As Committee Deadline Approaches, Legislators Vet Hundreds of Bills
This Friday is an important week at the Capitol, as all bills must clear a substantive committee by the end of the day on Friday, March 15. As of Friday, March 8, there were still 692 bills that await a hearing before one of the many Senate Committees.
Legislators are busy behind the scenes trying to shore up support for their initiatives because a majority vote by a committee is needed before any measure can move to the Senate floor for full consideration and a vote.
Last week we spent a great deal of time in committees, but I was able to carve out some time to meet with members of the Illinois Soybean Association, who were in Springfield lobbying for their 2024 legislative agenda. We had a nice conversation about their priorities and concerns, and they shared with me the specific bills they would like me to support and oppose this year.
The Illinois Soybean Association represents more than 43,000 soybean farmers in Illinois, and their legislative arm works closely with lawmakers at the Capitol. This organization has been a vital partner within Illinois’ agriculture community since the 1960s.
Senate Republicans Push for Transparency on Noncitizen Spending
Governor JB Pritzker’s non-citizen welfare policies have exhausted state resources and helped create the largest migrant crisis in the Midwest. The Governor’s financial gimmicks and loopholes make it impossible to know exactly how many taxpayer dollars he has used to fund his invited migrant crisis. This lack of transparency is even more egregious considering Governor Pritzker has proposed nearly $1 billion in tax hikes on Illinois families to continue to pay for the migrant crisis he created.
In response, I am co-sponsoring legislation to give Illinois taxpayers much-needed transparency on the migrant crisis Governor Pritzker has created. Senate Bill 3170 would require the Illinois Department of Human Services to work with relevant State agencies, to prepare an annual report to the General Assembly identifying all state spending on services and resources for migrants. It would also be available to the public on the department’s website.
The report would include details of services and resources provided by various state entities, including but not limited to the State Board of Education, Department of Human Services, Department of Public Health, Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security, Department of Central Management Services, Department of Labor, and Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
The report is required to include the following information concerning expenditures:
- Total amount spent on noncitizen and asylum-seeking populations in the previous fiscal year.
- Specific appropriations authorizing the spending.
- Any transfers among line-item appropriations associated with noncitizen and asylum-seeking populations.
- Total number of families or individuals impacted by each service or resource.
- Funding sources of the service or resource.
- Contracts awarded to organizations providing services or resources in various categories such as emergency shelter, food, health screenings, legal services, job readiness support, enrollment in public schools, long-term housing, mental health assessments, and other related spending.
Further, the legislation requires the Governor to include a detailed accounting of all proposed spending on noncitizen populations in future state budgets, providing an additional layer of transparency to the people of Illinois.
The people of Illinois deserve to know how much of their tax dollars are being spent on migrant services, especially when the Governor is trying to raise their taxes by $1 billion.
I am also the Chief Sponsor of Senate Bill 3596, which:
- Reinstates Cooperation between Federal, State, and Local Authorities by repealing the TRUST Act of 2017 which prohibits law enforcement from working with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to ensure immigration laws are enforced.
- Eliminates Free Healthcare for Noncitizens by repealing areas of Illinois law that provide for free or nearly free healthcare for migrants and illegal immigrants, a program that is expected to cost Illinois taxpayers at least $900 million in Fiscal Year 2025.
- Decreases the Migrant/Illegal Immigrant Population in IL by creating a budget fund of $10 million to help migrants and illegal immigrants travel back to their home country or to a different state in the U.S.
Click here to learn more about how I am working on your behalf to address the migrant/illegal immigrant crisis in our state.
