 The administration this summer used its rulemaking powers to toughen eligibility
standards for the program, changing the maximum-income standards from 185
percent of the federal poverty level to 50 percent, or from about $2,450 for a
two-person family to about $665 per month.
That brought heavy criticism from child care advocates and from legislative
Democrats, who are in the midst of pushing legislation to rollback the
governor’s change and limit the executive branch’s rulemaking authority.
Rauner spokesman Lance Trover on Monday morning released a statement saying the
administration would file an amended rule that would set the eligibility
threshold at 162 percent of the poverty level.
“Other eligibility and restrictions will also be lifted pending further review
and legislative consultation,” Trover said. “Additionally, the governor’s office
will establish a bipartisan, bicameral task force aimed at ensuring the
long-term stability of the program.”
The governor’s office credited the change in position to serious, good-faith and
bipartisan discussions.
“This bipartisan agreement will allow us to avoid the unintended consequences
and costs that Senate Bill 570 would have brought,” Trover wrote. “By working
together, we will be able to bring financial stability to an important program
valued by members of both parties.”
That doesn’t mean the bill to put a stop to the governor’s changes is dead.
State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, the House sponsor of the bill, in her
own statement said she intends to call the bill for a vote Tuesday.
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 “My primary focus and concern is that of children, families and
childcare centers that need access to this vital work program now,”
Gordon-Booth wrote. “We must pass Senate Bill 570 to statutorily
make certain that our children are never put in this kind of limbo
ever again.”
State Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights, said if the
legislation does return to the Senate, she’d hold it, but not
indefinitely.
“If Senate Bill 570 comes back to the Senate for a vote, I have
agreed to hold it only as long as the temporary rule is actually
passed in the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules on Nov. 17,
giving thousands of providers and kids immediate relief,” Hutchinson
said.
“It’s past time for us to work together in every way we can every
time we can. Our children deserve nothing less,” the senator said.
A week ago, Rauner’s team was pushing hard against the bill, saying
“it permanently cements the eligibility level for the CCAP,
regardless of appropriations or funds available.”
The compromise stance would apparently put the eligibility nearly to
where it had been — 185 percent of the federal poverty level — yet
leave the governor’s office some flexibility in the future.
The governor’s top staff put the cost of the assistance program as
mandated in Senate Bill 570 at $220 million for the remainder of
fiscal year 2016 and as much as $800 million annually.
Proponents of the bill, however, questioned the accuracy of the
administration’s numbers and said not funding the program would
ultimately cost the state far more.
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