By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
Illinois’ public-sector unions may soon undergo one of their biggest expansions since Govs. Blagojevich and Quinn successfully expanded the definition of state workers to include personal healthcare assistants.
A new Illinois health care bill that creates a new class of Medicaid-funded workers, if paired with billions in additional Medicaid funding from President Biden’s infrastructure plan, could result in a flood of new union members in the state. According to an estimate from the Department of Health and Family Services, the new law could increase state spending by as much as $12 billion annually, though any spending is subject to appropriations.
More public sector unionization is one of the last things Illinois needs. At 95 percent, Illinois already has the most unionized state government workforce in the nation. The unions are connected to every major financial crisis the state has – from skyrocketing pension costs to local government overlap to education overspending, to chronic state deficits – and they’re the biggest roadblock to solving any of them.
Unfortunately, if Pritzker signs the recently-passed health care bill, Illinois’ union-expansion is ready to go. The new law will create “community health workers” to be paid through Medicaid reimbursements. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association estimates those new workers could initially cost $2.5 billion a year, or even more depending on how many workers eventually end up in the program.
That’s a cost the state can ill-afford.
Enter the federal government with a $400 billion Medicaid expansion tucked into Biden’s proposed $2.3 trillion in “infrastructure” spending. On top of the current $7.5 billion the state directly received from the stimulus bill, Illinois politicians can expect some of that $400 billion to help pay for the state’s new potential Medicaid expenses.
The WSJ editorial board reports:
“When is a $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill not really about infrastructure?…Mr. Biden wants to spend $400 billion to expand Medicaid in-home and “community-based” care (e.g., adult day care), increasing annual spending by 50%.”
The result, the WSJ warns, will be a boost to the membership and finances of public sector unions like the SEIU:
“The fine print of his proposal says his home-care plan would ‘create good middle-class jobs with a free and fair choice to join a union . . . and the ability to collectively bargain.’ This is where the SEIU comes in. The union has been able to exploit Medicaid home-care programs to expand its membership with help from state Democratic lawmakers.
Many home-care workers are family members or hired by families. But since Medicaid pays for home care, Democratic states have deemed them public employees and designated the SEIU as their exclusive representative for collective bargaining.”
Public sector unions – especially those in states like Illinois that have already turned healthcare workers into state employees – stand to benefit from the Medicaid expansion. But it’s likely Illinois will take extra advantage by creating yet another set of Medicaid-paid workers just as the federal money flows in.
The Federal government will have to officially approve of Illinois’ “community health workers” before the state can receive a federal funding match. But considering the Biden’s administration’s sympathies, that’s unlikely to be an issue.
The Illinois health care bill has been passed by both chambers and is now awaiting Pritzker’s signature. It’s the fourth pillar of the Illinois Black Caucus’ agenda, the others being bills focused on criminal justice, education and economic opportunity.
The big problem for Illinois will come later when the federal bailout money inevitably runs dry. Illinois, by any measure already in dire financial straits, is about to foster even more dependency on a state government that can’t pay its bills.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Illinois, spare us your ponderous ‘reopening guide’ for schools. For God’s sake, just open them.
- Pritzker Lobbies For Huge Federal Tax Cut For The Rich With Dishonest Letter To Biden
- Chicago Public School Students, You Are Doomed. Pritzker Signed Expansion Of CTU Powers
- The states’ 2020 financials are in: Biden’s billions in new federal aid aren’t needed
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
Audio and summary 
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
By the way, do you guys actually know just how bad Tier II is? LOL, it’s another ponzi scheme for the Tier 1ers, not Tier 0, who has no cap. LOL!
We will see everything heat up more and more in America in 2022. Time to move for real, you have been given several years already. If you don’t have bitcoin or monero you are in for a very rude awakening.
Sell your property, take a loss, better to live in a free state than burn with the welfare kings and queens.
Please, Do unionize healthcare. Healthcare workers deserve everything and then some that Illinois teachers deserve: starting with: free healthcare insurance premiums paid ‘on behalf’ by taxpayers, for the 20 year career demanded by Illinois before entitlements vest.. early retirement benefits payments beginning at age 55, with free healthcare and Constitutionally guaranteed, taxpayer funded pensions which are about 400% of social security payments. BROAD and VALUABLE indemnification from professional malpractice liability. Then follow political elite around with a microscope to make sure they do not access/pay extra for ‘special treatment’ that is not available to the Illinois taxpayer responsible for the… Read more »
This is another reason why Pritzker hurriedly signed his election fraud bill, i.e., drop box ‘voting’. I fully expect that after re-election, Pritzker and the Leftist Democrats will make a push for a ‘progressive’ income tax, and by gosh if the drop boxes are needed it will pass the next time!
There is a narrow, closing window to escape from Illinois in the next few years.
100%. The bailout just saved me from the 2022 Chicago Fire(s). I’m out by the end of the year.
Proposal: create a ‘taxpayer’s union’ cryptocurrency, with capped issuance. Let those who feel disgusted by and helpless against Illinois Political Industry corruption trade their own goods and services using this crypto. File all necessary paperwork to make the Taxpayer’s Union eligible for all the corrupt incestuous entitlements of traditional unions. Pay TPUnion management only with crypto coin of the realm. Results: either those who are not a party to the corrupt and incestuous Illinois Political Industry will encounter robust trade with non-IPI clientele, and be too busy to ‘serve’ the IPI, and in so doing increase the value of their… Read more »
Unions and politicians both operate under the illusion they can vote themselves money. How stupid is that, right?
oh wait
Union workers are like Illegals, they get a lot for free. Illinois pension laws will continue to be bastardized by the politicians syphoning off money for their own pet projects. Pritizker did not buy the Governors position because he was bored, he understood he would make more money and have more power than that all his relatives left him. He will continue to rely on Madigan and live free as a bird without ever having to do a days work. Until house is cleaned of all those Madigan Politicians both republican and democrat this state will always be run by… Read more »
Illinois needs more public sector union members like Custer needed more Indians.
At this point I feel like it’s just a race to see who can get the most before it all collapses. The smart, big money are moving their assets to protected vehicles, and they will be fine. They know what’s coming. The big corporations are starting to increase prices in a big way. They’re passing it along. The middle class and the small business class are scratching their heads wondering, “who’s going to pay for all this, and when?” As long as it’s not them, now, they’re going about their business. Small business owners are seeing price increases for both… Read more »
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is China’s national union and it has 302,000,000 members. China is extremely unionized.
Ted & John—just to make clear, your saying potentially the new seiu healthcare workers would be Tier II state employees with constitutionaly protected benifits? Correct? OMG!!
They likely wouldn’t be eligible for pensions. The “community health workers” will be considered state employees “solely in regards to collective bargaining.” So no state salaries or benefits will be given — the whole point is to give SEIU a chance to unionize the workers.
That’s exactly what happened last time with home health care workers in 2003 under Blago/Quinn.
John,
It is obvious the state could never, ever pay 12 billion annually. The state state cannot even afford an increase of 2 billion to anything at the moment. I feel like the article is leaving key things out, as the state would collapse well before 12 billion annually. That is more than what is going towards pensions. Impossible to happen.
Correct, that $12 billion is impossible, equal to about a third of the budget and three times what Pritzker’s progressive tax would have raised.
That’s why the spending is subject to appropriations. Lawmakers aren’t actually required to add the $12 billion to the budget. They can spend money on parts of the bill at a time — while always complaining IL isn’t spending the $12 billion required.
Thank you for your response.
Also, it sounds like to me they can’t really increase spending then if they don’t make any new money for it since it is subject to appropriations. They will only be able to spend what they have from the Feds. Is this correct? Like I said, they won’t be able to increase spending by even 2 billion. The state is broke.
John–also, wonder if infrastructure health funding provision is similar ARP fundings ‘no tax cut provision’ if accepting ARP funding? i.e.–would feds alow states to opt out of health funding provision and still accept funds for roads and bridges, etc or if the state wants the road & bridge $ then it has to accept health funding? Or is this more ram it down the states throat federalism??
Unions were started for a good reason, to protect workers from “slave” labor, poor working conditions and “slave” wages but over the years they have become corrupt and damaging.
And nobody gives a damn.
when you have too many pigs eating from the same trough,some of the pigs are gonna go hungry cuz theres not enough food-jus sayin