As session in Springfield comes to a close, Illinois lawmakers still have to tackle issues expected to play a significant role in the upcoming election: combating crime and crafting a state spending plan with a rare projected surplus.
SPRINGFIELD — With their condensed election-year session set to wrap up Friday, Illinois lawmakers are eager to leave Springfield for the campaign trail. But they’ll first have to address concerns about crime and agree on a budget that boasts a rare projected surplus, both issues expected to play a significant role at the polls in November.
That division between progressive and moderate Democrats could exacerbate traditional end-of-session tensions and spill over to a variety of issues, from attempts to take on crime without undoing landmark criminal justice laws to passage of a budget as progressives seek money for a variety of social causes.»
Republicans have used the violence uptick as one of the main issues going into the 2022 election, often pointing to landmark criminal justice reform legislation Pritzker signed last year in trying to paint the governor and his allies as weak on crime. Pritzker’s $45.4 billion budget proposal, which was endorsed by Slaughter and other progressive Democrats, included about $240 million for violence prevention groups that specialize in mediating street conflicts and providing social services for people at risk of violence, either as a victim or perpetrator. Most of that money is supposed to come from federal coronavirus relief funds.
On Friday, a group of Democrats introduced measures to employ a “co-responder” model under which police officers and social workers would work together to address mental health emergencies; provide counseling for crime victims; and expand the state’s unfunded witness protection program, for which Pritzker has already proposed $20 million.
Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, a Western Springs Democrat sponsoring the bill, said last week at a Springfield news conference. “And so, I don’t want my constituents or those in Illinois to feel like they can’t go to Oakbrook , that I represent, to do their shopping.” In a break from Springfield tradition, lawmakers are faced with the task of how to use additional money flowing into the state coffers instead of finding ways to plug holes with cuts and tax increases.
With the average price a gas hovering around $4.50 per gallon in Illinois and the cost of other necessities on the rise as well, Democratic leaders are anxious to deliver some form of relief in an election year. [Most read] With thoroughbreds no longer running at Arlington ― which Bears may call home ― struggling racing industry pins hopes on HawthorneSenate Democrats upped the ante late Friday, rolling out a $1.8 billion relief package that included measures such as direct payments to more than 97% of state income tax filers, with individuals earning more than $250,000 and joint filers earning more than $500,000 not eligible.
It’s an idea Pritzker backed in the past but one that was absent from his reelection-year tax relief pitch. A part of the Senate proposal sponsored by Aquino includes a smaller increase in the credit but not the expansion of eligibility that advocates are seeking. “If we have additional resources, we need to invest them into the commitments that we’ve made legally, morally and ethically,” said Josh Evans, president and CEO of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities.
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