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MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS
Sangamon County faces a clear choice: continue treating mental health as optional – or recognize it as essential public infrastructure for families, employers, schools and public safety.
A yes vote on the March 17 referendum will create a local Mental Health Board to provide dedicated funding for behavioral health, substance use disorder and intellectual/developmental disability services. Today, Sangamon County is – by far – the largest county in Illinois without this dedicated, locally controlled funding body. The vast majority of Illinois counties have already made this investment. It’s time we do the same.
This referendum reached the ballot only after a yearlong study and a unanimous, bipartisan vote of the Sangamon County Board. Leaders across the political spectrum agree: the need is too great to ignore.
Untreated mental health challenges can wreak havoc in our ERs, courts and jails – and also in our classrooms, workplaces and streets. When services are underfunded, costs don’t disappear; they shift to police, nurses, doctors and taxpayers in far more expensive ways.
If passed, the referendum would dedicate local funding – half of 1%, or one cent on a $2 sale (excluding groceries, medicine and services). It is expected to generate more than $14 million annually. Every dollar stays in Sangamon County and is subject to public accountability and annual audits.
This effort has earned broad community support, including from the Sangamon County Farm Bureau, the Sangamon County Medical Society, American Legion Post 32 and our sheriff and state’s attorney. Public safety, medical, agricultural and business leaders alike recognize that stronger mental health services make for a safer, healthier and more economically stable community.
Independent voters can request a nonpartisan, referendum-only ballot and vote on this question without declaring a party. Vote yes for mental health – and for a stronger, safer Sangamon County.
Sergio “Satch” Pecori, chair and CEO of Hanson Professional Services
Ryan Croke, Mid-Illinois Medical District Commission president
NO NEW TAX
Let the cannabis users pay the mental health tax (“Creation of mental health board will be up to voters,” Feb. 5). They create a problem, then want us to fix it with more money. It’s like going to dinner, ordering up everything, then letting the other guy pay for it.
Barry Fitzgerald
Springfield
HIGH HOMEOWNERS’ INSURANCE
I’m writing in support of House Bill 3799 to address rising insurance rates in Illinois, especially State Farm’s 27% home insurance rate increase (“Bill to regulate homeowners’ insurance rates could reemerge this session,” Feb. 13). As a former 20-year-plus State Farm customer, I want to share the horrendous experience I faced and why this legislation is needed.
On June 29, 2023, my house in Chatham sustained severe exterior and interior damage caused by the impact of fallen trees and branches from the tornado force winds across Sangamon County that day. In the coming days and weeks my neighbors with other insurance companies quickly got their properties inspected and their claims resolved. But like a bad neighbor – State Farm was not there.
Over the two-year process, State Farm delayed, lied about and partially denied my claim – while increasing my homeowners’ and automobile insurance rates. Because of our current weak insurance oversight in Illinois, the Department of Insurance was powerless to do anything.
I know that I am not alone in my struggles. The Illinois Department of Insurance received more than 2,100 complaints between July 2, 2023, and April 16, 2025, about State Farm.
State Farm now wants even more money, while it continues to deny and underpay claims. HB 3799 is the first step to give the Illinois Department of Insurance and Illinois insurance customers a stronger voice against unnecessary and unjustified rate increases.
Scott T. Musser
Chatham
This article appears in March 5-11, 2026.
