Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs $50.4 billion state budget

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed a $50.4 billion state budget that boosts funding for education from preschool through college, but was also forced to use his veto pen to dial back pay raises for lawmakers and other state officials so that the hikes comply with state law.

Pritzker’s last-minute tweak provides for 5% raises, the maximum allowed, instead of the 5.5% increase that was included in the budget passed last month by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Lawmakers will now be making $89,250 in the budget year that begins July 1, instead of $89,675. The change reduces the overall budget by less than $200,000.

Though Pritzker said lawmakers made an “inadvertent” error in approving salary hikes beyond what the law allows, the need for a fix reflects the sometimes chaotic nature of the budget process in Springfield, which ended with a post-midnight House vote on May 24.

The hectic atmosphere was amplified this year by disputes among Democrats over spending priorities that continued even after Pritzker joined Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside to announce they’d reached accord on the budget.

The change on salaries made by Pritzker, which takes effect unless lawmakers vote to override them, marks the second time in three years the governor has had to make technical fixes to the budget sent to him by lawmakers.

Nevertheless, the governor and Democratic legislative leaders were unified Wednesday in presenting the spending plan as another step toward long-term fiscal stability for the state under Pritzker.

“Thanks to our firmer fiscal foundation, we have been able to put billions of dollars back in the pockets of Illinois taxpayers while investing in our future,” Pritzker said at a signing ceremony in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest Side.

“Our balanced budgets have allowed thousands more students to stay in Illinois because they can now afford a college degree. Balanced budgets have allowed us to modernize our infrastructure, incentivize nation-leading clean energy production, build industries of the future like quantum computing, and prioritize child care for working families and our youngest children,” he said. “Responsible governance allows us to make investments in what matters the most, and that’s our people.”

Pritzker held the event at Christopher House, which provides child care, preschool and elementary education, among other services, to highlight his “Smart Start Illinois” initiative. The $250 million program is aimed at improving access to child care and early childhood education, a cornerstone of the spending plan the governor introduced in February.

Among other elements, the program calls for adding 5,000 slots to existing state-funded preschool programs in the coming year.

Pritzker and Democratic leaders touted other education-related expenditures including a $350 million increase for elementary and secondary schools; an additional $100 million for public universities and community colleges; and a $100 million increase in scholarships for low-income students.

Education advocates say the plan still falls short — with annual increases at the current pace, it would take nearly 20 years to fully fund K-12 education under a formula approved in 2017. In addition, higher education receives about half as much state support as it did two decades ago after adjusting for inflation.

The budget was approved largely along party lines in both legislative chambers, although Senate Republicans acknowledged that they got a seat at the negotiating table with the Democratic majority this year.

All 19 GOP senators voted against the budget, and so did three Democrats: Sens. Patrick Joyce, of Reddick; Suzy Glowiak Hilton of Western Springs; and Doris Turner, of Springfield.

Turner and Glowiak Hilton both indicated they weren’t in favor of the budget’s pay raises for lawmakers, which came on top of the nearly 17% raise they got in January when their salaries were boosted to $85,000 from $72,906. That increase was allowed under state law because it was approved by an outgoing General Assembly.

Republicans continued their criticisms of the spending plan Wednesday, with House GOP leader Tony McCombie of Savanna saying in a statement that it “puts the state’s fiscal outcome at risk and all but guarantees future tax hikes.”

McCombie, who during the House debate on the budget said she believed the pay raises approved by lawmakers would have violated the state constitution, called Pritzker’s last-second reduction “paltry.”

“While this change may make it constitutional, it does not make it right,” she said. “House Republicans will continue to hold the majority party accountable to not only our constitutional rights but also to Illinois taxpayers.”

McCombie’s Senate counterpart, GOP leader John Curran of Downers Grove, said in a statement that the spending plan uses “gimmicks … in order to appear balanced on paper.”

As an example, Curran said the plan assumes the Pritzker administration will “provide no raises” in ongoing contract negotiations with the largest union representing state employees.

The contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 expires at the end of the month, coinciding with the end of the budget year.

Pritzker pushed back on such claims, telling reporters that the plan includes funding within each agency’s budget to cover the anticipated costs of a new AFSCME contract.

“That’s, once again, one of those false things that Republicans like to say about the budget, but it is in the budget,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough declined to say exactly how much was added to the budget to accommodate the potential cost of a new contract, citing ongoing negotiations. But he noted that the previous contract cost just over $400 million over four years.

AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said the union’s goal is to wrap up talks by the end of the month.

Curran also criticized Democrats for how they dealt with the ballooning costs of a program that provides Medicaid-style health care coverage for immigrants who are in the country without legal permission or who have green cards but haven’t completed a five-year waiting period and therefore don’t qualify for the traditional insurance program for the poor.

Pritzker’s initial budget proposal in February pegged the cost of the program at $220 million, but subsequent projections put those costs closer to $1.1 billion, according to the governor’s administration.

Democratic lawmakers refused to cut funding in other programs or enact Pritzker’s recommended cost controls, such as co-pays or income limitations, resulting in a deal that allocated about $550 million for the program while, according to the governor’s office, giving the administration “tools” to control costs. In effect, the governor agreed to assume any political liabilities that come with controlling future costs.

“The budget assumes the governor will slash the cost of the program in half,” Curran said, which he also labeled a “gimmick.”

“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,” Curran said.

Other parts of the more than 3,400-page budget previously highlighted by the governor’s office include an increase of $85 million to support homelessness prevention, affordable housing and other programs related to those efforts. The upcoming budget would also include an additional $200 million to the state’s underfunded pension plans on top of the $9.8 billion required under state law.

The budget also includes a $20 million investment in a new program to expand grocery access to urban neighborhoods and rural towns, and $30 million for a fund that distributes money to police departments for body cameras and squad car dashboard camera systems. Another $15 million would be also set aside for grants associated with a youth summer jobs program, geared toward young people in Chicago and other urban areas.

There would be a roughly $112 million increase in the share of state income tax revenue distributed to local governments, partially satisfying a request from some suburban mayors, as well as new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. In response to another request from Johnson, the budget would provide $42.5 million to aid migrants arriving from the country’s southern border. But that money would be available to counties and towns statewide rather than only Chicago.

At Wednesday’s signing ceremony, Welch sought to downplay disunity among House Democrats, which contributed to the delay in approving the budget.

“When we started this session we had plenty of naysayers — plenty. Some said there was no way we would continue to … budget responsibly with a record number of House Democrats,” Welch said, referring to his caucus’ 78-40 advantage over Republicans. “And I said it from the very beginning, ‘The Great 78 is great for a reason.’

“We got sent here to do the people’s work. No more naysaying. The proof is in the budget, right here. We got the job done.”

The governor’s office pegged overall spending at $50.4 billion with revenues expected to total about $50.6 billion, resulting in an estimated a $183 million surplus. Democratic lawmakers earlier had estimated total spending at $50.6 billion.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com

jgorner@chicagotribune.com