The Policy Circle Illinois State Leadership Council, with assistance from Illinois Policy Institute and Empower Illinois has assembled this legislative update for your information. We hope this helps inform you about what’s going on in Illinois legislatively and encourages you to learn more and share your views with your legislators, friends and families.
Illinois State Budget
Every year the Governor of Illinois is required to present a balanced budget to the Illinois legislature, who then is responsible for evaluating and enacting the proposed budget with appropriate funding.
As is tradition in Illinois, the budget will likely not move publicly until the final weeks of the legislative session, the final day of which is May 31. In fact, most of the major bills this year will likely move through large packages called “omnibus bills,” which include a multitude of proposals and changes to existing statute. Governor Pritzker has flagged $214 million in what he calls “corporate loopholes” to reduce the state’s budget. Opponents believe there will be large economic harm inflicted if these credits are eliminated.
The federal “American Rescue Plan” allocated $7.55 billion to Illinois’ state government and $5.68 billion to Illinois’ local government. Local governments in Illinois and the state are now arguing whether the money allotted to local governments should pass through the state.
Last year, Illinois had a budget shortfall of $4.8 billion, which would normally lead to calls for tax hikes. The money from the federal government should incentivize the state to shield Illinoisans from additional taxes. And following the defeat of the Progressive Income Tax this fall, there is little appetite in Springfield to wage another tax battle at the moment.
Meanwhile, Illinois public sector pension debt reached an astounding liability of $317 billion last summer. Illinois’ pension crisis remains the worst in the nation, though the subject is rarely broached among our political class. Even the Illinois’ own rating agency recently miscalculated the debt by a staggering 50% according to Moody’s Investor Service.
What’s the problem with pension debt at these dangerous and unprecedented levels? It discourages investment of new people and businesses, as the money will ultimately be due, and thereby paid in higher taxes and fees for all future Illinoisans.
For more information:
Illinois Policy Institute on Small Business Tax Credits and
Capitol News Illinois on Corporate Tax Changes
Education
Governor Pritzker is also flagging for a phaseout the Illinois’ bipartisan Tax Credit Scholarship Program (TCS)which offers children from low-income and working-class families to attend their best fit private school. In the last three years, the program has awarded more than 20,000 scholarships totaling more than $165 million at more than 400 schools. 26,000 kids are on the wait list for scholarships.
The program is currently funded by private donors who receive a 75% state tax credit on their gift. In his proposed FY 2021budget, Governor Pritzker seeks to slice this tax credit down to 40%. Should the Illinois General Assembly pass the Governor’s proposed cut, thousands of students could lose their scholarships at schools they love, facing additional instability in their education on top of what they have already endured due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proponents of TCS see these tax credits as the most direct way to give low-income students access to quality education. Opponents say the state cannot afford the loss in tax revenue and should not be prioritizing private education over the public system. If the state cuts the program as described, it will gain back $14 million in tax revenue (recall the proposed state budget is $42 billion). Last fiscal year, the state of Illinois spent more than $8.6 billion on its share of public education. Representative Will Davis, who was a leader on the 2018 overhaul for education funding in the state which locked in higher levels of state funding for public schools, is advocating that $350 million of the $7.55 billion from American Rescue Plan be allocated to that new school funding formula.
For more information:
WCIA / Rep. Will Davis on Education Spending
The Center Square on Education Spending Increases
Criminal Justice
Beginning January 1, 2023, Illinois will become the first state to explicitly prohibit the use of money in pretrial detention decisions by eliminating cash bail and establishing a new process for pretrial release and detention decisions. Proponents believe the system is inherently unjust because wealth (or lack thereof) can determine if one must remain in jail while waiting for the long process of adjudication. Opponents believe this is an overhaul of the system that goes too far and could easily put more dangerous individuals back on our streets. The impact is unquestionably uncertain, as Democrats insist “trailer bills,” which are amendments to existing laws that clarify and/or change the law as issues arise from it being enacted, will accompany this new law as we get closer to implementation in 2023.
For more information:
HB3563 (Prohibition of Cash Bail)
Civic Federation on Pretrial Reform
Redistricting
Every ten years, states are required to use Census data in their remapping of state and federal level legislative districts. As Illinois lost a significant amount of population over the last decade, at least one congressional seat is expected to be lost and given to another state that experienced growth. Currently, the Democrats are seeking to move ahead with a remap that does not include official Census data, as that data will be delayed until the fall of 2021. If the legislature does not produce a new map before the end of this spring, a bipartisan commission is required to take over the process. Republicans believe a fairer map will be drawn by a bipartisan commission, while Democrats believe they can draw a fair map with census survey data and community feedback.
For more information:
COVID-19
The Governor remains in near total control of COVID-19 related rules and orders. The most recent pronouncements include metrics by which Illinois must meet in order to specifically reach the “bridge phase” of Phase 5.
For more information:
Illinois Department of Health Reopening Plan
We encourage you to click through the links to learn more about what Illinois government is considering and reach out to your lawmakers — ask their opinions on the above and share your own.
