Reactions to Gov. Pritzker’s budget plan

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled a $52.7-billion state budget in a Wednesday address.

The fiscal year 2025 budget (for the year starting July 1) “is responsible and balanced while providing record investments in child care and early childhood education, fully funding a $350 million increase in EBF for K-12 schools, making college more affordable through another year of record scholarship funding, and investing in workforce development,” the governor wrote Wednesday in an introductory letter.

“This budget helps lift people out of poverty through enhanced support for basic necessities, housing, healthcare, and other critical social services. It further strengthens our infrastructure and creates jobs through the sixth year of Rebuild Illinois, our multi-year infrastructure program.”

“Building on our record of five balanced budgets and nine credit upgrades, the proposed FY25 budget will further our work to uplift and invest in Illinois’ working families,” Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said. “Budgets bring hard decisions, but Governor Pritzker is particularly good about centering compassion in his leadership.

“The proposed FY25 budget will give more children access to pre-school, more students can attend college tuition- and fee-free, and more entrepreneurs can pursue their dreams,” she said. “The proposed budget also addresses an endemic issue for Black women – maternal mortality. The new Birth Equity Initiative proposes $23 million to invest in decreasing pregnancy-related deaths in Black women through community-centered approaches. Our administration’s commitment to Illinois’ financial health goes hand-in-hand with our dedication to healing communities across the state.”

State Rep. Gregg Johnson (D-Rock Island), issued the following response to Gov. JB Pritzker’s State of the State address on Wednesday:

“In coming months, I will work with my colleagues to craft a responsible budget that continues the progress we have made getting our fiscal house in order. This budget is investing in our kids by putting hundreds of millions into public classroom funding and expanding college scholarships to build a better future for all Illinoisans.

“Paying down short-term and mid-term debt – and making above and beyond pension payments – will ultimately save taxpayers billions and make Illinois stronger,” Johnson said. “The framework we heard about today has made me confident in these goals.”

State Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Alpha) said:

“I would have liked to have heard the Governor say more about fiscal responsibility and belt-tightening as a responsible way to address the state’s $775 million deficit. Instead we heard more of the same: more taxes and more spending. The Governor continues to send millions of dollars to Chicago to help fight homelessness and provide free medical care to undocumented immigrants, but we have the same needs here in Western Illinois.

“I was also hoping to hear more about fixing the mismanagement and dysfunction at state agencies, relieving local property tax burdens and taking on our pension debt,” Swanson said. “These have all been priorities of House Republicans for years, but we heard minimal details about these topics in the Governor’s speech today.”

“Stability and growth in Western Illinois starts with a fair budget for everyone. That’s why we have to provide necessary services for residents and businesses alike so they can plan for the future,” said State Sen. Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island). “The governor’s budget is a good start, but we need more for Western Illinois.

“My top priorities will continue to be additional funding for higher education, child care services, infrastructure upgrades and veterans,” he said. “We have made a good start on these issues in recent years, but there is always room for us to improve.

“As we go through the budget process over these next few months, I will work overtime to ensure that communities in our part of the state get a fair shake. I’m confident that we can get it done, because that’s what our residents deserve.”

QC Chamber statement

The Quad Cities Chamber applauded Pritzker for a continued commitment to balanced budgets, which creates stability and certainty for businesses and residents.

“The Chamber sees areas for opportunity and collaboration as the State deliberates on final budget allocations and particularly in our focus areas of workforce and business and economic growth,” according to a Wednesday Chamber statement.

“We appreciate Governor Pritzker’s continued focus on workforce and talent development through investment in child care, K-12 schools and higher education. Access to and affordability of child care remains a barrier to employment for many Illinois residents, and continued growth in the Smart Start program will make a meaningful difference in expanding the employable labor force,” the Chamber said.

The Governor discussed the need to create pathways for permanent housing. The Chamber is actively supporting legislation to increase construction of middle-income housing, introduced by Senator Mike Halpin this year. “This is one way to create a depth of housing options across the state and stabilize rents while driving new housing investment,” the Chamber said.

“We urge additional emphasis on making Illinois a great place for business. Lowering real and perceived regulatory and tax barriers will unlock investment in the Quad Cities region,” it said. The Governor’s budget makes changes that both increase and decrease tax impacts on businesses by:

• Extending the sunset on caps for Net Operating Losses and increasing that cap to $500,000 (Increase)

• Capping the retail discount on sales tax collections for retailers (Increase)

• Increasing sports wagering taxes (Increase)

• Increasing the franchise tax paid in capital to a $10,000 exemption (Modest Decrease)

Read the Chamber’s Illinois Legislative Agenda.

Education impact

Illinois Education Association (IEA) president Al Llorens said by email: “We were encouraged to hear the governor hopes to increase the amount of money spent on early childhood education by an additional $150 million.

“We know that educating students earlier helps students succeed in both school and in life. We appreciate the governor noting that ‘Teachers are the single most important investment we can make in our schools.’ As a result of that belief, he intends to add $45 million to shore up the teacher pipeline.

This is good news and we hope he considers our proposal to pay student teachers (HB 4652) a stipend for their work in the classroom as part of that plan,” Llorens wrote. “While we would like to see the state’s Evidence Based Funding model fully covered, we do appreciate the additional $350 million proposed toward it.

“This money is absolutely essential, especially when you consider 80 percent of the public schools in our state are underfunded. And, the additional $30 million proposed for higher education is a step in the right direction to cut down on student debt and make education more accessible for all Illinoisans, though we acknowledge that much more is needed to shore up Illinois’s long-underfunded higher ed systems.”

To see highlights of the 2025 budget and Pritzker’s remarks, click HERE.

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