Latest news with #StateFunding
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Spring session entering final day as budget deadline looms
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WGN) – We're finally getting a look at state lawmakers' $55 billion budget plan with just over 24 hours left in the legislative session. On the second to last day of session, the three most powerful men in Springfield met behind closed doors. Talks between Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), House Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch (D-Westchester), and Gov. JB Pritzker (D-Illinois) led to the release of a 3,300-page appropriations bill that adds $1 billion in new revenue, though it holds the line on individual and corporate income taxes. Illinois budget battle: What Chicago needs from Springfield 'We've got $1 billion in revenue for this budget in the area of tax collection, for those who have not paid their taxes as well as those who've made choices in terms of gaming and other – tobacco use and gaming,' Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) said. Despite having major submajorities in both chambers, Democrats wrestled with a bleak financial picture. Revenue growth did not meet estimates used to draft Pritzker's budget blueprint. 'This budget includes significant investments in our priorities, education, health care, protecting our most vulnerable,' Sims said. Democrats are asking their members to pass the $55 billion spending plan despite uncertainty about federal funding. Lawmakers, groups rally against Medicaid cuts as state budget deadline looms 'It's a tough year. We know instability in Washington, D.C. makes it worse,' Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) said. 'We know there are some real pressures here in the state in trying to bring forth a budget that meets the needs of everybody was a tough one. So this was tough. This has been the toughest budget year since I've been here.' After months of warning from Chicagoland transit that bus and train service might be cut without a state bailout, lawmakers are working to hike the cost of tolls and rideshares to help the system. READ: Illinois has a $770M hole in the transit budget that could leave commuters stranded There's also legislation moving to create a new oversight agency. 'I want to remind folks that when we're talking about CTA, Metra, Pace, this is a statewide transit overhaul,' Buckner said. House Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) suggests some of her members might support the transit reforms. 'We saw the governance piece and I think we could probably get some bipartisan support on that,' McCombie said. 'The funding source is what kind of scares all of us, because what is that going to look like?' Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines Democrats expect to meet the budget deadline, but the transit legislation might be broken up into pieces or may not even pass at all on Saturday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Most state services will see no new funding in final Alaska state budget draft
The Alaska State Capitol is seen behind a curtain of blooming branches on Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) There will be no extra money for the University of Alaska's sports teams, its effort to become a top-tier research university or its attempts to hire and keep staff. On Friday, the legislative committee assigned to write the final version of Alaska's state operating budget axed all of those items — and many more — from its in-progress draft. Alaska is facing a severe budget crunch, thanks to low oil prices and reduced federal spending, and lawmakers are eliminating almost every previously considered addition, even before Gov. Mike Dunleavy gets a chance to use his veto pen. Flat funding, combined with inflation, means cuts for most state services. The Permanent Fund dividend isn't immune, either. It's expected to be about $1,000 this year, the lowest figure in state history, once adjusted for inflation. 'It's just a really challenging time, and there's a lot of volatility, and Alaska's heavily dependent upon federal funds,' said Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks. 'We don't have that huge buffer of oil and gas funds that we once did.' Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, appeared resigned to the decisions when asked for comment. 'It is what it is,' he said. Among the university's budget cuts is $150,000 for a staff member to help the university's efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion. The University's Board of Regents voted earlier this year to cancel DEI efforts, including those intended to help Alaska Native students. 'We obviously are cut down to the bone if we're talking about individual, singular positions in the budget, and the board of regents has taken a position that's alternative to what I think the UA community broadly wants to see happen, so it puts our Legislature as an appropriating body in a really difficult position making those kinds of decisions,' said Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks. The budget maneuvering isn't restricted to the University of Alaska. At the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, legislators have cut road maintenance spending and have requested a report on the feasibility of turning the Dalton Highway — Alaska's overland link to the North Slope — into a toll road. A plan to put more Alaska state troopers in Kotzebue to fight child abuse crimes was only partially funded, and $2.3 million for additional trooper overtime was trimmed to $1 million. The conference committee, in charge of combining different budget drafts approved by the state House and Senate, may also cancel plans for additional state and wildlife troopers in Talkeetna. Legislators are asking DPS to begin meeting with the Kenai, Fairbanks and Matanuska-Susitna boroughs about setting up local police in those areas in order to replace troopers. 'It is the intent of the legislature to direct public safety funds to areas of the state that do not have the tax base to provide needed policing services to their communities,' the latest budget draft states. A few budget increases remain — $250,000 more for maintenance at the state's trial courts, $292,000 more for security screening of legislative mail, and additional state funding for Alaska's forestry program as part of an effort to increase logging. For the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, the conference committee approved backstop funding for public schools in case Dunleavy vetoes House Bill 57, which would permanently increase the state's per-student funding formula. The backstop language includes a one-time bonus that's slightly smaller than the increase included within HB 57. That increase is itself lower than the rate of inflation. The committee declined to increase funding for special education, child nutrition, early education, and state libraries, archives and museums. But lawmakers did approve an increase for career and technical education initiatives. They temporarily postponed a decision on items related to foreign teacher recruitment and training, at the request of Sen. James Kaufman, R-Anchorage. Those may be taken up as soon as Sunday. The committee approved $5.5 million for child advocacy centers, which support child victims of physical and sexual abuse. That money was added after the federal government cut funding for the centers. For the state prison system, the budget directs the closure of part of Spring Creek Correctional Center and directs the Alaska Department of Corrections to prepare a report for the Legislature evaluating which prisons would provide the most cost savings if closed. Budget negotiators also rejected increased funding for vocational training programs intended to aid Alaskans who leave the prison system. Several items are still being debated, and the conference committee was scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Sunday to finalize the compromise budget draft. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
