Sangamon Sun

On May 15, hundreds of members from the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) gathered at the Capitol to demand an additional $1 billion in state funding for Chicago Public Schools (CPS). This move was met with criticism as it required the district to hire substitute teachers, thus utilizing significant taxpayer dollars. The salaries of CTU members who attended the gathering in Springfield were also covered by taxpayer funds.

In response to this demonstration, Republican lawmakers held a press conference highlighting the special funding CPS receives, which is not extended to other schools in the state that are grappling with more severe financial challenges. Under the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) model, school districts are categorized into a four-tier system. Tier One includes school districts that have the most need for new state funding to adequately educate their students. Since the implementation of this funding formula and with additional state support, CPS has already improved and moved up from Tier 1 to Tier 2.

Republican lawmakers also criticized the demands made by Chicago's Mayor and CTU members as being insensitive to Illinois' fiscal realities while crafting the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. Members of the Senate Republican Caucus stated they will continue advocating for taxpayers and equal funding for schools throughout Illinois.

State leaders assembled in Springfield on May 14 for the 31st Annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial and Medal of Honor Ceremony. The event paid tribute to five Illinois firefighters who lost their lives in service last year:

- Chicago Firefighter/EMT Jermaine Pelt

- Chicago Fire Lt. Jan Tchoryk 

- Chicago Fire Lt. Kevin Ward

- Chicago Firefighter/EMT Andrew “Drew” Price

- Maroa Countryside Fire Protection District Chief Larry Peasley

An additional twelve firefighters from around the state were honored with medals of honor or valor for acts of outstanding bravery.

Spring planting in Illinois is currently behind schedule compared to last year due to seed inventory concerns. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Illinois farmers have so far planted 42% of their corn acres and 39% of their soybean acres. This is significantly behind last year's progress when the Illinois corn crop was 81% planted and soybeans were at 74%.

As of this writing, the State of Illinois owes $941,717,627.50 to state vendors, including 16,515 pending vouchers. This figure does not include debts that can only be estimated, such as our unfunded pension liability which is subject to a wide range of factors and has been estimated to be more than $139 billion.

There are five scheduled days left until session adjourns in Springfield. The upcoming week will see a flurry of committee hearings, rigorous debates, and floor votes as final action is taken on numerous bills and the Governor’s final budget proposal is awaited.