Illinois lawmakers have passed a $55.2 billion budget for the new fiscal year, including increased taxes on tobacco products and sports betting.
According to officials, the budget includes $55.3 billion in estimated revenue, with Gov. J.B. Pritzker hailing the agreement as the state’s seventh consecutive balanced budget.
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WATCH HERE“It not only advances our state’s growing record of fiscal responsibility but also continues our investments in education, health care, public safety and jobs,” Pritzker said.
The budget passed on party-line votes in both chambers just before the constitutionally mandated June 1 deadline, which would have raised the threshold to pass the measure to a three-fifths majority vote.
Republicans blasted the increases in spending and tax revenue included in the budget agreement, arguing that they’d been cut out of negotiations and that Democrats are using a variety of maneuvers to artificially balance the budget.
“Rather than pursuing meaningful structural reforms to secure our state’s future, Democrats chose to prioritize political pay raises, steal from the rainy-day fund, and funnel money into their own pork projects,” House Minority Leader Tony McCombie said in a statement.
According to Illinois Democrats, the budget includes $2.8 billion for the state’s Child Care Assistance Program, aiding families to afford child care. Another $721 million in funding was approved for Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants for more than 150,000 students, and funds were also included for safety net hospitals and hiring and training up to 200 new Illinois State Police troopers.
Chicago Politics
Lawmakers pointed to a variety of new revenue sources for this year’s budget, including a tax on online sports bets. According to the Chicago Tribune, a tax of 25 cents per wager will apply for the first 20,000,000 online sports bets taken in the new fiscal year, with a 50-cent tax included on all bets thereafter.
According to Capitol News Illinois, the effective tax rate on all tobacco products, including vapes and e-cigarettes, will increase to 45%, while another tax change will cause companies that do more than $100,000 in business within the state to assess sales taxes, even if they don’t have physical locations within Illinois.
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SIGN UP Finally, the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative-leaning publication that tracks tax revenue issues within the state, flagged that officials will delay transferring motor fuel tax revenues into its road fund, creating an adjustment in revenue estimates of up to $171 million.
Despite addressing a host of issues, the state did not come to an agreement on a proposal to help close a $770 million funding gap facing transit services in the Chicago area, which could potentially lead to significant job and service cuts, according to warnings published by the RTA and other entities.
The Chicago Bears’ quest for state funds to assist with the construction of a new stadium in the northwest suburbs also did not yield any progress, as the team had been aiming to get shovels in the ground by the end of the year to start construction on the new project.
