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BRIEFLY Edited by Peggy Boyer Long WELFARE-TO-WORK A laboratory for social policy Illinois could be on the cutting edge of welfare-related research. That is, ( if the dollars for a $6 million, six-year statewide study of 3,000 welfare recipients come through. For now, researchers are busy securing funds from foundations and nonprofits. "There are various evaluations underway in other states, but I don't know of any like this," says Paul Kleppner, the director of Northern Illinois University's Office for Social Policy Research. "Most states, actually, are too busy patting themselves on the back because their caseloads are declining." Illinois' caseload is declining, too. But Kleppner, who is working in cooperation with Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Chicago Urban League, the Latino Institute and the Metro Chicago Information Center, wants to know the rest of the story: What happens after welfare? What kinds of jobs are people getting? What are they earning? Do they need help, including alcohol or drug rehabilitation? How are their children faring? Are they staying in school? In other words, are welfare reforms benefiting people as well as government? The federal guidelines are clear: two years to find work; five years of help total. Following those guidelines, Illinois policy-makers approved this state's welfare reforms last spring. But social policy researchers are already concerned about whether they will work. Indeed, the results of an earlier Kleppner study were grim. In 1995, he found there were four Illinois workers in need of entry-level jobs for every job opening. The job gap was twice that in East St. Louis at 9-to-l. In southern Illinois and Chicago, it was 6-to-l. In fact, that study found a job gap of at least 2-to-l in every part of the state except job-rich DuPage County. Kleppner's assessment: Illinois will be hard-pressed to make welfare-to-work a reality. (See Illinois Issues, May 1997, page 16.) Meanwhile, researchers hope to begin interviewing families for this latest study by fall — about the same time another ambitious welfare study is scheduled to get underway. That national study, funded primarily by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, includes some 700 welfare and working poor families from Chicago, Boston and San Antonio. Families will be tracked for five years by some of the nation's leading experts on inner- city poverty and public policy. The Joyce Foundation wants to determine what will enable some families to cope with what will be the greatest shift in social welfare policy in the last half century. Those researchers will assess work history, social networks and motivation. Still, Kleppner says his study, which will last one year longer and is more than four times bigger, will tell us more about Illinois' progress. "We have total access to state records. We likely wouldn't have had that if this study wasn't the result of legislation." The group's first annual report to the General Assembly is due next March. Jennifer Davis
LET'S GET TOGETHER An increasing number of Illinois' smaller school districts are considering consolidation. The who and the when may not be clear yet, but the why should not come as a surprise. Some lawmakers predicted a rise in the number of unit school districts as a result of the mega-education bill approved and signed by Gov. Jim Edgar last December. Under the new state aid formula, high school districts don't get as much money per student as before. "High school districts kind of took a beating" with that measure, says Denny Vinson, the State Board of Education's consolidation expert. He notes the formula now gives more money to elementary districts and unit school districts, which serve both elementary and high school students. Illinois has 901 school districts, including 406 unit districts; 388 elementary districts; 106 high school districts; and one district that serves the Illinois Department of Corrections. Consolidation can be a way to save money. But many smaller towns, where the local high school is an important part of a community's culture, have resisted the trend. "The best predictor I have that more schools are interested [in consolidating] is my phone," says Vinson. "I know four or five [districts] looking at it right now and two just passed [referendums in March]." Still, he adds, it may be "a couple of years before we can say definitively" that the new education funding law spurred consolidations, partly because the trend has been on the rise since 1985. That was the year the General Assembly passed financial incentives for consolidation. Vinson can see only one downside. "In some cases, there's a sense of lost town identity. People ask me a lot, 'What's going to happen to our basketball team?'" Jennifer Davis 8 / May 1998 Illinois Issues
CALCULATING
COST-BENEFITS We reap what we sow. That's especially true for the Illinois River. Over the decades, one of the state's most important waterways has become a muddy mess, clogged with tillage runoff and agriculture-related chemicals. Now a new federal-state program will encourage Illinois farmers to reap cash by not sowing crops on acreage along the Illinois' banks. On May 1, Illinois became the third state, including Maryland and Minnesota, to take part in what officials call a "revolutionary new program" to help solve environmental problems along the nation's waterways. The program follows on the heels of several ongoing state initiatives aimed at saving this state's troubled Illinois River, which begins southwest of Joliet and hooks up with the Mississippi River near Grafton. (See Illinois Issues, January 1997, page 22.) The state is hoping President Bill Clinton will designate the Illinois as one of 10 in the American Heritage River Initiative, another federal program for troubled waterways. That decision is expected shortly. And the Illinois River Coordinating Council, a 13-member advisory body, was scheduled to meet for the first time in late April. Further, such conservation groups as The Nature Conservancy and the Heartland Water Resources Council, along with numerous local groups, have their own ongoing projects. The new program, designed to secure 100,000 erosion-prone acres along the river, will cost $202 million in federal funds and $48 million in state funds over the next 15 years. The key to the success of the program will be voluntary participation on the part of private landowners, not a given in a state where farmers tend to plow and plant every available acre and calculate government programs on an individual cost-benefit basis. Still, the government hopes to make it worth a farmer's while to idle land. "We had a couple [of farmers] at the announcement who said this would be a good thing for them, but the main drawback we're hearing about is the length of the contracts," says Susan Thomas of the Farm Service Agency, which, along with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, will run the new Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Those who sign the required contract will get an annual fee based on the profitability of their land. The program will also reimburse them for half the cost of planting trees or restoring wetlands. (Farmers can join the program this month, even if they have started this year's planting Their contracts will just begin later.) After 15 years, the landowner can enter into another long- term contract with the state and receive a lump sum payment. Thomas hopes farmers, especially in the Peoria Lakes, Spoon River and lower Sangamon River areas in the central region of the state, will join this "first- come, first-served" program. "That's an area that can be productive, but it's also highly susceptible to runoff." In all, the program covers 29 counties, including parts of DuPage and Will counties in the Chicago metropolitan region south to Cass County northwest of Springfield. Hopes are high. Goals include reducing sedimentation in the Illinois River by 20 percent and nitrogen and phosphorus from farm chemicals by 10 percent. Still, Thomas says, it may be "five or 10 years before we see any measurable results." Jennifer Davis
Illinois Issues May 1998 / 9 Of Note Lawmakers unlikely to change utility law Chances are "poor" that Illinois lawmakers will vote to boost the state's energy efficiency program this spring. When the General Assembly and the governor deregulated electric utilities last fall, several lawmakers qualified their "yes" votes. They wanted assurances that environmentalists' concerns would be revisited this spring. But the negative prognosis on chances for addressing those concerns any time soon comes from Republican Sen. William Mahar of Orland Park, the lead sponsor of the deregulation measure. A key reason: Republican Senate President James "Pate" Philip, who decides which bills get called in his chamber, believes now is not the time to reopen the issue. "This bill was the product of five years of work," he has been quoted as saying. "Let's give it a chance to work." The bill, now law, allows residential customers to begin choosing their electricity supplier in 2002. Choice begins for big business and industry in 1999. The price of electricity varies statewide and by class of customer, but, on average, Illinois' rates are high. In March, the state's average residential cost was 10.4 cents per kilowatt hour. Nationally, the average residential cost was 8.39 cents a kilowatt hour. Such numbers, which fluctuate, come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (See Illinois Issues, March 1998, page 10.) Mahar says he'll try to sway Philip. Nevertheless, environmentalists are calling foul. "We were told we could come back at this in the spring," says Deborah Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Law & Policy Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that lobbies in Illinois and five surrounding states on energy policies. Anderson's group, along with the Sierra Club's Illinois chapter and the Illinois Environmental Council, which lobbies on behalf of some 70 environmental groups, wants to increase significantly the amount utilities pay into the energy efficiency program outlined in the deregulation legislation. Now, utilities will pay $3 million over 10 years. The environmentalists want to see $30 10 / May 1998 Illinois Issues Electric utility law million over five years. The money, through loans or rebates or an as-yet- undetermined method, would go toward helping residential customers buy energy efficient products. "It's a win-win-win situation," says Anderson. "The customer saves money on, say, an energy efficient light bulb. The customer saves money again on the utility bill. And it's better for the environment." Given their druthers, environmentalists would also reopen the deregulation legislation to include a renewable energy promotion program, something 20 other states have adopted, says Anderson. But without the Senate leader's support, that proposal also seems far from reality. Still, environmentalists haven't given up. Lynne Padovan of the Illinois Environmental Council says the General Assembly is "the unreal world where nothing ever dies. This is not the end of this issue." Jennifer Davis LEGISLATIVE CHECKLIST The spring session At presstime, these issues were pending in the General Assembly. Hog farms Hogs don't vote. Nevertheless, Senate Republicans are expected to ignore a measure tightening regulation of large livestock facilities. But House Democrats appear to have humans in mind, especially those who live in west central legislative districts where the facilities have become a contentious issue. They approved a measure prohibiting such facilities on environmentally sensitive land, increasing setback requirements and making out-of- state owners and operators liable for manure spills. Teen smoking Minors may have a harder time lighting up after the spring session. National pressure to stop teenage smoking has given momentum to a measure outlawing tobacco use by minors. (It's already illegal for minors to purchase tobacco.) The measure, sponsored by Republican Rep. and lieutenant governor candidate Corinne Wood, was sent to the Senate. "Over 3,000 teenagers start smoking every day," she warns. School shootings The three R's don't include rifles, and state representatives want to drive that point home. Responding to school shootings across the nation, the House sent the Senate legislation cracking down on those who fire weapons on schoolgrounds. It would become a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years in prison. Now, it's a Class 1 felony, punishable by four to 15 years. "There's nothing sadder than a kid who wants to go to school, but is scared to," says the sponsor, Rep. John Fritchey, a Chicago Democrat. Guilty officials Elected officials would have to clear out their desks immediately if they're found guilty or plead guilty to "a felony, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime" under measures pending in each chamber. Currently, they can hang onto their jobs until sentencing. School construction The phrase "build it and they will come" might be a cliche, but it still has meaning to dozens of Illinois schools left out of a construction program approved last winter. As a result, the House sent the Senate two "clean-up" bills that would open the program to . nearly every school in the state. Districts that passed construction referendums after January 1, 1996, but haven't issued bonds would become eligible for construction grants. A second measure would eliminate the enrollment caps that keep some schools from applying for state help. Family leave The Senate wants to leave Family Leave alone. Last year, the House approved legislation requiring companies with 25 or more employees to grant their workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family or medical reasons. The bill, an extension of current federal law, also prohibits employers from permanently replacing workers on leave. The Senate never called the measure, so the House passed it again this spring. Jessica Winski and Jennifer Davis Illinois Issues May 1998 / 11 |
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Sam S. Manivong, Illinois Periodicals Online Coordinator |