May 26, 2023 State Capitol Report
Almost End of Session?
After moving past their self-imposed deadline of May 19, the legislature met again this week and well into the early hours of each day. As this report is being written, it appears the Illinois General Assembly is halfway to approving a budget thereby concluding its Spring Session.
Late Thursday night, the Senate approved Senate Bill 250 (Sen. Sims, D-17, Chicago and Rep. Gordon-Booth, D- 92, Peoria) and sent it over to the House for approval by tomorrow hopefully. Due to constitutional restraints, the House cannot vote on the budget bill until Saturday, so everyone is hoping the House votes on the bill tonight at 12:01 a.m. There are a few rumblings that the House Progressive Caucus may attempt to change the budget, but that is only speculation.
There is always much drama and anguish over state budgets. The Budget impacts the quality of life of every person in this state and ultimately decides the fate of our schools, roads, health care, air and water quality, and much more. Every year legislators make critical choices on how to provide services and how to ensure the state will generate the revenue to fund crucial programs. The spending plan crafted for Fiscal Year 2024, which begins on July 1, 2023, totals $50.6 Billion. This amount is slightly down from FY23’s budget. Below are just a few highlights from the budget:
NOTE: As this report is being sent, the House is scheduled to come back into session this evening.
Bills of Interest
Click the bill number to view additional information
Final Action on bills we have been following:
Next Week and Beyond
All remain hopeful that the House will conclude its business by tomorrow and everyone can go home to celebrate the beginning of summer and most importantly take time to reflect on loved ones no longer with us and be thankful for all who have served our country to keep us safe and able to enjoy freedom and democracy.
The legislature has not yet released the fall veto calendar so stay tuned for those dates but expect them to include a few days in October. This summer, look for the Illinois REALTORS® Scorecard prepared by your Governmental Affairs team highlighting this year’s legislative achievements.
We hope everyone can start to begin to enjoy their summers and we will be keeping a watchful eye just in case, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, or the Governor call the legislature back into session, so for now and always…Stay Tuned!