[a this is just under an his statee address before joint section gringo. He highlights education funding, homelessness, Health Insurance and Maternal Health care and addresses the influx of asylumseekers Texas Governor greg abbott requesting migrants to major cities all over the country without warning. This is just under an hour. [applause] [applause] pplause] [inaudible] [i■naible] [inaudible] members and guests, honorable governor of this great state the honorable jb■] pritsk. [applause] [applause] [applause] thank you very much, thank you all very much. Harmon, lieutenant k governor straton, members to have 103rd general assembly, chief justice tice mes of the supreme court, honored guests, the first lady of illinois, my soulmate mk. [applause] and all the people of the great state of illinois, i am so to be here today to deliver my sixth state of the state and budget address. I love my■r job, i love living n illinois and spending every day working to improve the lives of our residents in a world with cs a privilege to be tasked with bringing stability and progress. We live ins filled with people who exude defendecency and here in springd one of the most interesting guys i know is ian hunt, head of acquisition at the abraham lin museum and if you ask ian, he will tell you one of my favorite stories, illinois owns gettysburg address. Of lincoln its known as the evert copy. One only five to have been handwritten by Abraham Lincoln himself. Its named after former on nove, 1863evertt was the other guy wht almost no oners. Whenever it was finished lincoln got up and delivered twominute speech that has never been forgotten. A lif for every politician. [laughter] the everett copy of linken gettysburgn hands for almost 80 years and in 1943 where the world war raging across the■ came to dwight green theoner to have■s. So his administration came to an agreement with the sell the other purchase it for 60,000. T have 60,000 to spend on the gettysburg address in 1943 and govern did something unusual. He enlisted the School Children of illinois to collect pennies and nickels. There was skepticism that kids were going to come up the gettysburg in the middle of a world war and at the heels of e great d should ever doubt the children of illinois. [applause] a few years ago a newspaper interviewed a springfield mansd8 named gene who noted that as young boy in 1943 he sacrificed saturday afternoon movie for a few months so that he cou■6ld gn drive. It took the children of illinois only 6 months to rse 40,000, marshalfield the third, grandson of Famous Department magnate helped with the rest. In exactly 80 years ago four School Children presented the handwritten gettysburg address to the y and it has been our most valuable state artifact ever since. I love t story. It has everything, imagination,m and elected officials that didnt stop at no and children with a vision beyond their years our future. Its a story about how penny by penny illinsa shaved something important. Its a story about our past but also a story about who we today because penny by penny we are still working together 5 years ago when people said we couldnt do it, many of us went to work eliminating our buildback log and balancing 5 state budgets i a row, we created a 2 billiondollar rainy day fund, we achieved nine credit upgrades and in the face of;■de inflation we delivered historic tax relief provided record levels of rental and mortgage assistance and reduce paying more than 11 billion in debt off. [applause] weve also grown illinois economy to over thats more than most nations. [applause] attracted billions of dollars in new Business Investments and created tens of thousands of new jobs. ■rt in fact, on average a new business moved to illinois or expanded here every single day last year. [applause] our bipartisan tax credit legislation illinois is now the worlds fourth Largest Data Center market and we broke an alltime for film and tv production revenue, tourism is booming, last years Illinois Hotel industry set recordau■ at 5. 5 billion. [applause] in the midwest we are now the development, across all 50 states we are number 2 for infrastructure. ■r 3 for power grid reliability, we have the number one and number two best Business Schools in the country and since 2018 weve moved a whopping 13 spots in cnbcs best state for business. [applause] these are the things that matter to businesses looking for a home where their workforce can live, work and play afford by and witht worldclass healthcare and education. Now we have a lot of work left to do but we together have met this moment that we are in. Do not let the doom drifters steal your optimism about whats ahead for illinois. Opportunity lies ahead. [applause] last year we launched a groundbreaking multiyear plan called smart start to make illinois the best state in the nation for preschool, care, Early Intervention and Home Visiting. [appe] huge difference for young families across illinois. We thought we would be able to add 5,000 preschool seats by thd that goal by 15 . We created 5,823 new spots. [applause] all of which are options that parents dnt result right now we have over 82,000 publicly funded preschool classroom seats, the highest number iur States History and staying onto the smart start plan we will achieve universal preschool by 2027. [applause] smart start also expanded access to Early Intervention and evencebased htom vervices forh babies and Young Children by adding 26 more programs serving established the nation leading Early ChildhoodWorkforce Grant Program thanks to initial investment of 130 million stabilizing and raising wages for workforce that is primarily women and people of color. That helps providers and grow staffing while still delivering the quality care that illinois children deserve. Smart start is having theking parents and their children, child care utilization rates are higher than ever before with 1,670,000 children receiving services. There was a real fear that our entire child care system might crumble in the wake of the pandemic, instead its growing. Heather andrade is parent and when i recently visited with her she said smart start changed her childs life and after tremendous difficult pregnancy heather brought natalia into this world, a healthy, happy little baby. Natr noticed that she was experiencing some delays in her development and in her speech. Heather knew that she needed help. Thanks to smart start rochester elementary was able to open a full they Program Offering care including Early InterventionServices Like speech therapy, since natalias first y in t her progress has been nothing short of remarkable. She can spell her name, she can her name. Once nonverbal natalia now talks so much that theyre even considering pulling h speech therapy. Natalia is on track to thrive when she enters kindergarten and ■8r path brighter. Heathers Success Story as a mom stands as a testimonial. It reminds us of all the u justa little extra help to give their kids that smart start. He ather h asked you to give her a big round of applause. [applause] its with heather and kelly get in mind i propose we by 150 million in year two to three, 5000 more preschool seeds, continue growing childcare and reach thousands more family quick critical Early Childhood services. Budget we bn the first phase consolidating the government, Early Childhood programs into one agency called the department of Early Childhood. [applause] wi investment from parents and providers would have a onestop shop of resources and programs providing childcare and preschool accessing block grants and daycare licenses. Nearly every study shows investing in early cldhood is just about the childs five years its paving the way for success in their k12 educati b. Every single year ive been governor, weve increased our investment in education quality education is the foundation of a good life and cornerstone of a strong society. Education has been central of all budgets i proposed. There are some handout champions among you like senator capital along with representatives davis and stewart have spent their entire careers fighting for our pu. Number two in the nation and college readiness. Cnbc ranked illinois number two overal for education. We notched our highest Graduation Rate in 13 years and Teacher Retention was the highest ever on record. [applaus] the rate of ninth graders o gras prepandemic levels. Chronic absenteeism is turning around and]f proficiency i b english Language Arts and math caincreased dramatically. We can draw a direct line from these results to last years our 45 milliondollar teacher pipeline Grant Program brought 5384 new teachers field. Reaching more than 700 30,000 students and 170 districts with the highesteed. Teachers are the single most important investment we can make in our schools. [applause] seven oh, i propose we invest in the 45 million. [applause] the evidencebased funding model is working. My Budget Proposal followed the recommendation increasing it again by three had a we will fully fund the special education continue increasing funds by 30 million. Higher education continues as tremendous upward trajectory for the second year in a row at thee system c celebrated historic headcounts. Marking the second largest increase in enrollmentinum higher far higher than the rest of the United States. [applause] more illinois students are taking advantage of our Great Colleges and universities with a we scholarship programs. The net tuition costs for most illinois students illinois schools continues to decline. Our Higher Education institutions are on there rise d it is important that year in and year out, even in lean budget years we demonstrate a commitment to these institutions. Which is my Budget Proposal than increase direct operating support for public Higher Education institution. Investments that we are making through rebuild illinois. [applause] improving Educational Attainment is assisting private industry to overcome the illinois workforce shortage. Its having a similar effect on state government. We are finally moving closer to achieving the Staffing Levels that we■ our work. The departments on agent, human services, healthcare and family services, every social surgeon agency has improved hiring to fill out its a budgeted headcount. Dcfs for example has achieved its highest staffing■s than 50 years the recombination of funding, ingenuity and sheer hard worker. Dcfs is more focused than ever on how to best protect illinois children. C today, nearly every call to the abuse and neglect hotline is that is up from only 50 back in 2019. Of the more than 94525 investigations conducted last year by dcfs, 99. 7 ted and initn 24 hours. And within seven days and 96 of children have been seen by ann . N with the additional 14 million in funding in fy 25 dcfs will reach a head count time in moren two decades. [applause] as always, there is more to do dcfs is committed to doing it. I want to thank outgoing director years of the states most difficult job. I also want to welcome incoming who served to gubernatorial administrations as a pioneering head the department of juvenile justice. Visited mar my time and office and it is impossible to ignore the trust and admiration the states and merable children have for her. We are lucky to capture. [applause] the people to work at dcfs are witness to trauma, heartbreak ever s day. They are rarely allotted for their assesses most often a convenient punching bag for ■lla issues. They worked long hours and on occasion these heroic workers have been the subject of threats and violence. I wanted them to know that i see you then. And that i see their work. And that i and incredibly grateful for their service. I ask each of you in this chamber to offer them your gratitude to theiron. [applause] [applause] the safety net has been a goal of mine from the nvery beginning. But to do so we have had to work ■v after so many years of neglect begun to turn things around by reducing the price of gsprescription drugs. Immation enacting a lower cost state based Health Insurance marketplace. I want to particularly thank se holmes, and the gillespie glorifying as well asw leader robin and gable for thebr groundbreaking work on healthcare reform over the last [applause] is a time we take anr giant leap forward this legislative session im introducing a curb predatory insurance practices. Putting the power back into the hands of patients and their doctors. [applause] it is called the Healthcare Consumer access and protection act. Ro it has three parts. Ts the called utilization manageme. What is utilization management . Thats insurance speak for denying coverage. Allows Insurance Companies to boost profits by rick requiring consumers getey receive care. It will not surprise you to know those requests are frequently denied. One method of utilization refera prior authorization. A consumer must get permission from the Insurance Company to get treatment from their own doctor. Their own doctor hasas deemed medically necessary. Another method of utilization is step to try a less effective treatment and have that fail fore hav care their doctors said they needed in the first place. Any dr. Will tell you howt hctis and how often they are used to deny patients the medication and treatments they desperately ■8z[■e almost everyone has a horror story about prior authorizations and step therapy. Lest you think i am exaggerating, let me share one story. One of our state employees was diagnosed by his cardiologist with a serious Heart Disease and open heart surgery. Three days before the procedure, which take a month to schedule the Health Insurer deniedizatio. The Insurance Company made the decision without consulting the persons dr. Heart surgery was leaving the employee to cover the cost outofpocket or not get treated. It was only after my office got involved at the request of this individuals family, who was afraid he could die the prior authorization is granted. That is simply unacceptable. Doctors and their patients should make decisions about pa care. [applause]■un< there should never be an instance where an Insurance Company employee can deny coverage for something as serious as open heart surgery. We should never, ever, ever leave these decisions to insurance executives whose focus is alw line. The only bottomline that really matters is what needs to be done to keep the legislation i am proposing would totally ban step therapy and illinois force Insurance Companies to use definition of medical necessity that doctors use. [applause] among the other feature the firt to ban authorizations for inpatient adult and Childrens Mental Health car■n [applause] [applause] means publicly post l treatment require prior authorization making compare plans on their shopping for coverage. [applause] also prohibit shortterm plans also known as junk insurance. These are plans that seem enticing they offer■i lower premiums to bridge gaps in Insurance Coverage but in reality these plans failed to meet the minimum standards of the Affordable Care act. They do not cover preexisting conditions. They do not cover Maternal Healthcare. They do not cover Mental Health and substce prescription drugs. Like a 12 other states in this nation it is time for illinois. [applause] the second part of this legislation covers network the e Companies Must meet to ensure there is enough in Network Doctors to treat consumers when it where they need healthcare. In recent years weve seen a rise of Ghost Network and Network Directory shows doctors and when in reality either arent accepting new patients, arent in network or dont exist at all. Health insan consumers get qualy care. Not tricking them. Were going to require Insurance Network to the actual ability of healthcare. We are going to punish them if they dont. [applause] prevents Insurance Companies from unfairly increasing rates on consumers. Last year, my Administration War proud to work with members of and other stakeholders to end on check rate increases. For small group insurance. Those of folks are the ones who cover Small Businesses and individuals. This year were going to require large group insurancearriers the same it. Im haunted by the reality they are illinois and who are suffering and in some cases have died because they lost a battle with an Insurance Company. I have talked to people who have just given up because of the mountains of paperwork for the endless search for it in networn the phone arguing with it unsympathetic Insurance Company. Getting the healthcare you need should not be thisnow, i know ht me on this but let me be perfectly clear i am willing to spend serious political capitol put my shoulder to the wheel to get this done. It will save lives in lower healthcare costs for illinoisans. [applause] [applause] who have suffered financialse harm. Often through no fault of their own. From past failures of a broken Health Insurance and healthcare billing system. Too many e illinoisans pushed io bankruptcy with one unexpected accident. One prolongedso today i proposee next four years we eliminate 4 billion of medicalt for over 1 million illinoisans. [applause] [applause] working with the National Nonprofit called medical debt it costs on average 1 penny to buy back and eliminate every dollar of medical debt. We can start this but this appropriation to relieve nearlyn 1 billion in medical debt with the first c■ ort of illinoisans. [applause] county board president is of cook county. Lets make this a reality for all of illinois. [applause] in illinois a serious effort to reduce Maternal Mortality rates is long overdue. Black women in our state are three times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white women. It is imperative we act and now ensuring as we do we also reduce racial disparities. The current symptom system is failing our most Vulnerable Women andos babies. The solution lies, does at the community level. She is a certified Nurse Midwife at the birth center First Freestanding nonprofit birthing center to open in illinois. The south side no such center has ever existed. After years of immobilizing andi submitting grant applications fn the chicago south kite birth center to meet her neighborhoods needs. Offering a full spectrum of od contraceptions, screenings, and abortion to prenatal birthingpo and postpartum care. [applause] illinois can decrease black Maternal Mortality. Because of the work of my administration is already done, beginning in this year dula, midwife and lactation consultants cannot be recognized medicaid healthcare providers. Ensuring they can be fairly compensated. [applause] that will make available to communities with the highest mortality rates. And we can do even more. I intend to break down bureaucratic barriers and work across agencies to improve access to a full spectrum of Reproductive Health care services. [applause] our department of Public Health will provide grants to assist providers with medicaid■n certification and licensing associated with l starting and sustaining a communitybased practice. We will also invest anmillion il grants relating to the cost of opening the centers. Dhs will invest million in a Pilot Program to ensure new moms and babies have clean diapers. Along with additional 5 million into Home Visiting for our most vulnerable families to connect new moms and babies with the resources they need to be healthy and thriveurfirst year. [applause] mymy budget also proposes investing 12 million to create a Child Tax Credit for families raising our youngestis children. [applause] by targeting this investment at■ low and middle income families with childrenan under three we n put money back in the pockets of our newest parents who need it most and it make easier. Altogether were making a 23 milliondollar investment that will put us on apu path to birth equity. A path and a destination jeanine and her colleagues in the field can be proud of. Jeanine is here today and i would ask her to sta and be recognized. [cheering] [applause] one of my missions as governor is to make life easier for working families. Establishing a Child Tax Credit eliminating medical debt lowering the cost of healthcare. Making it easier to get a college education. Bringing quale closer to home so moms and dads can go to work. These are not policy proposals but actually do lift the burdens up away from everyday illinoisans. Even though inflation continues to cool off, still feeling the squeeze every week at the grocery e store. So, there is one more thing we ought to do. For the good of ouran familiea permanently eliminate the grocery tax. Te [applause] [applause] it is one more aggressive tax that weth just do not need. If it reduces inflation for families from fort 3 sup bucks back in pockets its the right thing to do. ■l [applause] food access is far from the only necessity we are tackling. 2021 i signed exeve order that launched home illinois whole of governmentle approach o prevent and end homelessness. Investing 200 million into prevention crisis response, Housing Units and s fighting chance. In a matter of months home illinois sustained and created thousands of new shelter beds for a long time illinois residents across theim state. We provided housing and services of foster care who are at risk of becoming on house to write one time Financial Support to who, o an acute crisis felll behind and or risk losing their home or their aparents we kept thousands of illinoisans in their home. People who might otherwise be on house. For example. Jasmine was living in her car with her five children while she was eight months into a highrisk pregnancy. When jasmine was finally connected toou housing for the Homeless Services agency in oak park they immediately her in providing shelter and a wraparound clinicalnd services. While at Housing Forward rises center jasmine gaveth to a healthy little baby. And enrolled her kids in earlyld childhood education but registered for ged program and now jasmine looking. E today shes on a path to permanent housing. There are many hundreds of people like jasmine all acrossn the state in need of help. [applause]black individuals thee about making population. So this year we create a Racial Equity or roundtable on black methe only effort of this kind n the entire nation. To advance of that work i am proposing additional 50 million root causes of housing and security for black annoyance. [applause] and all the while, all the while we are going to continue to serve other atrisk populations like veteranhomedically vulnerah shelter and Wraparound Services they need. [applause] values the dignity of human life in the universal right to a safe home. Not so with all states. I would build a wall of steel. A wall as high as heaven the sie southern europeans who never thought the thoughts are spoke the language t spoken 100 years ago by Clifford Walker at a ku klux klan rally. He could have been a social media post by donald trump last week. Orward our worst impulses seem to never go away. Ive spoken many times about my own familys refugee h i will not join the chorus in this country are in this chchamber. Who eagerly looked to sla that s once open to our ancestors. Over the last 18 months more than 35000 asylumseekers have arrived in illinois. Most of them landed here and buses sent by Governor Abbott of texas. Abbott willfully planned at thee arrival of these individuals in locations and at that would engender the maximum chaos for the city of chicago and the asylumseekers themselves. Children, pregnant women and the elderly have been sent here in the dead of night left far from our designated and freezing temperatures in freezing temperatures wearing flipflops and tshirts. Think about that the next time a politician from texas wants a christian. [applause]us [applause] [cheering] our immigration system has been broken for a long time. No doubt the current migrant crisis is a problem of the federal governments making. And i mean both political parties. I am sure when i leave the podium today or there will be some who walk outside thise6 chamber looking for a microphone so they can start yelling about sanctuary cities and immigrants i hope the press covering those statements will ask these politicians one important question. Theres a chance to weeks ago forgo a break there in immigratn policy they want from leaders. They sat down at the table with republicans and negotiated a bipartisan compromise. The white house announced a supported by Top Republican leadership in the senate. And then, within hours, hours republicans who had helped write the legislation announced they were suddenly against the legislation. Including most glaringly every member of the illinois congressional delegation. Why did this happen . Why did every single repcang thy claim they desperately want . Because donald trump to control aithem to my guns and President Biden in the november eleion. Donald trump said that out loud that bill would have helped illinois. When it provided money and resources we dont normally receive as a state far from the southard order. Some republicans■; fin itt hardo names. Its been very good president who has rescued the economy and protected freedom. States andna cities, states and cities in the countrys interior are not equipped alone to handle the rapid influx of new arrivals than w h seen. The white house and the federal government need to step up to coordinate andage these asylumseekers when they cross the border. [applause] they should not leave it to the governor of texas who has no goal but to so chaos and■[destr. Listen, maybe some of you think we should just say this is not our problem weuld let the migrant family starve or freeze to death but that is not what decent mist midwesterners do. That is not what leaders do. We did not ask for this and manufactured crisis but we must deal with it all the same. With our partners in cook county in the cityministration is worko develop a costeffective comprehensive response planeh or the next 12 months. Wewe use the most reliable Data Available estimated what it would take to ensure the most basic human needs are met arrivn chicago. This plan also includes continuing our efforts to divert as many people as possible a she permanent settlements. Wherever that may be. Not because we are unwell pudding of immigrants but because chicago shelter system is near capacity and it is a dangerous if it migrants at the note shelter at all. Weve moved 9000 individuals from the process to a rival to temporary shelter, to independent housing andselfsuf. Helped thousands of the protected status and employment authorization process. So they can legally work. Private industry in illinois has expressed a desire to hire those who are authorized to work. I committed to the mayor of chicago and cook board county president i would come to the ar funding fornd a little over 50 f the cost of this plan which comes to we have no idea how long Governor Abbott plans to hold the nation hostage. But his a political stunt will eventually come to an end. So lets start planning for its aftermath. Ensuring during the comge of th0 temporary migrant shelters can and ought to be converted to other productive uses. As determined by the communities themselves. Neighborhood clinics, community centers, workforce training, housing, there are lots of good. We have designated 5 million in this budget for shelter conversion grants. Xc i wont pretend any of this is easy. It would be iesponsible to do anything but come here, lay out the scope of the challenge, tell you what i think we knew to do and work with you to make it happen. Personally, i think each of us should follow the examplew set y the good people of our state. Michael moyer is fixing up bicycles to donate to migrants. Chicagos samantha is teaching english to our new neighbors on a south loop basketball court. Theres oak parks elaine appears a retiree she opened her modest twostory, three bedroom home to 70 family members that she would say. Absorbing all of thers costs on wn. Mike, samantha, elaine, are among the best of us. Epitomizing what it means to be in illinois in through and lets thank them today. [applause] [applause] our fy 25 Budget Proposal make some hard choices. I wish we had big year. To take on every one of the very real challenges that we face. It is important to note while this budget is tight this our fiscal house is in order and we are able to keep our communities and our commitments to those communities a the people of illinois. This years budget is focused and discipline. Because of the responsible actions we took i the last few years paying off state debt treating federal pandemic as onetime revenue we are not facing the budge char big state. California for example has a a 38 billion dicito contend. Meanwhile, illinois budget is balanced that builds upon all the progress that we have made. Paying h our pensions ininvestic school. Social services. Just like [applause] i expect some of you more. And some of you will claim you want to spend less. I knowhis im open to ideas to more h efficiently and effectivy fulfill our obligations. Sand il only sign a budget that is responsibly balanced does not diminish or derail the credit standing we have achieved for the last five years. [applause] eighty years ago in the middle of a world war, our state decided it wanted to preservnd r past. Governor green new illinoisans in every corner of the state were watching theirnd friends and neighbors die half a world away fighting fascism. Good leaders are practical but the power of totems. Especially virtuous ones. It is a poetic and prophetic. It is came to the rescue 1943 to enable the acquisition of one of illinois true jewels. Somehow, it is always our kids who know how to contextualize c the past while reaching for our future. I am struck by the words of gina ruefully that springfield boy who gave up his movie money every week to donate to the gettysburg address efforts. He noted years it meant something to us. That meant something to us like that. It didnt mean something to jean. This sparked a lifelong love of history. When he retired, he worked at the Aaham Lincoln museum. Where on so many days he delighted in showing visitors the document that he helped by so many years jeans a story and the generosity of illinois children in 1943 is a reminder of something citizena great deal of their representatives. Give so much of themselves in return. That reciprocal is the essence it makes the society stronger. Its what makes illinois greats. Thank you, god bless you. Illinois and god bless the United States of america. [applause] pp[cheering] celebrate 20 of the him. This year ask the middle and High School Students are considering the pass hiring the milestone of the anniversary come up each participant was given the option to look 20 years into the future. Or 20 years in the past. And responsibly received inspiring and thoughtprovoking documentary for more than 3200 students across 42 conducting Indepth Research and interviews with experts. Students tackle critical topics such as technology and social media at. It is already started replacing human drugs and eliminating entire fields of work. Challenges in climate. Can no longer sustain and diversity. Discussions about criminal justice, race, a system. We are excited to share the top winners of student cam 2024 in the middle School Division the first five goes to from isaac Graham Newton middle school in mountain view, california the documentary beyon ai reshaping americus tomorrow. Two artificial intelligence. The eastern Division FirstBlair High School in Silver Spring maryland. Climate change and reimagining in reimaginingthe future of ame. Johnson and lee its a rally in detroit michigan clean the firsl Central Division with their production unseen heroes for the caregivers of america. High schooesax writer. First five for threads of change or takes a critical look at the fast fashion industry are top award of 5000 for a grand prize is to nay coleman and tenth graders at Western High School in connecticut. Navigating past and future coran, deals with the timely and sensitive subject and features interviews with the former iranian hostage. Instead of saying you are free to leave i was blindfolded, handcuffed and thrown the back of a car. Reat joy out of the 3200 have participated this year the grand prize student cam k you so much. This is huge honor. Parents who have supported each of these youngil their creative journey. Congratulations to all of our winners. Dont want to miss out on you can catch each of the 150 Award Winning films online anytime ate physically engaged in an aspiring young mind as they share their opinions on the issues that are important to them and affect our world. On thursday white house budget■y director Shalonda Young and jan yellen testify on President Bidens budget request. And the economic outlook. Watch the house appropriation subcommitt live at 2 30 p. M