By Michelle Martin
Staff writer

As legislators revved through the final weekend of the 2003 session, Catholic leaders held their breath.

When it all ended in the early hours of June 1, Bob Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, was able to breathe a small sigh of relief.

Despite starting the spring session with a nearly $5 billion budget gap threatening human needs and other Catholic concerns, and the unknown impact of the new Democratic leadership in the state, various Catholic interests more or less held their own, he said.

On life issues, a bill that would have prohibited some demonstrations outside clinics where abortions are performed was defeated. The proposed state law mirrored an existing federal law in that it would have barred protestors from blocking access to clinics, but it also included “intimidation,” which some feared could be interpreted to apply to peaceful prayer vigils, Gilligan said.

A bill that would have allowed embryonic stem cell research, including possible human cloning was also defeated, Gilligan said, but a bill requiring insurers to cover contraception passed.

The conference tried to persuade legislators to add an amendment spelling out provisions that religiously based institutions, such as Catholic hospitals and other agencies, would be exempted from paying for contraceptive coverage for their employees under their health care right-of-conscience provisions. The bill’s proponents argued that such an amendment was unnecessary, because the right-of-conscience already exists in Illinois law. In the end, no amendment was added.

Still, Gilligan said, “It shouldn’t be a problem for us.”

The conference acknowledged the aid of several pro-life Democratic legislators who helped hold the line on life issues, especially Reps. Ed Maloney and Kevin Joyce from the Beverly area on the South Side.

“The Democratic Party has a wide range on life issues,” Gilligan said. “And these guys are with us on most things. We need to continue to find ways to work with them.”

Various Catholic institutions also more or less held their own as legislators finally passed Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s $52 billion budget. Social service providers such as Catholic Charities did not receive a cost-of-doing-business increase for services they provide under contract with the state, but they also did not take any large cuts—which seemed likely when the session started.

Likewise, legislators denied an effort to gut the state textbook loan program, which provides about $4 million for books in Catholic schools. A proposal was made to eliminate it as part of an effort to increase the base per-pupil funding in public schools. While the per-pupil funding was increased, the textbook program—which benefits all schools from kindergarten through high school in the state—was left untouched.

Meanwhile, a plan to raise revenues by taxing sales of natural gas from out-of-state vendors did pass, but it included an exemption for religious and non-profit entities along with several other categories of consumer. Without the exemption, the tax could have cost the Archdiocese of Chicago about $1 million a year, Gilligan said.

On the health care front, the news also was good: the governor pledged to use the proceeds from a borrowing plan to get Medicaid payments to health care institutions up to date. Those payments have been lagging up to two months behind, which has caused problems for several Catholic hospitals and nursing homes.

The big question, Gilligan said, is how long the good financial news will last. The budget calls for hefty revenue increases from a variety of taxes and fees, including a big bump in casino taxes, the sale of the dormant 10th casino license—which is tied up in court at the moment—and the sale of the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago and the Illinois Toll Highway Authority’s Downer’s Grove headquarters.