The budget deal announced today continues a longstanding trend of overfunding the military and underfunding domestic and human needs, providing $782 billion for the miltiary and only $730 billion for domestic priorities.
Illinois lawmakers are poised to vote Monday night on a proposed $42.3 billion state budget for the upcoming fiscal year that Democrats say would fully
By Peter Hancock & Capitol News Illinois
• 4 hours ago
Illinois lawmakers worked into the early hours of Tuesday morning to pass a $42.3 billion state budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year that Democrats say would fully fund K-12 education and the state’s pension obligations while also paying down a sizeable portion of the state’s debt.
Lawmakers have been working on the budget since Gov. JB Pritzker delivered his proposal in February, and it passed on mostly partisan lines.
The job became easier with better-than-expected tax collections this year as well as passage of the federal American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, which will provide about $8.1 billion that the state can spend over the next four fiscal years.
THE House Ways and Means Committee will come up with its own spending plan for the American Rescue Plan Act funds for fiscal year 2022.
The CNMI will receive $481,876,521 in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds that the U.S. Congress appropriated in the ARPA.
On Friday and Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee conducted budget hearings for the Rota and Tinian municipal governments.
The committee chairman, Rep. Donald Manglona, said they plan to hold similar budget hearings for departments, agencies and other government activities starting this week.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres submitted his FY 2021 budget proposal to the Legislature on April 1, 2021. A balanced budget must be enacted into law before Oct. 1, 2021 to prevent a partial government shutdown.
Advocates for people with disabilities are pushing Illinois lawmakers to do better when it comes to funding for caregivers across the state.
The Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, along with partner organizations, says a new study shows direct support providers need more financial support.
Helen Blackburn is the Vocational and Residential Services Executive Director at Centerstone. She says Direct Support Professionals, who care for people who need help with day-to-day chores, doctors visits, and more are being forced out of their positions because they can t afford to stay. What we re seeing with the DSPs is that people really love these jobs. They re challenging, but they re also very rewarding. But when you don t have a wage that measures up to the tasks that we expect from them, unfortunately we see great amounts of turnover.