As your constituent, and an active member of the community, I am calling on you to support continued investments into the Direct Support Professional (DSP) workforce. The Guidehouse Study, which was commissioned by the General Assembly, comprehensively analyzed disability services in Illinois and recommended increasing DSP wages to 150% the state minimum wage. This study has been the impetus for much of the investments made into disability services in recent years. However, despite these significant investments, the DSP wage is further away from 150% the minimum wage today than before the Guidehouse study. Governor Pritzker’s proposed budget does not include any increase to the DSP wage, and with minimum wage increasing to $15/hour in 2025, we are at risk of losing all of the progress we have made. Please, do not support any budget that does not include an increase to the DSP wage. The system is struggling. The DSP staffing crisis continues to persist, and it is crippling the service capacity of Illinois. More than 15,000 individuals with disabilities remain on a waiting list to receive services. That is unacceptable. Even when individuals are selected from this list to receive services, there are now additional waiting lists to find a service provider. Providers, and even the Independent Service Coordinators (ISCs) do not have adequate staff to serve this population. Providers are struggling to serve those who they are already entrusted to support, sometimes paying out tens of thousands of overtime hours each month. This can easily lead to exhaustion, burnout, and high turnover. This is the reality of services in Illinois. We trail far behind nearly the entire United States, ranking 49th out of all states in terms of funding for individuals with disabilities in 2019. We were on the right track, making long overdue investments into these crucial services, but the proposed FY25 budget does nothing to increase DSP wages, or even ensure they maintain pace with the rising minimum wage. We need to invest in this workforce to expand service capacity to serve thousands of Illinoisans with disabilities. I understand that we cannot fix all of the issues with disability services overnight, and am thankful that over the past few years this issue has received bipartisan attention, support, and investment after so many years without any investment. We must continue investing in this critical workforce and build an equitable system that can support all individuals with disabilities. I am asking for you to cosponsor House Bill 4806 and/or Senate Bill 3764, which would fulfill the Guidehouse study’s top priority by setting the DSP wage at 150% the minimum wage through a $3.00/hour DSP wage increase. In recent years, these DSP wage bills have received an outpouring of bipartisan support, and we will need that support again this year. This funding will impact tens of thousands throughout Illinois and will save taxpayers money in the long term. Don’t allow Illinois to squander the progress that has been made. Look to the future and support HB4806/SB3764. Will you support this legislation and work with your colleagues in the General Assembly to approve this investment?

As a resident of your district, I would like you to be fully aware of the Direct Support Professional (DSP) staffing crisis, and strongly urge you to support HB 4806/SB 3764 to increase DSP wages by $3.00/hour. DSPs are the backbone of disability services in Illinois, supporting individuals with disabilities and helping them achieve their full potential. Without DSPs, community services could not exist. Unfortunately, community providers have been experiencing a DSP staffing crisis for many years, because the wage rate set by the state is not sufficient. DSP workers are being lost to industries, such as fast food and retail, because compensation is comparable between the two industries. Essential, front-line support staff impact thousands of individuals throughout Illinois every day, and they should be making a living wage which reflects the high levels of skill, diligence, patience, and care that DSPs have. In recent years, the state has been making some long-overdue investments into this essential workforce, and we had seen incremental progress being made. These investments were guided by the state-commissioned Guidehouse study. Guidehouse’s top recommendation to improve disability services in Illinois is setting DSP wages at 150% the minimum wage. Even though the state did not follow the investments recommended by Guidehouse, we were thankful to receive funding that has been needed for many years. But we have not yet fulfilled this top Guidehouse priority. The DSP wage today is 139% of the minimum wage, but minimum wage is increasing to $15/hour in 2025, and the budget proposed by Governor Pritzker does not include any investment into the DSP workforce. If this plan stands, the DSP wage will fall to 130% of the minimum wage, and wages will be stagnant until 2026 at the earliest. It was unfortunate to see that Governor Pritzker proposed ZERO investment into the DSP workforce in 2025. The minimum wage is set to increase to $15.00/hour on January 1, 2025, and without any new investment, providers will have an even harder time recruiting and retaining an adequate DSP workforce. I am aware that the Governor and General Assembly have made significant investments into disability services over the past few years, and am thankful that these long-overdue investments had begun to be made. However, these investments have been mitigated by the minimum wage and other economic factors. Since 2019, the minimum wage has increased 82%, while the DSP wage has only increased 58%. We cannot allow the minimum wage to rise without a corresponding investment into the DSP workforce, especially when we are so close to fulfilling the top priority of the state-commissioned Guidehouse study. HB 4806 and SB 3764 would increase the DSP wage by $3.00/hour making DSP wages $22.50/hour which is 150% the 2025 minimum wage. For years we have been making investments recommended by Guidehouse, and we cannot abandon that plan now. More than 15,000 individuals with disabilities are awaiting services, and with providers strapped for DSP staff, there are very few options for them to receive community services. We need to invest in the workforce and expand services so every Illinoisan with an intellectual or developmental disability can access the resources they need. I respectfully ask that you co-sponsor HB 4806/SB 3764, and work with your legislative colleagues to ensure this funding is included in the final FY25 budget. We cannot continue to delay investments. Every day individuals with disabilities are impacted by the staffing crisis, and only the General Assembly has the power to appropriate adequate funds to support the DSP workforce. I look forward to hearing from you and will be watching and waiting to see who supports this crucial funding.

Over the past few years, Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly have made essential and long-overdue investments into intellectual and developmental disability services. I was thankful that the Direct Support Professional (DSP) staffing crisis, and the other issues impacting Illinois’ most vulnerable residents had finally received the attention and investment from those who represent our state in Springfield. However, it was worrying to see that the Governor’s proposed budget for FY25 did not include any funding for continued wage increases for DSPs. The recent investments, although significant, were incremental compared to the investment plan proposed by the state-commissioned Guidehouse study. Still, this essential funding has been tremendously appreciated by myself and many others in the community, but it was with the understanding that this would be a process of continued investment. Now is not the time to halt investment into this essential workforce. We need, at minimum, an investment to ensure we keep pace with the rising minimum wage. Without an investment to increase DSP wages this year, the earliest DSPs in Illinois could receive a wage increase is 2026. The state-commissioned Guidehouse Study was a comprehensive analysis of disability services in Illinois which made several recommendations to improve the system and included a recommended investment timeline. The top Guidehouse-priority was to set DSP wages at 150% the minimum wage in order to combat the widespread staffing shortages in the DSP workforce. This study has guided the significant investments made into the disability services system over the past few years and we have reached 139% of minimum wage. Even though the state’s investments were far below what Guidehouse recommended, we had begun to see incremental progress being made and were thankful that this issue had finally received proper attention by the Governor and General Assembly. Now, we are faced with a proposed FY25 budget that includes no increase to DSP wages. I am sure you are aware of the DSP staffing crisis, as it has plagued community providers and individuals with disabilities for years. This crisis is ongoing and still needs to be addressed. We cannot afford another budget without any new investment into this long-neglected system. The minimum wage will rise to $15.00/hour in 2025. Without an investment this year, we will fall to 130% of minimum wage, which would be a 7 year low, and the earliest DSPs in Illinois could receive a wage increase is 2026. I know there are many legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, who are staunch advocates of the I/DD community, and I hope they will not allow a budget to pass without considering the impact of passing over the DSP workforce. More than 15,000 individuals with disabilities are already on a waiting list to receive services, and even if those individuals were selected for funding, lack of DSP staff makes it difficult or impossible to admit new individuals into their services. We need to build on the progress made in the past few years to expand service capacity so we can have an equitable community services system that supports all Illinoisans with disabilities. If solving this crisis is truly a top priority for the Governor and the General Assembly, which has been said many times in recent years, then they should make an investment which reflects that. House Bill 4806/Senate Bill 3764 would increase the DSP wage by $3.00/hour. This will elevate the DSP wage to $22.50/hour, making it 150% the 2025 minimum wage and satisfying the top priority of the Guidehouse Study. I am asking for your support for HB 4806/SB3764, and that you work with your colleagues in the General Assembly to ensure this crucial funding is included in the final FY25 budget. I know the budget negotiation process has just begun, and there are many competing interests to balance, but individuals with disabilities have waited long enough. Right as we were beginning to make progress and see improvement, we are now faced with a year of stagnant funding while the minimum wage increases. Please do not allow individuals with disabilities, or the dedicated professionals who support them to be overlooked again. I look forward to hearing your response, and hope you will be a champion for those who need it most.