HR0722 LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3		Representatives recognize that there are distressed counties
4		and communities throughout Illinois that struggle with many
5		economic and social problems including crime, unemployment,
6		poverty, mortgage foreclosures, declining property values,
7		deficiencies in public health services, and deficits in public
8		education; and
9		WHEREAS, In recent years these economic and social problems
10		have become more prevalent and they have exacerbated existing
11		conditions which include: inequalities in access to justice in
12		the civil court system, an overburdened and ineffective
13		criminal justice system, overcrowded correctional facilities,
14		increased homelessness, inadequate educational opportunities,
15		insufficient affordable housing, inadequate delivery of social
16		services to the less fortunate, and deficiencies in the
17		availability and quality of public health services; and
18		WHEREAS, Some counties and communities disproportionately
19		experience these serious social and economic ills; for example,
20		Illinois counties which had 16% or more of their population in
21		poverty in 2010 included: Alexander, Champaign, Coles, Cook,
22		Franklin, Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Lawrence, McDonough,
23		Macon, Marion, Massac, Perry, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Saline,

HR0722 - 2 - LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		Union, Vermilion, White, Williamson, and Winnebago; and
2		municipalities with a population of over 100,000 which had
3		family poverty rates of 10% or more are: Aurora, Chicago,
4		Joliet, Naperville, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield; and
5		WHEREAS, It is important to take a comprehensive approach
6		to the ongoing crisis of distressed counties and communities in
7		Illinois and a significant poverty rate is among the best
8		indicators that a community is in distress; and
9		WHEREAS, Care must be taken when addressing poverty and its
10		associated problems in counties with distressed communities
11		because an emphasis on serving the largest number of people in
12		poverty will miss other areas of the State with significant
13		poverty problems and an emphasis on areas with the highest
14		rates of poverty will ignore large populations in need, as
15		shown by these facts:
16		(1) Cook County has the highest number of persons
17		living in poverty (which amounts to nearly 50% of the State's
18		poverty population), but DuPage County (which has historically
19		been considered to be a wealthy county with a small low-income
20		population) has the second-highest number of persons in
21		poverty;
22		(2) the 10 poorest counties in Illinois, as measured by
23		poverty rate, are generally downstate with small total
24		populations and while their poverty rates are very high (the

HR0722 - 3 - LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		highest county rate is 31.1%, with an average for all 10 of the
2		poorest counties of 21.6%), these counties collectively
3		account for less than 10% of the State's total poverty
4		population;
5		(3) the 10 counties with the highest numbers of persons
6		in poverty are, for the most part, near urban centers with 5 in
7		the Chicago metropolitan area and these 10 counties include
8		over 70% of the State's poverty population;
9		(4) a Statewide emphasis on the top 10 counties with
10		high poverty rates will ignore the needs of 94% of the State's
11		poverty population, but an emphasis on the 10 counties with the
12		highest numbers of people in poverty will deemphasize the
13		counties with the highest poverty rates; and
14		WHEREAS, The U.S. Census Bureau on September 12, 2012,
15		announced that, in 2011:
16		(1) the median household income in the United States
17		declined by 1.5% from the 2010 median, which was the second
18		consecutive annual drop;
19		(2) the weighted average poverty threshold for a family
20		of four in 2011 was $23,021;
21		(3) the nation's official poverty rate was 15.0
22		percent, with 46.2 million people in poverty;
23		(4) and although the poverty rate and number of people
24		remained statistically unchanged since 2010, this is the fourth
25		year in a row with such significant amounts of poverty in this

HR0722 - 4 - LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		country; and
2		WHEREAS, The poverty rate in Illinois was 14.2% in 2011 and
3		this amounts to a 42% increase in the poverty rate in Illinois
4		from 2007 to 2011; and
5		WHEREAS, Living in an area with a high poverty rate may
6		include threats to life itself; for example, a recent
7		comparison of 2 sets of Chicago neighborhoods, the 5 poorest
8		and the 5 least poor, showed that:
9		(1) the poorest neighborhoods had a homicide rate that
10		is 11 times the homicide rate in the least poor neighborhoods;
11		(2) the mortality rate for the leading causes of death
12		in Chicago (cancer, heart disease, diabetes-related illnesses,
13		stroke, and unintentional injury) is 5 times higher in the 5
14		poorest neighborhoods than it is in the 5 least poor
15		neighborhoods;
16		(3) the infant mortality rate is 2 1/2 times higher in
17		the poorest neighborhoods than in the 5 least poor
18		neighborhoods; and
19		(4) that the Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) due to
20		homicide in the 5 poorest neighborhoods was 2,172 for every
21		100,000 residents (assuming a life expectancy of 75 years)
22		compared to the YPLL homicide rate of only 186 in the 5 least
23		poor neighborhoods (the concept of Years of Potential Life Lost
24		is an estimate of the average years a person would have lived

HR0722 - 5 - LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		if he or she had not died prematurely); and
2		WHEREAS, So long as these social and economic problems are
3		not successfully addressed in distressed counties and
4		communities, the cost to tax payers in Illinois for the many
5		programs operated or funded by the State will only increase;
6		and
7		WHEREAS, State government resources are expended in
8		ever-increasing amounts to address these social and economic
9		problems and those expenditures are a significant drain on the
10		State's road to financial stability; and
11		WHEREAS, There exist numerous ways for State government
12		programs to be operated more efficiently and more economically;
13		and
14		WHEREAS, State government, taxpayers, and those living in
15		distressed counties and communities with a significant poverty
16		problem could benefit from the creation of a State action plan
17		that identifies: modifications that should be made to existing
18		State programs so as to dramatically improve the delivery of
19		services, reduce the cost of those services, and eliminate
20		wasteful spending; how leadership programs and new educational
21		opportunities could foster and equip new leaders; and ways in
22		which State government could actively create a change

HR0722 - 6 - LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		environment that will have numerous positive impacts; and
2		WHEREAS, If more effective, efficient, and economical ways
3		to deliver social, law enforcement, correctional, educational,
4		and medical programs can be developed, then significant strides
5		can be made in the overall welfare of the distressed counties
6		and communities and those solutions could be replicated, with
7		adjustments as appropriate, to all communities in Illinois;
8		therefore, be it
9		RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10		NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
11		urge the Governor to create a Distressed Counties and
12		Communities Commission composed of stake holders in distressed
13		counties and communities, representatives of appropriate State
14		agencies, and community leaders to explore, discuss, and
15		coordinate efforts to prepare an action plan to offer enhanced
16		State governmental services in a meaningful way, to foster
17		leadership, and to create programs that can succeed in
18		addressing the myriad social and economic problems that exist;
19		this, in turn, can benefit all Illinois communities; and be it
20		further;
21		RESOLVED, That we urge that the Governor designate an
22		executive department to provide administrative support for the
23		Commission and appoint members of the Distressed Counties and

HR0722 - 7 - LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		Communities Commission by December 31, 2015, so as to allow the
2		Distressed Counties and Communities Commission to hold its
3		first meeting in January 2016, and be it further
4		RESOLVED, That the Distressed Counties and Communities
5		Commission be charged with: finding and creating innovative
6		means to address and meet the numerous needs of those who
7		receive State social services; designing plans to assist and
8		enhance the efforts of State agencies and local governments
9		that provide law enforcement and social services; analyzing
10		successful state and local governmental programs in other
11		locales in the subject areas of law enforcement, court
12		administration, corrections, job skill retraining, education,
13		economic opportunity, job creation, social services, and
14		public health; and developing an action plan that includes
15		information about changes and improvements to existing
16		programs, statutes, and regulations that can be made by
17		reallocating existing resources and not increasing State
18		taxes; and be it further;
19		RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor to call upon the
20		Distressed Counties and Communities Commission to hold public
21		hearings and issue a written report of its findings and
22		recommendations to the Governor and to the General Assembly on
23		or before April 15, 2016; and be it further

HR0722 - 8 - LRB099 13943 MST 37939 r
1		RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2		delivered to the Governor.