With just four days left before the scheduled May 31 adjournment date, Senate Republican budgeteers gathered together to warn that Illinois families should brace for the same end-of-session script that has played out year after year, with record spending, last-minute tax hikes, and working families left holding the bill.
State Senator Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett) was joined by Senators Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles), Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), and Sally Turner (R-Beason) to push back on new revenue proposals being floated to fund record-high state spending and to call for a budget that isn’t balanced on the backs of taxpayers.
DeWitte, now in his eighth budget cycle, said the process is following a familiar pattern.
“We appreciate having a seat at the table, but experience has taught us that as the clock winds down, just like a round of musical chairs, those seats tend to disappear,” DeWitte said. “By the time the real budget shows up, it is usually the middle of the night on May 31, and lawmakers are being asked to vote on thousands of pages they have barely had time to open.”
As the clock continues to tick down and a budget has yet to emerge, Senate Republicans warn that the lack of transparency undermines public confidence in the entire process.
“Families and small businesses in Illinois don’t make major financial decisions in the middle of the night with minutes to review the details. State government shouldn’t either,” Lewis said. “Regardless of party affiliation, the people of this state deserve a fiscally responsible and sustainable budget that brings relief to taxpayers.”
What has been floated are new tax hike proposals, including a new digital advertising tax, and the elimination of parts of the Blue Collar Jobs Act and sales tax incentives for biodiesel and renewable diesel.
“Unfortunately, what we are seeing right now is continued spending growth followed by discussions about how to tax people even more to pay for it,” said Sally Turner. “Instead of making Illinois more competitive, these proposals move Illinois in the opposite direction, hurting farmers, small businesses and taxpayers alike.”
Senator Chapin Rose said the late-night budget drop has become an annual tradition that working families pay for every time.
“The Governor’s budget was already about $900 million out of balance when he proposed it. That is not a rounding error,” Rose said. “While most of the state is asleep, the real budget drops, 3,000 pages or so, about an hour before we are expected to vote. We may not even know about all the new taxes, fees, and transfers until after the vote is taken.”
After eight years under Governor Pritzker, Illinois families face one of the highest overall tax burdens in the country, and the state is tied for the worst unemployment rate in the Midwest.
“Families are already stretched. Businesses are already leaving,” Rose said. “And in just a few days, in the middle of the night, it is going to get a little worse, just like it does every May.”
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Watch the press conference here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sLZ3kryoH8