Working for Illinois Caucus

97th District Democratic State Representative Harry Benton says the waning moments of the 2025 spring session are set to lead to tough discussions on legislation as well as the fiscal year 2026 budget. Lawmakers have spent months discussing the budget proposed by Governor J.B. Pritzker, which is reported to be $500 million lower in projected revenues

Benton has spent considerable time with a group of moderate Democrats to carefully examine the budget and determine what the best fiscally conservative strategy would be to allow for a balanced budget.

"It has been a long process of having budget discussions, and the New Dems Caucus, also known as the moderate caucus that I’m part of, we are doing a deep dive into the budget and going line by line and looking at all the bills and trying to find ways that we can levelize this budget without doing new revenues."

Benton says with the loss of revenue, it is likely that cuts would be made, but the goal would be to make sure critical services and working families are not affected.

"We actually took a look at some revenues and everything to try to find a way that we could get back to a budget that doesn’t create new revenues or minimal revenues that don’t hurt normal people, working families, and finds a way to replace that $1.3 billion shortfall."

A budget needs to be brought before the General Assembly by May 31 but can be amended during the future veto session.

Oswego-Aurora Democratic State Representative Stephanie Kifowit says with House members sending bills to the Senate for their approval, senators are sending bills through to the House for approval as well. Those bills are making their way through various committees before they can be delivered to the House floor for debate and potential approval.

Kifowit says being on two pension-related committees, there is work to be done on fixing some of the current issues with the Tier 2 pension system to remain in compliance with federal laws.

"Also, I’m on two pension committees and working to get a fiscally responsible and respectful fix to the tier two pension situation we find ourselves in. As I’ve said before, to various outlets, maybe even this one, our pension system is a Social Security replacement plan. It is in place to replace Social Security, so those that get a state pension do not receive Social Security. And so there are certain thresholds that we have to maintain federally for it to continue to be a Social Security replacement plan."

Kifowit says it is important to find a fiscally responsible solution to secure pension program federal compliance and ensure state employees have access to their retirement funds. The spring session is set to end on May 31.

97th District Democratic State Representative Harry Benton says the final month of the spring session is going to be somewhat chaotic, as each chamber of the General Assembly reviews and passes legislation while also discussing major state projects like the budget.

Benton has been very vocal about maintaining fiscal responsibility and is looking forward to taking a detailed look at the budget to determine the best path forward for the state. Benton says one issue that the state is running into with the budget is waiting on federal funds for Medicaid.

"Right now the federal government is behind in payment by about two billion dollars on Medicaid. Medicaid is a large portion of our budget, and if that continues to happen, we are gonna have to either find a way to find the money for critical services or start making cuts. Unfortunately…I don’t typically get into federal politics when we do these radio shows, but it is directly affecting the states, it is directly affecting residents here in Illinois by withholding funds for critical services for seniors, folks with developmental disabilities, and people that are just trying to make it."

Governor J.B. Pritzker unveiled his proposal for the fiscal year 2026 budget in February with a projected $3.2 billion deficit. Benton says lawmakers will have to find the money to cover the deficit or face potential cuts to services for Illinois residents.

The spring session is set to end on May 31.

84th District State Representative Stephanie Kifowit has been working hard on getting legislation from the House to the Senate as the General Assembly enters the final five weeks of the spring session. Kifowit says she continues to fight to bring effective policies forward for residents in her district, especially active duty military and veterans.

One of those bills is House Bill 1362, which cleans up some technical language regarding the differential that is paid to active duty military members from their military pay compared to their regular wages in their other jobs. She says there was an error that would only offer 50 percent differential pay if a shift was split between two days versus a traditional one-day shift.

"They were getting shortchanged what’s called a differential. So, what it is is when they are called up on duty, if it’s active duty, they’re normally paid less than their salary. So what we do is give a little bit of a differential that difference between, let’s say your army pay and firefighter pay, and that differential goes to the employee so that their family doesn’t experience extreme hardship due to the service of their loved one."

Another bill that Kifowit got through the House was a bill that would ensure veteran organizations would get donations that are allocated when veterans are issued special license plates designating their veteran status.

Kifowit says as bills go from the House to the Senate, bills are making their way from the Senate to the House for consideration, so committees will begin meeting next week to go over senate bills for potential discussion on the House floor and possible action.

97th District State Representative Harry Benton says it continues to be a busy time for lawmakers in Springfield as they gear up for the final six weeks of the spring session. He says he had a few pieces of legislation pass through the House and are now in the Senate for further review.

One of those bills is House Bill 2967, which would amend the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act and require higher education institutions to conduct a sexual misconduct climate survey of all students biennially instead of annually among other changes.

"I ended up working on a reporting for universities for, sexual assault, to put on another board member, and then change the way that the reporting is done. That was somebody’s bill. We ended up having five that we could pass, so I helped out a colleague to try to move that bill forward."

Another bill Benton advanced through the House was House Bill 3444, which would offer potential exemptions for licensing of day care facilities that serve military families or are located on military bases. The bill advanced to the Senate after a unanimous vote in the House.

Benton says the rest of the spring session will continue to keep lawmakers busy, as the next big topic to tackle will be the state budget.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois House passed legislation Thursday to allow former or currently incarcerated people to participate in higher education programs and receive financial aid.

Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) said recent Prison Policy data show nearly 70% of incarcerated people have interest in getting a college degree, but only 3% have post-high school education.

Her proposal would allow these prospective college students to receive MAP grant funding as they leave the Illinois Department of Corrections.

"Those who are incarcerate may not be paying taxes currently, but all of their family members are paying into the same pot that we’re trying to get them access to," Ammons said. "The estimated cost for this is insignificant to the state budget."

Ammons explained this change would only cost the state $3.2 million for the next fiscal year. 

House Bill 2466 passed out of the House on a 72-39 vote. The plan now moves to the Senate for further consideration. 

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