A favorite phrase of Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, is “It’s a new day in Springfield,” a line meant to signify a break from the iron-fisted rule of former House Speaker Michael Madigan and the ushering in of a more open, inclusive governing process.

Well, the phrase inadvertently took on a different meaning last week as it was literally a new day when lawmakers, staffers and reporters left the Capitol after the final day of the spring legislative session.

Seemingly in no rush, lawmakers worked into the early morning hours of Saturday to finalize a $46.5 billion spending plan and a slew of measures meant to tackle a rise in crime, among other items.

The Senate adjourned at 3:22 a.m. while the House turned out the lights at 6:09 a.m. — just minutes before the sun was to rise over Springfield.

The marathon session put a damper on but did not completely nix the annual post-session party, which took place at a downtown Springfield bar that stayed open until 8:30 a.m. hoping to get some last-minute stragglers from the Statehouse. Most lawmakers would opt to sleep before heading home.

The long day/night at the Capitol is a microcosm of this year’s session — a lot of legislating fit into a very tight window. Lawmakers returned home to their districts with a relatively decent amount to show for ahead of a late June primary and the general election in November.

In total, the Illinois General Assembly passed 408 bills this legislative session. It’s less than the 696 bills that passed last year, but less legislating is to be expected in an election year session, let alone one cut short by seven-and-a-half weeks.

Most importantly, lawmakers sent Pritzker a budget that appears to be balanced. Yes, you read that right.

Between better-than-expected revenues that came in during this current fiscal year and remaining COVID-19 relief dollars, lawmakers for the first time in decades had some wiggle room with the budget.

The budget allocates $1 billion towards the state’s budget stabilization fund, better known as the "rainy day fund," while putting in an extra $500 million above the required $9.6 billion towards the state’s long-underfunded pension system.

Several key buckets, including education, human services and public safety, also saw sizable funding increases under the new spending plan.

And let’s not forget the $1.8 billion tax relief package that was approved. This includes a one-year freeze on the state’s grocery tax, a six-month freeze in the inflationary increase in the motor fuel tax, a sales tax holiday in August for school supplies and clothes, and direct payments to people, including $50 per adult and $100 per child up to three children.

Though most of these measures are one-time or temporary, the package does include the permanent expansion of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit from 18% to 20% of the federal credit, which could be a major boost for lower- and middle-income households.

There are a few things at play here. First, it’s a lot easier to form a budget when the state’s coffers are flush with cash instead of when fighting over what are usually far more scarce resources.

But it’s also an election year. And with rising prices among the top issues for voters, it was evident that the supermajority Democrats would include a tax relief package in the budget.

There is some gimmickry involved, including a requirement that gas stations post a small sign next to each pump informing people of the suspension of the 2.2 cent increase.

When lawmakers voted to double the state’s gas tax just a few years ago, there was no such requirement to inform people of the increase. Funny how that works.

Many Republicans will point to the sunset dates on many of the relief measures and claim election-year politics. A fair point. Though Democrats are also correct to point out that these are temporary measures to address what is hopefully a temporary spike in inflation.

And $1.8 billion may seem like a large number, but in a state with more than 12 million people, the tax relief may only amount to a few hundred bucks per household. 

There is also a fair argument to be made that instead of providing marginal tax relief, the extra money would have been better spent by dropping even more into the state’s pension system.

The extra $500 million is nothing to sneeze at — and it will save the state $1.8 billion over the long haul. But the unfunded pension liability remains north of $130 billion. With the unprecedented surplus, many budget experts would likely concur that paying down long-term liabilities would be more prudent.

But at the same time, it’s understandable why lawmakers did what they did. They’re the ones who have to face voters this fall. And by providing some tax relief, it at the very least shows they are aware of inflationary pressures that are hitting their communities.

Also, do not be surprised if this budget results in another credit rating upgrade for the state. Illinois would still rank at the bottom among all states, but progress is progress.

Beyond the budget, Democrats offered a slew of public safety measures meant to address a rise in crime.

Among the most significant was legislation cracking down on smash-and-grab organized retail crime. It essentially allows state’s attorneys to prosecute offenders for the whole crime, even if some occurred in other jurisdictions. Though some tougher provisions were taken out at the last minute, business groups have hailed it as the strongest legislation combating organized retail theft in the country.

Other crime measures include a pair of bills to address carjackings, a measure banning "ghost guns" that are untraceable due to the lack of serial numbers and the establishment of a co-responders pilot program with select police departments that would coordinate social services with violence survivors.

There were several other “pro-police” measures that passed with strong bipartisan majorities.

This reflects the anxiety voters feel over crime across the state and the perceived vulnerability of Democrats, who passed a slew of criminal justice reform measures last year. Republicans have blamed those laws, many of which have yet to take full effect, for the rise in crime.

The issue has become a central theme in Republican campaigns across the state.

That likely won’t change even with the measures that passed this session, but Democrats at the very least can make the case that they did something to address crime.

There were bills that passed addressing a whole number of topics this session.

But here are two fun ones to end on — House Bill 4261 establishes the dolostone as the state’s official rock and House Bill 4881 designates the reptile Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum, better known as the Eastern Milksnake, as the state’s official snake. Both were initiatives of Illinois schoolchildren.

And now, lawmakers have slithered out of Springfield with hopes of rocking the vote this fall.