* Sun-Times…
Instead of delivering a decisive budget victory to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Democrats stood on the Illinois House floor scratching their heads early Wednesday as they searched for a key vote needed to pass the state’s budget.
When all was said and done, the Democratic-led House eked out a vote of 60-47, the bare minimum needed to clear a revenue package — one of three budget bills that had been approved by the Senate on Sunday. By 4:43 a.m., more than four hours after legislators began taking up the budget, the House approved the $53.1 billion budget that relies on $1.2 billion in revenue from several changes to the state’s tax code. […]
Pritzker’s office had optimistically put out a statement after the budget’s spending plan cleared the House 65-45, following more than an hour of debate. But what came afterward were theatrics, foot stomping and both sides trying to utilize floor rules to their advantage. Shortly before the third revenue vote, Republicans sifted through the Democrat-drafted House rule book to see how they could stall another vote.
An initial vote to clear the revenue bill included a request for verification — meaning all members had to be present to approve it. State Rep. Aaron Ortiz, D-Chicago, was marked as a yes vote, but was nowhere to be found. From there, it took several motions to reconsider and another two votes to get the bill passed.
* Capitol News Illinois…
More than $1.1 billion in added revenue was needed to balance the books, so lawmakers extended an expiring cap on corporate net operating losses to ensure that $526 million in tax dollars wouldn’t disappear in FY25. Another $25 million will be raised by subjecting “re-renters” of hotel rooms to an existing state hotel tax.
Sportsbooks will see their current 15 percent tax rate on profits increase via a new graduated structure that will tax between 20 and 40 percent, based on profits. The change is projected to bring in about $200 million to the state’s General Revenue Fund. A 1 percentage point increase to the tax on the state’s video gambling industry would generate an additional $35 million for infrastructure projects next year.
The revenue plan also caps a tax discount claimed by retailers at $1,000 monthly, generating $101 million for state coffers and about $85 million for municipalities.
To appease retailers, lawmakers included a prohibition on financial institutions and credit card companies charging fees on the sales tax and gratuity portion of electronic transactions beginning July 1, 2025.
* Tribune…
Highlights of the measures headed to the governor’s desk include a slight hourly boost for service providers who help the developmentally disabled and a more generous child tax credit. Lawmakers removed from the spending plan Pritzker’s proposal to lower a built-in annual increase to the standard state income tax exemption, which experts said would have harmed lower-income families.
The spending plan includes the minimum $350 million annual increase in funding for elementary and secondary education laid out in the state’s school funding formula. The increase helps bring total K-12 spending from the state’s general fund to about $10.8 billion. The budget also calls for making the legally required pension payment of about $10 billion.
The budget also includes $14 million for the Department of Early Childhood, the new agency that both the House and Senate voted to create, and sets the salary for the new agency’s secretary at $215,000 per year. […]
Lawmakers and many top state officials will see 5% raises, boosting annual pay for all 177 members of the Illinois General Assembly to $93,712. Many lawmakers also receive stipends for holding leadership positions or chairing committees. The raises also affect all constitutional offices — the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, comptroller and treasurer — and heads of executive agencies.
Rep. Kelly Cassidy’s Prisoner Review Board reform bill, an omnibus cannabis measure sponsored by Rep. La Shawn K Ford legislation banning unregulated hemp products and the Potawatomi land deal did not make it across the finish line.
* Brenden Moore…
Three Democrats, Reps. Diane Blair-Sherlock, Terra Costa Howard and Lance Yednock, voted no on removing the grocery tax.
* More…
* WCIA | Illinois House passes budget, sends it to Governor Pritzker’s desk: To help pay for all of the spending, the state is counting on a revenue package of tax hikes — mostly on businesses, including sports books –to balance it out. In order to create those new revenue streams though, the House needed to pass a bill, and that proved harder than one would think for a supermajority caucus.
* Center Square | In dead of night, Illinois House approves largest spending plan in state history: Approved by the Senate late in the evening Sunday and by the House in the early morning hours Wednesday, the plan also pays $971 million for non-citizen migrant health care, direct services and welcoming centers. State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth carried the plan for the House. “This budget is balanced, responsible and fair,” Gordon-Booth said late Tuesday during a committee hearing.
* Capitol City Now | IL $53.1B budget heads to guv: Seven House Democrats – Reps. Harry Benton (D-Plainfield), Anthony DeLuca (D-Chicago Heights), Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville), Nabeela Syed (D-Chicago), Larry Walsh, Jr. (D-Elwood), and Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa) – joined all House Republicans in voting against the bill.
* WGEM | After chaotic ending, IL House sends FY25 budget to Gov. Pritzker’s desk: “No one, and I mean no one, is getting everything that they want. Some very difficult decisions were made and I hope that people respect that. But I truly believe that this budget puts Illinois forward,” said state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, House Democrats’ lead budget negotiator. It includes more than $20 billion for education, a nearly $350 million increase from the FY24 budget. It also has $500 million for quantum technologies.
* WICS | Illinois House approves new state budget in late night vote: Governor Pritzker released a statement shortly after the vote applauding the general assembly for their work on the new budget: For the sixth consecutive year, the General Assembly and I have a balanced budget that uplifts the working families of Illinois, saves more money in our Rainy Day fund, creates jobs, lowers taxes on small businesses, grows our economy, and continues our track record of fiscal responsibility. From expectant mothers and their newborn babies to people with disabilities to veterans to seniors who need our care, we’re keeping our promises to all Illinoisans and the most vulnerable among us. My deepest thanks to Speaker Welch, President Harmon, the budget teams, and every legislator and stakeholder who came together to craft and pass this legislation. I look forward to signing it and continuing the work of building an even stronger Illinois.
- TJ - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:22 am:
Good thing about supermajorities is that it gives room for the caucus to hem and haw as they eventually pass what they get done while simultaneously allowing a maximum number of members to distance themselves from any potential public backlash associated with it if need be.
- TJ - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:29 am:
–Good thing about supermajorities –
yes, such a good thing….
- Homebody - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:31 am:
Definitely enjoy how the ILGOP doesn’t even try to be a productive participant in governance. They would literally just prefer to break things.
- Anthony - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:33 am:
–Definitely enjoy how the ILGOP doesn’t even try to be a productive participant in governance.–
ILGOP is not well run but they are trying to symbolize opposition to clearly poor governance.
- Read the Room, man. - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:36 am:
“ILGOP doesn’t even try … “
- H-W - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:42 am:
=== Prisoner Review Board reform bill, an omnibus cannabis measure, legislation banning unregulated hemp products and the Potawatomi land deal did not make it across the finish line. ===
Along with several other bills that were buried in committee, and we could conclude this was a less than successful session.
- T - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:49 am:
Has anybody found Rep. Ortiz yet?
- HarveyGuy - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:53 am:
=Has anybody found Rep. Ortiz yet?=
Isn’t he in leadership?
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 9:59 am:
“they are trying to symbolize opposition to clearly poor governance”
Gosh, aren’t they noble? We all know the IL GOP has a surfeit of great ideas, if only they could get a hearing.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 10:09 am:
=ILGOP is not well run but they are trying to symbolize opposition to clearly poor governance.=
You must be kidding. Illinois is light years better than under the last GOP governor.
- TJ - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 10:14 am:
= ILGOP is not well run but they are trying to symbolize opposition to clearly poor governance. =
I say this unironically, the ILGOP might very well be the single-most incompetent major state party in the union.
- Downstate - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 10:14 am:
Since 2019, CPI has increased by 11%. During that same period, the state of Illinois Budget has grown by 3 times that amount, or 34%. Not a great trajectory.
- TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 10:22 am:
– Center Square | **In dead of night**, Illinois House approves largest spending plan in state history –
Circle gets the square(banned punctuation)
Although, I did miss the bonus points for there not being any reference to ‘not having any time to read it before voting’.
- low level - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 10:28 am:
This is on House Dem leadership team. Total fiasco. They should not have gone to the floor unless they had the votes ready to go.
- Donnie Elgin - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 10:43 am:
Budget done - but revenue squeezes like the gambling tax will soon run out - need to look at expenses
- Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 10:44 am:
Things got a lot messier than I thought they would. But Pritzker got his cowardly tax cut that will end up being a tax hike in various localities. I just shake my head and laugh.
- Dr. Love - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 11:07 am:
No pension reform.
No Medicaid reform.
No education reform at any level.
Another Illinois budget that delivers bootle to progressive interests groups and nothing to improve the state’s financial position for the people and businesses that pay taxes.
- TJ - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 11:11 am:
== This is on House Dem leadership team. Total fiasco. They should not have gone to the floor unless they had the votes ready to go. ==
Amateur hour, for sure, but they got what they wanted passed, it just took a bit later into the night than they wanted. Nobody will care or remember about a couple hour delay a few days from now.
- ItsMillerTime - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 11:22 am:
@Dr. Love
“delivers bootle to progressive interests groups and nothing to improve the state’s financial position for the people and businesses that pay taxes.”
Weird why is my dog barking all of the sudden?
Explain who these progressive interests groups are and why you think they don’t pay taxes.
- cover - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 11:26 am:
= No pension reform.
No Medicaid reform.
No education reform at any level. =
Why do I get the feeling that any “pension reform” you would support is blatantly unconstitutional?
- low level - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 11:28 am:
==Good thing about supermajorities is that it gives room for the caucus to hem and haw as they eventually pass==
Ironically, supermajorities will have this kind of chaos because everyone assumes they can do as they please because the margin is padded. Narrow majorities have a way of forcing cohesion as we saw w HDems in the 90’s.
- Just Me 2 - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 11:32 am:
No movement on transit funding/governance or on sports stadiums for billionaires.
The transit thing will need to be figured out for 2025, so that may make for an interesting Veto Session or “All Bets are Off” session the first few days of 2025. Legislators should start building their wish lists now.
- Steve Polite - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 11:48 am:
“No pension reform.”
Pension reform has already been accomplished and implemented. It’s called Tier 2.
- George - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 12:03 pm:
= Since 2019, CPI has increased by 11%. During that same period, the state of Illinois Budget has grown by 3 times that amount, or 34%. Not a great trajectory.=
I’m not an expert on the CPI, but what I’m seeing is that it’s about 22.6% higher for April 2024 than April 2019,
- Been There - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 12:09 pm:
==== Isn’t he in leadership?====
Has anybody found Leader Ortiz yet?
Fixed it for both of you. But yes. Let that sink in. “Leader”. No excuse.
- Sonny - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 12:36 pm:
== Narrow majorities have a way of forcing cohesion as we saw w HDems in the 90’s. ==
100 percent correct. The inclination to compare the current chaos to the relative discipline under Madigan is unavoidable, but overlooks the possibility that the Dem caucus has simply grown too large and too diverse to operate in an orderly fashion.
Which is not to completely absolve Welch of blame. His instincts as a conflict-adverse consensus builder allow problems to simmer. Saying “no” earlier and a little more often could help. And the “60 vote rule” is a curious limit he’s placed on his own power. But like a Major League Baseball team that reaches a point of diminishing returns with a disciplinarian in the dugout, the House Dems have chosen a more congenial “players’ manager” to lead their chamber. The roller coaster will ride on.
- Bigtwich - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 1:47 pm:
“Definitely enjoy how the ILGOP doesn’t even try to be a productive participant in governance.”
Well, they show up at ribbon cutting events.
- T - Wednesday, May 29, 24 @ 3:59 pm:
Perhaps Leader Ortiz loses that title after his unexpected absence last night
Plenty of members on the bench to fill his spot and be available for votes when needed