North Cook News

Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) reports that teachers and state workers' unions were among the biggest winners emerging from the most recent legislative session in Springfield, but the government watchdog website also laments the fact that resources for the state's developmentally disabled barely registered on lawmakers' radar.

That fact has led Illinois state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) to question the priorities of some of his colleagues.

“It shows once again that Illinois does not prioritize the most vulnerable in our state,” Morrison told the North Cook News. “Instead, it favors the most politically connected and politically powerful. Those that have much more power in effecting elections take the spoils of those elections. When you look at how much of our state budget is allocated to the five state pension plans, that explains a lot about the priorities of elected officials.”

Illinois state Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) | http://www.senatormelindabush.com/

By contrast, IPI reports that there are currently 21,000 children and adults in Illinois with developmental disabilities still awaiting service. Overall, Illinois ranks 44th in the country in offering services for people with disabilities, even as the state is home to the highest state and local tax burden in the country.

With his Palatine community being home to Little City, a non-profit “dedicated to serving children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” Morrison has an up-close and personal view of the impact such facilities can have. Little City services at least 1,200 children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities and credits Morrison and state Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) with fighting hard to net the center some $1.5 million in additional funding this year.

“The majority in Springfield likes to talk a good game but then they don’t make the necessary changes to allow the state to function and serve all the needs as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible,” Morrison said. “They will say if we want to increase funding for those with developmental disabilities we just need to keep raising taxes, but that’s the very cause for so many residents leaving Illinois altogether. That’s not a sufficient solution.”

Critics point to other developments such as the state spending millions on such projects as improvements to the privately owned Uptown Theatre in Chicago and for the Illinois Arts Council to encourage “development of the arts” at a center that is chaired by Shirley Madigan, the wife of House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).

Through it all, Morrison said he tries not to lose focus of what organizations like Little City are trying to accomplish.

“I will encourage people in the private sector to please consider partnering with Little City and other similar organizations to fill in those gaps that the state is not providing,” Morrison said.