By BEN SZALINSKI & JADE AUBREY
Capitol News Illinois
[email protected]
SPRINGFIELD — President Donald Trump’s administration is pulling back $477 million from Illinois that was to be used to prevent infectious disease and treat mental health and substance abuse issues.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced this week the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is taking back $125 million allocated to IDPH and 97 local health departments for infectious disease prevention. Another $324 million appropriated by Congress for “future use” in preventing and treating infectious disease also is being blocked.
Separately, the Illinois Department of Human Services was notified this week that $28 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for mental health and substance use disorder treatment would be terminated. The funds had been appropriated by Congress in the American Rescue Plan Act for 77 Illinois community organizations providing mental health and substance abuse treatment services to residents.
“This decision to terminate already awarded federal funding will cause immeasurable harm and disruption to the health and safety of the people of Illinois and generate larger expenses in the longer run,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement.
IDPH’s funding for infectious disease prevention will see a “debilitating impact,” Director Sameer Vohra said in a statement. IDPH has been using the funding to track the spread of diseases, invest in lab upgrades, build up the public health workforce, and improve vaccination efforts.
A report published Thursday by Trust for America’s Health, a non-profit research organization, ranked states into one of three tiers based on their preparedness for a public health emergency, and Illinois ranked in the middle tier.
Illinois is one of 47 states with detailed “surge plans,” that outline IDPH’s ability to handle a sudden surge in testing demand and implement changes like reallocating staff and acquiring supplies, according to the report.
Over the past decade, IDPH published several surge plans including an “Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Response Plan” in 2019 and a “Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan” in 2020.
A surge plan is a “critical indicator of a state’s emergency preparedness” that demonstrates a state’s capabilities to tackle a crisis, the report said.
It noted that seasonal flu vaccination rates also give an insight into the state’s emergence response capabilities. According to IDPH, about 28% of Illinoisans received a flu shot for the current season.
IDPH also is keeping an eye on the spread of bird flu with the now-ceased federal funds. Although the CDC says bird flu does not currently pose a threat to humans, there is concern that interaction between the seasonal flu virus and the bird flu virus might create a new strain that could start human-to-human transmissions and increase the risk of a pandemic, Vohra said in a February interview with Capitol News Illinois.
Legal and budget impacts
Funding for IDPH’s and DHS’ programs was appropriated by Congress but is now being rescinded by executive agencies. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has already sued the Trump administration over other spending cuts, including on disaster funding, clean energy grants and teacher preparation grants.
Funding for IDPH’s infectious disease prevention programs was appropriated by Congress in the 2020 CARES Act — a law signed by Trump designed to help businesses, individuals, and health care institutions access funding during the height of the pandemic. Funding for DHS’ mental health and substance abuse program was appropriated by Congress in the American Rescue Plan of 2021 — a wide-ranging stimulus bill signed by President Joe Biden that included funding for programs intended to alleviate effects of the pandemic.
“The State of Illinois will do everything in our power to restore this vital federal funding and continue to invest in common sense public health solutions to keep our state safe and healthy,” Pritzker said.
A judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s broad federal spending freezes in January, but Illinois and other states have continued to be notified that money already destined for the state’s use is being rescinded.
The $477 million being pulled from IDPH and DHS is part of roughly $1.8 billion in federal funding the state is expecting to receive but remains in limbo. It’s also the latest example of the state losing money that’s already being put to use.
At the beginning of March, the Illinois Department of Agriculture learned the Trump administration will not reimburse the state for costs in the Illinois-EATS program incurred after Trump took office, leaving the state without $18 million of reimbursements. The program provides fresh food from Illinois farms to community distribution sites.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture terminated a $26.3 million grant earlier this month to the Illinois State Board of Education that helped Illinois schools and child care facilities buy locally grown fresh produce from Illinois farmers for use in meals and snacks.
Other areas of funding also remain uncertain as federal judges issue injunctions preventing the federal government from blocking funding already obligated to states and the Trump administration changes course about whether it will end or continue programs.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
