As lawmakers in the Illinois House prepare to return to legislative session next week, Illinois House Minority Leader has set expectations as to where her caucus’ priorities will be when the House convenes on January 20th.
At a recent City Club of Chicago event, Speaker of the House Emmanuel “Chris” Welch said the legislature is focused on “bringing down the cost of living,” and suggested that meeting the everyday needs of Illinoisans takes precedence over requests for new high-profile projects like a Bears stadium.
But for Leader McCombie, real fiscal responsibility must be backed up with good public policy–a stark contrast she says her caucus will continue to expose, considering the billion-dollar budgets based in tax hikes and gimmicks that Illinois’ Democrats have become accustomed to.
Republican lawmakers have underscored that affordability must also include fiscal restraint and tax relief. House Republican Leader Tony McCombie said in a recent interview that she thinks 2026 “would be finally a good time for Democrats to bring Republicans into the room” and work more collaboratively — but cautioned that Republicans will continue to “expose and oppose bad policy” during the anticipated legislative session year.
Read more about what to expect this year in the General Assembly here: Illinois lawmakers return with $2.2B budget gap, affordability focus.