Illinois
Pritzker signs $53.1B budget, touts investments in education, economic development
Touting investments in education and economic development, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Wednesday.
The $53.1 billion budget contains much of the governor’s priorities including $50 million child tax credit —providing up to $300 per child under 12 — and $290 million to Home Illinois to work towards ending homelessness in Illinois. Another $400 million is dedicated for the second year of the Smart Start Illinois initiative, which aims to provide universal preschool access statewide by 2027, and $500 million to build a quantum computing campus.
“We started with our children and families focusing on the areas most essential to them to thrive like childcare, education, health care and housing,” said Pritzker during a bill signing ceremony in Chicago. “This budget was designed to make them more affordable and more accessible.”
The signing brought an end to months of negotiations among state lawmakers, which was held in delicate balance in the House last week over disagreements on a $1.1 billion tax plan needed to balance the budget.
That measure includes increases on the sports wagering and video gaming taxes, which will net the state an additional $235 million in revenues, in addition to an extended cap on corporate net operating losses to prevent what would have been a $526 million loss for the state.
More: Third time’s the charm: Illinois House sends $53.1 billion budget to Pritzker
Democrats have 78 members in the chamber but struggled to acquire the needed 60 votes for it to pass, finally breaking through on the third try just before 5 a.m. last Wednesday. Pritzker did not sign that bill on Wednesday but plans on doing so before the end of the month.
The concern among Republicans and some Democrats was the increased spending, Republicans particularly targeting the $182 million dedicated to provide shelter and other services to migrants. The idea of widespread cuts, as others like fellow Democrat Comptroller Susana Mendoza had suggested, was not supported by the governor. Altogether, the budget includes $75 million in cuts per House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
“This idea is not an idea that Democrats believe in — this idea that you can just go across the board and cut 5% of the budget and and not have a very deleterious effect on people across the state,” Pritzker said.
Fiscal year 2025 will start on July 1, 2024.
Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Multiple rounds of severe storms impacted central Illinois on Wednesday bringing damaging wind gusts and very heavy rain. Our area was sparred from the worst of the tornadoes, but areas south of I-72 were not so fortunate with damage to homes and injuries reported.
An outflow boundary from our morning storms struggled to get any further north than highway 136, which was about 30 miles south of what was anticipated early this morning. This kept the risk of strong tornadoes just south of our local region, though we still had plenty of rain and instances of large hail and gusty winds roll through central Illinois.
The worst of the wind came with the storms in the morning. As the severe storms moved through the area they produced measured gust of 60-70 mph with localized gusts estimated to be around 80 mph. The winds resulted in tree, powerline, and structural damage from Knox through McLean County.
Storm Reports
Galesburg – Tree and power line damage
Williamsfield – Roof partially torn off building
Princeville – Tree damage
Dunlap – 60 mph wind gust
Bellevue – 60 mph wind gust
Germantown Hills – Trees down
Roanoke – 60 mph wind gust
El Paso – Power poles snapped
El Paso – Multiple semis and campers rolled on I-39
Gidley – 70 mph wind gust
Chenoa – Semi rolled on I-55
Dunlap – 1.0″ size hail
Metamora – 1.0″ size hail
Armington – 1.0″ size hail
Rain reports
West Peoria – 4.37″
Lexington – 4.00″
West Peoria – 3.98″
Washington – 3.97″
East Peoria – 3.47″
Dunlap – 3.40″
Goodfield – 2.47″
Towanda – 2.43″
Peoria (PIA) – 2.24″
Lewistown – 2.20″
Galesburg – 1.84″
Chillicothe – 1.52″
Pontiac – 1.27″
Historic tree dating back to Abraham Lincoln damaged in Springfield
It may be the last living tree standing when Abraham Lincoln and his family lived in the Springfield neighborhood from 1844 to 1861.
More than 30,000 Illinois residents reported power outages Wednesday morning amid severe storms and destructive winds.
The National Weather Service forecast two rounds of severe weather throughout the day, issuing a tornado watch early Wednesday morning across central Illinois.
Where were power outages reported in Illinois?
More than 35,000 of the more than 5.8 million customers tracked on PowerOutage.com reported outages Wednesday, as of noon.
The majority of these outages were concentrated in west-central Illinois in Warren, Henderson and Woodford counties.
More than 93% of the customers tracked in Henderson County and nearly 60% of those in Warren County were impacted by outages.
Less widespread outages were also reported in DeKalb, Mercer, Knox, Menard, Jefferson and Gallatin counties.
Electric service company Amaren was by far the most impacted utility provider, followed Commonwealth Edison Company and Corn Belt Energy Corporation.
Illinois power outage map
Report power outages in Illinois
Illinois residents can report power outages in their area at PowerOutage.com.
Illinois power outage tracker
To track where power outages have been reported and where they have been restored, follow the USA Today power outage tracker.
Chicago weather radar
Central Illinois weather radar
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