Child care funding bill falls short in House vote

In the video atop this post, House Speaker Michael Madigan yields the first part of his press conference in the Capitol Tuesday to advocates who were upset over the failure of the two bills.

Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth has been working to rally enough votes to restore the income eligibility levels and stop Governor Rauner from issuing another rule. Dunkin’s non-vote meant both bills failed by a single vote. On Monday, the administration announced it had raised the eligibility standard back to 162 percent of the poverty level.

Booth and other supporters wanted to get it to its previous level. Their efforts in Senate Bill 570 and House Bill 2482, they argued, were needed to protect the vulnerable from the whims of the executive branch. “Ken Dunkin, he makes backroom deals and he’s an undercover Republican”, Smith said. “As soon it can be possible, those mailers will hit the streets”. “He’s the one that went to the Democrats and said let’s find a resolution, one where we don’t have to have an adversarial vote on child care or the DON (Determination of Need) score”.

Harris said his bill “honors promises made to seniors and people with disabilities” and would make sure people now receiving care are not forced out of their homes – or nursing homes – as the state changes how it assesses need.

It is unclear exactly what Rep. Currie hopes the hold will accomplish, but a few House Democrats are wary of the governor’s compromises, which kept them from potentially passing legislation that would deny the governor authority to make similar cuts in the future.

Harris said while he appreciated the governor’s movement on the matter, he’d never promised he’d not push an override measure, nor was he in a position to do so without consulting with his leadership and colleagues. “What’s wrong with negotiating with each other whether you’re Republican or Democrat?”

The money in House Bill 4305 includes allocations to pay lottery winners, motor fuel tax disbursements to local governments, phone-tax revenues for 9-1-1 dispatch centers and other targeted spending.

Republicans including Durkin and Senate Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, say they’ll work with Democrats on such a budget, but they also say the state needs the changes sought by Rauner.

With about a week to go before a planned public summit to address the budget impasse, the General Assembly moved the needle little this week.