QUESTION: In your last Treasurer’s note, you gave a recap of your 2025 resolutions, but I noticed you didn’t mention any for 2026. Did you make any for this year?
A: Thanks for noticing and thank you for the question. Some are similar to last year, and some are new. I think we are more likely to keep our resolutions when we share them with others to hold us accountable. So, here goes!
*I want to cross the $2.5 billion mark for money returned to people, businesses, and nonprofit groups through our ICash program since taking office. This will be the easiest resolution to keep as we are almost there. We smashed the record for number of people we helped last year, so that goal will be very difficult to beat. I also hope to return $300 million to people through ICash this year. It is a stretch but doable, and it will bring a lot of joy to people in Illinois.
*I want more families to take advantage of First Steps to get a running start on saving for college. The goal is similar to last year’s, but instead of aiming for 10,000 new accounts, I have raised the goal to 15,000. That will be 15,000 children who will have a brighter future, and that is good for them and for all of us when we have a better trained workforce, less student debt, and kids reaching their full potential.
*I want to reach 12,000 Illinois ABLE accounts owned by people with disabilities by year’s end (we are currently at around 8,300). I think we can get there now that eligibility has expanded to people with a disability onset prior to age 46 (it had been limited to 26). Many more Illinoisans are now eligible to open an IL ABLE account.
*I want to help charities make more money off their investments. We have helped local governments earn more than $3.5 billion since taking office, and we would like to help Illinois charities do the same. We came close to getting the bill signed into law last year, and our resolution is to pass it this year. Please let us know if you can help.
*I want to earn another $1 billion in interest income for the state by investing responsibly and wisely. We smashed this goal last year, but with interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and federal threats to withhold money to Illinois, it will be tough to beat last year’s number. However, every dollar earned is a dollar that doesn’t have to be raised in taxes or cut in services, so we will do our best to bring in a billion dollars!
*I plan to help more local governments take part in our Illinois Funds investment pool to earn more interest income. Last year, we helped local governments earn nearly $900 million. The same federal factors are at work with these investments, so I’m setting a goal of $650 million for 2026. Every dollar earned is a dollar that doesn’t have to be raised in property taxes by your local government.
*I want to communicate on topics you want to hear about. I am open to suggestions, but one of the more frequent topics I am asked about is what kind of things we are storing in our vault. So, I intend to start showing you! Watch for a series of videos on our social media channels this year. Here’s a sneak preview.
If you have other things you would like to watch or read about, please drop me a line!
Happy New Year and may you be successful in keeping your resolutions in 2026!
Sincerely,
Michael