This week the legislature approved a two-year state budget that includes the largest income tax cut in state history and significant critical investments including additional funding for our schools.

The balanced, bipartisan budget also maintains a commitment to fiscal stability that will continue to help strengthen our economy while investing in the future of our children, families and seniors.
Major highlights include:

• Depositing $3.3 billion into the state's "Rainy Day" reserve fund, helping us maintain a high credit rating and preparing us for any possible future economic downturn
• Pre-paying an additional $2 billion in unfunded future pension liabilities
• The largest personal income tax cut in state history
• Exempting more retiree income from the state income tax
• Continuing the property tax cap on motor vehicles
• Continuing property tax credits for homeowners

We also recognized that K-12 schools needed more resources, so we prioritized educational and special education funding with historic investments in local education, which helps stabilize and reduce local property taxes, and makes it easier for our urban schools to recruit and retain teachers.

In addition, the budget prioritized higher education and provides significantly more funding to our state colleges and universities.

Here are some of the key education investments:

• $135 million for our state colleges and universities
• $22 million to expand debt-free community college
• $24 million to increase funding for special education to local schools
• $67.5 million to increase childcare provider rates
• Cap on tuition payments that local districts pay for kids attending choice programs
• $158 million in new funding to local boards of education
• $9.3 million in new funding for Charter Schools
• $53.3 million in new funding for Magnet Schools
• $11.4 million for Open Choice
• $7.2 million in new funding for Vocational Agriculture programs

We also made significant investments in the state's social "safety net" including:

• Funding our critical service nonprofit providers with 2.5% cost of living increases
• Increased funding to group home employees to provide roughly a 4.5% pay increase
• An investment of over $30 million in support of residents with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

It is these type of sound investments combined with honoring the statutory "fiscal guardrails" that will help us maintain our excellent credit rating, continue to pay down future debt obligations, an meet many of state's greatest needs.