo Mamola
Raising Illinois Family Leader
Economic security for families with young children was another key component of the Governor’s budget. Nearly 150,000 children under the age of five currently live in households below the Federal Poverty Level in our state, which is why Raising Illinois advocates for family-friendly income supports. We are energized by these proposals for FY25:
- $20.6 million for full passthrough child support payments for families who also receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families assistance
- $12 million for a new state-level child tax credit for working families with children under the age of three, worth 20 percent of the earned income credit
- $10 million to establish a Medical Debt Relief Program to erase nearly $1 billion in medical debt for over 300,000 eligible low-income Illinoisans
- $1 million for a diaper distribution pilot program
- Revenue adjustments to permanently eliminate the state’s grocery tax, which would alleviate the disproportionate burden on low-income families
“With two-year-old twins at home, I can tell you a little bit goes a long way,” Wendy Jo Mamola, Raising Illinois Family Leader, said. “This child tax credit, no matter its size, will make a difference for families that are fighting to raise their kids to be thriving adults. Any support whatsoever can make the difference between surviving and thriving. That is why I am excited for this investment Illinois is making to champion working families.”
Raising Illinois now turns our focus to the General Assembly, which is responsible for approving the final FY25 budget in the coming months. Use your voice and contact your state legislators and urge them to prioritize prenatal-to-three investments in the final FY25 budget.
Our work is just beginning—let’s do it together. Join Raising Illinois and be part of the collective effort working to ensure every expecting family, infant and toddler in our state has what they need to thrive.