It would be patently ridiculous to suggest someone as personally and politically successful as Gov. JB Pritzker takes any action with a specific individual in mind, let alone me, but that understanding didn’t inhibit the feeling of being singled out at a public event last week.
“Pritzker signs bill aimed at ending homelessness” read the Capitol News Illinois headline, a preposterous goal. But there in Peter Hancock’s third and fourth paragraphs the governor spoke to my cynical ear:
“At a bill-signing ceremony at Featherfist, a homeless services organization in Chicago, Pritzker said the goal of the initiative is to bring homelessness in Illinois to ‘functional zero.’
“‘For those who don’t know and who may be listening, it’s a measurable metric of success that reduces homelessness to something that’s brief and rare and nonrecurring.’”
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Every politician should store “Measurable metric of success” in their permanent rhetorical toolbox. Anyone can espouse lofty goals, but it takes a degree of (hopefully earned) confidence to essentially say: “I’m setting a standard, hold me accountable.”
The point isn’t to lionize Pritzker, who isn’t unique but just the guy in charge at the moment. Rather, his commitment to measurable metrics invites examining the numbers that, if the plans work, will eventually occupy the left side of a chart.
State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, the Chicago Democrat who served as lead sponsor for House Bill 2831, spoke at Wednesday’s event and estimated 4,500 people in Illinois are without a home each evening. The wait time to get housing services is an average 802 days. In fiscal 2022, emergency shelters turned away 9,800 people.
Success means reducing each of those numbers. How quickly it should take to reach “functional zero” is perhaps subjective, but Pritzker’s pronouncement and budget commitment means the only way to go is down.
The effort isn’t new. In 2021, Pritzker signed an executive order creating the Interagency Task Force on Homelessness and the Community Advisory Council on Homelessness, which centralizes programs across 17 departments and agencies. The fiscal 2023 budget includes $350 million for homeless services, up $85.3 million from the year prior.
Fortunately for voters – and the lawmakers who vote on future budgets – it’ll be easy to evaluate the efficacy of such investments. Each person experiencing homelessness has their own story and circumstances, which complicates attempts at systemic solutions. But when the administration says “functional zero,” it does so with an understanding of the uphill climb it faces by choice.
ON THIS DAY: Aug. 1 marks the 180th birthday of Robert Todd Lincoln, the first of four sons of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and the only to reach age 19. Born in Springfield, Robert Lincoln died a week shy of his 83rd birthday in 1926.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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