Gov. J.B. Pritzker will propose $75 million in additional spending to add 5,000 slots to existing state-funded preschool programs, a modest down payment on an ambitious call to make preschool available to all.
It would take the remainder of the governor’s new term to achieve an overall increase of 20,000 seats, which “actually gets us to coverage for every 3- and 4-year-old that’s looking to go to preschool,” Pritzker told reporters Tuesday during a briefing on the plan.The second-term Democrat is set to unveil the plan, dubbed “Smart Start Illinois,” as part of his $49.6 billion spending proposal for the next budget year.
Aside from increasing funding for preschool programs, Pritzker is proposing $130 million in new spending to stabilize payments and boost wages for state-subsidized child care workers; a $40 million increase for early intervention services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or other health conditions; and a $5 million increase for a home visiting program for at-risk families.“Smart Start Illinois will make us the best place in the nation to raise young children,” Pritzker said.
The difference between then and now, Pritzker said, is that the state’s financial picture has significantly improved since he took office four years ago. That’s a theme he highlighted heavily in his reelection campaign and one he’s certain to revisit in his speech Wednesday.“Our budgets have been balanced and we’ve been running surpluses. We’re in a much better fiscal position today,” he said.
When Pritzker signed the current budget in April, it called for $46 billion in spending, a figure that has since grown to nearly $50 billion on the basis of stronger than expected revenue from sales and income taxes and other sources.Payments to the state’s significantly underfunded pension plans will continue to put pressure on the budget, and the newfound fiscal stability likely will lead to calls for increased spending in other areas.
The governor wouldn’t say Tuesday whether he plans to call for increasing funding for elementary and secondary education beyond the required $350 million.On Tuesday, members of the General Assembly’s minority Republican Party discussed their own list of budgetary and legislative priorities, including some $200 million to ease high costs of energy for homes and businesses in central and southern Illinois, as well as a focus on health care.
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