In 2023, we led the effort to create the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness, with the goal to make homelessness in Illinois rare, brief and nonrecurring. Within the first two years of this new state office, we saw strong progress to meet that goal. Funding, which peaked at $290 million in state fiscal year 2025, covers rental assistance, supportive housing, youth homelessness and shelter. Due to this investment, almost 9,000 households avoided eviction, more than 37,000 people accessed shelter, and nearly 300 youth homelessness beds and over 3,000 units of supportive housing were created.
Undeniably, the JB Pritzker administration cares about ending homelessness.
But three years later and with limited time left to settle the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget, General Assembly members and advocates are fighting against proposed cuts to state homelessness dollars — $37 million over the past two years, including $11 million proposed this spring. Although we are proud of our state’s prior work and investment, we legislators must ask tough questions as we contemplate state cuts. How many people cannot access emergency shelter because no beds are available? Why do people sleep in police station lobbies in Chicago while they wait? Why did we run out of court-based rental assistance in April, with more than two months left in the fiscal year?
After tough questions, hearings and visits to homeless service providers over the past year, we stand resolute: We cannot cut homelessness funding in Illinois. In suburban Cook County, families with children wait an average of 86 days to access emergency shelter, whereas single adults wait 122 days. In DuPage County, single adults wait 90 days. State-appropriated homeless prevention funds for both the southern region of suburban Cook County and rural Fulton County dry up halfway through the year.
On top of the proposed state cuts, President Donald Trump’s administration is attacking the foundation of our homeless response programs through a return to criminalization of people who are unhoused, through an executive order announced in July. This order comes with significant changes in funding and policy that put one-third of all currently funded permanent supportive housing projects in Illinois at risk of termination in the upcoming federal funding competition to be released by the beginning of June.
As states across the country endure federal cuts to healthcare, food assistance and social services, we must stand strong in Illinois and reject any self-inflicted budget cuts to people experiencing homelessness.
— State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, and state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove
Don’t scare off AI startups
Lawmakers in Springfield are advancing proposals to regulate artificial intelligence across the state. In the process, they’ll decide whether Illinois will be a place where startups can compete or one where only the largest companies can afford to operate.
Long before AI began reshaping our economy, Illinois was already a proving ground for cutting-edge innovation. In Abraham Lincoln’s time, advances in agriculture, transportation and machinery helped turn the Midwest into a center of production and progress. That same spirit continues today as Illinois startups build practical tools across healthcare, education, manufacturing and other industries.
AI is accelerating that work, which is why the debate unfolding in Springfield deserves attention.
The question is not whether Illinois should regulate AI, but how we do so without favoring large organizations at the expense of entrepreneurs. Lawmakers are right to address real risks, especially when children and mental health are involved. While existing law provides substantial protection for Illinois consumers, smart, tailored policy can fill in the gaps.
The problem emerges when small startups are regulated the same way as major global companies. For a large tech company, navigating a patchwork of state-by-state mandates is an inconvenience that can be solved by hiring lawyers and compliance teams. For a small startup, the practical choice is not whether to comply but whether to stay in Illinois.
If Illinois wants to remain a serious hub for innovation, policymakers must consider whether each proposal supports or hinders its builders. Last year, as lawmakers debated policy to regulate digital assets, broad early proposals spooked young founders; one took his planned blockchain-powered urban agriculture concept to Kansas City. To the legislature’s credit, the final bill ultimately passed with narrow, targeted language that regulated risk, not innovation.
That is the lesson for AI. The threat is not regulation itself, but a regulatory approach that moves first and asks questions later.
New York and California have advanced targeted AI regulations that hold bad actors accountable without burying startups in rules designed for billion-dollar companies. Illinois should follow that lead by adopting clear thresholds, definitions and safeguards focused on demonstrated harms.
Done well, AI policy can protect consumers, expand access to useful tools and strengthen Illinois’ innovation economy. Done poorly, and we send the message that only the largest companies can afford to build here.
— Nelson Rosario, Chicago
Option for those with disabilities
Parent and family advocates of those with disabilities in Illinois supports reforms to keep their adult children out of costly institutional care and in their own communities. House Bill 5605, the Community Supported Living Arrangement Services Act, was the subject of a House Human Services Committee subject matter hearing last week. Rep. Anne Stava of the 81st District introduced the bill in February.
I attended this hearing, and I support the goals of this bill.
Current community living options for adults with developmental disabilities in one’s home are intermittent and largely depend on aging parent caregivers. Shared living in group homes of up to eight people is typically required; Social Security benefits pay housing costs. People with high support needs in Illinois often cannot access community living, leaving institutional care the only option.
At this hearing, parents and a provider gave oral testimony on how their children and clients have been turned away by agencies that provide community living services, due to their high support needs. As of June 2024, according to the University of Minnesota, 19 states and the District of Columbia have closed all state-operated institutions and have figured out how to support people with complex behavioral, physical and medical support needs in the community.
In Illinois, community supported living would bring together fragmented services with up to 24/7 support in an individual’s own home. Our neighboring states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Iowa all offer this cost-effective service.
While no cost analysis was presented at the hearing, Illinois citizens must come to terms with the future costs of placing people with disabilities in institutions. State institutions cost over $300,000 per person a year on average; there also are hidden costs involving lawsuits and aging facilities.
Illinois houses 1,600 people with disabilities in state institutions. Roughly 4,000 live in intermediate care facilities.
Readers can ask their state legislators to support HB5605. For more information, visit www.supportthecomplex.org.
— Paul Blobaum, Mahomet, Illinois
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