SE Illinois News

State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) slammed the state's Democrats for pushing through a 3,500-page budget after midnight on May 27. 

"It's 1:24 AM, and we are just beginning to debate the 50 Billion Dollar Budget!" Niemerg said on May 27 on Facebook. "What's in it? Pay raises for legislators and FREE healthcare for Illegal immigrants! What's not in it? After-school programs and investment in kids' scholarship programs. All while you are sleeping…..this is a disgrace!" 

The $50.4 billion budget received no Republican support. Three Democrats also voted against the bill on a 73-38 vote. The vote in the Senate was 34-22, the Associated Press reported. The budget heavily invested in education, which both Gov. J.B. Pritzker and House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) boasted of after the budget's passage.

Despite Pritzker affirming that education is more accessible through this budget, missing from the 3,500 pages of the state's $50.5 billion budget was 475 million in funding needed to continue the Invest In Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Through the program, which benefits more than 9,000 K-12 students, donors can receive a tax benefit for donating to a state-maintained scholarship program for private schools for low-income families. 

"This is not something that's been covered by the budget agreement. It's something that still has time, potentially, but it's not something that's in the budget agreement," Pritzker said at a press conference announcing a budget deal had been struck, according to Prairie State Wire.

Legislators boosted their pay by $4,675 per year for the second time this year. In January, legislators raised their own pay by $13,000. 

"Illinois' budgeting process is broken. The fact that no one beyond a select group of lawmakers – let alone anyone from the public – had even seen this 3,000-plus page document prior to a few days ago underscores just how very flawed this process continues to be," Illinois Policy said in a report on the budget. 

Illinois Policy reports the budget includes an immediate $317 million deficit and also shorts public pensions by $4 billion. 

"While Gov. J.B. Pritzker has touted his administration's handling of the state's pension crisis – including making $200 million in additional pension contributions in the 2024 budget – state budgets continue to shortchange pensions by billions of dollars annually. The effects of year after year of paying in too little has resulted in massive growth in pension debt, which now stands at $140 billion, according to state estimates," Illinois Policy reports. "It is likely much worse: independent estimates put the figure at more than $300 billion, using assumptions that are more realistic than the state's optimistic projections. Refusal among elected leaders to consider constitutional pension reform or make full, actuarially determined contributions leaves the current budget inherently unbalanced and jeopardizes the ability of future budgets to deliver core services to Illinoisans." 

The budget provides for $50 million to replace the Stratton Building which hosts legislator offices, committee meetings, and other governmental functions.

State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) elaborated on the spending detailed in the budget.

"Invest in Kids scholarship program is something that I really spent a lot of time talking about and working on these past few years," Grant said on the House floor. "It is one of the rare pieces of legislation that came out of this body back in 2017 that portions of both parties could support. Unfortunately, this had a sunset and I have a feeling I know why the sunset was used. We all know why. But I don't want to talk about that now." 

She noted that while the program was deliberately excluded from the budget, a "5.5% pay raise for legislators on top of an extra 2.5% in cost of living adjustment," was included.

"Oh, and free health care for undocumented immigrants," Grant added. "So if I have this right, this body cares more about giving themselves pay raises, providing health care benefits to people who are not even citizens, than we care about helping Illinois children from disadvantaged backgrounds get a safe and quality education. I hope and pray that children and families who are about to have this program ripped away from them will one day forgive us. The advocates are not going away. They're not backing down. They're going to work hard to secure this program. I still have optimism because we have time to fix this wrong."