Differing Expectations for New House Budget Negotiators
Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria), the new lead House budget negotiator.
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While the Governor’s office has been coy with details in today’s budget presentation thus far, it’s widely expected he’ll introduce wide-ranging programs to introduce free college tuition, free child care, and free preschool to some section of the population.
In his inaugural address last month, Pritzker said college tuition would be free to “every working class family.”
With turnover in the House, the chamber has two new budget negotiators, called “budgeteers” in Springfield parlance, so we asked Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) and Rep. Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) what they expect from the Governor today.
"I look for the governor to discuss the real progress we've made in rebuilding Illinois' fiscal house, as well as the work ahead,” Gordon-Booth told The Illinoize. “We've eliminated the backlog of unpaid bills, saved for the future, invested in critical services, and improved our credit rating for the first time in a generation. We need to continue these efforts, and continue to put this fiscal stability to work for working families across Illinois.”
Rep. Norine Hammond (R-Macomb)
Hammond, you may imagine, says she’s expecting too much new spending.
“Governor Pritzker is proposing a significant amount of new spending if you compare FY24 to FY23, which included billions of dollars in one-time revenues/spending,” Hammond said. “Some of the Governor’s proposals are laudable initiatives, but we have to be cognizant of what the state can afford to continue to fund year after year. Once new programs or program expansions are built into the base, it will become difficult to meet that baseline spending in later years, when revenues are estimated to decline. I’m hesitant to promise new or expanded programs up front, to then not be able to deliver on those promises further down the road.”
But Gordon-Booth was quick to remind the Governor’s address was just the starting point for budget discussions.
“In the House, our appropriations committees and budget working group are ready to collaborate with the governor, with our colleagues in the Senate, and our friends across the aisle to make strategic investments for communities across Illinois in a fiscally responsible way,” she said.
Per a report last month from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA), revenue in the current fiscal year is ahead of last year’s pace by almost $2 billion. That leaves the question the Governor’s budget likely has to tackle: how long does the gravy train keep running?
UPDATE: The Governor’s office gave a preview to the Chicago Tribune:
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday will propose $75 million in additional spending to add 5,000 slots to existing state-funded preschool programs, a modest down payment on an ambitious call in his second inaugural address last month to “go all in for our children and make preschool available to every family throughout the state.”
Pritzker’s preschool expansion plan is part of a $250 million proposal to boost services for the state’s youngest residents and their families. It would take the remainder of the governor’s new term to achieve an overall increase of 20,000 seats, which “actually gets us to coverage for every 3- and 4-year-old that’s looking to go to preschool,” Pritzker told reporters Tuesday during a briefing on the plan.
The full preschool expansion would require additional annual increases of $75 million over the subsequent three years, according to the governor’s office.
In the current budget year, early childhood education makes up about$598 million of the state’s $9.8 billion allocation for preschool through high school. There are about 95,000 children enrolled in state-funded preschool programs this year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Aside from increasing funding for preschool programs, Pritzker is proposing $130 million in new spending to stabilize payments and boost wages for state-subsidized child care workers; a $40 million increase for early intervention services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or other health conditions; and a $5 million increase for a home visiting program for at-risk families.
The governor’s office said the plan can be paid for without increasing taxes.
Pritzker made clear he is not proposing a universal publicly-funded preschool program.
“We’re not paying for kids who are wealthy. … I paid for my kids to go to preschool,” Pritzker said. “But we need to have spots available for them. … It’s the capacity building, as well as making sure that we’re actually paying for each of the kids that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it.”