Pritzker Shrugs Off Revenue Estimates
Gov. JB Pritzker speaking Thursday.
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After the legislature’s budget arm reduced revenue estimates for the next fiscal year (that begins July 1), the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) has pushed revenue for the rest of the current fiscal year down, too.
It’s the latest in a long line of pressures for the Democratic supermajorities trying to pass a balanced budget with less revenue than in recent years and more spending priorities from more Democrats in Springfield.
Speaking at an unrelated news conference Thursday, Pritzker said the revenue drop for the final three months of the fiscal year accounts to about 1% of revenue for the year, so they aren’t sweating the drop.
“Knowing that this might be coming, we’ve ramped down some of the spending here and there within all of our agencies to make sure we could cover that 1% difference,” Pritzker said.
One of the raging issues continues to be how to balance exploding costs and efforts to expand a Medicaid-style immigrant health insurance program. Estimates have shown that a proposed expansion could balloon the program by up to $1.5 billion in the next fiscal year.
Pritzker says his office has suggested ways to defray costs like copays for immigrants at certain income levels and lower reimbursement rates for providers.
“These are all things that, I think, are reasonable to consider to make sure that we’re reining in the cost, but also, serving the people who most need this health care,” Pritzker said.
We’re told that Pritzker’s team has continued to push for his expanded programs like free college and child care, even with the revenue pressures.