Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is championing a budget that Republicans argue was forced upon taxpayers in the early hours of the morning.
Following the Senate’s approval of the state budget package late Sunday evening, the House addressed the measure in the early morning hours of Wednesday. The package allocates $53.1 billion and raises various business taxes by approximately $730 million.
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, criticized the Democrats in the supermajority for breaching their own rules by attempting to concur on one of the measures three times, despite rules allowing only two attempts.
“It should be evident to everyone in this state what this supermajority is prepared to do to impose a tax increase on the citizens of Illinois at 4:30 in the morning,” Windhorst remarked.
Initially, the first two attempts to pass the revenue package failed due to insufficient “yes” votes in the chamber.
Separately Wednesday, Illinois state Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, discussed the state budgetBlueRoomStream, Illinois.gov
Later that morning, during a news conference in his Springfield office, Pritzker was queried about the responsibility of passing such a substantial spending plan early in the morning when people are sleep-deprived.
“The fact that they voted on it early in the morning was really a result of everyone wanting to go home,” Pritzker explained.
The $53.1 billion spending plan is the most costly taxpayer-funded state budget in Illinois history, totaling 32% more than the state’s expenditure in 2019. Pritzker confirmed he will sign the package.
The measure includes tax credits for music, live theater, the electric vehicle industry, donations to endowments, and more. State Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, commented that the state funds a variety of initiatives.
“However, we are not doing the one thing we should be doing, which is ensuring that children in underperforming schools have the opportunity to obtain scholarships for schools that will better prepare them for the future,” Caulkins stated.
Pritzker blamed the legislature for not reauthorizing Invest in Kids but criticized the original measure.
“If we are going to have a tax credit like that, we should let the federal government cover much of the cost, which we weren’t doing,” Pritzker noted.
The program was allowed to sunset last year, benefiting tens of thousands of families before it ended.
