A state senator who represents parts of Bloomington-Normal said the newly-passed $53.1 billion state budget is about as good a document as can be expected in a difficult year for funding.
“Everybody has to understand that they're going to win some things, but they're going to lose some things, too. That's the nature of putting together a budget. And, you know, you move on,” said Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria.
Koehler said one of the biggest positives in the spending plan is $350 million in additional education funding for K-12 schools in the state.
“We've put now over $2 billion into the evidence-based funding formula. That's a big deal for schools that have really been struggling, that are in economically depressed areas,” Koehler said. “And so I think we're starting to see the result of that. We're seeing better graduation rates. We're seeing higher grades overall. It makes a difference."
Koehler noted lawmakers doubled down on Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed $12 million Child Tax Credit in Illinois by increasing it to $50 million this year and $100 million next year.
“That's important for working families. The cost of raising a child in these high inflation times is just a real burden on working families. We've done something about that,” said Koehler, also noting increases in funds for social service agencies to pay for in-home assisted living services.
“Those are folks that do the hardest work, and they take care of seniors in their homes, everything from personal hygiene to cooking,” Koehler said. “Otherwise, those folks would have to go to nursing homes, which is much more expensive.”
Higher ed funding
Not everything was rosy.
Koehler expressed disappointment that higher education funding, including support for Illinois State University, received only a modest inflationary bump.
“I would like to see the support for state universities and colleges to be upped,” he said. “There was a 2% across the board, that does not really keep up with inflation. ISU is the bottom funded school of all the state-supported universities. We need to change that.”
There was progress on a funding formula for higher education, Koehler said, that could be similar to the evidence-based formula K-12 schools get on a per-student basis — though it was not ready for a vote this spring. ISU officials have argued for years that allocating money on a lump sum basis penalizes the institution for its healthy enrollment numbers.
They’ve said a per-student allocation would significantly boost state support for ISU.
Republicans have long complained they feel shut out of budget negotiations because they are in a super-minority in both chambers and GOP votes are not usually required to pass a budget. Koehler noted bipartisan legislation did pass in some instances.
Koehler picked up Rep. Bill Hauter’s House bill in the Senate to eliminate pre-authorization for patients in need of medical care for bleeding-related conditions and diseases.
“Health care needs to take place between the physician and the patient. And we don't need third parties to try to manipulate the system. Usually what they do is drag it out. That frustrates both patients and the providers to no end,” said Koehler. “Health care is one of those areas where we have good bipartisan support.”
Work to do
Koehler said revenue constraints this year helped set his agenda for the next session, adding there is a need to tweak the Tier 2 pension programs.
“We've got a lot of employees now that are in the second-tier pension plan. And that, quite frankly, is costing us the ability to be able to attract some teachers because now they have to work till 67 in order to be fully provided for their pension. There's a lot of disruption and a lot of dissension on that,” said Koehler.
Koehler said he regretted his inability to pass farmland estate tax relief, a project of his and Democratic State Rep. Sharon Chung, who represents Bloomington-Normal.
“We had wanted to get through something that would give some relief so that families, you know, once the main farmer dies, they don’t have to sell the farm just to pay the taxes,” he said. “That didn’t happen, so again that’s an issue we’re going to pursue later on.”
Koehler and other Illinois lawmakers will return in October for the fall veto session.
