Balanced budget passes both houses

LITCHFIELD - Lawmakers have come together to pass a bipartisan, balanced budget for the State of Illinois, according to State Representative Avery Bourne (R-Raymond). The Senate approved the budget Wednesday and the House passed the budget today. This Fiscal Year 2019 budget is a balanced, full-year budget that relies on no new tax increases and meets the May 31^st deadline, ensuring timely enactment on July 1, 2018.

Rep. Bourne stated, “My priorities for a budget have been clear - we must have a budget on time, it must include input from the minority party, and it must be balanced without new taxes. This budget fulfills those priorities. This is the first time in my tenure I have had the opportunity to vote on a balanced budget. In the past, Democrats have proposed budgets that are as much as $8 billion out of balance. This is a step in the right direction. This budget spends $1.2 billion less than if we kept spending at current spending levels.” She added, “This budget invests an additional $350 million for the new K-12 Education funding formula, provides the funding for AFSCME backpay, makes our full pension payments and begins to pay off our bill backlog. I urge the Governor to sign this budget.”

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Other items in the bipartisan budget proposal include:

• $4.3 million for Veteran’s Grant reimbursements for all community colleges
• Funding for 100 additional cadets with the Illinois State Police
• $2.5 billion for IDOT’s road program
• Funding for MAP Grants along with a new 4-year MAP Grant commitment that will give predictability to students who rely on them.
• Increased funding for Soil & Water Conservation Districts, County Fairs, and for deferred maintenance at Illinois State Facilities and at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
• Provides approximately $246 million in state capital funding to make needed water system upgrades as well as new construction and improvements at the Quincy Veterans Home
• Creates, for the first time, an Adoption Tax Credit to encourage Illinois families to adopt

“This budget isn’t perfect. There are items in this budget that make it difficult to support. But, this is a good bipartisan compromise to get state government working again. There’s still more work to be done before our state is back on a strong fiscal footing. That will only come through continued balanced budgets and reforms that will grow our economy and restore public trust in state government. Overall, this is a truly bipartisan budget that's good for the state and for our district.” said Rep. Bourne.

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