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State Week: Pritzker lays out his budget priorities

State Week logo (capitol dome)
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS

Gov. JB Pritzker delivereda combined State of the State/Budget Address this week and focused heavily on education and social services. The nearly $50 billion spending plan brought criticism from Republicans. They raised concerns about costs of new programs, like an expansion of child care services and making preschool available to all kids over the next four years. Still, with Democrats holding supermajorities in the General Assembly, Pritzker's proposal is likely to win approval.

Also, the Chicago Bears took another step toward possibly moving the suburbs. But they are still seeking assistance from lawmakers.

Host Sean Crawford is joined by Professor Emeritus Charlie Wheeler and WBEZ reporter Dave McKinney.

The former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Dave McKinney, state politics reporter at WBEZ, spent 19 years as the Chicago Sun-Times Springfield bureau chief with additional stops at Reuters and the Daily Herald. His work also has been published in Crain’s Chicago Business, the New York Times and Chicago Magazine.