SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — House speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch will enter his third term as Speaker of the House on Wednesday, and this time around is shaping up to be one of the tougher budget years he’s faced.

“(The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget’s) job is to be very conservative and sometimes to be gloom and doom,” Welch (D-Westchester). “And they’re doing their job. They’re painting a worst case scenario.”

Governor Pritzker’s own office of budget forecasters gave the legislature some tough news back in November. If they don’t change spending, the state will be dealing with a $3.2 billion budget deficit. Welch’s biggest task will be keeping his massive 78-member supermajority in line and ready to vote for an inevitably scaled back budget.

“I do believe that we can pass a balanced budget that’s responsible, that’s compassionate, that still cares about people across the state,” Welch said.

Before they deal with the deficit, the General Assembly is putting a bow on 2024. Lawmakers came back to Springfield this week for lame duck session. Welch was non committal to a clear agenda when we talked Saturday.

“There’s a lot of conversations being had around several things,” Welch said. “But you know what I want to make sure we do is focus on things that are part of our core values, the things that democrats all believing in a short period of time.

During this session, the Illinois Senate moved a new version of Karina’s Law, which would allow firearms to be removed from a person’s home if they are credibly accused of domestic abuse or assault. The Senate also passed a package of clean energy legislation and reforms for the Prisoner Review Board.

Republicans were critical of the agenda.

“These are bills that are controversial. They’re not good for the constituents of the state of Illinois, and they’re done during lame duck because you have members who are no longer coming back because they’ve retired or they lost their election,” Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said during a Monday afternoon press conference.

Looking forward to the spring, even with tough budget conversations coming, Welch thinks the state needs to take a good hard look at property tax reforms.

“I think we need to look at ways to address property taxes all across the state,” Welch said. “I think we need to continue to look at ways that’s going to put money back in people’s pockets.”