With the $50.6 billion state budget plan passing at 3:00AM on May 27th, the Illinois House has formally adjourned spring legislative session. Republican lawmakers fiercely debated the measure which ultimately passed on partisan lines.
Prior to the budget’s debate, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie described the increase in spending by the Democrat majority as a massive concern for taxpayers.
“We cannot trust the majority party with more money when all they offer is so little in return to tangible benefits for Illinois families all around 102 counties that we represent,” said McCombie. “We do not want new spending. Now is not the time. We don’t know what is happening with the (anticipated) upcoming recession. We don’t know how bad it’s going to be.”
Those uncertainties include the costs of the immigrant health care program, estimated to be near $1.1 billion, the absence of tax breaks on gas, groceries, and school supplies that were in place during 2022′s reelection year for Governor JB Pritzker, the pay raises for lawmakers (increasing their annual salaries by 5.5% from $85,000 to $89,675), and uncertainty over anticipated costs related to contract negotiations with the state’s largest public employee union–which could be around $200 million.
Read more on the House Republican’s opposition to the new Democrat spending plan here.