Special session focuses on budget
House advances $40B plan, Chicago casino tax proposal
Illinois lawmakers stretched their historic pandemic-driven special session into overtime Saturday, as they sought to finalize details on a maintenance level $40 billion state budget that would depend heavily on federal funds while also making another effort to get a Chicago casino off the ground.
With some bipartisan support, the House on Saturday approved a bill that would revamp the tax structure for a Chicago casino, a step toward overcoming what has been seen as a key obstacle to getting one built. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has long pushed for tax changes, and the House vote was the furthest her
proposal has gotten in the General Assembly.
A Chicago casino is seen as key to the $45 billion capital bill the legislature passed last year.
“This is good for everyone for jobs and development — having a Chicago casino be real,” Blue Island Democratic Rep. Bob Rita, the bill’s sponsor, said.
Late Saturday, the bill still awaited Senate action.
The House late Saturday also passed a $40 billion budget that would maintain funding for many parts of state government from the current budget, except for health care agencies significantly impacted by the pandemic.
The spending plan for the year that begins July 1 requires Senate approval before it can be sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.
House Democratic Leader Greg Harris characterized the budget as representative of “a series of tough choices” that resulted in a combination of “working with the Federal Reserve and setting ourselves on a path to a slow, sustainable return to some fiscal normalcy.”
“Our state has been ravaged by the pandemic, just like our nation,” Harris said. “People are struggling, families are struggling, local governments are struggling, our schools are struggling. And yes, we as the state are struggling too.”
The 68-44 House vote was largely along party lines.
The proposal would give Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker sweeping authority to move agency operating funds around and to put a hold on some spending as a contingency.
The plan counts on up to $5 billion in loans from the Federal Reserve that would be repaid with anticipated but still uncertain direct federal aid from Washington. The state also is hoping to get flexibility on how it spends $3.5 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding it has already received. Harris called the borrowing a “line of credit” until Congress overcomes differences between Democrats and Republicans and approves a new coronavirus relief bill to assist states and local governments.
“We don’t know when or if discussions (in Washington) will come to fruition. We don’t know when or how much, if they do come to fruition, will come to Illinois. And we don’t know when that happens if we would be physically able to return to Springfield to reappropriate monies if we decided to take no further action today,” Harris said of the dependence on borrowing.
But Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon, the Republican’s budget spokesman, said the Democratic-led spending plan wrongly relied upon hopes from Washington.
“What we’ve heard today is a budget that is balanced only on a wing and a prayer. It relies on $5 billion in borrowing or magical revenue that comes from the federal government with no strings attached,” Demmer said. “We also see unprecedented levels of authority over Illinois taxpayer dollars being granted to one person, being ceded from the legislature to the governor through emergency rule, through appropriations that well exceed the amount of money that’s been currently received.”
The budget plan would fail to provide school districts with the $350 million increase in state aid that was a key part of the 2018 education bill. Districts would instead receive the same amount they got this year. Universities also would be funded at the current level.
Agencies dealing with public health and welfare, particularly affected by trying to deal with the pandemic, would receive funding increases.
The Department of Human Services would get $683 million, a 6% increase, to allow for hiring 300 new caseworkers to process Medicaid eligibility claims. The state estimates that due to large unemployment, anywhere from 200,000 to 1 million new people could become eligible for the state-federal taxpayer subsidized health care.
The Illinois Department of Public Health would see an overall budget of $1.6 billion, up 144% primarily due to federal coronavirus funding. The figure includes $416 million in federal funds for increased testing for the coronavirus and related services.
The Department of Children and Family Services would get a 20% increase in state funding, bringing its overall state-funds budget to more than $1 billion. The funds include hiring 123 more investigators and to provide rate increases to providers. Funding for foster care would increase by $80 million due to an expected increase in caseload.
The spending plan would make the state’s statutory required contribution to Illinois’ massively underfunded public employee pension systems at a cost of more than $9 billion. The amount includes $266.8 million as a state share to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund.
After lawmakers last year approved a massive gambling expansion that authorized six new casinos across the state and legalized sports wagering, a study found that the tax structure for the Chicago casino, which is higher than for the other casinos in the state, could make it difficult to attract investors.
In addition to a new tax structure for the casino, the legislation passed by the House would extend from two to six years the amount of time casino owners would have to make a reconciliation payment, another change Lightfoot has pushed.
The legislation also delays by a year, until July 1, 2021, the time by which gaming applicants must pay license fees.
The coronavirus pandemic is driving that change, which is intended to help existing casinos in the state that have been closed and “would be very helpful for them in terms of how they’re going to reopen,” Rita said.
“We still don’t know what that looks like, when they’ll be able to reopen and how they will be able to reopen — whether it be able to fill a blackjack table with six players or three or with social distancing. So they’re going to have some changes in how they operate.”
Springfield Republican Rep. Tim Butler called the Chicago casino “tremendously important” for the whole state because of its role in funding part of a massive statewide construction plan lawmakers approved last year.
The changes for the city casino would send an estimated $500 million in annual revenue to the state for the statewide infrastructure program, Rita said.
Revenue from the casino allocated to building projects under the state’s “Rebuild Illinois” infrastructure plan was one of the sticking points for lawmakers last fall. Along with concerns the legislation amounted to a “special deal” for Chicago, the revenue issue kept the legislation Lightfoot wanted from passing.
The city’s share of the casino revenue would be dedicated to underfunded police and fire pensions
The legislation also includes technical changes for the casino in Danville in relation to gambling on the state fairgrounds in both Springfield and Du Quoin.
The Senate was expected to take up the Chicago casino legislation late Saturday. Democratic Sen. Robert Martwick of Chicago, who did not attend the previous three days of the special session due to health concerns, came to Springfield on Saturday to vote in favor of the plan.
“I was told there was a very good chance they would need me, so I started driving,” Martwick said in a text message. “Chicago has to have that revenue for their pension stability. That is too important.”
Late Saturday, legislators overwhelmingly approved a measure aimed at helping bars and restaurants who’ve been forced to close for dine-in service during the pandemic.
The bill would allow establishments to sell cocktails for pickup and delivery in sealed containers. Thirdparty services like Grubhub and DoorDash would be prohibited from making cocktail deliveries.
The measure, which was approved unanimously in the Senate and by a 104-6 margin in the House, also extends liquor licenses for 120 days and delays license fees for six months after restaurants and bars are allowed to reopen to the public. It would take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature and expire in one year.
“This will allow people to maintain jobs, and it’s a lifeline to the bars and restaurants, our beloved bars and restaurants,” said Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, a Chicago Democrat.