Passing a budget and addressing education needs is the top priority for Illinois Quad-Cities state legislators as end of session approaches. 

Attending legislators highlighted that they are taking a more conservative approach to the fiscal year 2025 budget compared to recent years. Sen. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, said the past couple of years Illinois has had higher revenue and budget surpluses but is facing a more tight budget to balance this time around. 

"I don’t foresee there being drastic cuts," Halpin said. 

At the same time, he said it would be difficult to include many of the requested increases for programs and operations. 

Lee Enterprise’s Illinois Statehouse reporter Brenden Moore reported in February that the governor’s budget office projected in November 2023 Illinois would close the current fiscal year with a budget surplus of about $1.4 million. However, the state faces a deficit of $891 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

Hosted by the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce at Vibrant Arena, the event included Halpin; Rep. Gregg Johnson, D-East Moline; Rep. Dan Swanson, R-Alpha; and Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb. Hammond stepped in for Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia, who was not able to attend. 

Hammond’s district represents a portion of Rock Island County and is one of the two Illinois House districts that make up Anderson’s Senate district. 

Halpin said there will not be a lot of increases for some programs and that they are trying to "temper those expectations."

No final decisions have been in the budget as negotiations are still ongoing. The last day for session is planned for May 24 and a budget must be passed before the legislature adjourns. 

Swanson said the house has started appropriation hearings for the budget. One thing Swanson, the House Republican spokesman for the higher education committee, has been hearing during the committee meetings is a request for an increase in higher ed funding.

The governor’s office proposed a 2% increase for higher education, he said, but colleges are coming in saying they need more, especially in order to keep tuition flat. 

"We have some universities (needing) over $300 million in deferred maintenance and unless we can present a capital bill to help with some deferred maintenance, the schools (will be) held tight to keep the tuition flat," he said.

Swanson said there is a task force in which they are looking at trying to set up an equitable based funding model similar to the K-12 evidence based model. Halpin, who also sit on the task force and is co-chair for the Senate Higher Education committee, said the funding model would do two things. 

It would first calculate what a university’s adequacy target is, or what funds are necessary based on the student population they serve. The second part of the formula is to determine what resources the university has to meet the adequacy target. The baseline, Halpin said, will be the existing state funds for that university. 

Halpin and Swanson do not look for the new funding formula to be passed this session. 

"It’s not soup yet," Swanson said. "We still got some ingredients to add and one of the major ingredients we have not looked at is our med schools and med students." 

The Bears and White Soxs also have approached legislators in asking for taxpayers funds for new stadiums. 

Lee Enterprise’s Moore reported that officials from the Bears said they are planning to contribute $2.3 billion to the multibillion dollar stadium. The stadium would be built along the Chicago lakefront.

The Bears have asked the state, through the Illinois State Facilities Authority, to issue $900 million in taxpayer-backed bonds to help cover the cost. 

The White Sox’s Jerry Reinsdorf earlier this year asked for about $1 billion to help fund a new ballpark. 

Both asks have been met with hesitancy from Gov. JB Pritzker and legislators. 

All four legislators Friday morning where quick to essentially say no and that it is difficult to see the appetite to distribute these funds when there are other struggles needing to be addressed. 

Hammond said she is a huge White Sox fan but does not see an "appetite" for it in this current year’s funding. 

Johnson said he is a huge sports fan but said he also gets tired of organizations who are doing very well, asking for more public funds. 

Legislators also were asked about K-12 education and supporting students who fall through the cracks due to learning disabilities. 

Halpin said public schools are trying to address these concerns but it can be slow to start due to the state underfunding education for a prolonged time. With additional resources going into schools, Halpin said, there is more capacity to have those additional supports. 

There also is no exact answer on how to speed things up since the state is trying to correct 30 years of underfunding education, he said. It’s also a problem of finding qualified professionals that want to come into the school districts and work in those positions.

"I do think the resources, the monetary resources, are there now to and I do think it’s now a workforce issue," Halpin said. 

Johnson highlighted one of his bills, House Bill 5510, which recently passed the House and now heads to the Senate. The bill aims to address increasing mental health and behavioral health needs of students in Illinois schools. 

The legislation also aims to expand the availability of qualified social workers. The legislation would allow educators to receive a social work associate endorsement.

"I think this legislation is going to go a long ways towards backfilling these positions and helping us get there," he said. 

Swanson said there is legislation to create a new early childhood accessibility program to help students at the earliest ages. Help is needed to identify those who need help and sometimes, Swanson said, they miss the opportunity to provide help as soon as possible. 

The intent is to identify needs earlier and begin services as soon as possible. 

Legislators also were asked about passenger rail, which has been on going point of contention for more than a decade. The Quad-Cities has been trying to get passenger rail service between Moline to Chicago. 

About $400 million in state and federal funding is committed to the downtown Moline project, but it is contingent upon cooperation with Iowa Interstate Railroad. Johnson said he hopes Iowa and Illinois congressional members and state agencies are putting the pressure on Iowa Interstate Railroad to continue negotiations. 

Elected officials have said over the years that the Illinois Department of Transportation has pursued several avenues to advance passenger rail in the Quad-Cities. 

Halpin said there is support for it on both sides of the river from legislators but it’s something that is out of their hands.