Advance Illinois Statement on Governor Pritzker’s FY27 Budget Recommendation
In the face of a tight budget year and continued uncertainty due to federal funding instability and policy changes, Illinois leaders face difficult decisions. We appreciate Governor Pritzker’s focus on fiscal responsibility, while continuing to prioritize children, students, and families. Today’s budget proposal reflects an ongoing, albeit restrained, commitment to education.
“Governor Pritzker has consistently prioritized education, and past investments have served Illinois well,” said Advance Illinois President Robin Steans. “We hope the General Assembly can find ways to build on the Governor’s proposal to ensure that Illinois students do not lose ground.”
Early Childhood
As Illinois fights a possible $1B loss in federal childcare funding, and navigates the transition of early childhood and care programs to the new Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC), we applaud the Governor’s continued support for the agency and a $55M increase to meet growing demand for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). And while more is needed, it is good to see an increase of $15 million in Early Intervention to support rate enhancements for providers. We hope the General Assembly can find a way to boost Smart Start Workforce Grants - a program that plays a crucial role in bolstering childcare workforce recruitment, retention and compensation, which in turn anchors the system as a whole, and can increase the Early Childhood Block Grant, kept level for a second year in a row.
Educator Workforce
Given the ongoing need to strengthen and diversify the educator workforce, we are pleased to see continued funding for many educator pipeline programs. At the same time, flat funding for scholarships like ECACE means that we are unable to meet the staffing crisis in early childhood. Additionally, funding was reduced for some programs, like Golden Apple Accelerators, while others were eliminated entirely from the budget, including new principal and teacher mentoring and Affinity Groups. Without funding support, these programs leave new educators, particularly educators of color, without crucial early career supports – supports that have been shown to increase both effectiveness and retention. We urge the General Assembly to restore these funds – modest investments that yield outsized benefits.
K-12 Funding
Despite notable progress, Illinois public schools still face a $3 billion gap to full adequacy. Accordingly, we appreciate the Governors' recommendation to increase Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) by an additional $305M – the state’s single most effective means to equitably and adequately support students. We also applaud the Governor’s proposal to address growing shortfalls in Mandated Categoricals (MCATs) by increasing this critical budget line by $51M to help keep pace with costs for legally-required services for special education facility tuition, orphanage tuition, the free and reduced meal program, and transportation. MCATS are deeply underfunded, putting a strain on local school finances and services, so we appreciate the prioritization of both of these funding streams in the Governor’s budget.
Whole Child
It is critical that Illinois continues to invest in programs that help schools address growing student needs, as evidenced by ongoing chronic absenteeism and elevated mental health challenges. While the budget proposes $3.5M in support for Resilience-Supportive Schools Illinois (RSSI) and SEL Hubs for professional development, planning, and programming across the state, we hope the General Assembly will do all they can to find additional dollars to ensure these efforts meet the growing mental health needs across the state.
Higher Education
At the postsecondary level, IBHE requested a 3% increase for public universities and community colleges. Critically, IBHE proposed that new funding be distributed equitably, rather than evenly – a recommendation they have made for the last four years and one we share.
Sadly, the Governor’s proposed budget falls short of these requests. On the institutional side, the Governor is proposing a disappointing 1% increase for public universities and community colleges. This increase is disappointing for several reasons: It does not keep pace with inflation, and on top of the meager 1% increase from last year, it compounds already serious financial strains in higher education – strains exacerbated by federal instability. This will have the predictable effect of worsening affordability at a time when Illinois postsecondary enrollment remains a concern. This proposal underscores the need for a structural change to how Illinois funds its public universities and the need to move to a funding formula that puts the state on a stable, predictable path to adequacy, and does so in a way that takes the unique mission and enrollment of each campus into account. Absent such a change, the vicious cycle of under-funding and enrollment challenges will continue.
We are similarly disappointed to see MAP held steady. We appreciate the significant MAP increases in years past (which the Governor has championed) and hope the General Assembly can find a way to move closer to the $70M increase recommended by stakeholders – an amount that meets growing need.
A bright spot in the higher education space is the Governor’s proposal to address deep and serious deferred maintenance – suggesting $300M in new capital funds for universities, and $100M in new funds for community colleges.
We appreciate the Governor’s ongoing commitment to education and the decisions he and other state leaders must make amid challenging circumstances. That said, more can and must be done for Illinois’ children and students. We now look to the General Assembly and encourage them to maintain hard-won progress and support Illinois students reaching their full potential amid a tumultuous federal landscape.