SE Illinois News

Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, said he voted against the state's 2023-2024 fiscal year budget "because I fundamentally oppose the process that produced the budget, and I am strongly opposed to several controversial items that this budget funds," he said in a June 7 Facebook post.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the $50.4 billion budget bill, adding an amendment that cuts pay raises for lawmakers for the fiscal year that begins July 1, according to a State Journal-Register news story. Pritzker took the unusual step of reducing the raises because, he said, they were more than is allowed under the state constitution, the State Journal-Register story said.

"It is evident that the errors in the amounts to compensate all of these officers were inadvertent and that the General Assembly intended for the amounts set forth in Senate Bill 250 simply to implement the salaries provided by law," he wrote in an amendatory message to the Senate, the newspaper said.

The pay reductions saved $192,700, the news report said.

Windhorst's Facebook post added, "Furthermore, the process that produced this budget was reminiscent of past years. A massive spending plan was dropped on legislators' desks with inadequate time for review, with little time for the public to review it and provide input, and was passed through the House of Representatives on the last day of Session after midnight. Those facts notwithstanding, the budget was also a take-it-or-leave-it spending plan that came as a result of Democrats shutting Republicans completely out of negotiations, which disenfranchises my constituents and the four million Illinoisans represented by the Republican caucus."

According to the Illinois Legislature website, Senate Bill 250 was filed on Jan. 31 by State Sen. Don Harmon, R-Oak Park, and was forwarded to the House on May 25, with State Rep. Emanual “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, sponsoring the House version. It was sent to the governor’s desk for his signature earlier this month, according to the website.

“I am strongly opposed to several controversial items that this budget funds,” Windhorst said in a statement on his website. “The FY 24 budget spends 50.4 billion dollars, which is a record. Included in that funding is money for pay raises for lawmakers, hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for free Medicaid healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants, and increased funding for taxpayer-funded abortions.”

Windhorst represents the 117th House District. He was originally elected in 2018 to represent the 118th District. He is a former Massac County State’s Attorney and graduated from Massac County High School, Shawnee Community College, the University of Illinois, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, according to his website.