Yesterday, the Illinois House of Representatives
provided essential long-term assurance to community colleges in the state by
passing HB 4675, which would ensure that all future federal dollars distributed
to the State of Illinois for Adult Education and Career and Technical Education
are timely appropriated to community colleges, even in lieu of a state
budget. Currently, these funds are coded within the Comptroller’s Office
as “special funds” rather than “federal funds,” which had previously
compromised their ability to be distributed in lieu of a higher education
budget. Other similar technicalities within the fund distribution process
were addressed by previous bills, but did not include the funds outlined specifically
by HB 4675.
Community colleges in Illinois have been especially
impacted by the now ten-month absence of a state budget. In
Representative Unes’ District, these colleges include Illinois Central College
(East Peoria) and Spoon River College (Canton).
“Having these federal funds not be held up by
other budget discussions allows our community college to plan for future
offerings of Adult Education and Literacy Programming. In addition, we
are better able to budget for expansion and enhancement of our Career and
Technical Education programs. Each of these programs has a direct impact
on our regional economy and enhances Spoon River College’s ability to have an
educated workforce available for our region’s employers. Not having a
hold on these funds allows us to put those federal dollars to work
immediately,” said Curt Oldfield, President of Spoon River College.
Currently, 45% of Spoon River College’s budget for its
Adult Education programs is comprised of federal dollars, and amounts to about
$65,000 annually. They also receive approximately $79,965 in federal
Perkins funds, which support their Career and Technical Education
programs.
According to Illinois Central
College (ICC) Interim President Bruce Budde, ICC receives roughly $400,000
annually in federal subsidies for its own programs of this kind.