IVCA Provides Updates for State Legislative Issues – 3/05/2025

Illinois Venture Capital Association Illinois Legislative Report
David Stricklin / Stricklin & Associates

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

IVCA LEGISLATION IN COMMITTEE
IVCA has introduced HB 1396 to address a decision by the Illinois Department of Revenue to restrict the eligibility for a tax credit for taxes paid in other states – resulting essentially in a “double-tax” situation. The bill has had a “subject matter” hearing and is being evaluated by IDOR and the House Revenue Committee. Rep. Margaret Croke has joined Rep. Curtis Tarver as the sponsors of the bill, and as the bill makes progress, we will keep you advised.

COGFA REVENUE ESTIMATES
The Illinois General Assembly and the Office of the Governor are in serious discussions over the FY 26 budget which must be assembled and approved by May 31. The revenue estimates coming from the administration and the legislature are not in complete agreement, which is not unusual, though it informs the decisions of what can or cannot be afforded.
COGFA REVENUE FORECAST

• The Commission estimates that the State of Illinois is on pace to reach and slightly surpass the $53.281 billion assumed revenue total for the enacted FY 2025 General Funds budget.
• While the Commission’s $333 million upward adjustment in FY 2025 to $53.614 billion is below GOMB’s recently revised increase of $619 million to $53.900 billion, the $286 million difference between the two forecasts is only 0.5% apart.
• If income tax revenues come in strong during the upcoming final tax period, and if other revenue sources, such as the sales tax, continue to improve, the Commission could potentially make another upward revision in May.
  From Senate Republicans:
  Today, the bipartisan, bicameral Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) released their updated revenue projections, painting Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s budget as more than $1 billion out of balance.
  “The independent COGFA numbers show the governor used aggressively inflated revenue projections to minimize the cuts or tax increases his budget would require to be balanced,” said Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove). “This is why it is absolutely necessary that the governor rein in the spending on unsustainable non-citizen programs and prioritize the taxpayers he was elected to represent.”

NEWS AND NOTES

• Gov. JB Pritzker | Up to a million Illinoisans will lose health care coverage with slashing of Medicaid: One in four Illinois residents — more than 3.4 million people — are covered by Medicaid. Who are they? Medicaid provides health care for nearly half of our state’s children. It’s the largest insurer for people who live in nursing homes and for people with developmental disabilities. Farmers and rural farm workers will lose the ability to see a doctor when they’re ill. This is also a broader economic issue. Illinois hospitals and health systems support 445,000 full-time jobs and anchor many rural communities. Hospitals will close. People will lose their jobs.
• Journal Courier | Illinois invests $15M in Polish bonds for portfolio diversification: The Republic of Poland bonds were purchased to diversify the state’s portfolio and achieve stable returns from a strong investment, he said. The bonds will mature in four years with an interest rate of 4.625% and a current yield of 4.831%.