SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) – The Illinois Senate has passed the budget for the next fiscal year.
The budget is based on $53 billion in spending, an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous budget year. It continues a trend of rising spending since Governor JB Pritzker took office. Chief budget adviser for Senate Democrats Elgie Sims said this state is also continuing other trends.
“In this budget, we continue to create the economic environment that has led to nine credit upgrades and an economy that surpasses the $1 trillion mark,” said Sims (D-Chicago). “This Budget addresses the challenges we face today. as we prepare for the next generation.”
But Republicans pointed to the increase in spending as a sign of out-of-control government.
“Since JB Pritzker got here, spending has increased by $13 billion in six years,” said Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet). “These people are out of control.”
Sims emphasized additional investments in education: $20 billion in total with an increase of $350 million in primary and secondary education. He also said the budget will fully pay off the state’s pension obligations for this year and contribute another nearly $200 million to the state’s rainy day fund.
The budget also includes key components of Governor Pritzker’s February proposal, including money to begin structuring his new state early childhood agency, and $500 million dollars for a “quantum campus,” where the governor hopes to attract a number of businesses to build on Illinois’ “quantum campus.” reputation in the growing computer field.
To help cover the spending increases, the state also approved just under $1 billion in revenue adjustments. The plan includes changing the tax on the income of sports betting companies to a graduated structure and a cap on the amount retailers can claim as a rebate for collecting sales tax.
The income law also includes a child tax credit for families with children aged 12 and younger.
Republicans focused on the revenue package during all their speeches.
“This year’s budget from a governor who refuses to control spending, and continues to view Illinois taxpayers and this state’s businesses as his personal ATM to find a political wish list while shining his lights during his trip to Washington: said Senator Don Dewitte (R-West Dundee).
The budget also includes spending to help manage the influx of migrants the state has seen coming in from the border. Earlier this year, Governor Pritzker committed $182 million to help create shelter space and provide resources for the growing immigrant population. It also includes $440 million for a health care program for noncitizens. This program started independently from the start of the migrant crisis, but has proven to be more expensive than initial projections showed when the plan was first adopted. Spending in this area was also a key target for Republicans.
“A budget is a list of priorities, and this budget passed by the Democratic Majority prioritizes newly arrived noncitizens over the taxpayers we are charged with representing,” Republican Sen. John Curran said in a statement after the vote. “It is patently unfair to raise taxes on Illinois families struggling to afford basic necessities, and on job creators fighting to keep people working to pay for the migrant crisis that Governor Pritzker has created.”
It took longer than expected for Democrats to reach a consensus on the budget. On Friday they exceeded a self-imposed deadline. Saturday also passed without much movement. Floor debate on the budget began Sunday evening, with the final version of the budget scrapped just over an hour earlier.
Senate President Don Harmon called these budget negotiations a “doozy” during his final floor speech before adjourning.
“I think it’s a combination of things,” Harmon said. “Obviously the economy is a little bit tighter. I think for so many of us who, in the first year of the pandemic, thought the economy was going to fall off a cliff. If that wasn’t the case, it created different expectations. We were able to do a lot of things that we hadn’t been able to do before. And shaping the state’s budget shift was a big part of that. And now that we are in a much more stable position, we are no longer able to do some of the more ambitious things that we were able to do during those unexpectedly robust years.”
After no floor action on Saturday, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch sent his members home. The House of Representatives will return on Tuesday to take up the budget.
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