Politics
Illinois Lawmakers Discuss Budget, Policy Before End of Spring Session
Illinois lawmakers have a lot on their plate over the next month.
With the spring legislative session coming to a close at the end of May, the clock is ticking to approve a budget. And deadlines for adding referendums to the November ballot are even earlier.
Meanwhile, affordability is front of mind for many, as bills on megaprojects and zoning reform make their way through the General Assembly.
State Reps. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) and Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss ongoing budget and policy negotiations. Excerpts from the conversation are below.
On the proposed Illinois budget:
McCombie: “To be a ‘maintenance budget’ it would be a flat budget, and this had $728 million in proposed increases. … You can’t keep doing this every year as you’re the governor and not expect increased spending.”
Buckner: “I’ve heard many of my colleagues say this is a ballooning budget, but the truth is a balloon floats away when it has no anchor. … (This budget is) anchored in schools, anchored in healthcare, anchored in pensions, public safety, human services.”
On a proposed social media tax:
McCombie: “I do agree with the governor that certainly there are social media that are preying on children, and actually quite honestly preying on Democrats and Republicans. It can be a very dangerous thing. … But how we tax them? I’m not sure that’s even a possible way to do that.”
Buckner: “This and the other things that we’re going to look at this year for revenue have to be smart, they have to be intentional, they have to be targeted … and they have to not be built on the backs of the people we represent. I’m open for any conversation that approaches things that way.”
On a so-called millionaires’ tax:
McCombie: “We have a May 3 deadline (for ballot referendums) so it’s not going to hit the House and the Senate. For sure this is one that I think will have to wait, thankfully.”
Buckner: “We have to find a way to make sure that all folks in this state are paying their fair share and we’re not doing it in a regressive way. … We’ve got to be able to tell the story about what we’re going to do with the money, and why we can be trusted with it.”
On a redistricting amendment:
McCombie: “What should be on the constitutional amendment question should be: Do you want a fair and independent map? The party that’s in control, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican, should not be determining our lines.”
Buckner: The amendment “respects what the Voting Rights Act says today about condensing contiguous districts and making sure that we are respective of the long fight in the country around voting and civil rights.”
On the megaprojects bill:
McCombie: “This is about local control. If the locals don’t want economic development and people to come into their communities and do this, they don’t have to. … But we have a real opportunity to grow our state, and I think this could be a path to do it.”
Buckner: “We’ve put together a bill that has the things that (the Chicago Bears) have talked about, and other businesses around the state have talked about wanting. What we were told was that the Bears want property tax certainty. And what we’ve also have been told by our constituents is they want some property tax relief. And we dared to believe we can do both of those at the same time.”
On zoning reform:
McCombie: “They say this isn’t a mandate on locals to have these accessory units, but it absolutely is, because it does not prohibit it. We can’t have one-size-fits-all. The megaprojects bill gives local control, and now here we’re taking it away again. Whether it’s for solar projects in counties and municipalities, and now here we are infringing on home rule and local authority.”
Buckner: “We can’t go back to the old way of keeping people from building because of arbitrary lot size issues or arbitrary zoning issues. … What we’re trying to do with this package is create a system, a statewide system, where we deal with our housing crisis and that it becomes easier, faster, safer and cheaper to build here in Illinois.”
