Chicago City Wire

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) officially signed off on the Prairie State's new $50.4 billion budget which passed both the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate without any support from Republican lawmakers. 

Pritzker has talked highly of this latest spending plan, and bragged it's proof he kept his 2018 campaign promise to make Illinois fiscally responsible, the Chicago Sun Times reported. 

“Here we are four years later, and just look at what at we’ve accomplished. We eliminated overdue bills, paid down $10.5 billion in debt, including pension debt. Our once-empty Rainy Day Fund is now rising to $2 billion," Pritzker said, according to the Chicago Sun Times. "Our GDP has surpassed $1 trillion, and we have more jobs available than ever before. And independently, and if you don’t love all of that, independently, each of the major credit rating agencies has given us multiple credit upgrades."

The final budget included an adjustment to cost-of-living pay raises pegged for constitutional officers, legislators and appointed officers of the executive branch after the original planned raises were found to be above the constitutional levels of 5%, the Chicago Sun Times reported. Pritzker's office noted the change amounted to a $192,7000 line-item reduction. 

The new spending plan set aside $350 million for the state’s K-12 school funding formula, $100 million in extra MAP grant funding for higher education and a $100 million boost for public universities. The Chicago Sun-Times reported the added MAP grant funding opens the door for more people to attend community college free of charge. 

Republicans opposed the plan for a number of different reasons, chief among them the fact that to a large extent they were shut out of the negotiation phase in putting the plan together. Also raising concern among GOP lawmakers was a provision that assures health care benefits for undocumented immigrants, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

“The Governor’s choice to pay for this entirely state-funded free health care program for undocumented people over any meaningful investment in our business community highlights the stark contrast between our priorities,” Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove), said in a statement, the Chicago Sun Times reported.