The rate of autism among American children has grown steadily over the past three decades, but advocates say funding support is not keeping up with the need for services.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports one in 30 eight-year-old children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, up 52% from 2017 and 178% since 2000.

Health and social service advocates say early intervention is helping more Illinois children with the developmental disease, but insurance and other assistance plans need to be improved.

Maureen Karwowski, vice president of clinical services for Easterseals of DuPage and Fox Valley, said while Medicaid covers some diagnosis and treatment, its policies have not been updated in years.

"Families that have Medicaid as a funding source are very limited, and providers that provide services are very limited in how many clients with Medicaid they can accept," Karwowski explained. "The ideas always start from need, and then from there we try and figure out a way to fund them and sustain them over time."

Karwowski reported her agency sees as many as 1,000 kids a week to diagnose the condition and provide developmental therapy for families to build healthy social, emotional and intellectual interactions between a caregiver and their children.

Karwowski pointed out the Easterseals clinic specializes in the early evaluation of kids as young as two years old to determine if a child is on the autism spectrum. The clinic also provides occupational, speech and mental-health therapists. She noted each child is evaluated and put on an individualized program.

"We have an autism diagnostic clinic with a psychologist and a host of therapists looking at all the areas of development," Karwowski emphasized. "We just know that early diagnosis and a really good evaluation early on would really assist the family in starting their journey."

Karwowski stressed, on average, there are 1,600 children referred to early intervention providers each month, but there are not enough therapists in Illinois to treat them. She added the state needs to update its decade-old pay scale for Medicaid providers.

The next legislative session is approaching in Olympia and Washington state's budget shortfall will be one of the biggest topics.

A gap of $10 billion to $12 billion is expected over the next four years.

Jerry Cornfield, a reporter for the nonprofit newsroom Washington State Standard, said a number of ideas have been thrown out. He noted Democrats are considering increasing taxes on businesses and wealth or excise taxes.

"They've also talked about a higher tax on the sales of super expensive properties," Cornfield explained. "They're really targeting wealthy individuals and large businesses in many of their proposals."

Cornfield pointed out the budget deficit could make it difficult to fund other priorities such as in education. Because of the gap, he does not foresee major changes in education funding this session. Republicans said reducing spending is the better option for shrinking the deficit. The session starts Monday.

On the housing front, Cornfield observed stabilization went far in previous sessions and could be on deck this session.

"Democrats are going to try to push it across the finish line and to the governor's desk this session," Cornfield projected. "They have more members in each the House and the Senate. They seem poised to really impose a statewide limit on rent increases -- monthly rent increases or annual rent increases -- of some percentage."

Cornfield stressed the priorities of newly elected Governor Bob Ferguson will likely determine the direction of the session. He added some nonbudget related topics could surface, such as reducing the blood-alcohol level for drunken driving. Gun-related legislation usually bubbles up too.

"There are bills again being introduced that would further narrow where people can openly carry weapons," Cornfield reported. "There's also going to be probably a good fight on this bill requiring individuals to have a permit before they purchase a weapon."

Cornfield said the legislation could involve a gun safety class for people to get a permit.


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North Dakota lawmakers gather in Bismarck today for a new legislative session and as they settle in, they will have public polling data to analyze ahead of final votes down the road.

Today's events mainly consist of speeches, including the governor's state of the state address. When committee hearings are eventually heard, legislators face pressure from the public to tackle property tax reform.

A new poll from DFM Research showed 81% of those surveyed support such a move. Last fall, voters rejected largely doing away with local property taxes, keeping the revenue tool in hand for communities.

Dean Mitchell, owner of DFM Research, said it is clear voters want such a balance.

"People understand that property taxes are in the mix to fund schools but they do want that reform," Mitchell reported. "I think that's the number one issue in the realm of education."

The second-highest priority in the poll, commissioned by the teacher's union ND United, was universal lunches. Among respondents, 79% support providing no-cost school meals to all students, regardless of their family's income. Meanwhile, 68% oppose public money being used for private school tuition.

All the issues are expected to be debated this session. Some bills might vary in their language, namely school choice, with differing views on various models being floated. Mitchell noted North Dakota voters appear to be in tune with the public education landscape and what their district's needs are, versus trends, such as private vouchers, seen in other parts of the country.

"I think it's just kind of that common sense nature of North Dakotans (being) a little bit more closely tied to their community," Mitchell observed.

He added the poll results reinforce long-standing sentiments. The survey was conducted last month with 600 voters from around the state interviewed via landline, mobile phone and text-by-web.

On Wednesday, Maryland's legislative session begins in Annapolis - and state lawmakers are facing numerous challenges.

Maryland expects pressure from the incoming Trump administration, which has called for slashing the federal workforce.

In a state where the workforce is among the most dependent on federal employment, those jobs translate into tax dollars for the state.

Brenda Wintrode, state politics reporter at the Baltimore Banner, said that matters - especially as Maryland stares down a nearly $3 billion deficit.

"This is going to probably take up a lot of the oxygen out of the session," said Wintrode. "It's the worst imbalance the state has seen in two decades. The revenues just aren't keeping up with the expenses, and economic growth remains sluggish, even though unemployment is at a record low."

She added that she'll be watching to see what lawmakers decide, whether it's cutting spending or raising taxes. Maryland lawmakers have pre-filed more than 250 bills for the 90 day session.

The deficit will have ripple effects in other areas, including education policy.

Progressive reforms, called the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, were passed in 2021. They include increasing teacher pay, preparation time for teachers and diversity among educators.

Wintrode said the program is ambitious, but costly, at a time when the budget remains unbalanced. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has said he is willing to pause certain policies, given the budget situation.

"Gov. Moore nodded that he would like to look at some of the most costly portions of the program and see how they can cut back on them," said Wintrode. "And one is this portion of the education reform that would allow teachers more time to plan their classes."

Other bills include support for in vitro fertilization, phone-free classrooms, and consumer protections on automatic renewals.