* WTTW…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday unveiled a $52.7 billion budget that he described as filled with “hard choices.” The plan builds on priorities like funding preschool, supporting Black residents, funding the neediest schools and caring for asylum seekers.

“I wish we had big surpluses to work with this year to take on every one of the very real challenges we face,” Pritzker said inside the ornate Illinois House chambers Wednesday during his annual combined budget and state of the state address. “It’s important to note, that while this budget is tight this year, our fiscal house is in order, and we are able to keep our commitments to the people of Illinois.”

The plan calls for committing $182 million for assistance to Latin American migrants who continue to arrive in Chicago by way of Texas, and makes moves to assuage credit agencies with a constant eye on Illinois’ pensions.

Pritzker also proposes creating a small tax credit for low-income families with children under 3 and adding staff in Illinois prisons and the Department of Children and Family Services — priorities that are supported by some of Pritzker’s key Democratic constituencies and many GOP legislators.

* Tribune…

Separate from the budget, he threw down the gauntlet against the health insurance industry with a sweeping plan to prevent companies from dictating coverage decisions, among other consumer protections. He promised to expend political capital to fight practices including prior authorization, in which patients must get permission from insurers before receiving certain types of care.

“There should never be an instance where an insurance company employee can deny coverage for something as serious as open heart surgery,” Pritzker said.

In his sixth budget proposal, Pritzker also laid out a long-term plan to manage the state’s massive pension debt by increasing the funding target to 100% from 90% and extending the payment deadline by three years, to 2048. The change would not affect the state’s pension payment for the coming year, totaling $10.1 billion from general funds, or roughly 19% of the operating budget. […]

What was left unmentioned in his roughly hourlong budget and State of the State address to the Illinois General Assembly was that his proposal would address projected deficits resulting from slowed revenue growth in part by more than doubling the tax on sports wagers — paid by sportsbooks out of their post-payout revenue — raising it to 35% from 15%. The change would generate an estimated $200 million in additional revenue.

* AP…

Republicans were quick to blast the proposals, claiming that Pritzker is prioritizing people who are not U.S. citizens.

“The Governor just proposed raising taxes on every Illinois family struggling to make ends meet to fund the non-citizen welfare state he created,” Senate Minority Leader John Curran, a Republican from Downers Grove, said in a statement. “Our focus will remain on providing meaningful financial relief to the people of Illinois.”

Business groups, including the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, also raised questions about the taxes longterm.

“We are concerned about the lasting impact proposed revenue generators will have on small businesses still working to recover while facing existing regulatory and financial burdens,” the group said in a statement after the speech.

* Sun-Times…

The governor is projecting a 1.5% increase in state revenue for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, for a haul of nearly $53 billion. That’s largely due to the $800 million plus in tax increases mostly targeting large businesses.

Pritkzer’s plan extends a limit on the amount of operating losses corporations can write off on their income taxes. A $100,000 cap that was slated to expire at the end of the year would be extended three years, under the plan from Pritzker’s team, which aims to soften that blow on businesses by upping that cap to $500,000. The maneuver would generate another $526 million for the state, the governor’s office estimates.

The governor’s office pushed back on characterizing it as a new tax, arguing the continuation of the cap on corporate tax deductions will help the state keep gaining revenue. […]

And he wants to lower the tax discount retailers receive for collecting sales taxes, a measure his office says would net the state an additional $101 million. In his speech, Pritzker also said he wants to permanently eliminate the 1% grocery tax. But the Illinois Municipal League already opposes that initiative — saying the tax goes entirely to local governments across the state and would cost them $325 million a year.

* ABC Chicago…

The governor got a standing ovation with a new proposal to permanently do away with the 1% state tax on groceries, something he temporarily suspended during the COVID pandemic.

“If it reduces inflation for families from 4% to 3%, even if it only puts a few hundred bucks back in families’ pockets, it’s the right thing to do,” Pritzker said.

And state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, agrees.

“I do love the no more tax on groceries. That’s going to help on a lot of families by eliminating the sales tax on groceries. That’s a big deal,” Ford said.

* SJ-R…

While increased spending in some initiatives angered Republicans, others were disappointed by how state funds could be allocated under the proposal.

The governor proposed using $175 million from the Road Fund, transferring it from sales tax, to cover public transit expenses. The Road Fund, co-chairs Patrick Hosty and Kevin Burke of the Transportation for Illinois Coalition, is typically delegated to cover road, bridge, and transit capital improvements.

Using this funding for public transit would ballon to north of $1 billion lost for road and bridge improvements over the next few years, the coalition projected.

“After decades of inadequate funding, Gov. Pritzker and the Legislature invested billions of dollars to improve thousands of miles of roads and bridges – including the largest road program in state history this year,” they said in a statement, referring to the Rebuild Illinois initiative. “Illinois cannot afford to move backward now.”

* Chalkbeat…

Pritzker’s proposals include $75 million for the state board’s early childhood education block grant to add 5,000 more seats for preschool students. Under the state Department of Human Services, Pritzker recommended an additional $5 million to home visiting programs and $36.5 million more for the child care assistance program that helps low-income families access child care services. […]

Pritzker also asked the general assembly to increase the state’s K-12 education budget by $450 million to a total of $10.8 billion for the Illinois State Board of Education.

Pritzker plans to increase funding for K-12 schools by $350 million, which will be distributed through the evidence-based funding formula — continuing the state’s bipartisan promise to increase funding by at least that much annually. […]

Pritzker’s proposal also includes more funding for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s Monetary Award Grant — a program to help support students from low-income families to attend college — by $10 million for a total of $711 million.

* Axios…

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is devoting half a billion dollars in his new budget to boost quantum computing.

The proposal is part of a sweeping quest to remake the state as a hub for the future of semiconductors, quantum and AI.

Pritzker tells Axios that he’s carving out $200 million for a cryogenic facility — needed to keep quantum computing systems cool — as well as $100 million for the development of a quantum campus site and $200 million in matching funds.

“We already were establishing ourselves as a leading hub for quantum development — now we have the opportunity to take it a big step further,” Pritzker says in an interview.

* More…

* Bond Buyer | Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker lays out fiscal 2025 budget priorities: Children were the organizing principle of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s sixth State of the State and budget address Wednesday, in which he said his “one line in the sand” is that he will only sign a “responsibly balanced” budget that does not derail the state’s credit standing or the nine rating upgrades Illinois officials have worked so hard to achieve.

* Daily Herald | Proposed state budget includes $1 million for Route 53 corridor greenway master plan in Lake County: “This is such exciting news for the people who have worked on this for years and for those that are going to be working on it in the future,” said former state Sen. Melinda Bush, who co-chaired a 19-member state task force of local and regional officials that recommended the greenway concept in late 2022. “It is a move in the right direction.”

* Pantagraph | Pritzker unveils $52.7B budget proposal, says Biden needs to ’step up’ on migrants: Pritzker also called for a more robust paydown of the state’s massive pension debt, urging state lawmakers to change the formula in place since 1994 from 90% funded by 2045 to 100% funded by 2048. This would be done in part by increasing pension payments next decade when existing debts are paid off.

* WGEM | Gov. Pritzker gives State of the State address, unveils budget proposal: This was welcome news to State Comptroller Susana Mendoza. The Democrat called Pritzker’s proposed budget responsible and disciplined. “This is a year in which I was really looking to see a holding of the line, really no new non-essential spending and a very targeted approach to maintaining fiscal stability and fiscal discipline,” she said. “He checked every single box.”

* WCIA | Pritzker highlights proposed education investments in budget address: “I propose we stay on plan and increase Smart Start funding by $150 million in year two to create 5,000 more preschool seats, continue growing childcare and reach thousands more families with critical early childhood services,” Pritzker said.

* NBC Chicago | Pritzker budget calls for elimination of Illinois’ grocery tax: The 1% tax on groceries applies specifically to items that are meant to “be consumed off the premises where they are sold,” according to state law. The sales tax was suspended as part of Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget, with officials projecting that it could save shoppers up to $400 million.

* Axios | What to know about Gov. JB Pritzker’s $53 billion budget plan: Pritzker said he’s promised Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle that the state will pay more than half the tab for services to care for more than 35,000 migrants that have come to Illinois in the last year.