Here’s how Pritzker can stop bad bills out of Illinois General Assembly

With the Illinois state legislative session ended, bills will start crossing the governor’s desk, some containing tax hikes, unaffordable spending and needless regulation. Here’s how Gov. J.B. Pritzker can stop these bad policies from becoming law.

The Illinois General Assembly passed legislation in a flurry as the clock ran out on this year’s regular legislative session, for better or worse.

On the worse end, lawmakers increased already unsustainable pension benefits, passed a budget at the last minute that spends beyond the state’s means and takes more from already overburdened taxpayers. Not only that, with transit funding left unaddressed this session, legislators are set to return this summer with more taxes on the agenda.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has already promised to veto any “broad-based” tax increase. But he should go farther than that by amending or preventing any legislation that will increase the burden on businesses, taxpayers or residents trying to live and work in the state. Illinois’ veto procedures give him options, and the legislature has given him opportunities to use them.

Lawmakers passed a record $55.2 billion budget at the last minute, raising the state’s spending $2 billion at a time when federal funds are drying up and revenue predictions have become less rosy. Not only that, the budget uses short-term transfers and overall bad budgeting practices that provide only the appearance of balance.

The budget features over $394 million in tax increases, not counting the $43 million cut in the state’s property tax relief grant program, hiking taxes on Illinoisans when they already face some of the highest tax burdens of any state in the country. Other legislation passed by both houses would follow Pennsylvania to extend the reach of Illinois courts for any out-of-state business registered in the state, making them even more vulnerable to litigation in a state whose legal climate was already ranked dead-last by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as of 2019.

Even though the legislative session is over, lawmakers aren’t done. They were unable to pass legislation addressing the $770 million shortfall expected by Chicago-area public transit. Pritzker wants lawmakers to address the issue as fast as possible, but so far that legislation promises to pile onto the burden of Illinois taxpayers by hiking tolls, taxing ride shares, taxing real estate transfers and imposing an electric vehicle charging fee. Another version of the bill would impose a $1.50 climate impact fee on home deliveries placed online.

If Pritzker wants to bring prosperity back to the state, he should veto any tax increases or regulations that make the state less competitive than its neighbors, plus any unsustainable spending increases that cross his desk.

The Illinois Constitution gives Pritzker options based on whether a bill is a substantive bill, a bill that changes government policy or a bill that is an appropriations bill determining where and how much money is spent. Here are the ways Pritzker could use his veto power to address problematic bills under the state constitution:

Total veto: any bill

In a total veto, the governor vetoes the entire bill. The General Assembly then has two options:

1. The General Assembly can do nothing, and the bill is considered dead.
2. The General Assembly can override the veto with a three-fifths majority vote of the members in each chamber. The bill then becomes law in the form it was originally sent to the governor.

Amendatory veto: substantive bills only

In an amendatory veto, the governor makes specific recommendations for the bill. Included with an amendatory veto is a “veto message’’ laying out what changes would need to be made for him to agree to sign it.

The General Assembly then has three options:

1. It can do nothing, and the bill is considered dead.
2. It can override the veto with a vote by a three-fifths majority of the members in each chamber. The bill then becomes law in the form in which the bill was originally sent to the governor.
3. It can agree with the recommendations made by the governor by a simple majority vote in each of the chambers. The bill then becomes law, as amended by the governor. However, should the governor issue the amendatory veto after May 31 – as the case would be this year – and the changes have an immediate effective date, the recommendations require a three-fifths majority vote in both chambers in order to pass. If the effective date is the next fiscal year, the changes only require a simple majority to pass.

Item veto: appropriations bills only

The governor may veto any item of an appropriations bill. An item veto allows the governor to change a bill if the governor approves of the appropriations by and large but objects to specific spending proposals. The portions of the bill that are not vetoed become law.

The General Assembly then has two options:

1. It can do nothing. The portions of the bill that were not vetoed become law, and the items the governor vetoed are stripped from the bill and considered dead.
2. It can override the item veto with a vote by a three-fifths majority of the members in each chamber. The bill then becomes law in the form in which the bill was originally sent to the governor.

Reduction veto: appropriations bills only

A reduction veto allows the governor to propose decreases to the amount spent in an appropriations bill. The items of the bill that were not reduced become law.

The General Assembly then has two options:

1. It can do nothing. The portions of the bill that were not reduced become law, and the items the governor reduced become law in the reduced amounts.
2. It can override the reduction with a vote by a simple majority of the members in each chamber. The bill then becomes law in the form in which the bill was originally sent to the governor.

Conclusion

The regular legislative session is over, but with a budget balanced with short-term fixes. Add in the looming threat of a transit bill in search of over $700 million in revenue to make up for mismanagement, Illinois taxpayers have reason to worry.

The Illinois Constitution gives Pritzker plenty of flexibility to prevent bad legislation from being enacted. He should use all the tools at his disposal to keep these laws off the books.

Click here to tell Pritzker to veto any tax increases, unaffordable spending or needless regulation.