<p>SPRINGFIELD — With the clock ticking down toward the spring legislative session Sunday night, Democratic lawmakers were nearing agreement on a nearly $56 billion state budget that increases food assistance in the wake of federal funding cuts without burdening “everyday working families.”</p><p>The plan was expected to roll in new taxes on the burgeoning industries of prediction markets, cryptocurrency and fantasy sports, while also dinging digital advertising revenue and large social media companies. But budget leaders weren’t yet counting on revenue from all the controversial new levies, which would be certain to face legal challenges.</p><p>Other fiscal moves intended to make ends meet in a tight budget year included a redirection of sales tax revenue on sugary beverages to the state’s general fund instead of to capital projects, according to state Rep. Robyn Gabel, an Evanston Democrat and top budget negotiator.</p><p>“We’ve constructed a budget that meets people’s most pressing needs, including key investments that allow Illinois to move forward in areas where Washington has chosen to retreat,” Gabel told the House Executive Committee. ”The uncertainty in Washington and the resulting affordability crisis facing families has emphasized our need to be surgical and our approach to building this budget.”</p><p>But a coalition of progressive Democrats said the plan didn’t do enough “to fully fund quality education, accessible healthcare and reliable public services for every Illinoisan."</p><p>And Republicans, boxed out of budget negotiations as usual in Democratic-controlled Springfield, decried the increase from last year’s $55.2 billion budget and the new taxes.</p><p>“They’re loading up their grocery cart literally before they have any idea how much they’re going to spend,” said state Sen. Chapin Rose, a top GOP budget negotiator from downstate Mahomet.</p><p>The series of budget bills were still emerging and winding through the Capitol as the afternoon wound down before the end of session. The yearly budget crunch was unfolding at the same time that many lawmakers were <a class="Link" href="https://ift.tt/cKagnDE" target="_blank" ><u>furiously working to craft new legislation to entice the Chicago Bears</u></a> to build a new stadium in Illinois instead of Indiana.</p><p>A first draft of the 3,500-plus page spending plan was unveiled with barely a day left in the legislative session. The spending plan was largely aligned with the maintenance budget Gov. JB Pritzker proposed earlier this year amid troubling economic headwinds and federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump.</p><p>“There are no tax increases on everyday working families,” said state Sen. Elgie Sims, a Chicago Democrat and chief Senate budget negotiator. “In fact, everyday working families, as a result of this budget, will see their lives get easier.”</p><p>As lawmakers tried to address the Bears’ property tax concerns, they also tried to do so for average homeowners by re-funding a property tax relief program that was left out of last year’s budget. Since property taxes are levied by school boards and local taxing bodies to make up for funding that doesn’t come from the state, school districts that need more funds can apply for additional state funding to help keep a lid on local property taxes, Sims said.</p><p>With Democrats nationwide underscoring affordability issues heading into a pivotal midterm election, Sims said the state would suspend a scheduled 1.3-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax, and implement a sales tax holiday on school supplies.</p><p>The spending plan was set to retain a $143 million health care program for older immigrants without documentation, and $4 million for immigrant welcoming service centers.</p><p>And with new federal work requirements pending for SNAP recipients, the state budget proposal carved out $70 million for a new program named Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger, or FRESH.</p><p>“We are facing a crisis,” Sims said. “There are over 100,000 individuals who will lose SNAP benefits as a result of the actions from our hostile federal government.”</p><p>The FRESH program would offer a one-time $400 individual payment to families who were recently booted from the SNAP program.</p><p>State lawmakers were in line for 3% cost-of-living raises tied to inflation, as outlined by state law, raising their base salaries to $101,450.</p><p>The budget partially relies on extra state revenue brought in from sales tax on motor fuel in the last few months as a result of skyrocketing gas prices. The additional $150 million wasn’t anticipated by the governor when he first proposed a budget in February, so lawmakers have redirected the excess funds to plug other holes.</p><p>Rose pushed back on the “surplus on sales tax for motor fuel,” saying “there is no surplus. We’re gouging these people because of what is happening with the price of gas.”</p><p>And in what would be a rare Springfield win for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — along with the scuttling of the Bears’ Arlington Heights legislation — lawmakers were on track to restore funding to local governments’ cut of state income tax back to 6.47% over the Pritzker-proposed 6.23%.</p><p>The governor’s proposal would have cost municipalities an estimated $60 million annually, including $12.7 million for Chicago alone, according to data from the Illinois Municipal League. Johnson had joined numerous other mayors in Springfield <a class="Link" href="https://ift.tt/m8E4W25" target="_blank" ><u>earlier this month</u></a> to protest the governor’s proposed shift.</p><p>In the waning hours of session, the fate of a series of <a class="Link" href="https://ift.tt/twzT0Dv" target="_blank" ><u>housing initiatives</u></a> prioritized by Pritzker was unclear. But after passing regulations on artificial intelligence and <a class="Link" href="https://ift.tt/2hX9iNZ" target="_blank" ><u>insurance companies</u></a> last week, the governor scored another long-awaited legislative win with a ban on cellphones in schools.</p><p>A state-wide school cell phone ban was first proposed by the governor in early 2025, but it failed to make it through both chambers. Now a year later, the bill awaits an easy signature from Pritzker, allowing Illinois to join multiple other states across the country with similar cellphone bans.</p><p>“Every parent and educator knows the damage that unchecked screen time and social media can do to our children and how disruptive they can be in school,” Pritzker said in a statement. “The bipartisan support for this effort reflects the urgency educators and families across Illinois feel.”</p>
Feeds,News,City: Chicago,Business
via Chicago Sun-Times – Business https://ift.tt/a7U4isu
May 31, 2026 at 06:31PM
Illinois Delivered 