Session slog ends in $56B budget, new taxes on social media companies, crypto, fantasy sports – Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers approved the state budget early Monday morning after slogging through the night, enacting new taxes on businesses and authorizing less spending than what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February.

“It’s allowed us to be prepared for the great reality we face today,” Senate Democrats budget leader Elgie Sims, of Chicago, said during debate. “The reality of federal cuts. The reality of chaos coming from Washington … We are not placing blame. We are prepared. We are not acting on fear. We are acting responsibly.”

House Bill 111, passed the Senate 37-21 after 3 a.m. Monday morning. The House followed around 4:15 a.m. with a 76-39vote, followed by the budget implementation bill, House Bill 2949. The revenue and tax changes, Senate Bill 3019, passed the House around 11:15 p.m. on a 73-41 vote, followed by the Senate around 12:30 a.m. with only Democratic votes as well.

Tax increases and revenue maneuvers

The budget also calls for transferring $150 million in sales tax revenue from gas to the General Revenue Fund once public transportation is fully funded, opening that revenue up to be spent on any purpose.

similar tax in Chicago is already tied up in court.

New taxes on digital asset sales and fantasy sports are expected to generate $65 million. The state would create a licensing structure for fantasy sports operators and impose a 15% tax on each business — something Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, said the industry themselves requested.

Consumers purchasing tires will also see a 50-cent increase in a tax on those purchases, which primarily funds a waste disposal fund.

Sports bets on prediction markets and remote tobacco retailers would also be taxed under the plan.

“This state is addicted to spending money it doesn’t have,” Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City. “It’s addicted to creating programs that it can’t afford. It’s addicted to making promises it can’t keep, and it’s addicted to coming back to the taxpayers constantly, constantly to clean up the mess.”

federal government institutes new restrictions on eligibility. Under the new Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger, or FRESH Program, people who have lost or seen their SNAP benefits reduced would be eligible for a one-time $400 payment. The program is scheduled to last just one year and is estimated to cost about $70 million.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.