A child who is sick or hungry cannot focus well upon her studies. Mobility associated with families' search for more affordable housing — let alone the even more dire circumstances of outright homelessness — disrupts the continuity of a child's education, as he moves from school to school. The devastating effects of poverty essentially doom many children's learning from the start.
In FY 2005, Illinois is facing a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit for the fourth consecutive year. This deficit exists within the state's General Funds, which pay for the services and programs most commonly used by the general public, such as elementary and secondary education, public safety, health care, transportation, environmental protection, affordable housing, and economic development. Only $24 billion of the $53 billion FY 2003 state budget supports the General Funds. A substantial portion of these General Fund dollars is absorbed by costs the state must pay or has little control over, such as health care and the state employee pension system, leaving only $13.5 billion to pay for other essential public programs and services the General Funds support.
While these spending pressures are increasing, revenues feeding into the General Funds are decreasing. In FY 2003, of the $24 billion in General Funds, roughly $7 billion came from federal and other fund transfers, and the remaining $17 billion was generated through state revenue sources — primarily individual and corporate income taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, and user fees. The revenue generated from these sources has significantly declined in recent years, dropping $362 million between FY 1998 and FY 2002, and by more than $800 million between FY 2002 and FY 2003 alone.