A proposal to extend unemployment benefits to thousands of Illinois school support workers stalled in the General Assembly this spring after school districts raised concerns about spending.
According to the bill's sponsor, who says future efforts will depend on resolving financial disagreements, the measure is still part of his plans for veto session next fall.
House Bill 4416 would allow for certain non-instructional school employees – to include paraprofessionals, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians and other support staff – to collect unemployment benefits during summer breaks if they are deemed otherwise eligible.
The measure did advance out of the House Labor and Commerce Committee this past spring and reached a second reading before being sent back to the House Rules Committee in April for further deliberation.
Assistant House Majority Leader Marcus Evans Jr., D-Chicago, said the proposal ultimately ran into organized opposition from school districts concerned about the financial impact.
"Pretty much every school district called in opposition to this bill," Evans said in an interview with NPR Illinois. "School boards were against it, against the cost."
The legislation sought to address a long-standing issue for many school support employees whose paychecks stop when classes end for the summer, but who are still expected to return when the next academic year begins. It can be difficult for many of them to obtain summer work on such a temporary status.
Supporters, including the Illinois AFSCME Council 31, AFL-CIO, Illinois Education Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73, argued the proposal would provide a financial safety net for workers who often earn substantially less than certified educators while performing essential roles in schools.
In addition to Evans' House measure, Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, sponsored companion legislation in the Senate.
Despite that support, concerns about cost and opposition from school districts ultimately submarined the proposal to obscurity before lawmakers adjourned for the year. Instead of focusing on the proposed raised ceiling, opponents were focused on the bottom line.
Analysis prepared for the legislature on HB 4416 estimated that extending unemployment eligibility to school support staff could cost between $138 million and $176 million annually, with public schools, colleges, universities and nonprofit educational institutions responsible for roughly 93% of the benefits paid.
Evans said uncertainty surrounding those estimates became one of the bill's biggest obstacles.
"When you're making someone pay for something, you want to be reasonable," Evans said. "There was still a lot of arguments about the cost."
The Chicago Democrat said he believes obtaining more precise cost projections will be critical if the proposal is to advance in a future session.
"That cost estimate and getting some type of agreement on that is going to be something I'm fighting for. We're talking about helpers. We're talking about lunchroom people, bus drivers," he said. "We're talking about the people who don't get paid a lot of money."
For Evans, however, the proposal represents more than a dispute over unemployment policy. He repeatedly returned to a broader argument about how government chooses to invest public resources.
For Evans, he sees how lawmakers often spend years debating large-scale economic development projects, stadium proposals and infrastructure investments intended to generate jobs and economic activity. In his view, helping thousands of lower-paid workers remain financially stable between school years deserves similar consideration.
"This to me, this is a mega-projects bill, a mega-stability bill for the working class, said Evans.
Rather than creating new jobs, Evans argues the legislation would help sustain workers already serving schools and communities across Illinois, like a megaproject hiding in plain sight.
"We should be helping these low-wage workers through the summer," he said.
Although the General Assembly adjourned without advancing the measure further this year, Evans said he intends to continue working on the proposal and engaging with school districts.
