Push On for Veto Session Action on Migrant Funding
Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson speaks to the media with House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon at the Capitol in May. Discussions are ongoing for a potential supplemental state budget appropriation to help the city of Chicago pay for the ongoing migrant crisis.
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
Even after Governor JB Pritzker said last week more state funding for Chicago’s ongoing migrant crisis was unlikely, it discussions are ongoing for potential legislative action during the fall veto session, which begins in Springfield in two weeks.
House Speaker Chris Welch met privately with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson late last week, but we haven’t been told exactly what Johnson asked for, but we’re told there have been discussions among top budget negotiators about a potential “supplemental” appropriation.
“There’s absolutely a desire to do something,” said one Democratic lawmaker who asked not to be identified. “The question is: what can we afford?”
A spokesperson for Welch would only say “discussions are ongoing.”
Pritzker said a couple of weeks ago the state has already spent $330 million to aid legally present, asylum-seeking migrants that have been shipped to Chicago from Texas.
The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget did not return inquiries Monday about where the money was spent and what appropriation the money came from (though Monday was a state holiday).
Republicans we spoke to Monday, who have not been briefed on any plans by Democrats, said the budget passed by Democrats in May did not leave room for a large influx of spending.
Some feared Democratic lawmakers may be tempted to dip into the state’s “rainy day fund” to help fund the city’s effort to resettle the tens of thousands of migrants that have come to Chicago.