Budget & Taxes

Appropriates $2 from the General Revenue Fund to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for its FY26 ordinary and contingent expenses. Effective July 1, 2025.

Makes appropriations for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the State Universities Retirement System for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, as follows: General Funds $2,124,412,632; Other State Funds $215,000,000; Total $2,339,412,632.

HB 116 appropriates $2 from the state's General Revenue Fund to the Department on Aging. These funds are designated to cover the department's ordinary operating costs and contingent expenses for Fiscal Year 2026. The bill is scheduled to become effective on July 1, 2025.

Makes appropriations for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the Office of the State Fire Marshal for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, as follows: Other State Funds $72,980,321; Federal Funds $1,000,000; Total $73,980,321.

Makes appropriations for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the Court of Claims for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. Effective July 1, 2025.

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax deduction for premiums paid by the taxpayer during the taxable year under an individual health insurance plan covering the taxpayer or the taxpayer's dependents.

Urges the State to increase reimbursement rates, state grants and contracts, and the minimum overhead allowance to meet the rising costs of providing essential human services in Illinois and support the workers who deliver those services.

Amends the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. Requires an aquatic habitat conservation stamp for every person obtaining a resident or non-resident license under the Code. Creates the Aquatic Habitat Conservation Fund as a special fund in the State Treasury with fees from the sale of aquatic habitat conservation stamps deposited into the fund and with appropriations from the Fund solely to the Department of Natural Resources to be used only (i) for the management, restoration, and protection of aquatic and riparian habitats in Illinois, (ii) for elimination of or protection from aquatic nuisance species, and (iii) for preparation for and protection from the effects of climate change in Illinois, including increased risks of flooding, erosion, and sedimentation. Defines terms. Makes conforming changes to the State Finance Act.

Affirms the importance of adopting a statewide strategy to develop teachers as leaders and to leverage teacher leadership to recruit and retain excellent educators of diverse identities and backgrounds, strengthen school leadership, and support continuous school improvement to improve educational outcomes. Urges the Illinois State Board of Education to (1) prioritize teacher leadership investments in future fiscal years in order to build greater capacity to conduct research and collect data, highlight and share best practices for distributed leadership, offer technical assistance to schools and districts, and provide strategic leadership to support the expansion of teacher leadership across Illinois, (2) to collaborate with educators, districts, educator preparation programs, and other state agencies to build a strategy for the development of a statewide ecosystem that grows, recognizes, supports, and sustains teacher leadership in diverse contexts throughout the State, (3) to include in its strategy multiple pathways to recognize, support, and sustain diverse teacher leadership throughout the State, including through collaborative partnerships, expanded inclusion of teacher voice in educational decision-making, and classroom teacher leadership development programs, and (4) to embed teacher leadership as a fundamental component of the school improvement process. Urges each school district in Illinois to develop systems that provide teachers equitable access to ongoing leadership development and encourage them to take teacher leadership roles.

Makes appropriations for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the Governors State University for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, as follows: General Funds $27,376,700.