SPRINGFIELD – Following Governor Pritzker’s combined State of the State and Budget Address on Wednesday, State Representative and House Republican Floor Leader Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) says he is concerned the Governor’s spending plan could lead to broken promises.
“Because federal pandemic relief funds have been reduced significantly, state revenues are expected to decline, but in his speech today, the Governor proposed the creation of new programs and expansion of existing programs,” Windhorst said. “With a recession expected in the coming months, I am concerned that revenues will fall further, and that promises to spend more money on expanded programs could lead to one of two things: empty promises or future tax increases.”
Windhorst notes that state revenues are expected to decline by 2.8% ($1.4 billion), but the Governor proposes to create new programs and expand existing programs to spend 7.9% ($2.75 billion) more money in the FY24 state budget.
“Increasing spending while revenues are dropping makes little financial sense, especially while families are struggling under the weight of record inflation, gas prices, and energy prices that are out of control,” Windhorst said. “The budget process must be conducted in public, with adequate time to review the budget line by line. The people of Illinois deserve transparency and financial discipline.”
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