UPDATED: State Budget Talks "Running Behind"
House Minority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) testifies in 2019. He’s the top House Democrat negotiating a new state budget.
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There are exactly 25 days left for lawmakers to pass a budget by their May 31 deadline. We’re told there seems to be little agreement—and almost no discussion between the House and Senate—at this point in the game.
While it’s a little behind schedule for a normal year, probably due to the fact that redistricting has sucked all of the air out of the Statehouse this spring, the fact remains it’s not totally uncommon for the General Assembly to have a long way to go before May 31.
Sources tell The Illinoize the House seems to have settled on a revenue number around $40 billion dollars. The Senate, we’re told, isn’t even that far along. There’s infighting, or at least disagreement, over whether the state’s better-than-expected tax revenue will allow Democrats to bump up the revenue figure even more.
Governor JB Pritzker’s proposed budget was around $41.7 billion, and he planned to balance the two sides by cutting what he called “loopholes,” but included things like cutting private school tuition vouchers, biodiesel tax credits, and a cap on corporate operating losses during the pandemic.
Though, it appears the House may be zoning in on a revenue estimate around $40 billion.
As for spending, some Republicans say Democrats view $7.5 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds and a stronger-than-expected revenue report as the ability to spend whatever they want on anything they want.
“I’m glad that the economy is doing better than we projected,” said House GOP Budgeteer Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon). “I think it’s a good sign for the state that we’re having [better] overall economic performance. There are some areas where COVID did have a big impact and those are places those federal dollars should go first. We should use those dollars in a responsible way. This can be a really positive opportunity for us if we used the improved economic performance and the federal dollars together to make a more responsible budget.”
Demmer cited things like paying down debt and catching up on bills that should be priorities for federal money, not ongoing programs.
Negotiators for both House Democrats and House Republicans have met and the top negotiators, or “budgeteers,” as have the top two Senate negotiators. But, we’re told the four have yet to get in a room together yet this spring.
House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) said during a news conference Thursday that the state is looking at a deficit of $1.4 billion in the current fiscal year.
“Some new revenue could certainly help that, but it’s not going to solve the entire problem,” Harris said.
UPDATE (4:02 P.M.):
Key Republicans sent a letter Friday to the Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability asking for the state’s revenue estimate to actually be increased, so it could prevent a tax increase for some business owners in the state.
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Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), the top negotiator for Senate Republicans would only say he’s had some “preliminary meetings” with Democrats and that he’s “looking forward to having more discussions in the coming weeks.”
A spokesperson for Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) did not return our message last night.
