* WBEZ…

Wrapping up their spring session, lawmakers staged an all-nighter – a rarely seen 20-hour behemoth of a day in Springfield filled with bluster, brief naps at their desks, and long speeches that resulted in a finalized, $46 billion-plus spending plan as sunrise approached Saturday.

Unlike Congress, the state legislature doesn’t have the filibuster. But that effectively is what Republicans resorted to before an audience of sleeping Illinoisans in trying to slow down a budget plan that drew praise from Wall Street and, in the end, Republican votes for parts of the package.

But in the end, Democrats – with their House and Senate supermajorities – muscled through a plan put together by Gov. JB Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside. The timestamp on the final budget vote was 5:52 a.m Saturday.

“Boy, you guys hate that we’re balancing the budget and paying our debts, don’t you?” House Majority Leader Greg Harris, D-Chicago, said, needling the cast of House Republicans who sacrificed their REM sleep to blast the plan in speech after speech after speech.

* Capitol News Illinois…

The Fiscal Year 2023 spending plan also provides for the statutorily required $350 million in additional funding for public schools through the Evidence Based Funding formula that was originally adopted in 2017. Higher education would see increases as well.

The portion of the state’s income tax going to local governments would increase from 6.06 percent to 6.16 percent. […]

Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, who is running for treasurer, said the pandemic-related revenue windfalls have allowed Democrats to grow funding faster than year-after-year revenues.

“And when this one-time revenue dries up, the only thing you’ll know how to do is go back and raise taxes yet again,” he said.

As long as they didn’t put too many new items into the spending base or permanently subtract too much money from the revenue stream, Demmer would be wrong.

* Tribune…

The GOP dismissed the majority party’s tax relief plan as an election-year gimmick. […]

Loathe to vote against tax breaks before facing voters later this year, however, Republicans nearly all voted in favor the proposal.

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie said Democrats were trying to “buy” votes, and then participated in this alleged bribery scheme by voting for the tax cuts.

* That was not confined to the budget…

Another bill sponsored by Delgado received bipartisan support. It would codify that victims of carjacking or vehicle theft wouldn’t have to pay for tows, speeding tickets and other fees that accumulate on their vehicles after they’re stolen.

Republicans contended that owners of stolen vehicles already have ways to avoid paying such fines, and the bill does nothing to go after perpetrators.

“This, as presented on the floor, does nothing to bring down crime, does nothing to promote public safety and, in fact, is not holding the (criminals) accountable for the laws that they broke along the way. This is absurd. This is not what we need to do to bring down crime,” said state Rep. Avery Bourne, a Republican from Morrisonville who is running for lieutenant governor in the June 28 primary.

Not mentioned anywhere in the story is that, after blasting Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado’s “absurd” bill, Rep. Bourne voted for it. Indeed, not a single Republican voted against it.

* Back to WBEZ…

In another development during the legislature’s final session day of the spring, Democrats also voted to curtail fundraising in judicial races — a vote that took a not-so-subtle swipe at GOP mega-donor Kenneth Griffin by moving to complicate any attempt he may harbor to funnel millions of dollars into judicial campaigns.

The measure’s sponsor, state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, described his legislation as a campaign-finance step designed to keep dark money out of Supreme Court races and other judicial elections.

Contributions from a single source to independent expenditure committees — political funds unaffiliated with individual candidates that can spend on their behalf — would be capped at $500,000 per election cycle.

Republicans were quick to point out that independent expenditure committees were crucial in the 2020 defeat of Democratic state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride. One of those funds, Citizens for Judicial Fairness, spent millions of dollars against Kilbride’s retention on the high court.

State campaign records show $4.5 million of the group’s receipts came from one source over two days in October 2020: Chicago hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin, who also is bankrolling Irvin’s Republican gubernatorial campaign to unseat Pritzker this fall.

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, who voted against the measure, said the legislation wasn’t truly about protecting the integrity of the judiciary but rather about preventing a replay of Kilbride’s defeat, particularly when control of the Supreme Court is up for grabs this fall.

“This is once again in Illinois the political machine that’s in power is trying to protect its own,” she said.

Mazzochi is right. But her party’s opposition is based on preserving the influence and power of the state’s wealthiest resident, who is also her party’s single largest financial benefactor.

…Adding… Comptroller Mendoza…

llinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza applauds the legislature for passing a FY ’23 budget that saves for the future, utilizes extra revenue to support working families, and addresses the pension shortfall and other structural issues.

“I am very pleased and thankful to see an infusion of $1 billion into the state’s Rainy Day Fund,” said Comptroller Mendoza. “We know this is an important signal to the credit rating agencies that Illinois is getting its fiscal house in order and planning for the future.” Illinois celebrated two credit upgrades last year – the first upgrades in more than 20 years.

The budget also mandates an extra $45 million a year to be placed in the Rainy Day Fund starting in FY ’23. The budget expands the Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income taxpayers.

The budget includes an additional $200 million pension payment, which brings the total pension payment beyond what is required, to $500 million dollars. This will save taxpayers more than $1.8 billion.

Comptroller Mendoza recently announced that her office had paid down the bill backlog to what is now “accounts payable.” Illinois has been paying its bills in about 15 business days since July 1, 2021 – down from a crushing 210-business-day bill payment cycle in Nov. 2017 – a result of the 2015-2017 budget impasse.

The shortened General Revenue Fund bill payment cycle, along with the two credit upgrades, happened before the state received ARPA federal stimulus payments.

“Overall, I believe this budget adds greatly to the momentum we have built toward further credit upgrades, which will mean further savings for taxpayers,” said Comptroller Mendoza.
Comptroller Mendoza thanks Gov. JB Pritzker as well as Sen. Michael Hastings, Rep. Michael Halpin, Sen. Elgie Sims, Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris, Rep. Michael Zalewski and all the legislators who supported reviving the Rainy Day Fund.

She looks forward to working with legislators to continue strengthening the Rainy Day Fund and Pension Stabilization Fund through further legislation.

...Adding… Irvin campaign…

As Springfield Democrats proudly closed out the end of legislative session with a number of significant issues left unresolved, Aurora Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin released the following statement:

“Instead of committing to real solutions to combat crime and deliver permanent tax cuts, J.B. Pritzker pushed election year gimmicks that don’t reverse his anti-police, pro-criminal policies but do set up his campaign to permanently raise taxes after the election. The people of Illinois are paying a steep price for a governor who will do anything to win re-election, even if it means mailing checks to voters right before hitting them with the largest income tax hike in state history. It’s time to take back our state.”

The remaining issues left unanswered by Governor Pritzker include the following:

• No reversal from Pritzker’s anti-police, pro-criminal policies while crime surges throughout the state;
• No permanent tax cuts for Illinois residents (instead quite the opposite: increases in state spending to push for higher taxes when the federal money runs out);
• No comprehensive ethics reform to root out corruption from Mike Madigan’s criminal enterprise;
• No substantive changes to the Department of Children and Family Services after the director has been found in contempt of court eight times and vulnerable children are put in danger; and
• No plan to fully replenish the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, forcing tax hikes and benefit cuts.

* IFT…

Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) President Dan Montgomery issued this statement today after the state legislature passed a Fiscal Year 2023 budget.

“The FY23 budget passed today is further proof that Governor Pritzker prioritizes public education at every level. Budgeting for the annual $350 million increase to the evidence-based funding model puts our state one year closer to achieving equitable funding and eliminating disparities in districts statewide. Budget increases for community colleges and universities are an important step towards the much-needed reinvestment in public higher education and making college more affordable.

“We applaud the governor and lawmakers for crafting a budget that invests in public schools and vital services and provides relief for Illinois families. The pandemic will have a lasting impact on students, educators, school staff, and our communities. But by expanding the earned income tax credit, cutting grocery and gas taxes, and offering property tax rebates, this budget will provide the economic support that families desperately need right now.

“The IFT looks forward to continuing our work with Governor Pritzker as he focuses on the state’s economic recovery.”

…Adding… Responsible Budget Coalition…

The Responsible Budget Coalition issued the following statement in response to the FY 2023 state budget approved by the General Assembly.

As a coalition of the state’s leading advocacy, human service, community and labor organizations, we judge any budget by these principles: It must contain adequate revenue, fairly raised, and it must avoid cuts to vital programs and services.

The FY 2023 General Fund Budget passed by the General Assembly increases year-to-year spending on Education, Healthcare, Human Services, and Public Safety–which collectively account for over 95 cents of every dollar Illinois spends on public services through its General Fund. That is a welcome development, given that Illinois has been cutting its spending on those core services in real, inflation-adjusted terms for over two decades. We also applaud an important step towards tax fairness, a more than $100 million dollar expansion of the Illinois Earned Income Credit which will cover older and younger workers as well as undocumented immigrants who pay taxes, and provide more money to all credit recipients. For these reasons, the budget passed by the General Assembly and supported by Governor Pritzker is a major step in the right direction, and we urge the governor to sign it.

But for the state to continue playing a positive role in making Illinois more equitable —whether addressing short term challenges like those caused by the pandemic, or long-term challenges, like poverty or structural racism–it needs the ongoing fiscal capacity to do so. Creating that fiscal capacity must remain a priority in the coming fiscal years, especially as federal pandemic relief funding expires.

As we look towards next year, we hope to re-engage the General Assembly in a broader conversation about Illinois’ still unfair tax system, one that does not provide willing political leaders with the financial resources to make the change we all seek for people in our state who are struggling the most. Until then, we appreciate a budget that takes important steps to help people in need.

* Illinois Pork Producers Association…

This week, leadership from IL Pork, IL Beef, IL Corn, IL Soybeans and IL Farm Bureau worked to increase the Illinois State budget request by $750,000 from the General Assembly’s FY23 budget toward the IL Dept of Agriculture (IDOA). These funds would be used to provide additional field veterinarians and proactive foreign animal disease prevention measures necessary to protect Illinois agriculture in the event of looming foreign animal disease outbreaks.

“With the recent announcement by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirming the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a small backyard flock in Mclean County, the need for these funds is immediate,” says Illinois Pork Producer Association’s Executive Director, Jennifer Tirey. “This recent outbreak proves that a foreign animal disease does not discriminate based on the size of a livestock farm. The devastation could impact the smallest backyard hobby farms, farmers that sell their product at a farmers’ market, small meat processors or our larger producers. We’re also concerned about the potential of an African Swine Fever outbreak in Illinois swine herds. The impact of any of these animal disease outbreaks to Illinois agriculture would be detrimental and being underprepared would only worsen the impact.”
Today, IDOA only has one field veterinarian on staff to serve the entire state of Illinois. Adding veterinarians could mean regionally-defined service areas, even allowing field staff to support vet work on specific species-related issues.

“We believe the collaborative response from our five groups empowered our request,” says Tirey. “We are incredibly grateful to the legislators who stand for the best interests of Illinois agriculture and Illinois farmers.”

Adds Josh St. Peters, Executive Vice President, Illinois Beef Association, “Earlier this winter the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) expressed this issue as a concern to our organizations and we are happy to see the funding secured and look forward to working with the department to protect the ag industry from potential foreign animal disease outbreaks,” he says. “Director Costello, IDOA leadership, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Patrick Joyce (D-Essex), Senator Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) and Senator Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) are greatly appreciated by the Illinois ag community for their partnership.”

…Adding… Press release…

The Illinois General Assembly approved a state budget that includes $2.5 million in funding for the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program, otherwise known as Children’s Savings Accounts. Parent leaders and advocates of the Financial Inclusion for All Illinois coalition have long called for an investment in the future of Illinois’ children and families. Advocates celebrate that the program, which was signed into law in 2019, will finally be funded in 2023.

After the budget is signed into law, all children born or adopted after December 31, 2022, will receive a $50 seed deposit in a Bright Start 529 college savings account. However, parents must claim this seed deposit by their child’s 10th birthday. Advocates warn that only 30% of Illinois families will be able to claim the deposit without further investment and effort by state officials to make the program more robust, accessible, and equitable. The statewide CSA program will be managed by the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office.

“I have advocated for a statewide Children’s Savings Account program for nearly a decade. In 2019, when the program was signed into law by the Governor, we thought our fight was over. But the pandemic hit, and the program was never funded. We are glad to see this appropriation so that the program can finally get started. It will also take more funding in future years to ensure that all families who could benefit will be able to participate.”
– Rosazlia Grillier, Co-President Emeritus of POWER-PAC IL

Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs) are proven to boost hope for the future, especially among children who may not already have college-going aspirations. They are also proven to reduce maternal depression, improve early childhood outcomes, and, with the right features, promote equitable access to higher education. The savings accounts can be used for books, computers, college or university tuition, and at other post-secondary institutions like trade schools.

“As a parent of three children, I have spent years advocating for a CSA program. I didn’t go to college, but my son was lucky enough to receive a scholarship. Once the CSA program is fully funded, we will be sure that more families like mine will have hope for the future and an investment in their children’s potential early on. Thank you to our legislative champions, Senator Pacione-Zayas and Representative Collins!”
– Liliana Olayo, Co-President of POWER-PAC IL

During the Illinois General Assembly’s legislative session, Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas and Representative Lakesia Collins, champions for the statewide CSA program, also passed a bill to prioritize equity in the program implementation. Once signed into law, the measure requires the State Treasurer’s Office to collect socioeconomic, geographic, racial and ethnic data on program participants to understand whether the program is reaching community members who face systemic barriers to wealth-building and would most benefit from a jump-start in their college savings. It also gives the Treasurer’s Office the option to provide automatic bonus deposits in the accounts of children from financially insecure households.

“Thank you to the Illinois General Assembly for ensuring that this program can kick-off in 2023. The pandemic has caused many families to lose hope – but this CSA program restores some of that hope for children across Illinois. Our coalition urges legislative leaders to continue to invest in this crucial program over the long-haul.” –
Amy Eisenstein, Financial Inclusion for All Illinois Coalition Manager with Heartland Alliance

Financial Inclusion for All Illinois is a coalition committed to expanding access to the tools Illinois families need to build financially secure futures. Its Children’s Savings Account Committee includes leaders from Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), POWER-PAC IL, Woodstock Institute, YWCA Metro Chicago, VOCEL, Start Early, Legal Action Chicago, Chicago Urban League, I-PROMOTE IL, Children’s Home and Aid, and Heartland Alliance.