The co-chair of Illinois’ higher education committee said the state has "underfunded higher education for two decades."

Sen. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, wants to see a higher priority on funding higher education. He hopes to introduce a formula that would have resource costs built in so schools can use funds for those specific needs. 

Rather than fund by crisis, Halpin said, the funds will be built in to ensure universities and colleges already have the resources. 

The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce hosted an Illinois Legislative Forum Friday, Jan. 26, in which state Democratic lawmakers Halpin and Rep. Gregg Johnson, along with state Republicans Sen. Neil Anderson and Rep. Dan Swanson, spoke on a wide range of topics. All four represent areas around the Quad-Cities. 

Illinois’ 2024 legislative session started last week.

To address workforce development, lawmakers said that necessities, such as childcare and housing, must be affordable to allow further workforce growth.

Swanson said having more childcare options plays a key role in a stronger workforce.

Parents who work second or third shifts, he said, struggle to find childcare and can’t work if they have no one to watch their children. 

"We’re looking at how do we help those second and third shift families maintain their jobs and provide housing and shelter for their children through daycare of some sorts," Swanson said. 

Johnson said that along with workforce development comes the need to have affordable housing. 

"If we’re doing all the right things, we’re training our workforce… creating business tax incentives, given developers incentives, we still have to make sure that we have housing for people when they come in here," Johnson said. 

Halpin said that legislation has been filed for a workforce housing tax credit. The legislation would help provide housing for middle income households and allow them to transition out of older homes and into new housing.

Co-chair of the Senate higher education committee, Halpin said it is important to make sure that Illinois has strong, educational institutions. 

In an interview with the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times December 2023, Halpin discussed looking at a new higher education funding formula. He also discussed the potential at the legislative forum. 

The state legislature has created a commission to look at ways to create a new funding formula that would more equitably and sustainably distribute state funds to Illinois’ public universities. It anticipates making recommendations to the legislature this year, meeting minutes say. Halpin and Swanson both serve on the commission. 

The funding formula could improve investments at local universities, Halpin said, creating more research and job opportunities and ensuring schools can address student needs like counseling, career support and health care.

He is not sure legislators will be able to finish and pass a piece of legislation on it this spring, he said, but hopes conversations can begin.

Swanson serves on the appropriations committee for higher education and is the minority spokesperson for the higher education committee. He said that one of the things he asks colleges and universities is what their deferred maintenance dollars are. 

"It is staggering the deferred maintenance we have in our universities and colleges and I mean millions and millions of dollars," he said. 

The reason being, he said, is because they don’t have that funding there for them. To help address the lack of maintenance funds, he hopes to look at grant dollars that could be used. 

Halpin also told the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times he would like to invest more the property tax relief grant program.

"(It’s) a pool of money that schools can tap into in exchange for agreeing to lowering their property tax levy," Halpin said.  

The state has consistently put millions into it since passing the evidence based funding model, Halpin said, but the problem is school districts apply for the money and it goes very quickly. 

"I think some of our local schools that would love to be able to have that resource, are further down the list and aren’t able to benefit from it," Halpin said at the December interview. 

Halpin and Johnson also hope to continue investment in Smart Start Illinois. The program is an initiative Gov. JB Pritzker advocated for in the state’s current budget. It is a multi-year program that aims to eliminate childcare and preschool deserts by 2027. 

During the forum, Johnson said he is a little disappointed that funds from Smart Start did not get into the Illinois Quad-Cities but plans to have conversations with the governor to get funds directed to the region. 

Lawmakers also discussed migrants from Texas being bused or flown to Illinois by the order of Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott. 

A majority of the migrants have been bused and flown to Chicago. Chicago’s new arrivals dashboard shows as of 11 a.m. Friday more than 34,000 migrants have arrived in the city since Aug. 31, 2022. 

Since 2017, Illinois has been a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants. The legislation also prohibits local law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement. 

"We have to repeal the fact that we are a sanctuary state," Anderson said. 

Anderson said the state needs to worry about funding things for its own citizens and that the influx of migrants is costing taxpayers. 

Millions of dollars has been allocated for the influx of migrants. 

Swanson said the federal government should be stepping up and offering financial support  for the influx of migrants in Chicago. 

It’s more than just the state’s issue to address, Swanson said, and that the federal government should step in to offer financial help.

Halpin shared similar sentiments as Swanson, saying that the "failure to have a policy in (Washington) DC is pitting states against each and it’s causing budget issues." 

An audience member asked the lawmakers about expanding mental health in higher education for students, staff and faculty. 

Swanson said colleges did receive investment towards mental health and hopes they can continue to make investments. 

The current state budget included $3.3 million for grants to public universities and funding for the state board of higher education to establish a mental technical assistance center. 

In a December 2023 interview with the Dispatch-Argus, Johnson and Halpin advocated for further addressing mental health needs. 

In early December, Johnson and other local elected officials visited Arrowhead Family Services in rural Coal Valley, which is a private nonprofit treatment facility for at-risk boys between the ages of 12 and 21. Whether at Arrowhead, local schools and universities, he said, mental health needs to be at the top of the list to address.

Halpin said the visit showed that there are strategies for success for individuals with behavioral health and/or mental issues but only so much can done with a limited amount of investment or financial resources. 

"It’s about building capacity here in western Illinois and making sure that we have enough providers and different types of providers," Halpin said. "We need to make sure we have a variety of providers ready to address it (mental health)."