By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois state lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday ahead of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s second State of the State speech on Wednesday.
Lawmakers will return amid ongoing federal corruption investigations involving lawmakers and lobbyists while ethics reforms have yet to materialize. Lawmakers said they also want to address the state’s population losses and high property taxes.
State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said he wants the governor to make addressing the state’s high property taxes a priority.
“A path to property tax relief,” Manar said. “That might be more budget [related] though, … but to me, that’s the most important step that we need to take in the coming session.”
Pritzker’s budget speech is next month.
Pritzker said on Friday finding relief from Illinois’ second-highest-in-the-nation property taxes will be a focus.
“So I’ve heard from Republicans and Democrats, and there are some good ideas in there and we’ll be pursuing those in the spring session,” the governor said.
A property tax relief tax force missed its deadline to produce a report with recommendations to reduce property taxes, but a draft report circulated online. A task force on lobbying ethics is set to deliver a report by the end of March.
State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said ethics reforms must be a priority, especially after state Rep. Luis Arroyo, D-Chicago, resigned after he was charged with bribery.
“Another senator has been indicted, [state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park] is still voting on the Senate floor,” McClure said. “He voted on the Senate President’s race. That’s unacceptable. And that’s got to be the elephant in the room for the governor, is ethics.”
Illinois’ continued population loss, which leads the nation, is another thing McClure wants to address. U.S. Census data showed Illinois lost nearly 160,000 people in six years.
Pritzker said he was increasing investment in tuition assistance to keep younger people in Illinois. He also said a progressive income tax proposal that voters will decide this November could help keep residents from leaving the state.
“The flat [income] tax that many people have advocated for keeping, if that were working so well, why do we have all the net domestic migration?” Pritzker said.
While Pritzker said the state’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s ever been, McClure said targeting small businesses with higher income tax rates through the proposed progressive income tax will hurt the economy.
The governor’s State of the State speech won’t be the only focus when lawmakers return. There’s also an expected hearing into how more than 500 people who indicated they weren’t U.S. citizens were erroneously registered to vote.
While Republicans have called for the state’s automatic voter registration program to be suspended, the Secretary of State’s office said that’s not necessary because the programming error has been fixed.
The governor said the executive state agencies under his control that are implementing automatic voter registration said they were moving quickly to “make sure this is a safe system, the system itself is secure and that the glitch that was identified no longer exists.”
“Making sure that is done right at the agency level will allow us ultimately to move forward with AVR,” Pritzker said. “But certainly right now everybody is being extra careful.”
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