Immigrant rights advocates on Friday continued to push for one of their top budget priorities: full funding for state-run health care programs that benefit noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status.
Budget
With a month and a half left in the General Assembly’s spring session, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is readying its proposal to address Illinois’ chronically underfunded pension system.
The recent surge of migrants arriving in Illinois has brought with it a host of new challenges for state and local officials. Advocates say the state has not done enough to address educating the children of those coming across the border.
The CTA issued a correction to years worth of data on worker overtime provided to WTTW News, after the transit agency discovered the records did not accurately reflect actual hours worked. The issue also highlights the agency’s slow response on public records requests.
Democrats were largely able to swat back hundreds of policy mandates and some of the steeper budget cuts that House Republicans were seeking to impose on nondefense programs, though House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., highlighted some policy wins.
An independent report identified Illinois’ Stateville and Logan prisons as outdated and in need of costly repairs.
According to Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, the spike in appeals is the “biggest challenge” to the judicial branch’s implementation of the pretrial justice system.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed spending plan anticipates $52.9 billion in revenue, with new funds raised by increasing certain corporate tax rates, lowering personal and business income tax deductions and making other tax changes.
The state’s two main fiscal forecasting agencies agree: Illinois’ finances will see a strong close in the final 3 ½ months of the fiscal year before things tighten a bit next year.
More money for migrants, increased access to preschool, a break on grocery bills and a prescription for how the state could wipe out medical debt — those are some of the spending plans in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nearly $53 billion state budget.
Illinois shoppers would save a dollar when they buy $100 worth of groceries under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate a state sales tax on groceries.
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.
If Illinois continues spending next fiscal year as it has been this year, the state will face an $891 million deficit. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to spell out exactly how he plans to address that on Wednesday, when he delivers an annual combined state of the state and budget address.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Police Department say they’re moving into a “new age of policing” while rebuilding the department. They are also asking for more money, patience and time.
Passing a budget is arguably the single must-happen task for lawmakers and it was supposed to have been done by Friday, but that self-imposed deadline came and went without any budget action.
Illinois Democrats have the ranks to pass a new state budget, but an inability to agree on spending figures means they blew past Friday’s deadline and will return to the capitol next week in another attempt to get the job done.