– Governor JB Pritzker says there’s a deal on the state
budget.
Pritzker claimed at a news conference in Springfield the
budget is balanced for the fifth year in a row.
“From the beginning, I vowed to work with the General
Assembly, and restore fiscal sanity to state government after decades of
mismanagement, to eliminate the overdue bill backlog, to pay down debt, and to
reduce the structural deficit,” said Pritzker.
Pritzker says the bill backlog is a thing of the past, and
the budget provides for, among other things, more education spending and
working to fill a teacher shortage.
“Our record is clear: $10.5 billion of debt paid down,
including $450 million in this budget alone to pay off old tobacco settlement
bonds, provide additional pension payments, and another $90 million in this
budget to further reduce accounts payable.”
State Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth of Peoria was one of
the lead budget negotiators for House Democrats.
Since this is the end of the legislative session,
Republicans could likely vote against the plan, and claim as they have before
that there was not enough time to read it before a vote on it, likely in the
coming days.
This story may be updated.
STATE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS (Source: Governor JB Pritzker’s office)
Fiscal Responsibility – 5th balanced budget
This budget builds on four years of historic fiscal progress
with balanced budgets, eight credit rating upgrades, a Rainy Day Fund set to
surpass $2 billion, the elimination of the bill backlog, and $1 trillion in GDP
$200 million additional pension payment beyond what’s required,
bringing total pension stabilization investments to $700 million
$450 million to pay off rail-splitter bond debt – saving the
state $60 million in interest and virtually eliminating all short and
medium-term debt
Education
Early Childhood
Smart Start IL — $250 million to fund the first year of the
Governor’s early childhood plan with funding increases to eliminate preschool
deserts, stabilize the childcare workforce, expand the Early Intervention
Program and Home Visiting programs, plus funding to begin the overhaul of the
childcare payment management system
$50 million for early childhood capital improvements
K-12
$350 million for K-12 evidence-based funding formula
$45 million for the first year of a three-year pilot to fill
teacher vacancies
$3 million to expand access to computer science coursework
$1.6 million to launch Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
statewide
Higher Education
$100 million in additional MAP grant funding, ensuring
everyone at or below the median income can go to community college for free
$100 million increase for public universities ($80.5
million) and community colleges ($19.4 million) – the highest increases in more
than two decades
Fighting Poverty
HOME ILLINOIS — $85 million increase, bringing state funding
to over $350 million, to support homelessness prevention, affordable housing,
outreach, and other programs
$20 million investment in a new Illinois Grocery Initiative
to expand grocery access to underserved rural towns and urban neighborhoods
Health and Human Services
Nearly $75 million increase for DCFS to hire 192 staff,
expand training and protection, increase scholarships for youth in care, and
improve facilities
$22.8 million in funding to begin implementing the new
Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative
$18 million increase to support reproductive health
initiatives
$24 million for a rate increase for home workers who assist
the elderly, increased outreach to the elderly, and an increase for Adult Day
Service
Continued funding for the $250 million Reimagine Public
Safety Act to prevent gun violence and expanded funding for youth employment
programs
$53.5 million to overhaul IDPH disease monitoring IT and
prepare for future public health emergencies
Over $200 million increase to better serve Illinoisans with
developmental disabilities
Economic Development
$400 million to close major economic development deals and
attract businesses and jobs to the state
Expanded workforce development programs to build a pipeline
in the industries of the future, like data center, EV, and clean energy
Taking another step towards phasing out of the franchise tax
$20 million to Rebuild Illinois Downtowns and Main Streets
Capital Program
$40 million for forgivable loans to launch more social
equity cannabis businesses
$10 million to fund a “one-stop business portal” to foster
entrepreneurship