Check out the latest legislative news from NASL member firm Third Reading Consulting Group below.
Gov. Pritzker Announced $160M in State Funding for Migrants
On Thursday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) will spend $160M to assist asylum seekers arriving in Chicago. This new funding brings the state’s total spending on asylum seeker services to $638M since the beginning of FY 2023. Of the new funding, $65M will provide more resources for migrants, including legal services and housing opportunities to move people out of shelters. $30M will be used to establish a central intake center to evaluate which asylum seekers do not need shelter from the state or city because they have a sponsor. The state believes this could reduce the number of new arrivals in shelters by 10%.
More than 24,000 migrants have arrived in Illinois, with only around 8,600 exiting shelters since arriving. The largest number of new intakes came at the beginning of October, although numbers have since slowed. The General Assembly did not pass a supplemental appropriation in the veto session, so this new funding comes from the existing DHS budget in FY 2024. The specific budget lines they plan to fund asylum-seeker services remain unclear. As of the end of October, total general funds revenues are up 3.8% over FY 2023, the highest revenue year in state history. Legislators could be asked to pass a supplemental appropriation in January when these costs or costs for non-citizen healthcare (HBIA and HBIS) balloon above funding levels provided in the FY 2024 budget.
Gov. Pritzker said that the state intervened because he worries about people living outside in the cold this winter. He stated, “We’re stepping in here to try to help and accelerate this process…It isn’t moving fast enough. That’s why you’re seeing people still on the street, and we just can’t have people on the street.”
2024 Session Schedule
After concluding the fall veto session last week, the Illinois House and Senate released their 2024 session calendars. The General Assembly will return to Springfield to open the 2024 session from January 16 to 18. After a break, they will return to session from February 6 to 8 and again from February 20 to 22. Gov. J.B. Pritzker will give his annual state of the state and budget address on February 21. The General Assembly will be in session for the first three weeks of March and off in the final week following Easter. In April, the House will be in session for the first three weeks, whereas the Senate is taking the first week off and returning for the second and third weeks of the month. Both chambers will be in session for the first four weeks of May, with a tentatively scheduled adjournment date of May 24, before Memorial Day. Legislators were told to keep the fifth week of May open in case additional time is required to conclude the session and pass an FY 2025 budget. Any measures passed before June 1 require only a simple majority to take effect immediately, whereas a three-fifths supermajority is needed for such measures beginning June 1. Democrats hold supermajorities in both the House and Senate.
