Local Republican lawmakers have responded to the record-breaking $50.6 million Illinois budget for Fiscal year 2024, which was passed by the General Assembly in the early hours of May 27.
The Senate first approved the spending plan late on May 25, before it went to the House for approval.
State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) shared a photo of the budget on his desk shortly after 10 p.m. on May 25, saying they “just received the final amendment for the over 3,500 page budget a half hour ago.”
“It’s over $50B in spending you - the taxpayers - are responsible for,” he wrote. “This is what Governor JB Pritzker and his legislative allies call ‘transparency’ and ‘good government.’”
The budget is scheduled to take effect July 1.
During a press conference on May 26, Plummer said the Illinois Democrats’ priorities “miss the mark,” especially during a “slowing economy.”
“We need to start thinking about Illinois families and worrying about what they need,” he said.
Rep. Kevin Schmidt (R-Millstadt) agreed that priorities are “misplaced.”
“Democrats’ priorities are misplaced,” he said. “They are providing taxpayer dollars for Medicaid for illegal immigrants, yet Washington Park still doesn’t have the promised funds they desperately need to rebuild their Fire House, Police Station, and Public Works building. The budget does not address the rampant crime and drug epidemic in our area, yet they are pushing the soft-on-crime SAFE-T Act. There is bi-partisan opposition to the budget but NOT bi-partisan support. In Cahokia Heights, raw sewage is literally flooding the streets, yet instead of delivering money to repair their sewer infrastructure, the majority party would rather give themselves pay raises. The citizens of Illinois deserve a fair, balanced budget that addresses their real needs.”
He said in a press release that the budget earned bipartisan opposition, but not bipartisan support.
“Instead of addressing the long-term financial problems facing our state, we are creating new programs and new ways of spending money,” he stated. “We are doing tremendous damage to the long-term fiscal health of our state just so the majority party can take care of their political allies and campaign contributors. This budget is shameful.”
State Sen. Erica Harriss (R-Glen Carbon) said she had hoped for a budget that was more fiscally responsible.
“While I was hopeful Republican representation at this year’s budget negotiations would be more promising for the residents of Illinois, the Majority Party missed important opportunities to fully fund our developmentally disabled community and bring much-needed relief to the rising cost of living,” she said in a statement.
“Instead of being fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars, the largest spending plan in state history focuses on funding a $1 billion undocumented healthcare program and hundreds of millions for legislator pork projects,” she continued. “We must be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and this budget simply missed the mark for the needs of Illinoisans.”
Rep. Amy Elik (R-Alton) agreed that the budget is disappointing and fails to “ease the burden” on taxpayers.
“I’m disappointed the state budget approved by the Illinois General Assembly continues to spend more without a plan to ease the burden on our taxpayers,” she said in a statement. “As the cost of living continues to remain high, the state budget unfortunately does not respect the pocketbooks of hard-working Illinoisans.”
“As Deputy Budgeteer for the House Republican Caucus, my Republican Colleagues and I offered to work on a bipartisan balanced budget, a budget that could have included our shared priorities,” Elik added. “But instead, the Democrats gave themselves another pay raise and made promises they can’t fulfill, setting up for a potential tax hike in the future.”
Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) said the budget “sets the stage for a progressive income tax” while some programs are only funded for six months in order to appear as though the state has a balanced budget.
“My Republican colleagues and I offered to work with the Democrats on a state budget that is balanced, that would have included our shared priorities, however, the Democratic leadership chose to pass a budget that spends more money without a plan to pay for these new programs in the future,” he said in a statement.
“This was not the time to increase programs but instead look for savings. The budget approved spends an additional one billion on health care for undocumented immigrants while underfunding services for our most vulnerable and their caregivers,” he explained. “Taxpayers are paying more for everything these days, yet the Democrat majority gave themselves a pay raise.
Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) also took issue with the spending plan’s new programs and pet projects when families are struggling with high inflation.
“Illinois families are still grappling with high inflation. Groceries, utilities, gas, and other living expenses have all gone up,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “That isn’t stopping Illinois Democrats from working to lock Illinois taxpayers into long-term spending commitments for new programs and pet projects. Not only that, but they’ve done it all at the last minute, choosing to unveil the budget after their own self-imposed deadline. These stalling tactics need to end so that Illinois can have a fair, sustainable, and responsible budget once again.”
The budget has not yet been approved by Pritzker.