THE ILLINOIZE: All budget ideas "touch and go" with two weeks left...

March 29, 2022

Good morning.

The House and Senate are both IN at noon. The Governor will attend the State Police centennial anniversary at 11 and hold a news conference at 11:30. Counting today, there are 11 session days until adjournment. So think of it as May 21 with colder weather.

• Free stuff alert!

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Let’s get to it.

IT’S ALL “TOUCH AND GO” WITH ADJOURNMENT LOOMING

With the clock ticking toward the abnormally early adjournment of the spring legislative session, there remain numerous open questions before Democrats finalize a state budget.

As we’ve talked with Democratic lawmakers, lobbyists, staff, and other insiders in recent days, we’re told meetings with Democratic lawmakers over priorities are just getting underway. Revenue will likely be a difficult question for Democrats to answer as they lay out those priorities.

Already, the Governor’s budget proposal planned around $2 billion less in revenue next year than the current fiscal year, partially due to 2020 income tax filings (and the money we pay in) moving into the current fiscal year.

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) estimated earlier this month the FY23 revenue estimate would drop to around $46.3 billion. Democrats still have some remaining funds from the federal bailout that were spread out past the current fiscal year, but it isn’t clear yet how Democrat leaders want to utilize any remaining funds (after some was used to pay down some, but not all, of the hole in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund).

There is also the question of what lawmakers will do about high gas prices and inflation. The Governor proposed removing the inflation adjustment for the upcoming fiscal year, but that’s just 2¢ per gallon, which doesn’t do a lot to lessen the blow of the $4.50 per gallon I payed in suburban Cook County yesterday.

Senate Republicans want to cap the 6.25% sales tax on gasoline at 18¢ per gallon, but its unlikely Democrats go along with them on anything in an election year and would likely reduce some of the expected revenue even before gas prices spiked. Remember, the motor fuel tax of around 39¢ goes to road projects. But only 1% of the sales tax goes to infrastructure. The rest goes to the state’s general revenue fund.

We also don’t know what gas prices will look like a year from now. If production goes up, demand goes down, and Russia deposes Vladimir Putin for literally anyone else, the credit card receipts could be remarkably lower than they are today.

The bottom line is we have 11 days to figure out a lot of moving parts and lawmakers have a long way to go.

As for what’s top on the agenda, the top Democrat budgeteers aren’t talking. An interview request for House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) was declined and our messages to speak to top Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) weren’t returned.

SENATE DEMS THROW PRITZKER UNDER THE “SOFT ON CRIME” BUS

If Governor JB Pritzker is concerned about being painted as “soft on crime” ahead of the fall election, Senate Democrats sure didn’t help him avoid that allegation Monday night.

Democrats joined Republicans for the second time in a week to reject a Pritzker appointee to the Prisoner Review Board, as nominee Eleanor Wilson was rejected after she as heavily criticized for some of her votes to release violent murderers and serial sexual offenders on parole.

“This appointee is more troubling than any of the individuals that have come before the Executive Appointments committee,” said Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro).

Republicans have made hay of the votes PRB members have taken as well as Democratic refusal to call them for votes before the full Senate.

Wilson received just 15 “yes” votes on the Senate floor. 14 Democrats joined with the GOP to kill the nomination.

Republicans doubled down on the crime message.

“Recent votes taken by the Illinois Senate on some of Pritzker’s appointees to the Prisoner Review Board demonstrate that his ‘weak on crime’ agenda even goes too far for his Democratic legislative allies,” said Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) in a statement. “What’s most concerning is he had every opportunity to withdraw these concerning members and appoint them with individuals that are more reasonable, and that the Legislature can get behind. His failure to recognize that there is another co-equal branch of government is just another example of his continued arrogance.”

The Governor’s office did not return a message seeking comment.

A third nominee was likely to be rejected as well, but Oreal James, a former aide to Attorney General Kwame Raoul, resigned earlier in the day Monday as his nomination was likely doomed.

BY THE WAY

The Senate unanimously approved Terry Prince’s nomination as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. He took over after the LaSalle debacle in 2020 and 2021 led to the resignation of former Director Linda Chapa La Via. Everyone I’ve talked to, Republican or Democrat, has given Prince high marks.

PRESENTED WITHOUT COMMENT

Mary Miller, everybody. Courtesy of the Sun-Times:

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, signed a letter stating claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election should be investigated. Now her bid for a second term is benefiting from spending by a PAC whose leader is suspected of voter fraud.

That letter, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was sent in December 2020, before Miller was sworn into her first term on Jan. 3, 2021. In a press release, issued before she took office, Miller, maintaining falsely Trump won the election said, “Even a glancing review would uncover the greatest heist of the 21st century.”

With Miller’s interest in pursuing voter fraud, it is worth noting that a Sun-Times examination of money bolstering Miller’s bid for a second term shows she is benefiting from a $74,054.74 independent expenditure by the Right Women political action committee, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

According to the FEC report, on March 11, the Right Women PAC committed to paying Ring Limited, a Dublin, Ohio, digital advertising firm, $74,054.74 for digital ads and data to benefit Miller’s re-election.

Debra Meadows, the founder of the Right Women PAC and one of its leaders, is under a voter fraud cloud, along with her husband, Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff.

Last May, Miller’s campaign got a direct $5,000 donation from Freedom First, a political action committee created by Mark Meadows when he was a North Carolina Republican congressman.

Debra and Mark Meadows are suspected of voting from a mobile home in North Carolina where they never lived.

Ok, I said I’d post without comment, but I can’t resist. She’ll brag about this because the closer she can be to Trump and her cronies, she thinks that benefits her against a Congressman who, although does stupid stuff occasionally, can actually accomplish something in DC. Rodney Davis can accomplish something. She will never accomplish anything. And that’s probably exactly what her main block of voters wants.

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