4 things to watch for in Pritzker's budget address

Gov. JB Pritzker is prepping for his budget address before the state legislature Wednesday, ahead of a fiscal year with many asks and an estimated deficit.

Last year, Pritzker signed a $50.4 billion state budget prioritizing investment in education and early childhood care. The budget covers state expenses through fiscal year 2024, ending June 30, where the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget is projecting to tally a $1.4 billion surplus.

The challenge ahead in the upcoming fiscal year is an estimated $891 million deficit. The projections come from a five-year forecast released by GOMB in November— projections the governor said can be very hard to determine given changing state and federal economic trends.

Still, he said the budget will be crafted in-mind with the forecast.

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"We need to be careful in Illinois, we have to balance our budget," Pritzker said recently during an unrelated event in Springfield. "We have to make sure that we're making expenditures meet revenues and so you know if that requires us to reduce the increases that may occur in certain programs, maybe that will be necessary."

What ultimately is included in the governor's budget proposal won't be revealed until Feb. 21, but requests are already beginning to trickle out before Pritzker takes to the House floor.

Migrant spending

Being asked of the governor are several new and continued funding, some of which could carry hefty price tags. Among them is funding to build more shelters and provide services to the thousands of asylum-seekers being transported to Chicago from Texas.

The state has spent $640 million on the migrant crisis so far, but Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has repeatedly called for further capital. More than 35,000 migrants have been sent to the city since August 2022.

It appears Johnson just might get his wish after the governor's office and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced a joint $252 million funding plan Thursday. All told, Pritzker is expected to request $182 million from the General Assembly during his budget address with $70 million coming from the county.

The plan was made following conversations between city, county and state officials where $321 million is the estimated sum to cover shelter and migrant services cost this year. Where the remaining $69 million would come from is still unclear.

Health insurance

The influx in migrants also comes as the state has rolled out co-payments for immigrant beneficiaries of two state-funded health insurance plans.

A topic of much budget drama last year, the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults and Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors programs provide Medicaid-like benefits to individuals aged 42 and over. Those eligible include undocumented immigrants and those with a green card but have resided in the country for less than five years.

Enrollment in HBIA and HBIS, topping 68,000 enrollees, has been paused since November and started requiring co-payments for some non-emergency services earlier this month.

Republicans have voiced opposition to the programs, claiming other initiatives will suffer due to its expense — projected to cost the state more than $773 million this fiscal year according to a fiscal analysis conducted by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

"That's with no new enrollees," state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said during a press conference last week. "The constraints of the program are not being managed to control the costs."

School access

A "high priority" of the governor's is continuation of the Smart Start Illinois Plan, which seeks to provide universal preschool access to every three and four-year-old in Illinois by 2027.

Pritzker has barnstormed the state in recent weeks, touting the initiative's first-year accomplishments and investments. The goal for this year was to add 5,000 slots, which the state surpassed by adding 5,886 seats to public preschools lacking openings across the state.

The first year of the $250 million initiative included an additional $75 million to the Early Childhood Block Grant, $130 million towards early childhood workforce compensation contracts, $40 million for early intervention programs allowing for a 10% rate increase for providers and $5 million to expand the Illinois Department of Human Services Home Visiting Program.

Another push by Democrats is appropriating $209 million to provide free breakfast and lunch to all public school students in the state. This request is on-top of the Illinois State Board of Education's ask of more than $11 billion in state funding— a $653 million increase from its current fiscal year allotment.

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Pension debt

The state is also attempting to eat into its public pension debt, investing an additional $200 million above what is required in this year's budget. Still, the issue of unfunded pension liabilities persists in the five public pension funds: State Employees' Retirement System, State Universities Retirement System, Judges' Retirement System, General Assembly Retirement System, and Teachers' Retirement System.

The Commission on Government Forecasting & Accountability, an agency providing fiscal trends to the Illinois General Assembly, reported unfunded pension liabilities totaling $141.1 billion as of June 30, 2023.

'You can't have it both ways'

Echoing famed words from former President George H.W. Bush, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie called on the upcoming budget to introduce "no new taxes."

Instead, her party is pushing for property tax relief and a reinstatement of the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program. No GOP legislators in the Senate or the House voted for the budget last year.

"You often hear our colleagues on the other side of the aisle state that the budget is a 'moral document.' We couldn't agree more," McCombie, R-Savanna said. "The problem with this moral document is that it is used as a political football and that has also got to stop. You can't have it both ways."

Lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday.

Jerry Nowicki of Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.

Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Pritzker delivering budget address at Capitol: What to know