Topping $50 billion, Illinois Democrats say they have reached
a budget agreement.
The proposed fiscal 2024 budget is similar to what Gov. J.B.
Pritzker unveiled earlier this year.
It includes $700 million for K-12 and early childhood
education, and an additional $100 million so those under the median income can
go to community college tuition free but at taxpayer expense.
“From the beginning, I vowed to work with the General Assembly
to bring fiscal sanity to Illinois while restoring a compassionate state
government that invests in the things that build a stronger economy and future.
I’m pleased to say that’s exactly what this balanced budget does, for the fifth
time in a row,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker has claimed in the past that all budgets passed
since he first took office have been balanced, but fiscal watchdogs say they
have included accounting "tricks" to make them appear to be balanced
when they actually aren't. Republicans in the General Assembly have criticized
majority Democrats for introducing proposed spending plans at the end of
session, giving lawmakers and the general public no time to scrutinize the
details.
Pritzker said the state has given Chicago nearly $200 million
over the last nine months to help with the surge of migrants, and adds that the
Senate and the House have given his administration the tools to manage health
care for Illinoisans, including noncitizen foreign nationals descending on the
state.
“We are going to continue to do everything that we can,”
Pritzker said. “This is a humanitarian crisis, and we want to make sure that
the state and the city are doing what they can.”
The budget agreement includes a nearly $75 million
increase for the embattled Department of Children and Family Services to hire
192 staff, expand training and protection and improve facilities. DCFS has been
under heavy criticism in recent years for neglect suffered
by children within its care, including deaths.
Left on the cutting room floor was the Invest in Kids
program, Illinois’ closest thing to school choice. State Rep. Brad Halbrook,
R-Shelbyville, said there appeared to be bipartisan support for the program,
and that was evident when a letter supporting the program was distributed.
“Several of us put out a letter last week, it was all
Republican signatories on it,” Halbrook told The Center Square. “Some of the
Democrats were approached about it, they spoke favorably, but they didn’t want
to sign.”
Unless there is a last-minute change to the budget, Invest
in Kids comes to close at the end of the year.
The budget still has to be passed both both chambers of the
legislature and be signed by Pritzker before it becomes law. The General
Assembly has until May 31 to vote on and pass the budget.