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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, House Resolution 1101 (5/19/08), House Resolution
31428 (7/15/08), House Resolution 1517 (9/10/08), House
4Resolution 11 (2/11/90), and House Resolution 870 (2/11/10)
5formed the Illinois Family Law Study Committee; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Illinois Family Law Study Committee
7subcommittee on custody, aka POD 1, produced a report on April
810, 2010, which stated in the pertinent section that
9"Secondarily, the effect of the present system, in practice,
10has created "cottage industries" of GALs/child
11representatives, custody evaluators, and others, who have
12increased litigation costs and are not necessarily helpful in
13reducing conflicts between the parents"; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The House of Representatives, Judiciary I Civil
15Law Committee issued a May 15, 2012 letter signed by all 11
16committee members to members of the Illinois Supreme Court
17Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, voicing
18concern about the lack of attorney discipline "occurring in the
19area of child representatives and guardian ad litems appointed
20under the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS
215/506) in various court systems throughout the State; and
 
22    WHEREAS, The Illinois family court system participates in,

 

 

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1and is otherwise subsidized by, a Federal Program involving
2child support enforcement State and federal funding under,
3inter alia, Social Security Act, Title IV-D (42 U.S.C. § 651 et
4seq), Title 45 Code of Federal Regulations Illinois Public Aid
5Code (305 ILCS 5/10-1 et seq), Title 89 Illinois Administrative
6Code; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Illinois' participation in the aforesaid Title
8IV-D Federal Program requires strict adherence to the State and
9federal laws and rules and regulations governing said program;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Illinois budget impasse resulted in the March
122016 resurrection of a 1992 federal lawsuit involving the
13aforesaid Title IV-D Federal Program, the executive agency of
14the Governor responsible for the administration of said Federal
15Program, namely, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and
16Family Services (HFS), and a certified class of Cook County
17parents; 2016 court proceedings disclosed costly
18intergovernmental agreements between HFS and circuit courts in
1911 of the 102 counties of Illinois, among other issues of
20fiscal and legal concern involving the administration of the
21Title IV-D Federal Program and Illinois family court
22proceedings statewide; and
 
23    WHEREAS, The April 10, 2010 report of the Illinois Family

 

 

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1Law Study Committee, subcommittee on custody, among other
2authorities, indicate an unaddressed systemic problem in the
3Illinois family court system which calls into question
4Illinois' adherence to the State and federal laws and rules and
5regulations governing Illinois' participation in the aforesaid
6Title IV-D Federal Program; and
 
7    WHEREAS, A majority of members of the Senate and House of
8Representative of the Illinois General Assembly are committed
9to the lawful participation of Illinois in the Title IV-D
10Federal Program; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Illinois Legislature has not passed an annual
12state budget since May of 2014; and
 
13    WHEREAS, A majority of members of the Senate and House of
14Representatives of the Illinois General Assembly are committed
15to the passing of a balanced budget funding lawful proceedings
16of the judicial branch of Illinois government; therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
19urge Governor Rauner to formally request the assistance of the
20United States Department of Justice, Office of the United
21States Attorneys, Civil Division Federal Programs Branch to
22address identified private and public fiscal and legal issues

 

 

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1pertinent to Illinois' family court proceedings subsidized by
2the federal Title IV-D child support program; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4delivered to Governor Rauner.