
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
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