Governor JB Pritzker gave his budget address on Wednesday, announcing that he has full optimism in the future of Illinois. Pritzker praised Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Treasurer Michael Frerichs for their hard work in getting the fiscal house in order. Pritzker says there will be two options that the state can move forward in and they all hinge on his graduated income tax that he has been pushing. 

Governor Pritzker says that they plan on adding money back to the reserves in the budget stabilization fund or the “rainy day fund,” which he says was wiped out by his predecessor. Governor Pritzker promised $100 million over the next 16 months and he is also predicting over 46 million dollars in cannabis funds in the fiscal year.  The Governor says that the graduated income tax will be better for Illinois than the flat tax. 

Governor Pritzker says that if the graduated income tax doesn’t take effect, the economy and with it the budget will move at a much slower pace. The biggest question will be what happens if the graduated income tax doesn’t pass the vote from Illinoisans. Pritzker says that education funding will only get a minimal increase if the vote doesn’t pass. Pritzker finished his speech as he began with optimism for the future.

The whole speech was around 40 minutes long and was broadcast live on NEWSTALK WTIM.