State of the State and Budget Address to be Delivered in House Chamber for First Time in Two Years

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – It is tradition for the Governor to deliver his annual State of the State and Budget Address to a joint session in the House Chamber. However, for the past two years, a global pandemic and a dangerous snowstorm forced Governor JB Pritzker to relocate. House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is excited to host the governor for the first time since he was elected to lead the chamber.“

In my first two years as Speaker, we faced unprecedented challenges and I’m thrilled that we are beginning to gain a sense of normalcy again,” said Speaker Welch. “I’m grateful we will be able to host Governor Pritzker and I look forward to hearing more about his priorities for this session.”

The Governor’s Budget Address begins the process of lawmakers and administration leaders working to develop a budget for the next fiscal year. Appropriations committees and legislative working groups will examine the Governor’s proposed budget line-by-line, along with input from financial forecasters, advocates, and other stakeholders.

“One of my top priorities has and continues to be fiscal responsibility,” said Speaker Welch. “We’ve made significant progress in recent years getting our fiscal house in order. We’ve completely eliminated a nearly $17 billion bill backlog that was accrued during a budget impasse, we’re making extra payments on our bills, we’ve earned a historic six credit upgrades, and we were able to offer working families $1 billion in tax relief this past year. We still have a lot of work to do, but Democrats are doing the work and getting Illinois back on sound fiscal footing.”

The Governor is set to deliver his State of the State and Budget Address on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at noon. It will be livestreamed on www.ilga.gov.