2023 illinois state budget
Photo credit: iStock.com/rruntsch

On April 19, Governor JB Pritzker signed the FY 2023 Illinois state budget into law, including $1.8 billion in tax relief.  Highlights include rebate checks for working families, grocery tax suspension, property tax rebates, gas tax freeze, and more.  The budget consists of projected revenues of $46.329 billion and expenditures of $45.986 billion, leaving a $444 million surplus.  The budget also appropriates Illinois’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funding, totaling $4 billion.

Highlights from the Illinois FY 2023 budget include:

Tax Relief

The $1.8 billion in tax relief includes:

  • $400 million – suspending tax on groceries for one year;
  • $70 million – freezing motor fuel tax for six months;
  • $520 million – one-time property tax rebate (Five percent of property taxes paid, up to $300 per household);
  • $100 million – permanently expanding the earned income tax credit;
  • $685 million – direct rebate checks ($50 per person and $100 per dependent, up to three children per family); and
  • $50 million – “Back to School” sales tax holiday on clothing and school supplies for a week in August and doubles the tax credit for teachers who buy classroom supplies.

Public Safety & Violence Prevention

  • Approximately $1 billion for violence prevention, youth employment, and diversion program appropriations to deliver a multi-year investment in these programs far exceeds previous levels.  Includes appropriations for Reimagine Public Safety and R3 grants; 
  • 300 new State Police troopers, the single most significant dollar investment in state history to expand cadet classes; 
  • $50 million increase directly from cannabis revenues to support communities harmed by violence, excessive incarceration, and economic disinvestment;
  • $240 million for the Reimagine Public Safety Act ($235 million ARPA, $5 million GRF);
  • $30 million to support the Violent Crime Witness Protection Program;
  • $20 million for grants to non-profits for security investments to prepare for hate crimes;
  • $30 million for Local Law Enforcement Body Camera grants;
  • $20 million for less-lethal device grants and associated training expenses;
  • $10 million for the Co-Responder pilot program;
  • $10 million for a local law enforcement retention grant program;
  • $8 million for a multi-year equipment replacement program at the Illinois State Police that includes radios, body and car cameras, and cloud storage;
  • $5.4 million for more staffing and new equipment at a new forensic lab in Decatur, after expanding state forensic capacity in Chicago and Joliet; and 
  • $20 million for cameras and automatic license plate readers on state roads.

Education

  • $350.2 million increase for Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) for K-12 schools, to a total of $7.9 billion in EBF appropriations;
  • $96 million increase for transportation and special education district reimbursements ;
  • $54.4 million increase for Early Childhood Education;
  • $300 million to Strengthen and Grow Childcare Grants;
  • $601.5 million in support of need-based Monetary Award Program (MAP) funding, a one year $122 million increase, plus an expansion of the maximum award to 50% of tuition at public universities and coverage for an additional 24,000 students;
  • A 5% operating budget increase for Public Universities and Community Colleges in FY 2022 through supplemental appropriations and a continuation of the 5% increase in FY 2023;
  • $230 million to retire the unfunded liability for College Illinois! in P.A. 102-696, saving taxpayers $75 million in unnecessary costs over the remaining life of the prepaid tuition program; and
  • Funding increase for minority teacher scholarships. 

Healthcare

  • $240 million in hospital tax relief through additional support to the Hospital Provider Fund;
  • Hundreds of millions in grant funding for safety-net hospitals and other hospitals in the State from the General Revenue Fund and federal COVID-19 funding;
  • Fully funds nursing home rate reform and a redesigned provider assessment to maximize federal dollars, encourage staffing and improve quality, with more than $700 million, all funds;
  • Waives licensing fees for about 470,000 frontline healthcare workers; 
  • $180 million to preserve and expand the healthcare workforce, through Medicaid providers, concentrating on underserved and rural areas;
  • Establishes the $25 million Pipeline for the Advancement of the Healthcare (PATH) Workforce grant program through the Illinois Community College Board; and
  • $7.8 million increase for Nurse Scholarships and Grants in Illinois Higher Education institutions.

American Rescue Plan Act Funding

The budget also appropriates $4 billion in federal ARAP funding that the State has remaining, including $2.7 billion for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.  The remaining $1.37 billion will go towards:

  • $320 million in state COVID-19 response operational appropriations for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency ($200 million), Department of Corrections ($50 million), Department of Human Services ($50 million), and Department of Public Health ($20 million);
  • $380 million in pandemic support healthcare provider payments, including;
    • $225 million for Nursing Homes
    • $67 million for Hospitals
    • $30 million for Ambulances
    • $58.7 million for safety-net hospitals
  • $235 million (plus $5 million GRF) to support violence prevention grants;
  • $150 million for affordable housing programs;
  • $83.4 million for violence prevention and interruption grants at Criminal Justice Information Authority (CJIA);
  • Support for those impacted by the Pandemic through DCEO:
    • $75 million for a hotel jobs recovery program
    • $50 million for restaurant employment and stabilization grant program
    • $50 million for arts-related grants such as live venue operators, performing or presenting arts organizations, arts education organizations, and museums or cultural heritage
    • $15 million for tourism attraction development grants