Illinois State Senator Mike Halpin (D-36th) is pushing to include a funding formula for higher public education before the 104th Illinois General Assembly adjourns on May 31st.
The Democrat from Rock Island said a bill he is a co-sponsor of, SB0013, would introduce an equitable funding formula administered by the state’s Board of Higher Education to aid public higher education institutions.
“We're still in real dollars, spending less than what we spent almost 15 years ago,” Sen. Halpin said in an interview with WVIK on May 18th. “And our universities are facing [a] demographic cliff with fewer students graduating from high school. And it's really straining their budgets and starting to affect their ability to put out the quality education they have in the past.”
According to the senator, the formula would take into account student population, services needed, the local cost of faculty, facilities and research. “[T]he funding model puts out what we should be spending on each of these universities, and it can go a long way to help Western Illinois University especially. And so I'm hopeful that will pass, but it's going to take a lot of work because it does require an investment from the state of Illinois.”
POWER ACT
Residents and environmental lobbying groups around the state are urging the legislature to pass the POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513), which would regulate hyperscale data centers, ensuring utility rates do not rise for consumers, protect local sources of fresh water, and adhere to the state’s clean energy goals.
Sen. Halpin said he is keeping an eye on the issue, although not directly involved, stating his district is not dealing with any proposed data centers. “I am skeptical of giving too much authority or too many deals to these data center companies,” Sen. Halpin said. “For one, they use so much power that I'm extremely worried about them coming to town and increasing the utility rates for all the rest of the members of the community, homeowners and small businesses. So that's one thing that is definitely important that I'm keeping my eye on, but I haven't made a commitment on any particular bill.”
The House and Senate bills have not advanced since their introduction and remain in their respective committees.
SNAP LEGISLATION
A bill that Sen. Halpin was supportive of earlier this year is SB3277, which would provide a one-time monetary payment to Illinoisans who may be impacted by the added federal work requirements to those seeking Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. An estimated 120,000 residents lost benefits on May 1st, potentially affecting nearly 250,000 Illinois residents.
Sen. Halpin says it won’t pass as a standalone bill but could be included in the final budget, currently being discussed in the legislature. He is pushing for its inclusion. “We are at the mercy of the federal government on this and other programs,” Sen. Halpin said. “The state of Illinois by itself doesn't have the funds to backfill all of those funding cuts. But this is one area when it comes to food security that we should be prioritizing and making sure that folks that need this assistance don't suffer once it gets cut off.”
He notes that if passed, the funds should be administered fairly quickly over the summer. The total cost of the funding is up in the air, depending on how many households qualify. The working number is $600 per household, which is an average of three months of SNAP benefits. Under H.R.1 people must work, volunteer, or train for at least 80 hours monthly to remain eligible for SNAP benefits.
The full interview is attached to this article. Sen. Halpin responds to questions about bills he is supporting, such as regulating streaming audio ad levels (SB3222) and the carbon pipeline developers' use of eminent domain (SB2842). He also responds to questions regarding bills to provide housing and services to residents recently incarcerated (SB4162), as well as a set of bills regulating artificial intelligence (SB0315, SB0316, SB0317, SB0318, SB0340, SB0343, SB0415, SB0416).
The bills mentioned above currently have set deadlines for committee action and 3rd reading on Friday, May 22nd, which could be extended.
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