By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker signed his final first-term budget into law Tuesday, a roughly $46 billion spending plan buoyed by pandemic-driven revenue windfalls and a current-year surplus that helped the state pay down debts and offer temporary tax relief. 

The plan includes $500 million beyond statutory requirements to the state’s beleaguered pension funds; $1 billion to the state’s “rainy day” fund which currently has a balance of just $27 million; and an estimated  $1.8 billion in tax relief, much of which is temporary.

The budget also includes a one-year suspension on the state’s grocery tax ($400 million), A one-time 5 percent property tax rebate up to $300 per household ($520 million), and a 10-day sales tax holiday for back-to-school items and clothing from Aug. 5-14 ($50 million).

Another $685 million would fund one-time direct rebate checks at $50 per individual and $100 per dependent, up to three, for individuals earning $200,000 or less or joint filers earning $400,000 or less.

While that relief was temporary, the budget also permanently increased the earned income tax credit from 18 to 20 percent of the federal credit while expanding the program to noncitizens. That program would cost about $100 million.

The state’s statutory annual motor fuel tax increase will be delayed for six months this year, costing about $70 million.

Republicans in the General Assembly opposed the spending portions of the budget but largely supported the tax relief proposals, even though they criticized them as being temporary.

While Democrats have generally praised themselves for fiscal stability, Pritzker’s Department of Revenue in a February committee presentation noted that much of the unforeseen state revenue growth was a result of pandemic-related shifts in consumer spending and other federal aid, either directly or indirectly.

Revenues for the current fiscal year were about $5 billion higher than originally budgeted last year, creating surpluses that allowed for the flexibility in the FY 2023 spending plan.

The revenue windfalls have created the opposite reality of one that Pritzker had predicted would come to fruition if voters rejected his graduated income tax proposal in November 2020. After that initiative failed Pritzker said “painful” budget cuts were unavoidable.  

Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, who is a candidate for state treasurer, contrasted the governor’s dire warnings with the financial picture put forth by Democrats in an election year that will see every statewide office and seat in the General Assembly up for grabs.

“You were bailed out by billions in additional funding from the federal government in Medicaid matching funds. You were bailed out by, across the country, trillions of dollars that were injected into our economies that led to higher-than-expected collections in revenue for the state temporarily,” he said during floor debate.

Democrats, on the other hand, have tried to paint Republicans as voting against fiscal stability.

As well, in an election year in which Republicans are relentlessly campaigning on a platform that pits Democrats as weak on crime, Sen. Elgie Sims, a Chicago Democrat, accused Republicans of voting to “defund the police.”

Democrats touted $240 million in spending – $235 million of which came from federal American Rescue Plan Act funding – for violence reduction programs; funding for 300 additional Illinois State Police troopers; $30 million for the Violent Crime Witness Protection Program; $30 million for police body camera grants; $20 million in grants for less lethal devices and training; $10 million for a local law enforcement retention grant program; and $20 million for cameras and automatic license plate readers on state routes, among other public safety spending.

READ: What’s in Illinois’ $46 billion budget?

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PUBLIC TRANSIT MASKING: Gov. JB Pritzker officially lifted the state requirement that face coverings be worn on public transportation Wednesday after a federal judge overturned the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mask mandate.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida ruled on Monday that the federal mask mandate was unlawful since it exceeds the authority of the CDC. The ruling comes about a week after the CDC extended the mask mandate through May 3. The Biden administration announced Wednesday it would appeal that ruling, however.

Regardless, masks are no longer required on public transit, in public transit hubs or at airports, but local governments still have the right to maintain their own face covering requirements on public transportation.

Pritzker’s order now only requires masks where they are federally mandated, as well as in congregate facilities and health care settings.

Following Pritzker’s announcement on Tuesday about revising mask requirements, the Chicago Metra and CTA announced that masks will no longer be required, effective immediately. The Chicago Department of Aviation, which oversees O’Hare and Midway International Airports, also announced that masks are no longer required.

A number of major U.S. airlines such as Delta, United and Southwest immediately dropped the requirement following the court ruling as well.

The CDC continues to recommend face coverings for those who are immunocompromised, people who can’t be vaccinated and in areas of high transmission.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,931 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths on Wednesday, the highest one-day case count since Feb. 11. There were 568 individuals hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Tuesday night, 61 in intensive care beds and 29 on ventilators, all of which remained near pandemic lows.

More than 21 million vaccine doses have been administered with about 73 percent of Illinois residents age 5 and over fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

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VACCINE MANDATE RULING: A state appellate court ruled last week that it will not block enforcement of the Pritzker administration’s mandate that certain categories of public employees either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing.

The 2-1 ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeals upheld a Sangamon County judge’s decision on April 1 not to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the policy.

The decision involved three consolidated cases in which public employees are seeking to overturn the mandate. The cases include suits against Gov. JB Pritzker, various state agencies, the Pekin Fire Department and the Deland-Weldon school district.

Pritzker first issued a vaccine mandate on Aug. 26, 2021. The employees sued to block enforcement of the order citing the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act which, among other things, makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone for refusing to receive any particular form of health care that they find contrary to their conscience.

That law was originally enacted to shield health care workers from liability for refusing to perform or assist in abortions. During last year’s fall veto session, however, lawmakers passed an amendment to that law making a specific exception for health care measures that are intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

That provision does not officially go into effect until June 1. But lawmakers inserted language in the measure stating the section “is a declaration of existing law” rather than a new enactment.

In other words, the General Assembly said it was only clarifying something that was ambiguous in an existing law, which in this case involved the word “discriminate.”

In its ruling Wednesday, the 4th District appellate court said it would only be discriminatory if an employer punished workers who refused to be vaccinated or tested as a matter of conscience but did not punish those who refused for other reasons.

The vaccine and testing requirements, the court wrote, could actually be seen as merit-based policies because those who are vaccinated or tested are less likely to spread COVID-19 in the workplace.

The plaintiffs also challenged the vaccine and testing mandates under the Illinois Department of Public Health Act, which gives that agency “supreme authority in matters of quarantine and isolation.”

But the appellate court rejected that argument as well, saying that the employers in the three cases had not quarantined or isolated anyone, but had instead only threatened loss of employment.

“To be fired is not to be quarantined or isolated from the community at large,” the majority wrote.

The opinion was written by Justice Peter Cavanagh, with Justice James Knecht concurring.

Justice Robert Steigmann wrote a dissenting opinion. He argued that the word “discriminate” has a clear and understandable meaning and that the legislature included in the statute numerous examples of the kinds of discrimination that are prohibited.

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WAGE THEFT: A major initiative of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council that aims to end wage theft in private construction projects will head to Gov. JB Pritzker.

The long-debated measure allows a worker with a wage theft or fringe benefit grievance against a subcontractor to sue the primary contractor to rectify the situation. The primary contractor is the entity that deals directly with the customer and hires the subcontractors to complete a project.

The bill also requires the subcontractor to compensate the primary contractor for any wages, damages, interest, penalties or attorney fees should the primary contractor be forced to rectify a wage theft claim.

The measure, House Bill 5412, cleared the Senate on Friday, April 8, on a 38-18 vote after passing the House 62-36 in March. A follow-up measure, House Bill 4600, made minor changes to the original bill aimed at drawing compromise between labor and minority contractor groups. It passed the Senate 39-18 and the House 74-40.

Minority contractors lobbied against the proposal which they said would drive up costs and limit work opportunities for smaller contractors. The Hispanic American Construction Industry Association, the Black Contractors Owners and Executives, and the Federation of Women Contractors argued that the measure was a union attempt to drive up the cost of non-union labor.

Proponents said the bill’s strength is that it creates accountability for primary contractors who previously walked away with impunity in wage theft disputes involving subcontractors.  

It would not require, but would likely lead to, primary contractors purchasing more performance and bid bonds or requiring subcontractors to purchase bonds showing that they have the funding to pay workers and complete the job adequately.

The follow-up measure lowered a statute of limitations for filing such a claim to three years from the original bill’s 10-year period and creates the Bond Reform in the Construction Industry Task Force.

HB 5412 specifically exempts union projects, homes built on private property where the property owner is the general contractor, and projects contracted through state, local and federal governments.

The follow-up measure also exempted any renovations or repairs to existing residential structures, any project that costs less than $20,000 to complete, and construction on any single unit within a multi-family dwelling.

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HIV MEDICINE: Legislation allowing pharmacists to administer or dispense preventive HIV medication and fentanyl testing strips were among health-related measures passed by the Illinois General Assembly during the final week of session.

House Bill 4430 allows pharmacists to order and conduct testing and dispense pre- and post-exposure HIV medications to individuals who are at high risk for infection. The pharmacists would need to have a standing order issued by a licensed physician or county health department that would allow them to offer care for the individual seeking help.

The medications, referred to as PrEP for the pre-exposure drug and PEP for the post-exposure one, are designed to mitigate the risk of HIV infection.

Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, the bill’s chief Senate sponsor, said it will help cut down on waiting times and provide “potentially lifesaving” care to thousands of Illinoisans.

According to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, there are about 45,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Illinois and 1,300 people each year learn they have HIV or AIDS.

The bill also lays out insurance reimbursement requirements for pharmacists offering the services.

The measure passed the Senate 37-12 with 10 Senators not voting and passed the House 72-30 with 12 members not voting. 

Throughout debate in both chambers, Republicans raised concerns about legal, emancipated minors having access to the medication and receiving the medication on multiple occasions for their own personal use.

But Simmons said it is unlikely that an individual will become addicted to the medication since it has no side effects, and the hypothetical scenario is impossible because the individual must receive lab testing before a prescription can be given.

Under the bill, pharmacists are required to complete a training program that is related to HIV care before they can dispense the drugs. If an individual needs to get another prescription for the medication, follow-up lab tests must be done to determine if they are still at risk for infection or are HIV-positive, Simmons said.

The bill still needs approval from Gov. JB Pritzker and would take effect Jan. 1, 2023, if signed.

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FENTANYL STRIPS: House Bill 4556 expands access for pharmacists and other health care professionals to distribute fentanyl testing strips to help reduce opioid overdoses. The testing strips can detect fentanyl in counterfeit pills and drugs.

Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said that many opioid deaths occur in people who did not know they were ingesting a substance that was “cut with fentanyl, a synthetic, cheap, and extremely deadly opioid.”

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there were 2,944 opioid overdose deaths in 2020 which was more than twice the number of homicides. There were also 19,451 emergency responses to opioid overdoses in 2020.

Guzzardi noted that the bill won’t end the fentanyl crisis but that it will provide young people who do experiment with drugs a measure of protection that could potentially save their life.

The measure still needs approval from Pritzker and would take effect immediately once signed into law.

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.