By Elizabeth Bauer, includes “…In December, I cited a report by the Chicago Tribune that, due to lack of funding, 20,000 adults in Illinois with cognitive disabilities were on a waitlist for group homes or day programs, waiting seven years or longer, due to lack of funding. …had the state not promised more in pension benefit accruals each year than they funded through contributions at the time, that money would be available to spend on all these needs.”