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July 1 begins the next budget year for the state of Illinois.
The Illinois Constitution states all bills passed after May 31
with an immediate effective date require supermajority support
in the legislature.
Gov. J.B. Pritkzer in February proposed a nearly $50 billion
plan, up from around $37 billion in fiscal year 2014. Since the
governor’s budget address earlier this year, revenues have come
in below expectations. The Illinois Commission on Government
Forecasting and Accountability projected revenues for April 2023
were $1.8 billion less than the same month the year before.
Pritzker acknowledged the need to tighten spending.
“Knowing that this might be coming, we’ve ramped down some of
the spending here and there within all of our agencies to make
sure that we could cover that 1% difference,” Pritzker said last
month.
One of the big sticking points is taxpayer subsidies for the
health care of undocumented migrants. The cost for the coming
year with Illinois’ policy of covering those over the age of 42
is estimated to be more than $1 billion. There are no federal
matching taxpayer funds for such a program.
Some at the statehouse want to drop the age to 19, which would
cost significantly more. Last month, Pritzker suggested ways to
shore up those costs.
“There could be for some people at certain income levels copays,
that’s an example of something that would defray the cost of the
program,” Pritzker said.
Friday, the self-imposed end of spring session before summer
break, Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, told the chamber
to not take that vacation just yet.
“Our work is almost done. I appreciate all the good work
everyone has done,” Harmon said. “We will return … to complete
our business for the year and I am optimistic we will be able to
bring all the planes in for a landing.”
Democrats have the supermajority in both chambers and made the
schedules for the spring session.
Before adjourning Friday, state Rep. Steven Reick, R-Woodstock,
said he’s ashamed of the legislature as they prepare to return
Wednesday.
“We’ll probably be here until 3 o’clock on some morning just in
order to pass a budget because that’s the tradition,” Reick
said. “The tradition is dropping it at 3 in the morning so
nobody sees what we do under the cover of darkness.”
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and
other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of
award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning
Newsfeed out of Springfield.
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