Latest news with #RobynGabel
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislature bumps right up against midnight deadline as they pass $55 billion budget
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — It was a race against the clock as lawmakers tried to pass a budget package before the midnight deadline. Ultimately, they were able to get it done, getting the three branches of the budget package passed minutes before the start of June. The budget includes $55.2 Billion dollars in spending, and is balanced using just over one billion dollars in new tax increases. Democrats will also move money out of certain funds — like the road repair fund — to help fill some gaps in the budget. Ultimately, it's the same level of spending the governor proposed during his February budget address. Budget leaders warned of problems to come from potential federal cuts. 'This is a balanced budget,' Lead House Budgeteer Robyn Gabel said. 'This is a compassionate budget. This is a budget where we are planning and preparing for what we are afraid will be disastrous,' The budget fully funds the K-12 education obligation, but it will put a pause on a property tax relief grant program that was associated with K-12 funding. It only gave higher education a 1% increase instead of the 3% originally proposed. There is a significant cut to the number of state funded care hours that developmentally disabled people living in group homes get from the state. Experts in the field said the cut would amount to just over one less hour of care per person, per week. It also cuts the program which gives non citizens between the ages of 42 to 64 access to state sponsored health care. The version of the program for non citizens over the age of 65 is getting 110 million dollars to keep operating. Democrats went into budget negotiations having to fill a multi-billion dollar projected deficit, and they made a point of saying they would address potential cuts coming from Congress and the Trump Administration. Senate leaders said they did it without 'broad based tax increases.' 'There are no broad based tax increases in this budget,' Lead Senate Democrat Budgeteer Elgie Sims said. 'It's not an increase in the in the individual or corporate income tax increase. What you'll see is there are there's a recognition that there are there are we try to make sure that individuals pay their fair share and the corporations who are the most prosperous but most profitable also pay their fair share.' Instead, the budget will rely on a mixture of one-time revenue streams like tax amnesty programs and increases in certain 'sin taxes' on the sale of cigarettes and vapes, and sports bets. 'Pass taxes, crush people to the point where they want to leave our state or support the working men and women of Illinois?' Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) said during People are going to go packing, and my guess is they are going to send you guys packing.' Republicans were vehemently opposed to the budget, and they were incredibly frustrated with the process, as the full description of the proposed revenue plan did not come out until well into Saturday afternoon. 'They're going to pass it through the House and pass it through the Senate in less than 9 hours,' Senate Minority Leader John Curran (R-Lemont) said before the vote. 'That lack of transparency alone and that lack of being up with the people of Illinois should be more than enough reason for Governor Pritzker to veto.' The budget negotiations were slowed even further, as a totally separate revenue package full of tax increases was attached to the public transit reform legislation. In order to solve Chicago public transit's looming fiscal disasters and get downstate public transit systems the money to build out services further, Senator Ram Villivalam included a new delivery tax — referred to as an Environmental Impact Fee in the bill. The new tax would have charged a steady $1.50 Fee to all deliveries in the state, excluding deliveries of only medicine or groceries. They also considered a new rideshare tax on companies like Lyft and Uber in the transit fix. But the wheels fell off of transit talks, and the proposals did not pass. Ultimately, democrats were able to get the budget done, but there are still plenty of questions left to answer as they go into the summer. There is the possibility lawmakers come back later in the summer to address potential federal cuts, and that became even more likely now that they did not pass any form of transit reform. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Outrage over Democrat state's sneaky attempt to quietly pass assisted suicide bill
A controversial amendment allowing assisted suicide is making its way through the Illinois state legislature as representatives snuck the measure into a bill on sanitary food preparation. Illinois House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel, a Democrat representing Evanston, added an amendment containing the language from a stalled physician-assisted suicide bill to a food preparation sanitation bill, SB 1950, which the state Senate has already approved. Lawmakers in the House and Senate filed versions of the full assisted suicide bills in January but there has been zero movement on the legislation in either chamber. But adding the language to SB 1950 means that the Illinois Senate will only need to concur with the amendment should it pass through the House. The amendment added to SB 1950 - dubbed 'End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients' - allows for patients to be prescribed and even self-administer medications to kill themselves if they are diagnosed with an illness that gives them less than six months to live. The Democratic Party's absurd tactic of adding such a massive piece of legislation to an amendment within a food safety bill sparked fury. One social media user writing on X stated: 'Assisted Suicide amendment added to a food safety bill in Illinois Legislature by Robyn Gabel (Democrat of course). Illinois has the worst politicians. They sneak this stuff in without debate!' 'The Illinois house passed the assisted suicide bill disguised as 'Sanitary Food Preparation'. It's going great, you guys,' another tweeted. 'Sneaky. Sneaky. The IL Democrats are at it again in. They had opposition to physician assisted suicide and decided to hide the legislation in a 'Sanitary Food Preparation' bill,' a third wrote. 'You can't easily find the Assisted Suicide bill, but it's there. They don't like transparency.' Republican lawmakers in the state also expressed concern, with Representative Bill Hauter, speaking in opposition during the legislative session. 'I have to object to the process that we are tackling today,' Hauter, who is also a physician, said. 'When you have a process of fundamentally changing the practice of medicine, and we're putting it inside a shell bill.' 'I'm definitely not speaking for the whole house of medicine, but I do think I can confidently speak for a significant majority of the house of medicine in that this topic really violates and is incompatible with our oath,' Hauter added. Physicians typically take an oath at the end of their training, committing to practicing the highest standards of care, including the 'utmost respect for human life.' The American Medical Association has acknowledged the complexities of physician-assisted suicide, writing on their website, 'Supporters and opponents share a fundamental commitment to values of care, compassion, respect, and dignity; they diverge in drawing different moral conclusions from those underlying values in equally good faith.' Other Republicans opposed the bill based on religious beliefs, with Representative Adam Niemerg saying it doesn't, 'uphold the dignity of every human life.' 'This does not respect the Gospel. This does not respect the teachings of Jesus Christ or uphold the values of God.' However, proponents of the bill argued that terminally ill patients should have the right to end their life on their own terms. Gabel, who introduced the bill, said during the committee meeting, 'Medical aid in dying is a trusted and time-tested medical practice that is part of the full spectrum of end of life care options.' Representative Nicolle Grasse, a hospice chaplain, also supported the bill, arguing on the committee floor, 'I've seen hospice ease pain and suffering and offer dignity and quality of life as people are dying, but I've also seen the rare moments when even the best care cannot relieve suffering and pain, when patients ask us with clarity and peace for the ability to choose how their life ends.' Representative Maurice West, a Christian minister, agreed, 'Life is sacred. Death is sacred, too.' 'The sanctity of life includes the sanctity of death. This bill allows, if one chooses by themselves, for someone with a terminal diagnosis to have a dignified death.' Deb Robertson, a terminally ill woman, joined the meeting via Zoom to speak in support of the bill from her perspective. 'I want to enjoy the time I have left with my family and friends,' she said. 'I don't want to worry about how my death will happen. It's really the only bit of control left for me.' The amendment cited testimonies from Robertson, along with other terminally ill patients who want the freedom to choose aid-in-dying care. Disability rights advocates, however, have also cited concerns with the procedure, with Access Living policy analyst Sebastian Nalls telling WTTW that it will exacerbate health care inequities. End-of-life doula Tiffany Johnson told the outlet that the option gives terminally ill patients the ability to choose what works best for them. The bill passed with 63 votes in favor, all Democrats, and 42 opposed, with five Democrats joining 37 Republicans. Illinois state senators are now tasked with voting for the measure before it is sent to Governor JB Pritzker to sign it into law.
