Illinois Senate Democrats closed in on approving the state’s next budget, hiking spending expectations and giving themselves slight raises.
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Senate Democrats closed in Sunday on approving the state’s next budget, keeping much of fellow Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plans in place but boosting expected spending by $400 million while also giving themselves, House representatives and many top state officials a 5% bump in pay.
Some of the biggest highlights in the evolving 3,400-page fiscal plan include a slight hourly boost for service providers who help the developmentally disabled, a more generous child tax credit and a refusal to lower a built-in annual increase to the standard state income tax exemption that experts said would have harmed lower-income families.
Focusing on the full budget plan, one Republican, state Sen. Chapin Rose, complained that the Democrats’ fiscal proposal calls for spending too much, including for noncitizens receiving health care, as well as on funds for the migrant crisis in Chicago. “We understand that they are engaged in immensely challenging services and they are really doing God’s work and we appreciate that. But what we are also trying to do is ensure that we have competitive wages, and we have done that,” Sims, of Chicago’s South Side, said. “We are trying to invest in this community to make sure that they have everything they need to be successful. We’ll continue to do that.
That measure includes a deal to eliminate on Jan. 1, 2026 the 1% statewide grocery tax, which flows to local governments. The sports betting structure as proposed in the Senate bill would bring in a little more than $200 million, a Pritzker spokesperson said, similar to the estimate with theBetting lines for sporting events are displayed on screens at Over/Under sports bar, a FanDuel sportsbook location, in the 2700 block of North Halsted Street on Feb. 8, 2023, in Chicago.
In other business, a bill regulating carbon capture and sequestration projects needs final approvals in the Senate before heading to Pritzker’s desk. The legislation, which passed the House 78-29 Friday, would also place a two-year moratorium on all carbon pipeline projects as the state awaits federal guidelines.
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