State of Illinois FY2021 Public Safety Budget Basics

As described in a previous blog post, Governor J.B. Pritzker’s proposed General Funds budget for FY2021 totals $42.0 billion, which is a $2.0 billion, or 5.1%, increase above estimated FY2020 spending of $40.0 billion. The budget for all funds totals $84.5 billion. All funds include funds outside of the general operating funds such as other State funds and other federal funds, but not capital funds. The State’s 2021 fiscal year runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

This blog post focuses on proposed Public Safety appropriations. The Illinois State budget groups appropriations by result area, which identifies the principal activities of State government. Public Safety is one of these result areas, along with Education, Healthcare and Human Resources, among others. While Public Safety makes up a small portion of overall State spending, it includes appropriations within 14 State agencies and departments spanning an array of functions from running Illinois’ prisons to environmental protection. Some “public safety” expenditures are accounted for in other result areas such as Juvenile Justice under Human Resources, and the Judiciary under Government Services.

Proposed Public Safety spending within General Funds in FY2021 is $1.92 billion, a $55 million, or 2.9%, increase over $1.87 billion in estimated expenditures for FY2020. The total FY2021 proposed Public Safety appropriations for all funds are $4.0 billion. Public Safety appropriations for FY2021 represent 4.5% of total General Funds spending and 4.7% of all funds spending.

Proposed Public Safety appropriations for FY2021 are shown in the table below.

State of Illinois Public Safety Appropriations Proposed for FY2021
(in $ millions)
Public Safety Agencies	General Funds	All Funds
Department of Corrections	$            1,534.1	$                1,627.7
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation	$                    -	$                   114.5
Department of Insurance	$                    -	$                     62.3
Department of Military Affairs	$                 18.2	$                     64.7
Department of State Police	$               299.8	$                   731.9
Environmental Protection Agency	$                    -	$                   512.5
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority	$                 47.0	$                   244.4
Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission	$                    -	$                     27.9
Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board	$                   3.0	$                     27.5
Prisoner Review Board	$                   2.9	$                       3.0
Property Tax Appeal Board	$                    -	$                       6.9
Illinois Emergency Management Agency	$                 15.3	$                   568.5
Illinois Labor Relations Board	$                   1.9	$                       1.9
Office of the State Fire Marshal	$                    -	$                     45.2
Total Public Safety	$            1,922.2	$                4,038.9
Source: Illinois State FY2021 Budget.

While Public Safety agencies only constitute a small portion of spending, employee headcount within Public Safety agencies accounts for 33.3% of total personnel in the FY2021 proposed budget.

Public Safety agencies account for 19,017 personnel in the proposed FY2021 budget, which is an 11.1% increase over FY2019 levels. Total personnel count is proposed to increase by 13.3% in the three-year period from FY2019 to FY2021 across all agencies, from 50,448 to 57,138.

Public Safety personnel will increase by 703 in FY2021 over FY2020. The increase includes 436 positions at the Department of Corrections to meet needed staffing levels and consent decree requirements, and 215 positions at the Illinois State Police for three cadet classes.[1]

Personnel counts in the proposed budget are shown in the chart below. Human Services and Public Safety account for the majority of personnel positions, at 75.7% combined.

Illinois Department of Corrections

The largest Public Safety agency is the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), at 79.8% of Public Safety spending in General Funds. $1.5 billion of the IDOC budget is accounted for within General Funds, while $93.6 million is within other State funds.

The personnel headcount target within IDOC for FY2021 is 13,273, which is an increase of 436 positions over FY2020.

IDOC’s appropriations and headcount within the three-year period from FY2019 to FY2021 are shown in the table below.

Illinois Department of Corrections Appropriations and Personnel: FY2019-FY2021
Category	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021
General Funds Appropriations (in $ millions)	$   1,528.0	$    1,510.1	$    1,534.1
Other State Funds Appropriations (in $ millions)	$        91.7	$        92.6	$         93.6
Total Appropriations All Funds (in $ millions)	$   1,619.7	$    1,602.7	$    1,627.7
Personnel Headcount General Funds	12,400	12,837	13,273
Personnel Headcount Other State Funds	107	100	100
Total Headcount All Funds	12,507	12,937	13,373
Source: State of Illinois FY2021 Budget, p. 279.

The Illinois General Assembly will be holding budget hearings over the next several months before passing a final budget.

 

Related Link:

Governor’s FY2021 Budget Relies on Uncertain Graduated Income Tax Revenues