By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – The top leaders of the Illinois General Assembly – as the House and Senate convene Wednesday for the first time in 2022 – agree that the state budget is the top priority. They also agree they can safely negotiate the pandemic.
Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) says they’ve done well with what they have been given “The first year of the pandemic was ‘cancel, cancel, cancel,’” Harmon said, noting that two of this week’s three session days have already been scrubbed, with more likely to come. “We didn’t know what we were dealing with (in 2020). We didn’t have any tools to attack the problem, but we still had a productive session. Last year, we were able to have a relatively regular session, albeit with accommodations to covid.”
House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) notes that some lawmakers are older, with compromised health to begin with, so you can expect Zooming to continue this year to some extent.
Welch says the pandemic “means we need to put together another budget that’s going to take care of the most vulnerable; make sure they can pay the rent, pay the mortgage, put food on the table. We did that in 2021, and we’re going to have to build on that in 2022.”
Fiscal high points of 2021 the leaders point out include: continuing to pay down the bill backlog to turn around invoices in about a month; and the first credit rating upgrade in decades.
Because of the late primary election – late June rather than mid-March – lawmakers currently plan to adjourn April 8 rather than May 31 so they can campaign.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
