In the top, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker received large this legislative session.
His marketing campaign slogan — and the title of a dark-money group he’s largely funding to push his agenda is dubbed “Think Big.”
And with a large price range and capital plan finalized on Sunday — to not point out the legalization of marijuana, playing growth and the strengthening of the state’s abortion legal guidelines — the rookie governor notched large victories throughout his first go-around in Springfield.
The governor additionally succeeded in touchdown a query on the 2020 poll to amend the state structure to attempt to change the state’s tax construction from a flat fee to his most popular graduated revenue tax plan, one in all his most vital priorities.
And whereas it was Pritzker who pushed many of those insurance policies alongside, he was additionally working with a Democratic supermajority in each chambers — the very lawmakers who watched in horror as public universities and social providers turned decimated amid a struggle with former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
In the top, Democrats bought all the pieces they needed this session, and Republicans had been capable of embody pro-business reforms throughout last-minute price range and capital plan negotiations.
Pritzker took a victory lap on each the House and Senate flooring this weekend. And chatting with reporters after the General Assembly handed the $40.6 billion price range and a $44 billion long-awaited capital plan, the governor mentioned the state must be “proud.”
“Today the people of Illinois can be proud that we’re putting state government back on the side of working families,” Pritzker mentioned. “They can be proud that we’re restoring fiscal responsibility after many years of crisis and deficits.”
So what was it about Pritzker that he was capable of accomplish these feats?
Is he “magic?” That was a reporter’s query, made in jest, to Illinois Senate President John Cullerton after the Senate adjourned.
“It helps to start with a super-duper majority in both chambers. That kind of helps,” Cullerton mentioned. “He just really got along. He’s just really a nice guy. And it helps. And he got along personally with Republican leaders as well as us, and with our members. And keep in mind, he’s new. He had never done this before so he did a great job.”
The bipartisan spirit this yr was so robust that Pritzker even bought Illinois Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady, and one other Republican senator, to face subsequent to posters of his accomplishments — together with the Reproductive Health Act, which Republicans vehemently opposed — throughout a press convention after adjournment.
Just as Madigan did on the House ground on Saturday, Cullerton referred to as this session “historic.”
But in a state filled with cynics, some are nonetheless in a wait-and-see mode on ranking Pritzker’s first session.
Illinois residents will see some unpopular taxes in gentle of the price range and capital plan, like a 19 cent bump within the fuel tax, an additional $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes and a rise in automobile registration charges.
And regardless of the years of analysis that went into the marijuana legalization measure, the beginning of this system is anticipated to have its share of hiccups.
Also, what sort of behind-the-scenes dealings await a Chicago on line casino and others statewide? And then there’s the implementation of sports activities playing.
There additionally shall be an enormous battle over the statewide vote to alter the state’s revenue tax construction — and never simply from Republicans yelling into the wind.
“The key for his budget plans remains persuading the public to give Springfield a blank check and revise the constitution on the promise that whatever statute the Democrats pass will be semi-permanent for some unknown reason,” mentioned Brian Gaines, a political science professor on the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. “I think that’s a harder sell. Neither Pritzker nor any Democratic legislators have really come up with a magic solution to the state’s fiscal problems.”
There’s…