The budget has passed the Illinois House and has been met with both praise and criticism from the respective parties as it makes its way to the Governor’s Desk for signature. Majority Caucus Appropriations Leader Senator Elgie Sims out of Chicago says that it is a good budget with investments in education, business attraction and development, public safety, and addressing the social determinants of health. 

Senator Sims also says that it sets the state up for both short and long term success.  Others do not agree. State Representative Dan Caulkins out of Decatur says that he is amazed at how much the spending has grown.

“I voted against the budget as it continues to spend more than ever. When I became a lawmaker five years ago the state budget was $36 billion, now it is $50 billion – that is outrageous! Illinois taxpayers are paying more for gas, groceries, and services and the Democrat majority has the nerve to give themselves a pay raise.” Representative Caulkins said, “Instead of providing tax relief to Illinois citizens, the budget approved will spend a billion more on health care benefits for illegal immigrants. It’s a shame the politicians running our state continue to force our taxpayers to do more with less all while filling their wallet with a pay raise.”

State Representative Mike Coffey from Springfield says that he isn’t a fan of how the system works.

State Representative Wayne Rosenthal says that it has received minimal input from Republicans and is filled with “Democrat Pet Projects.”

“The budget that passed tonight has minimal input from Republicans and is filled with Democrat pet projects and commits taxpayers to new long-term spending. It is loaded with gimmicks and cost shifts, like reallocating the Personal Property Replacement Tax to the General Revenue Fund and further shortchanging local governments by once again failing to restore the Local Government Distributive Fund to 10%. On top of that, hospitals who haven’t seen a rate increase for 29 years will only see half of their Medicaid rate request met in this budget year.”

“The fact that this budget includes a taxpayer-funded healthcare program that covers all expenses for undocumented immigrants with projected costs expected to exceed $1 billion is problematic. Legal residents with health insurance don’t even have access to such generous coverage like this. All of this will put families at risk of future tax hikes or cuts to critical services down the road. At a time when family budgets are still strapped with inflation-induced price hikes, this is the wrong approach.”

The $50 billion budget heads to Governor Pritzker’s desk for official signature.