The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on people’s lives, and also on government budgets. On Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker will propose his ideas for getting Illinois through it. Here’s a preview of that address.
Illinois Budget
Gov. J.B. Pritzker told lawmakers Tuesday that he will not propose hiking the state’s income tax on individuals to close the state’s projected $3 billion budget deficit in 2022.
COVID-19 in Illinois: 7,359 New Cases, 117 Additional Deaths
Facing a nearly $4 billion budget hole, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday outlined millions in cuts that he called a “first step” toward balancing the state’s budget.
A WTTW News exclusive
The state pays billions of dollars into the Medicaid program. WTTW News has learned that a group of lawmakers plans to demand billions back from the private health care companies that run that program. Can it work?
The Illinois legislature is not coming back this year. What does that mean for the Black Lives Matter movement and the state budget?
How to educate students during a pandemic is far from the only issue elected officials — and Illinois residents — have to grapple with. And it seems unlikely the federal government will agree to another stimulus package before the election.
Big state budget cuts are on the horizon. The Big Ten is back, but youth sports remain on hold. In Springfield, the Madigan inquiry moves forward. And the White Sox are going to the playoffs.
“State and municipal budgets across the nation and here in Illinois are being decimated,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday. “It’s not a blue state problem or a red state problem.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday warned of looming cuts to state government, including potential layoffs, without help from the federal government.
July 1 marks the start of Illinois’ new fiscal year, which ushers in a bushel of new laws. Here are a handful that may come in handy.
Illinois has spent close to $600 million so far on COVID-19 relief, much of it going to personal protective equipment.
Black elected officials are demanding transformational change in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the attention it has brought to systemic racism — and they’re demanding the state provide money to back it up.
A condensed special session that began on Wednesday centered on passing a budget and responding to the pandemic. Democrats and Republicans have different interpretations of how ably those goals were achieved.
Illinois has had its share of financial troubles in the past, but a pandemic has complicated the budgeting process this year — and the state’s answer is to rely on borrowing up to $5 billion from the federal government.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly will meet May 20 for the first time since the coronavirus hit “to conduct the critical work of state government in this unprecedented pandemic.”
Illinois has spent more than $238 million on resources related to the pandemic, even entering into occasional bidding wars with other states for supplies. We ask Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza about state spending — and budget shortfalls.
