TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — What's happening in the Great Lakes during those long, frigid months when they're often covered partially or completely with ice? A casual observer — and even experts — might be inclined to say, "Not much."
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Ski jumpers as young as four years old train and compete on a hill created by a glacier in suburban Chicago. Dozens of girls and boys train two nights a week at the Norge Ski Club about 40 miles northwest of the city. And it's not far-fetched to suggest one or more of the young jumpers may land in the Olympics someday. The mostly flat Chicago area may not seem like a ski jumping hotbed, but there's a hill created by a glacier that has been a home for the sport since 1905. Three men will represent the club for a second straight Winter Olympics.
9 things to know about Pritzker budget plan
K-12 Education
Approximately 21 percent of the budget is dedicated to Pre-K-12 education, an increase of $498 million from one year ago.
That includes $350 million for the evidence-based funding formula for K-12 schools, which prioritizes new money toward the schools furthest from their “adequacy” target, which takes into account class sizes, a local district’s property values and other factors.
The budget asks for another $54.4 million to provide early childhood education services to another 7,100 children, and another $96 million in transportation and special education grants for schools.
Another $12 million would be added to the Regional Offices of Education budget to address truancy and chronic absenteeism, and agriculture education funding would increase by $2 million.
Temporary tax relief
The governor cited rising inflation as the basis for creating about $1 billion in temporary tax relief for motor fuel, groceries and property taxes.
The motor fuel tax relief would not lower gas prices, but it would prevent an annual increase to the motor fuel tax that is written into law from taking effect this year. It prevents a hike of 2.2 cents per gallon of gas, according to the governor’s office – a taxpayer savings it pegged at $135 million.
Motor fuel tax money does not go to the general revenue fund, but rather to road construction projects. The tax holiday does not appear to affect a proposed $46.5 billion capital infrastructure budget, which is mostly an extension of the 2019 Rebuild Illinois plan.
The governor also proposed rolling back a 1 percent state grocery tax for the fiscal year, a taxpayer savings pegged at $360 million. The state would reimburse local governments for the effect of the tax holiday.
Illinoisans currently eligible for a 5 percent property tax credit under current law – that is, joint filers earning below $500,000 and single filers earning below $250,000 – would be eligible for another 5 percent property tax credit under the proposal, up to $300. The taxpayer savings is estimated at $475 million.
Rainy day fund
Illinois’ “rainy day fund” at its height contained only about $300 million since its 2001 creation, but that was spent down to almost nothing during a budget impasse under Republican former Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly.
Pritzker’s budget proposes adding $600 million to the fund with a supplemental budget from the current fiscal year, while dedicating $279 million to the fund in FY2023 to bring the balance up to $879 million.
The governor also proposed dedicating $898 million to pay down overdue health insurance bills.
Safety net
The beleaguered Department of Children and Family Services would see a funding increase of $250 million, or 16 percent, to about $1.3 billion from general revenue funds. That includes rate reforms for private sector providers in an effort to address staffing shortages, totaling $87.1 million.
The budget also provides $15.5 million to hire an additional 360 employees to address growing caseloads, improve caseload ratios and continue operations in licensing, monitoring and clinical services.
Funding for nursing homes would increase by $500 million, with lawmakers expected to take up rate reforms and a new provider assessment designed to maximize federal dollars, encourage improvement of care and staffing ratios.
Unemployment trust fund
As of Feb. 1, Illinois owed the federal government more than $4.5 billion for advances received to keep its unemployment insurance trust fund afloat during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. By Sept. 30, Illinois will owe almost $32 million in interest on that borrowing.
If the state doesn’t take action to pay down the deficit, it could lead to massive unemployment insurance rate hikes on businesses and cuts to benefits for those claiming unemployment.
The budget does not include any money to pay down the borrowing, but the governor’s office said it remains in negotiations with lawmakers and representatives of labor and businesses on a solution. There’s serious consideration of using much of about $3.5 billion in remaining federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay down the deficit, according to the governor’s office.
Public safety
Pritzker noted his budget includes an $18.6 million increase to allow for three classes of Illinois State Police cadets. Another $5.4 million will go to opening a new forensic laboratory in Decatur in August.
The budget also includes $4.5 million to fund body cameras for ISP in accordance with a criminal justice reform bill passed one year ago, as well as providing the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board with $10 million for distributing grants to local law enforcement for body cameras.
The Department of Human Services budget includes $240 million as part of a two-year, $250 million commitment to the Reimagine Public Safety Act, which aims at investing violence prevention resources in some of the state’s most dangerous areas. Just $5 million of that comes from the general revenue fund, with $235 million funded through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Revenues
The budget does not call for raising taxes to create any new revenues.
The state does expect a 4 percent increase in income tax receipts at $22.4 billion. Corporate income taxes are expected to decline 5.4 percent to $4.4 billion, with sales tax decreasing 1.3 percent to $9.9 billion and other sources netting $3.1 billion.
The lottery is expected to bring in $754 million, legalized gambling $157 million, and adult-use marijuana $142 million. Federal sources account for just over $4 billion.
