The $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by the Senate includes $4.9 billion in direct assistance to Illinois’ state and local governments, Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth said Thursday.
Appearing at Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily coronavirus briefing at the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop later Thursday, Durbin hailed the Senate’s 96-0 passage of the legislation, while cautioning it still needed House approval.
“We’ve actually done something. On a timely basis. Think about it,” Durbin said.
The legislation “tells you, I believe, that we not only understand the gravity of this challenge but the importance that we move quickly and put politics aside when it comes to the well-being of the people we represent and the future of our nation.”
The measure would give Illinois state government $2.7 billion, while providing $2.2 billion to local governments, according to estimates from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In addition, state health care providers and hospitals are projected to get “billions of dollars” from a national pool of $100 billion for dealing with the coronavirus, the senators said.
The grant funding is available for nonreimbursable COVID-19 expenditures and lost revenues, such as canceled procedures, and includes both future costs and costs already incurred. The bill also provides for increased Medicare payments to hospitals and expands telehealth services.
Of the $4.3 billion allocated nationally for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $1.5 billion is devoted to state and local health departments. Durbin and Duckworth said the funding, which includes test kit supplies, would provide an estimated $16 million for the Illinois Department of Public Health and an additional $9 million for the Chicago Department of Public Health.
The state will also get a share of $10 billion in increased Airport Improvement Program grants to help airports in the state continue to operate and pay for additional costs related to the coronavirus response.
Of $25 billion in federal transit formula funding to keep public transit operating, Illinois transit agencies will receive an estimated $1.6 billion in federal transit funding including $800 million for the CTA, over $400 million for Metra and more than $100 million for Pace.
The bill also includes $1.4 billion nationally to sustain up to 20,000 members of the National Guard under the direction of the governors of each state, including Illinois, for the next six months in order to support state and local response efforts.
The legislation also creates a national pool of $400 million for states to help prepare for the 2020 election cycle, including an estimated $13.9 million for Illinois. The money includes efforts to increase the ability to vote by mail, expand early voting and online registration, and add voting facilities and more poll workers to increase the safety of voting in person.
Additionally, the measure includes $31.9 million in federal grant program funding for Illinois law enforcement to buy personal protective equipment and allow fire departments in the state to apply for assistance from a $100 million national fund to buy personal protective equipment, the senators said.
Pritzker said the legislation is a step in the right direction.
“This is progress so let’s at least recognize a win when we see one,” the governor said at his briefing with Durbin.
“Does more need to be done? Yes. We are frankly doing everything in our power to get the supplies that we need, the equipment that we need to expand hospital capability, ICU beds, everything that you can think of.
“And frankly, it is at this moment, my biggest concern is not the expenditure that we’re making to save lives, it’s are we saving lives? Are we bending the curve? That’s what we’re watching very closely. We’re beginning to do that.”
Durbin credited Duckworth and the Illinois House delegation for their efforts to help the state.
“So far we’ve been able to work together and put aside political differences. Isn’t that exactly what the people of Illinois want at this moment in history? I think it is,” Durbin said.
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