IVCA Provides Updates for State Legislative Issues – 02/28/2024
Illinois Venture Capital Association Illinois Legislative Report
David Stricklin / Stricklin & Associates
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
GOVERNOR PRITZKER PROPOSES FY 25 BUDGET
Governor Pritzker appeared before the Illinois House and Senate last week to present his combined “State of the State” and budget address. Local and national pundits alike couldn’t help but notice the speech while Illinois-centric included a few nuggets for national consumption, as speculation about a presidential bid by the governor never goes away.
Complete details may be found here:
Governor Pritzker FY 25 budget
Considering the Democratic super-majority in both the House and Senate and with a Democratic governor, republican legislators are largely on the outside looking in when it comes to assembling and passing the budget in May of this year.
Interesting to note is that after the budget address, both the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus put the Capitol on notice that their issues and concerns would need to be addressed to have enough votes to pass a budget. The negotiations over spending plans and which programs rise or fall will drive the 2024 session.
The governor proposed taxing online sports gaming to pay for parts of his plan:
raising it to 35% from 15%. The change would generate an estimated $200 million in additional revenue. and called for the elimination of the Illinois tax on groceries. He also proposed a ban on pre-authorizations on mental health medications, and devoted significant time and energy critiquing what he sees as the failings of the health insurance industry.
The governor is projecting a 1.5% increase in state revenue for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, for a haul of nearly $53 billion. That’s largely due to the $800 million plus in tax increases mostly targeting large businesses.
Pritkzer’s plan extends a limit on the amount of operating losses corporations can write off on their income taxes. A $100,000 cap that was slated to expire at the end of the year would be extended three years, under the plan from Pritzker’s team, which aims to soften that blow on businesses by upping that cap to $500,000. The maneuver would generate another $526 million for the state, the governor’s office estimates.
The governor’s office pushed back on characterizing it as a new tax, arguing the continuation of the cap on corporate tax deductions will help the state keep gaining revenue. […]
And he wants to lower the tax discount retailers receive for collecting sales taxes, a measure his office says would net the state an additional $101 million. In his speech, Pritzker also said he wants to permanently eliminate the 1% grocery tax. But the Illinois Municipal League already opposes that initiative — saying the tax goes entirely to local governments across the state and would cost them $325 million a year.
Reaction is predicably mostly along party lines and philosophical lines:
* Senate GOP Leader John Curran…
“The Governor just proposed raising taxes on every Illinois family struggling to make ends meet to fund the non-citizen welfare state he created. We have made it clear that the citizens of this state are our priority, while today, the Governor made it clear they’re his piggy bank. Our focus will remain on providing meaningful financial relief to the people of Illinois .”
Our State’s prosperity is intertwined with the success of our Latino community, our state budget must prioritize equitable investment in healthcare, education, and jobs for Latino families,” said House Latino Caucus Chair Dagmara Avelar (D-Bolingbrook). “While we recognize positives in Governor Pritzker’s proposal, we’re committed to further enhancements. We will continue our united mission to serve our communities faithfully.”
CHICAGO SPORTS TEAMS FLOOD THE CAPITOL
First the Chicago Bears, then the Chicago White Sox, and now seemingly every professional franchise has some request of policy makers to help them stay, move, expand, secure, or otherwise enhance their operations.
“I think I’ve been fairly clear about the fact that the taxpayers’ dollars are precious,” Pritzker said in response to a reporter’s question at an unrelated event. “And the idea of taking taxpayer dollars and subsidizing the building of a stadium as opposed to, for example, subsidizing the building of a birthing center, just to give the example, does not seem like the stadium ought to have higher priority.”