Illinois House approves $40 billion state budget, proposal now moves to Senate

Rick Pearson, Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks 13 hrs ago

The Illinois House late Friday approved a $40 billion spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1 and then went home for the night, meaning the General Assembly has missed its midnight adjournment deadline.

© John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune

The plan, approved on an 83-35 bipartisan vote, would increase by $25 million the $350 million annual boost in public grade school and high school funding required under last year’s rewrite of the formula used by the state to dole out money to schools. It now heads to the Senate.

It also would provide an increase of $66 million, or 5%, in funding for public colleges and universities, many of which were devastated during the state’s historic budget impasse under former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Also included were a $50 million increase in funding for Monetary Award Program awards for students from low-income households and a $10 million increase in non-income-related Aim High grants for student achievers.

The spending plan also adds at least $50 million for the Department of Children and Family Services in an attempt to address problems within the agency, including high caseloads and the deaths of children whose families had involvement with the agency.

The plan avoided the smaller tax hikes Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker had originally proposed to fund the operating budget.

Action on the budget came after hours of negotiations with Pritzker and the four partisan leaders of the House and Senate. Republicans, though a minority party in the legislature, sought concessions from Pritzker aimed at helping the business community in future legislation.

“I am very glad these matters are being taken into consideration,” said House Republican leader Rep. Jim Durkin of Western Springs, citing several business credits and tax incentives in the plan. “Tonight is the start of us finishing up this year working on a budget that is balanced and fair to Illinoisans.”

Durkin’s deputy, state Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon, said on the House floor that he thought “we can come to a fair compromise” in coming days.

State Rep. Greg Harris, the Chicago Democrat who headed up budget talks, said the plan also allows for borrowing $1.2 billion to help pay down a multibillion-dollar backlog of overdue bills to providers of state services that grew exponentially during the budget impasse.

“This is a good budget for the state of Illinois. It is balanced and it is fiscally responsible,” Harris said.

Tax increases, including a $1 increase in the levy for a pack of cigarettes, a doubling of the state’s 19-cent-per-gallon motor fuel tax, and higher fees for license plates and driver’s licenses remain part of the revenue sources for a proposed $45 billion multiyear public works improvement program for roads, mass transit, and public building and university repair and renovation. The capital budget has yet to be taken up.

That public works program and other related parts of the budget were expected to be considered on Saturday.

Poster Comment:

Lotsa luck with this. Am so glad I moved out of that corrupt state long ago.