By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers worked until the early hours of Saturday to pass a $46.5 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as a $1.8 billion package of mostly-temporary tax cuts that Democrats said are intended to soften the impact of inflation on working families.

After 3 a.m. Saturday in the Senate and 5:30 a.m. in the House, lawmakers approved House Bill 900 appropriating funding, House Bill 4700 as what is called the budget implementation bill, and Senate Bill 157 laying out the tax relief proposal and revenue-related measures. The spending plans passed both chambers without Republican support, while the tax relief proposal passed with all but a handful of lawmakers supporting it between the two chambers.

The tax relief package would include $50 checks sent to Illinoisans earning less than $200,000 annually for single filers and $100 checks for those filing jointly and earning less than $400,000. Families would also receive $100 per dependent up to three.

It would also permanently expand the earned income tax credit to 20 percent of the federal credit, up from 18 percent, at a cost of roughly $100 million per year. It would extend EITC eligibility to noncitizens who have an individual taxpayer identification number rather than a Social Security number.

It also calls for doubling the property tax rebate to qualifying homeowners, up to $300 per household, suspending a 2-3 cent motor fuel tax increase for six months, and suspending a 1 percent grocery tax for a year.

The motor fuel tax is the main funding source for road construction projects, so revenues lost from it would be replaced from other state funds.

The budget would also suspend the sales tax on back-to-school items and qualifying clothing items for a 10-day period, Aug. 5-14.

The Fiscal Year 2023 spending plan also provides for the statutorily required $350 million in additional funding for public schools through the Evidence Based Funding formula that was originally adopted in 2017. Higher education would see increases as well.

The portion of the state’s income tax going to local governments would increase from 6.06 percent to 6.16 percent.

Sims said the budget also included an increase of $80 million in the Criminal Justice Information Authority, $90 million to fund three state police cadet classes to provide an additional 300 state troopers, $33 million for a law enforcement camera grant program and $10 million for a newly created law enforcement officer recruitment retention pilot program.

The budget also directed an investment of $235 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to the Reimagine Public Safety Act aimed at early crime intervention.

It directs $1 billion to the state’s “rainy day” fund, which had been spent down to essentially nothing during a two-year budget impasse between Republican former Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative Democrats. Another $929 million was dedicated to paying back interfund borrowing.

The stronger-than-expected revenue performance created a surplus for the current year and led to increased projections for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.

That was due in part to pandemic-triggered shifts in consumer behaviors that led to more spending on taxable goods than services which are not taxed in the state, increased federal unemployment benefits which are taxed at the state level, and increased tax revenue due to higher-priced consumer goods relating to inflation.

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ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME: A measure aimed at addressing high-profile “smash-and-grabs” and other organized retail crime was among the scores of bills passed during the General Assembly’s final sprint toward its Saturday morning adjournment.  

Its backers, among them the Illinois attorney general and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, called it one of the strongest actions in the nation to define organized retail crime while increasing prosecutors’ ability to hold criminals accountable.

Republicans, for the most part, voted for the bill, but several GOP lawmakers called it watered down and removed their names as cosponsors after a late amendment was filed to appease crime victims groups and civil liberties organizations.

House Bill 1091, which will still need approval from the governor to become law, defines “organized retail crime” in state law with the intent of reducing offenders’ ability to avoid prosecution.

Senate Amendment 4 changed the focus of the bill to identify ringleaders, or “managers,” of organized retail crime rings, creating greater penalties for them than for the low-level individuals who steal from stores and may be victims of human trafficking.

That amendment states an individual commits retail crime and is subject to a Class 3 felony charge when, “in concert with” another individual or group, the person “knowingly commits” retail theft from one or more retailers. Anyone committing a battery as part of such a crime could be charged with a Class 2 felony.

A person is guilty of being a ringleader of an organized retail crime operation if they recruit individuals, supervise finances or direct others to commit retail theft with intent to resell merchandise that exceeds $300 in value. Ringleaders can also be found guilty if merchandise is stolen while in transit from the manufacturer to the retail establishment.

Ringleaders, or “managers” as they are called in the bill, would be subject to Class 2 felony charges.

After midnight in the Senate, HB 1091 passed 42-10, later passing the House 96-5 with Democratic Rep. Carol Ammons, of Urbana, and Chicago Reps. Curtis Tarver, Mary Flowers, Will Guzzardi, and Kelly Cassidy voting no.

The effort to address organized retail crime is also backed by a $5 million investment within the state budget, allowing the attorney general’s office to award grants to state’s attorneys and law enforcement agencies that investigate and prosecute organized retail crime.

The legislation requires third-party sellers to verify the user’s identity with a bank account number or other information to prevent stolen goods from being sold online. Third-party selling marketplaces, such as Amazon or eBay, would be required to suspend sellers who knowingly sell items that were stolen or are believed to be stolen.

The measure would allow prosecutors the ability to consolidate charges against an offender in one county even if a ring of smash-and-grab thefts happen across multiple counties. A statewide grand jury will have the power to investigate, indict and prosecute violations of organized retail thefts.

Victims of organized retail theft – including retail establishments – will have a right to at least seven days’ notice of all court proceedings under the bill.

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JUDICIAL RACE FUNDING: In the final hours of the legislative session that wrapped up Saturday morning, state lawmakers approved a bill that limits how much judicial candidates can raise from nonprofit entities that are not required to disclose the identities of their donors and caps non-candidate donations in “self-funded” campaigns.

The measure still needs approval from Gov. JB Pritzker. It would take effect immediately, meaning it would be in effect for the 2022 election cycle, upon his signature.

Dark money sources played a sizeable role in the 2020 elections when Democrat Thomas Kilbride became the first Illinois Supreme Court justice to lose a retention election since the state adopted the process in 1964.

The Chicago Tribune reported at the time that a record $10.7 million had been poured into the retention campaign between the two sides. Much of the anti-retention funding came from conservative billionaires Ken Griffin and Richard Uihlein, with another $200,000 coming from a dark money group, the Judicial Fairness Project.

Under the bill, House Bill 716, candidates for judicial offices would not be allowed to receive more than $500 during an election cycle from any committee, association, organization or group of people that is not required to disclose its contributors.

The bill adds an enforcement mechanism to a dark-money ban in judicial races that lawmakers passed last year. Under this year’s bill, any contributions above $500 from a source that is not required to disclose its donors would be considered an “anonymous contribution” and would be forfeited to the state.

The bill also exempts judicial races from what is often called the “self-funding” rule in Illinois law that says if a candidate or a member of the candidate’s immediate family contributes or makes a loan to the candidate’s campaign above certain thresholds – $250,000 for statewide offices and $100,000 for all other offices – then all contribution limits are lifted for all candidates in that race.

Under the bill, outside contributions in those races would be subject to a $500,000 limit per a single donor per election cycle.

Additionally, the bill calls for setting up an eight-member Public Financing of Judicial Elections Task Force to study the feasibility of allowing the use of public funds to subsidize judicial campaigns to candidates who agree to adhere to voluntary spending limits. The task force would complete its study by June 30, 2023, and report its findings to the governor and General Assembly.

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NURSING HOME REFORM: A bill that would inject more than $700 million annually into Medicaid-funded nursing homes to increase staffing levels and improve quality of care unanimously cleared the Illinois House on Thursday, one day after clearing the Senate.

It will head to Gov. JB Pritzker who praised its passage in a statement after the House vote.

Illinois has long been home to some of the most understaffed nursing homes in the country, a problem that was magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic when long-term care facilities became major centers of transmission.

The Illinois Department of Public Health estimates that nearly 8,000 nursing home residents and 100 staff members have died of the disease since the pandemic began. That’s roughly 24 percent of all the COVID-19-related deaths recorded in Illinois as of Wednesday.

Officials from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers Medicaid, have said much of that was due to understaffing and poor quality of care in Medicaid-funded facilities, especially in those that serve low-income residents and people of color, where residents are often housed together.

Since around the time the pandemic first struck, HFS has been working on a new funding model that would reward nursing homes for increasing staff levels and provide additional money to raise wages for certified nursing assistants, the people who provide the most day-to-day direct care to residents.

That new system, known as a Patient Driven Payment Model, or PDPM, has been the subject of intense negotiations for the past two years between state agencies, senior citizen advocates and the nursing home industry.

Most of the funding for the plan, an estimated $515 million, would come from an increased bed tax the state levies on nursing facilities to generate money that is then used to draw down additional federal Medicaid matching funds.

Of that, $360 million would be used as incentive payments for nursing homes to increase their staffing levels up to or beyond certain target levels. Those targets are determined by what’s known as the Staff Time and Resource Intensity Verification, or STRIVE study of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The new payment system is spelled out in a Senate amendment to House Bill 246. It passed out of the Senate on Wednesday, 58-0, and the House on Thursday 113-0.

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HEALTH CARE VISITS: The Illinois House advanced a measure Monday, April 4, that aims to ensure nursing home patients have a right to visitors even amid a public health emergency. The Senate passed the measure Wednesday, April 6.

Senate Bill 1405 states that a health care facility must ensure “an opportunity for at least one visitor to visit a resident or patient,” even amid a gubernatorial disaster declaration. A clergyperson would not count against the limit.

Health safety guidelines set by the health care facility, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would need to be followed for entry. And the person seeking entry may be required to pass a health screening.

Rep. Chris Bos, R-Lake Zurich, the bill’s chief House sponsor, said the legislation would give local control to the health care facilities. Bos also said it is in response to constituents who were upset that they could not visit family members in health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic due to Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders.

Bos said facilities would still have to comply with local health department guidance as well.

Early in the pandemic, Pritzker issued an executive order restricting visitation of those in health care facilities during peak transmission periods to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, expressed concern that the bill would lead to a repeat of executive orders being challenged with lawsuits.

“The reality is, when you have a worldwide pandemic, the governor has to have the ability and the authority to make the decision that is in the best interest in the state,” Ammons said.

She was one of three Democrats voting against the measure, along with Chicago Reps. Will Guzzardi and Greg Harris, as it passed on a 105-3 vote with three lawmakers not voting.

Ammons said that she understands that Bos was aiming to ensure family members are not alone during a public health crisis but that the bill “usurps the governor’s authority.”

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Pritzker said the pandemic won’t likely be the last one the state faces, and he wants to ensure laws that are put in place are appropriate going forward to ensure the most vulnerable are safe.

He didn’t say whether he would sign the bill or offer any amendatory veto.

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DCFS AUDIT REQUESTED: In the wake of the recent deaths of five children who were in contact with the state’s child protection agency and eight contempt citations against the agency’s director, House Republicans on Wednesday, April 6, asked for a performance audit at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

House Resolution 824 was filed Wednesday, requesting the state’s auditor general audit the agency and create a report that details DCFS policies, their shortcomings and how they could be improved.

During a news conference on Wednesday, the resolution’s sponsors, Reps. Tom Weber, R-Lake Villa, David Welter, R-Morris, and Chris Bos, R-Lake Zurich, said they want a snapshot of the agency performance over the last two years.

During a simultaneous news conference in his Capitol office, Pritzker pointed to the decimation of the agency by the previous administration by failing to pass a budget to fund DCFS.

But Bos disagreed.

“Director Smith has had three years. He could have came in and been a hero and turned this agency around,” Bos said in an interview after the news conference.

In response to a question about whether Pritzker has confidence in Smith, he said he and the DCFS director are both concerned for child safety.

“The director is, like me, also deeply concerned about the conditions for these children and making sure that we’re doing everything we can with the budgets that we have, with the time that we have, to do it as quickly as possible to bring back beds for these kids to make sure that they’re getting the services they need,” he said.

Since December, at least five children have died after contact with the state’s child protection agency. They are Navin Jones, 8, of Peoria; Damari Perry, 6, of North Chicago; Sophia Faye Davis, 1, of Dawson; Zaraz Walker, 1, of Bloomington; and Tamsin Miracle Sauer, 3, of Nelson.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.