SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) — Governor JB Pritzker will sign the state budget in Chicago Wednesday.

The ceremony will take place at Christopher House in the 5000-block of West Belden Avenue.

Pritzker has been touring the state this week, promoting the $50 billion spending plan that goes into effect next month.

The plan contains several new initiatives he asked for, including investments in pre-K through 12th grade education, child welfare, combating poverty and homelessness, and increasing state spending on higher education.

“Smart Start Illinois” is a multi-year plan that aims to make childcare and preschool available to every three- and four-year-old whose family wants those services. For the upcoming fiscal year, that includes $250 million to increase the number of preschool slots available, stabilize the early childhood workforce and expand the Early Intervention and Home Visiting Programs.

The budget also includes Pritzker’s “Home Illinois” initiative – an $85 million increase in funding to support homelessness prevention, affordable housing, outreach and other programs aimed at reducing homelessness.

It also includes a $100 million increase in funding for public universities and community colleges, along with a $100 million increase in Monetary Award Program financial aid grants for low-income college students. Pritzker has said that will effectively make a two-year community college education available tuition- and fee-free for every working-class student in Illinois.

And it includes a $350 million increase in the Evidence Based Funding formula for K-12 education, the minimum amount called for under the law that lawmakers passed in 2018.

Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report