Illinois State House District 41 issued the following announcement on Feb. 19.
Governor JB Pritzker presented a recommended Fiscal Year 2021 budget that increases state operating expenses by $2.2 billion. After listening to the Governor’s speech, State Representative Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) issued the following statement:
“Going into this speech I was hoping to hear plans for a balanced budget that included no new taxes or tax increases, and a pledge of bipartisanship during the budget process. Instead, what we heard today was a call for more taxes and increased spending, delivered through a very thinly veiled threat that services to Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens would be cut if voters fail to approve the Governor’s graduated income tax plan. His ‘pass my graduated income tax or else’ message was not well-received.
“Governor Pritzker is relying on hypothetical revenue to balance his proposed budget. Rather than utilizing record-high revenues already at his disposal, he includes $1.4 billion from a graduated income tax ballot question that will not come before voters until November- five months into the new fiscal year. It’s irresponsible budgeting, and a prime example of why Illinois perpetually lives in deficit situations. We simply cannot build fake money into the budget.
“Now that we have a budget proposal on the table, I hope lawmakers will take a thoughtful and deliberate approach to crafting the bills that will emerge as the final budget documents. We don’t need to wait until the end of May to begin this important work. We need to begin bipartisan appropriations work right away so that a responsible and balanced revenue and expenditure plan can come together prior to our May 31 adjournment date.”
Original source can be found here.
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