State Rep. Maurice West Statement on the End of the Legislative Session and Passage of the Balanced State Budget

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — As the spring legislative session concluded Sunday, state Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, backed his eighth responsibly balanced budget that focuses on affordability, accountability, and creating a brighter future for families in the Rockford region. 

“Families are facing turmoil as the actions of the federal government have raised the prices of everything from groceries to gas, and I knew coming into this spring legislative session lawmakers would face difficult choices and lead hard conversations,” said State Rep. Maurice West. “However, we worked to address and ease many of the challenges families talk about at the kitchen table each and every night.  This budget provides critical investments in education, healthcare, and public safety while providing relief to families throughout our community.”

The FY27 budget includes $2.5 million in local capital and operational investments that will support youth programming, veterans, violence prevention, infrastructure improvements, business development, libraries, and more.  As a whole, this fiscally and socially responsible budget notably trims $65 million in government efficiencies to reinvest in Illinois’ most critical state services at risk of federal funding losses or elimination. This includes a provision to provide direct relief to over 100,000 Illinoisans removed from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to receive a one-time credit of up to $400 and investing in affordable school lunches—so no Illinoisan goes hungry, with a goal of families connecting with food assistance agencies to reactivate benefits.

Additional highlights of the FY27 budget include:

• Supporting a back-to-school sales tax holiday to cut costs on clothing, office supplies and hygiene items.

• Investing more than $300 million in new funding for classroom education and full funding for after school programs, while restoring property tax relief grants for schools.

• Freezing the state gas tax to address skyrocketing fuel prices.

• Fully funding public safety initiatives including homelessness prevention and community-based violence prevention.

• Fully funding safety-net hospitals, with an additional $10 million dedicated to support Federally Qualified Health Centers for the most vulnerable families.

In addition to the balanced budget, Representative West this session successfully guided key pieces of legislation through the Illinois General Assembly. House Bill 4949, the Family Justice Centers Act, establishes guidelines and requirements for the creation of Family Justice Centers and demonstrates the Rockford Family Peace Center is a model for the state in supporting survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking.  House Bill 2539 requires the Department of Human Services to revise all Department forms and billing codes to remove the term "mental retardation" and replace it with "intellectual disability" – establishing dignity for individuals by removing this outdated and offensive terminology.  Representative West also supported measures boosting continuity of care with prescribing psychologist, enhancing food safety standards, barring insurers from using biomarker testing to make coverage decisions, and protecting domestic violence survivors through work with advocates, state agencies, law enforcement, and survivors.

“While federal policies continue to make life more difficult for many families facing cost-of-living challenges and threats to their hard-earned savings, I appreciate the steps we have taken to support families and individuals across Illinois,” said State Rep. Maurice West. ”More challenges lie ahead, but I remain optimistic we can work together to build a stronger future for all in the Rockford region and across our state.”

For more information, please contact Press@StateRepWest.com or call 815-987-7433